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Alpha Terminal Dominions - Frontier Sim in Space

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Reefpirate

Guest



Latest Alpha version can be found here:
Itch.io Link
(Unzip to its own folder and run the executable)

Follow me on Twitter for updates.
Devblog slash changelogs found here.

Hello GMC! I haven't really posted much here in a while, but on my last project I remember getting some great feedback from this community. So I'm back with another ambitious (most likely over-ambitious) project for you to take a look at.

This strategy/simulation has you constructing a little mining and trading operation out of structures built in space. Miners and Trade Ships make you rich, and then you can spend your riches on Police ships to do guard duty or Mercenaries to go on the offense or generally cause a ruckus in the solar system. Explorers and Research vessels will gain you bonus Research and you'll also get some free Research for each system you complete.



The solar systems get larger and more dangerous as you travel from one solar system to the next, but as of right now (April 2, 2017) there is no way to 'win' the game. This will be fixed in the future.

If you're having trouble, Merc Rangers are a little OP considering the vision and coverage they offer with little downtime. Also building 2 PD Pylons near a base you want to protect goes a long way at the moment. Once you've 'finished' with a system construct an Escape Barge ship to pack up and fly to the next solar system.



The in-game tutorial needs a lot of work, but it hopefully does enough to provide you with the basics for survival. First thing you'll want to do is Research Frontier Directive, and then the 3 core Researches of Intelligence, Industry and Security. Not much can happen in the game without at least these basic Researches.

You'll have some Research leftover and you'll probably want to start with Mining and Trade otherwise you'll run out of money and minerals to spend and end up stranded in some distant star system.

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! I'll do my best to reply here, and I usually have access to Twitter if you'd rather have a discussion there.

I'm also happy to answer any game-making process questions the best that I can. If there are any questions about how Terminal Dominions is made or what I've learned trying to make this RTSy kind of thing in GameMaker please let me know.

Cheers!

Reef
 
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R

Reefpirate

Guest
Quick bump just to mention that a new Alpha build was posted this morning. You can get the new build from the itch page. Change notes can be found at the bottom of the page in the Discussions.

Several improvements were made to readability, the UI in general and the balance of the game.

Please feel free to ask any questions!
 
R

Reefpirate

Guest
Hey cool video! Here I was hoping someone would just write a few words of feedback and you've put together almost 10 minutes of talking and playing. Thanks for that!

I agree on the Tutorial... I knew it's already probably a bit much to read through. My next update this weekend hopes to have it simpler and shorter, and better set-up to have people just dive in to the building and shooting. The game really is simpler than it looks and I hope to convey that a bit better. There's also constant UI improvements happening, and I'm aiming to let the UI sort of explain itself a bit better so that it's easier to pick up and play.

EDIT: Oh, and thanks to your feedback I've made the screenshots in the original thread a little larger!
 
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R

Reefpirate

Guest
Quick bump to mention Alpha 4.140 is posted and ready to go on the itch page: https://reefpirate.itch.io/terminal-dominions

Full change notes can be found at the bottom of the itch page in the discussions.

Highlights include:
  • New enemy structures added for Pirates and Drones
  • Minor level generation overhaul, mostly as relates to placing enemies and not so much for geography.
  • Numerous bug fixes and ui improvements, as usual
  • Asteroids are now Orange! Helps distinguish them from ships or structures that have gray colouring.
 
R

Reefpirate

Guest
Seems like a serious effort. Love the retro style :)
Thanks for taking a look!

It's a constant struggle to figure out how 'seriously' to take this project. Part of me wants to just wrap it up as soon as possible, and then other parts of me keep thinking of new features. :)
 
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