The stasis chamber hisses softly around you. Artificial fluids built up inside your ears begin to retreat as the cryoplasm drains slowly. Breathing comes naturally, at first. And then the tickle of a hundred nanites filtering your oxygen forces a cough or two of surprise. Beneath new skin, a fresh infusion of blood pulses with the cadence of tribal drums. Your thoughts cascade and it all makes sense again. You open your eyes to the dull interior of a starship.
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Overview
Apsis Online is a minimalist multi-user roguelike (MUR) based on the First Paradise project. The game is still early in development and presented as a series of both multiplayer and single-player "sequences" set in a dark science-fiction universe.
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You are a voyager. A human, mentally and physically augmented for a new life in deep space. Your mission is to carve out a place for humanity among the stars. A largely hostile environment. Build outposts with resources found at the farthest reaches of the frontier itself. Survive, create new economies from scratch, capitalize and recruit others to join you.
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Meet new people from within the speckled void. Enjoy the imaginative flexibility of a multi-color ascii user interface. It will run on almost anything! Only a keyboard and some duct tape are required to play. Sign up today!
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Platform & Aesthetics
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Borrowing its likeness from the classic depiction of a player-character dating back to the original Rogue. @Space (pronounced RogueSpace) is a simple take on social networking for roguelike enthusiasts. Built for speed and security by geeks for geeks who have a love for the command-line. Rendered in a sharp monochrome ASCII style for the purist in all of us. Join the conversation!
- Post, comment or subscribe to things you find most interesting.
- Create a "space". Invite others, share privately or with the world.
- Toggle in and out of play sessions with ease, create or join a Frontier Company, employ others and build an empire!
- Keep up with current events via an automated news feed.
- No email required to register.
This service does not store sensitive user data or any information about your machine or location.
Worldbuilding & Economics
What is a good multiplayer game without a solid foundation in the form of game lore and player-driven stories? Apsis Online is built as a roguelike with procedurally generated events, planets and permadeath. Inspired by the likes of Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead and Dwarf Fortress but carries with it the literary spirit of multi-user dungeons as well. For years the underlying goal has been to consistently flesh out the games backstory through a combination of contributing to a growing wiki and writing short stories.
For a while there were micro-fiction contests submitted by users before the platform for hosting these shut down (RIP Desura!). It was at that point that @Space was conceived. The hope is to continue expanding on the idea of both user and A.I-generated stories in order to build a more immersive experience (despite the graphics!).
Read on for more details!
Links & Resources
Apsis Online on Roguebasin
First Paradise on IndieDB
Voyagers Handbook (WIP)
Apsis Online on Discord
/r/ApsisOnline
Risks & Challenges
Apsis Online is not a new project so much as it has been scraping by with almost no uptime for around 4 years due to lack of funds. This only changed recently with what is effectively a contingency server becoming the main world(s) server by the grace of our friends at Vineyard Haus. Still, I have been attempting to run a sandbox style game on low-powered cloud services and that just doesn't work. Especially considering how much the game needs to be handicapped in order to run at all!
So my eye is set on a new dedicated server that will cost around $40/month. This adds up to around $500 per year including some improvements to the art present in the current Voyager Handbook, other minor promotional material and of course the Steam fee.
In the event of success, the plan is to release at least one version per month with a goal to support around 1000 players online at any given time. Last but not least, this is a solo project with outside contribution limited to the occasional artist or musician coming on board to flesh out a particular idea. So I suppose if something happened to me we'd be in a jam in regard to programming unless I can find another crazy C programmer in that interim. Regardless, I'll be looking to tackle any and every problem or new feature as it arises with gusto in the meantime!
Off the Grid?
Maybe you aren't comfortable signing up for crowdfunding services that sometimes require giving out more information than you're willing to give. If you'd still like to contribute and have a PayPal account (so that we can contact you for perks) you can pledge directly to:
admin@apsisonline.vineyard.haus
