The game progressess, slowly but steadily :) We are at the ALPHA stage now.
Prototype v0.10, v0.11, v0.12, v0.14, v0.15 released.
Well, by now it's quite obvious the crowdfunding will fail (unfortunately, I have no cancel button so we need to wait it out). What does it mean? It means I will make the game anyway (got a lot of positive feedback along the way, the game was greenlit, etc) but will need to be extra careful with money :)
The money you backed with will be returned to you (or it was not charged yet, I don't remember how it exactly worked, anyway you keep the money). But to not make your wallet too overbloated I have set up a Pre-order & EarlyAccess instead :)
Singleplayer, 4X, space empire builder, turn based.
Core design choices:
1) You are the Emperor not a logistics officer (you appoint governors, admirals, crush rebels, grant audiences, fend assassination attempts, you do not move individual ships around, you do not build farms on a planet #183)
2) No micromanagement, epic scale, fast paced (you control hundreds of planets yet there is no micromanagement and the gameplay progress fast even at a late stage)
3) Asymmetric gameplay, aliens are truly alien (some see you as food, some are civilized), races are not born equal (tech level, power, etc), different scenarios with drastically different starting conditions (for example: "you start with half galaxy under your control and need to fight rebels instead of aliens")
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- Asymmetric gameplay (aliens/AI play by different rules)
- Races not created equal (minor/major races, civilized/primitive, big/small)
- Audiences granted by you, the Emperor (event & mechanic based)
- Assassination attempts, rebellions, coups, court politics, food testers, imperial palace guards
- Governors, admirals, commodores, generals, colonels, imperial courtiers, ambassadors (some of them not loyal and most of them corrupted, yet you can't manage the Empire alone so you need those scoundrels)
- Big galaxy but without micromanagement (abstracted, as the Emperor you don't build farms/factories or deal with individual ships)
- Fast paced *end game* (more planets require only minimum additional attention)
- Different scenarios (for example some allow you to start with 200 planet old empire and crush rebels instead of conquering aliens)
- Hierarchical military system (fleets, squadrons, individual ships)
- Separate fleet & army (with separate chain of command)
- and more... :)
More videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHpssaoF6j8 (research system)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpvMMDqkItY (exploration system)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVtRkzy8HmQ (parasites invasion - special race - early game)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uaw50GcLkBo (annihilators invasion - special race - late game)
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At the moment of writing I have a prototype: done most of the basic stuff (map, planets, aliens, production, taxes, etc), also a hierarchical military system works (fleet only, extremely simplified combat for now), research system (need polish and adding techs but it's quite cool already), bare bone audience (without events). The alien AI is primitive now and the game is unbalanced for now (but by the end of the campaign I should have it reasonably balanced I think).
I plan to release the final game
this year (2015).
Development plan: During crowdfunding I plan to finish most/some basic features and afterwards release the prototype for Early Access backers only. Then I plan to release 1-2 builds per month. I hope that some of you will provide the feedback and help testing during that period. Then based on these tests I will go for release or redo some features and rebalance it. Next comes the official release (possibly somewhat rough but playable and sufficiently balanced). Afterwards I plan to polish the game and add non critical stuff that is missing (and again rebalance since that part never ends :)).
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$1
Follower - Our thanks! Also you will be listed on the Pocket Space Empire webpage.
$10
THE GAME - All above + Digital download of the game upon release (Steam key when available, etc)
$15
Backers only pack - All above + Small cosmetic DLC/pack (like custom throne picture) + you can name one planet (the name must be decent)
$25
EARLY ACCESS - All above + Prototype access (immediate access to the prototype (regularly updated), I'm not accepting complains about playability or balance of that one :)) + Thanks in Credits ingame (listed as backer)
$35
Expansionist - All above + The first big expansion (not small DLC)
$50
Ethernal expansionist - All above + All future expansions/DLCs
$100
Official sponsor (physical) - All above + T-shirt (physical) with a big imperial eagle and a small text "Pocket Space Empire sponsor" + Thanks in Credits (listed as sponsor)
$150 (limit 50)
Artifact/outfit sponsor - Tier $100 + we include an additional alien artifact or governor outfit (your choice) and you will be listed as the sponsor of the artifact/outfit
$250 (limit 30)
You being the Emperor - Tier $100 + the artist will make an additional picture of the Emperor based on a photo you provided, it will be a selectable player avatar
$500
Imperial Notepad (physical) - Tier $100 + Artisan made notepad made of natural hide (they assure me it's non human although they did not specify if it's animal or alien hide :)) encrusted with a metal (tin) imperial eagle (like in the game) + a one page (separate) of simple concept art/doddle made by the artist (signed by the artist + a seal of authenticity) (Note: since the notepad and concept art is hand made the pictures below are just an example and the final one will differ - also most likely each copy will differ too)
$2000 (limit 8)
Co-producer - Tier $100 + Imperial Notepad + 12 copies of the game to give out + listed in credits as co-producer (we will consult with all co-producers what the first expansion should be also what to include in the basic game and what should be better for expansion due to added complexity).
$5000 (limit 1)
The most die hard fan - You will get any/all rewards below you wish + listed in credits as "The most die hard fan of Pocket Space Empire"
Note: physical rewards (T-Shirt and Imperial Notepad) will be produced & sent *much* later and it might take a while till these arrive.
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As you probably realize $3,000 is way too low to fund a game of that scale. It's no problem, the game doesn't need to be funded by crowdfunding alone, but, it would really help to have significantly more funds early... At least so I have all the external expenses (freelancers: art assets, music, sound, services, fees, etc) covered.
Important note: No stretch goal will increase the total time you need to wait for the game (no additional useless features and the like, only stuff that either speed up the development or increase the quality without affecting the speed (like more/better graphics since it's not the bottleneck)). $3,000 - Initial funding - The game as planned (note: I will save on art assets and the like whenever possible)
$5,000 - Additional/better art assets - That level of funding should allow me to be less restrictive on the art/music/sound budget.
$10,000 - Alien artifacts beautification - each ancient alien artifact will have an individual image.
$20,000 - Guaranteed expansion in 2017 - note: first I will finish THE CORE GAME, that's the priority.
$30,000 - Faster development - That should cover all the costs, it means I can stop worrying about marketing and the like and just focus on making the game (maybe even hire some additional freelancer). Overall, it means the game will be most likely finished earlier OR that I will have more time to polish it.
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Previous games (not all listed):
QuickQuest (roguelike PC), Lords (browser MMO, medieval, competitive), Europe1300 (browser MMO, medieval, historical, cooperative), Samurai & Ninja RPG (browser MMO, feudal japan, fantasy), Moonstone RPG (browser MMO, fantasy)
You might also check the Mini games while you are waiting for the Pocket Space Empire to be made :)
People:
* Designer, Coder, Marketer, etc - Krzysztof Kozmik (LordArchibald on most forums, SilverLemur on twitter)
* Artist - Piotr Antoniak
* Music & Sound - Will be decided later, in the current prototype (and the videos) the awesome music was made by Eric Matyas
Note: Yep, basicly done by one person + freelancers. Before you start shouting that's not possible and the like note I've finished & released *several* games that way already and some 4X games were made by others that way too (check AI War by Chris Park for example).
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* The game being not to your liking
There is a lot of unique mechanics in the game (like hierarchical military system, audiences, asymmetric gameplay), and let's face it, innovation not always work the first time as intended :) Some mechanics might turn out to be flawed, I might even be forced to remove some planet features (I hope not) from the final game if these turns out to be too flawed during tests. Definitely, it's not a traditional 4X where you design a ship, build it and send to kill enemy. It might be the best game you ever played, or one you don't like at all. Which one it will be, who knows :)
* Delays
Well, while there is no real danger of me not finishing the game (it's too far advanced and I'm doing it as a full time job and I have enough savings to survive till the end of dev cycle) there always is a possibility of traditional delays. From my experience I usually exceed my time budget 3 times (the game was planned to be made in 6 months, which I extended and in December it will be 18 months total, so that's just about right based on my previous projects :)). Of course I will aim to finish it a bit earlier. Anyway, it would drive my crazy if I were to fail to deliver it during 2015.
* Some assets being inferior (gfx, music, sound, etc)
Depending on how much money I can raise I might need to make some tough decision about non core (other than code) assets. Fortunatelly, these can be improved after release (basicly it's only an issue of money).
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Q: Why only $3,000? You surely can't make a game *that* cheap?
A: I don't need to cover all the costs via crowdfunding, also I don't live in a super rich country (so $3k for you is like $9k for me). I just need the money for the early-mid stage of development. Also, I'm not doing the crowdfunding for the sake of money only, I also want to get in touch of the fans of the game (I *LOVE* reading players feedback & comments), get more testers, maybe find some volunteers that would help me with some easier things.
Q: Will there be a Mac/Linux version?
A: Maybe. I don't want to promise anything, but personally, I would be surprised if there was not such version eventually (the game does not use any Windows only components or anything). But not at the beginning, I need a peaceful & quiet time (and one platform only to worry about) during development. Note the prototype works flawlessy on WinE.
Q: Will there be a mobile/tablet version?
A: No. The game was designed for desktop (heavy use of tooltips, big screen, right mouse button), it would not be possible I'm afraid.
Q: Will there be any Expansions/DLCs? What's your policy on these?
A: I hope so. Generally, I plan to include things that "make the game better without increasing complexity" in the core game and put things that "make the game different/more complex" in expansions (maybe also some crazy cosmetic DLC like "all imperial officials are cute catgirls" if players request it, but myself I don't plan it :)). Like I have alternative concepts for some mechanics or I was thinking of making some complex versions of mechanics and was afraid it would make the game too confusing to the player (these are ideal to go to an expansion). The premise is that an expansion is optional and you can *always* disable an expansion (or even a part of it you don't like). I definitely won't go the "expansion is a patch that fix broken things" route as some companies do :)