r/spacegames

• Step 1: The scanning probe disaster

Built a nice little scanning probe to find ore deposits. Forgot to put it in polar orbit. Ran out of delta-v trying to change inclination after the fact. Mission failed. Probe dead. Learned what polar orbit means the hard way.

• Step 2: Built the most overengineered mining lander in Kerbal history

96 tonnes. Fission reactor on top with massive radiator wings. 4 Wolfhound engines. 2 drills. Convert-O-Tron. The works. Spent approximately 3 hours arguing with an AI about which engines to use before settling on Wolfhounds after browsing through approximately 47 terrible booster engines.

• Step 3: Actually landed on Mun

Worked perfectly. ISRU filled the tanks beautifully. Bill, Bob and Valentine Kerman and 3 other Kerbin that are not a part of the main cast performed the first-in-history landing on Mun, opening a new chapter for Kerbalkind. We were very proud.

he doesn't know yet

The commemorative plaque. It only mentions Bill, Bob and Valentine. I forgot about the other 3 Kerbals.

Shitfuck 3 landed on the Midlands of Mun. Drills running.

• Step 4: All 4 engines simultaneously exploded on ignition

Full fuel tanks. Kerbals strapped in. Return mission ready. This is it. The culmination of everything. Engines on. Full throttle.

The Wolfhounds blew up within a blink of an eye.

All 4 of them. Simultaneously. Gone.

Nothing survived except the command pod, which now sits on the Mun surface as a monument to human hubris.

Monument to human hubris

No caption required.

• Step 5: The Rescue Mission (ongoing)

Currently building a rescue lander. Same design but this time we're fixing whatever murdered the engines. Leading theory is the Wolfhounds clipped into the surface and detonated on ignition. Alternative theory is Kerbal physics just said no.

The rescue lander will have taller legs, better engine clearance, and the hard-won wisdom of a man who has already killed 4 engines on the Mun.

• Worst case scenario for Step 5:

The rescue lander lands perfectly. ISRU fills the tanks. We load all 6 stranded Kerbals aboard. Engines explode on ignition again. We now have 6 original stranded Kerbals plus however many Kerbals were on the rescue mission also stranded on the Mun.

We will then build a rescue mission for the rescue mission.

At some point the entire Kerbal Space Program will be living on the Mun and there will be nobody left at KSC to build another rocket.

Jeb thinks this is fine.

!!!!UPDATE!!!!:

• Step 6: The Rescue Mission's Rescue Mission

The Shitcuck 1 Munar Rescue Lander touched down beautifully. Jebediah Kerman at the helm. The 6 stranded Kerbals from the wreck of Shitfuck 3 marched across the Mun surface to their salvation.

Shitcuck 1 Munar Rescue Lander landing site.

Drills deployed. Reactor on. Convert-O-Tron set to produce fuel. Everything was going perfectly.

Jeb noticed the fuel gauges weren't moving.

He asked Bill to go outside and check. Bill exited the hatch, walked around the entire ship, came back inside, and asked Jeb one question.

"Where's the ore tank?"

Jeb had no answer.

The Shitcuck I Munar Rescue Lander, sent specifically to rescue the crew of Shitfuck 3, had no ore tank. The drills were drilling ore directly into the void. The Convert-O-Tron was converting nothing. The fuel gauges were going to stay exactly where they were.

All personnel are now stranded on the Mun. The rescue mission required a rescue mission. We predicted this.

The Rescue Mission Rescue Mission is now underway.

Jebediah still thinks this is fine.

(This isn't staged, I actually forgot the fucking ore tanks.)

!!!! FINAL UPDATE !!!!

• Step 7: Shitcuck 2 lands on the Mun. With an ore tank this time.

Shitcuck 2's transfer to the Mun.

Shitcuck 2 Munar Rescue Rescue Lander touched down beautifully. Ore tank present and accounted for. Drills deployed. Reactor on. Convert-O-Tron running. Fuel gauges moving.

Shitfuck 3, Shitcuck 1 and Shitcuck 3.

The 6 stranded Kerbals marched across the Mun surface for the second time, past the command pod monument, past the corpse of Shitcuck 1, and climbed aboard. All 8 Kerbals strapped in. Tanks full. Engines on.

Nothing exploded.

They're returning.

• Step 8: Home.

Shitcuck 2 burned for Kerbin, aerobraked through the atmosphere as a fireball in the night sky, deployed chutes over the clouds, and set down in a field somewhere in the middle of nowhere as the sun rose over the mountains.

Aerobraking

All 8 Kerbals alive. Nobody stranded. No missing parts. No exploding engines.

New Dawn

The mission that started as a simple scanning probe ended as a three-act tragedy requiring two rescue missions and a permanent graveyard of spacecraft on the Mun surface. Back there right now, undisturbed forever, sits the command pod monument to human hubris and Shitcuck 1 with its empty ore tank.

We're already planning the next mission.

Jebediah thinks that went great actually.

Which one is your winner?

Hi everyone,

I’m currently working on a sci-fi strategy game concept and wanted to ask if this is something people here would find interesting.

The core idea is a galaxy-scale game with procedurally generated star systems, factions, planets, stations, fleets, logistics, trade routes and wars. Each campaign would use a seed, so every galaxy layout would be different.

The combat would not be a normal real-time 3D space battle. Instead, fleet battles would happen on a tactical 2D/2.5D grid map from an admiral’s perspective. You would command ships, manage formations, sensor contacts, fog of war, long-range weapons, point defense, missiles, carriers, electronic warfare and later boarding operations.

Boarding would become its own tactical layer: if an enemy ship or station is disabled, you could launch boarding pods and fight through the interior on a separate 2D deck map with rooms, corridors, fire, smoke, wounded soldiers, medics, engineers and security teams.

The long-term goal would be a mix of grand strategy, fleet command and tactical boarding simulation. Not an arcade space shooter, but a slower, more detailed command-focused game.

Would you personally be interested in something like this?

What part sounds the most appealing: galaxy strategy, fleet battles, ship customization, logistics, or boarding?

Has anybody played these games? I’m looking for a chill space game to play on my PC/Steam Deck and both look right up my alley. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks.

Hi, I am jejoxdev, a solo indie game developer.

This is a battle demonstration for my ongoing work on HARD VOID Early Access on Steam.
HARD VOID is a 4X game with lovecraftian thematic, and heavy use of procedural algorithms:
procedural multiple-universes (multiverse), procedural spaceship hulls, and now procedural oceans on the planets.

It's fully developed on Linux, with OpenGL and C language (C99). It's also available on Windows.

If interested:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2978460/HARD_VOID/

https://hardvoid.com/