Distant Star: Revenant Fleet - A New RTS/Roguelike Game

I came across a new game on Steam Early Access called Distant Star: Revenant Fleet. I'm getting a Homeworld feeling from the video, and games description.

Distant Star: Revenant Fleet is a real-time, space-strategy game for PC, featuring fleet-based combat, a dynamically generated galaxy, and an evolving narrative that is different every time.

Game Features

• RTS meets roguelike - take your fleet through a randomly generated galaxy
• Adapt to survive – persistent upgrades, persistent damage, and perma-death
• Different missions - survive, defend, attack or capture
• Different ship types - offering a range of tactical possibilities

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Link - http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=341433138

Here is a quick holiday update about the game, and the developers plan for 2015.

Link - http://steamcommunity.com/games/335830/announcements/detail/130933861905498273

The festive season is upon us and the Blazing Griffin team are gearing up for the holidays (by "gearing up" we mean slightly recovering from our office party earlier in the week!), so we wanted to end off the year with an update on what's coming in 2015 with Distant Star: Revenant Fleet.

The last update added a lot more changes to the game, but a lot of them won't be instantly recognizable so here's a quick rundown on what we added and what it means for the game.

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Thanks, Couch. It has some potential.

- Is it just neverending string of missions? If they are able to create some kind of plot progress or empire progress it could be good. Unlimited generic missions wont do the job.
- Where are the choices? You choose a mission? Or approach to mission? Or are there some (text) events with choices?
- Does it have at least slightly interesting plot background?

Hi everyone!

I'm the Marketing Manager at Blazing Griffin - just wanted to drop by and answer the questions.

With regards the story progression, as you jump from node to node you will progress across a sector of space (of which there will be around 4 in total), eventually cumulating in a final battle scenario.

You don't really get to choose a mission as such, so you won't know what's going to happen until you jump into a new system. Some missions are combat (with a variety of objectives such as survive an ambush or capture stations). Some will be multiple choice story options where you can avoid combat if you want (although there's always a chance the option you pick will "fail"). Some will be shops where you can repair, upgrade, buy new ships. Some will simply reward you credits / weapon updates / etc for choosing the "right" option. There's quite a lot of variety in this part of the game, but a lot of it boils down to an eventual combat mission which is the main focus of the gameplay.

The combat missions are randomly spawned - different map backgrounds, layouts, AI spawning (locations, fleet composition, difficulty), mission type (ambush, capture, etc) and may spawn pirates rather than your Orthani enemy.

In terms of lore, the game is based on an older 4x game - there's loads of lore (much more than we can ever include in the game) - we have a history of the universe mapped out over tens of thousands of years - it's very detailed! In this game, you play as the A'kari, recently betrayed by your commander and attacked by your enemy (the Orthani). Your small fleet is tasked with traversing the galaxy and destroying the Orthani super weapon.

Think FTL style map / story options with small fleet RTS gameplay replacing the ship management aspect.

We're still in alpha so not all the content is live just now (only 1 sector map and 4 ship classes for example), but more is being added regularly. The next update will include the Carrier class of ship for example, as well as additions to the mission / story randomisation. More info: http://www.blazinggriffin.com/blog/game-drones/

Shout if you have any more questions.
Scott

Welcome BlazingGriffin and thank you for taking the time to reply on our website. I'm looking forward to playing the final version as your trailer hooked me instantly.

I just hope it doesn't turn out like a few other RTS games on Steam Early Access.

Thanks BlazingGriffin for your extensive info. I should have more questions soon…

BlazingGriffin said:

Shout if you have any more questions.

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I abide by your words and shout now…

BlazingGriffin said:

With regards the story progression, as you jump from node to node you will progress across a sector of space (of which there will be around 4 in total),

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Is there some way to get some hint/info about those nodes? Using some ability, tech (scanners)? Otherwise choosing where to go next would be just "blind shot" .

BlazingGriffin said:

Some will be multiple choice story options where you can avoid combat if you want

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Are there also story options like recruiting officer for the fleet? Officers could be assigned to your ships as commanders…

BlazingGriffin said:

Some will be shops where you can repair, upgrade, buy new ships.

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Does it mean that you could buy new ships only if you choose to go to "the right" nodes?

BlazingGriffin said:

In terms of lore, the game is based on an older 4x game - there's loads of lore (much more than we can ever include in the game) - we have a history of the universe mapped out over tens of thousands of years - it's very detailed!

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Ufff. So you have plenty of room to make whole series out of it if the first game will be successfull.

All in all, it looks interesting.

Sorry everyone I almost forgot about this developer video from last month.



Link - http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaJkHKLnyJ0

First impressions of the Early Access title Distant Star: Revenant Fleet v0.0.0.3 .

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Is there some way to get some hint/info about those nodes? Using some ability, tech (scanners)? Otherwise choosing where to go next would be just "blind shot" .

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Does it mean that you could buy new ships only if you choose to go to "the right" nodes?

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(Answering both questions here) - most sector nodes are blank, so no you won't be able to get any info on them.

Some are labelled (maybe 2 or 3 per sector) and these are usually shops or quests. Shops don't always stock the same items (some will just be ships for example). Missions and quests can result in weapons, support systems or ships as rewards as well. Missions can also result in shop becoming available in that node.

There's a shop at the beginning of the game - you start with some credits and the option to buy starting ships, so you can start the game with close to the fleet setup you want.

Are there also story options like recruiting officer for the fleet? Officers could be assigned to your ships as commanders…

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There's nothing like this planned at the moment.

Ufff. So you have plenty of room to make whole series out of it if the first game will be successfull.

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Yup. We're not really thinking that far ahead right now, but in general as a company, we'll be looking to expand on the different franchises we develop.

Here are two more updates that were released this month.

Version 0.0.1.1 Released

Welcome to the first content update of 2015! This update brings quite a lot of improvements and new features which are summarised below.

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Development Roadmap

We've put together a Development Roadmap for the game so you have a better idea of what's coming. There are a few features and updates not on the roadmap, but we'll release detail on those when we can.

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Again here are two more current updates from Steam.

Version 0.0.3.3. Released

This is the second content update of 2015 and we’ve added a few features.

Pause Function

You asked, we delivered! SPACEBAR will pause the game and let you issue commands to your ships.

All Ships Unlocked in Starting Store

For the duration of alpha, players can now buy the Carrier, Rogue and Dreadnought class of ships in the starting shop. This is to allow alpha players to experience all classes of ships and also so we can get feedback on each of them.

Note – this is for alpha ONLY! After alpha, only the Pulsar, Tech and Lancer will be available in the starting shop.

Improved Loot Tables
Loot tables have been improved, which means missions can now reward more appropriate amounts of credits, weapon and system upgrades. Also, you will occasionally be able to increase the size of your fleet with ships being offered as mission rewards

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Introducing: Tactical Mode

The most recent patch (0.0.3.3) has introduced the Tactical Mode which goes some way to improving the combat gameplay.

Tactical Mode allows you to:

• Pause combat
• Issue commands
• Activate abilities
• Go for a cup of tea

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A new patch was posted today here is the link.

Version 0.0.3.4 Released

A small update this time to address a number of bugs.

Full Patch Notes – v0.0.3.4

Tactical Mode: Range for targeted attachments now shown.

Bug Fixes

Fixed issue with disc render shaders occasionally cutting each other out.
Made a quick UX fix, swapping the buttons around on the Pause menu. ‘Resume’ Should now be at the top.
Tactical Mode: cancel icon should no longer get stuck on if mouse left hovering over attachment button when time is un-paused.
Friendly drones now appear on the minimap.
Tooltips should now not get stuck on the screen.
Exit game popup should now work on first click.

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Another patch was released today.

Version 0.0.4.4 Released

This is our fourth content update of 2015 and there’s a lot of new content and improvements this time. Remember you can check our Development Roadmap for an overview of what’s still to come.

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I found a new video preview with more game footage today from gamingnexus.


Link - http://www.gamingnexus.com/Article/4695/Distant-Star-Revenant-Fleet/

The game's rogue-like nature makes every ship in you fleet a vital part to keep alive from one battle to the next. Once every ship has been destroyed, players have to restart the game. In similar nature to FTL, in between missions players select their fleet's path on a sector map that can lead to a variety of outcomes from pirate ambushes to trading stations. In the game's early access state, there is only one sector map that is randomized for each game. Future plans aim to add 5 sector maps and a galaxy map leading to a final boss battle. Other plans include a unit experience system, quests, and additional ship upgrades and weapons.

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This game looks interesting.. when it is done.

Here is an update from Steam this week about the new price of the game.

Price change coming soon

Just a head's up everyone, the earlybird price of £4.99 is coming to an end pretty soon. We're heading into beta next week (Tuesday 17th Feb), and the normal price of £14.99 will be put in place.

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FYI everyone, we went into Beta yesterday so all the content is unlocked (although we still have a lot of attachments to add to the game). With regards the price change, we've submitted the request to Valve, but still waiting on them to approve, so it's still £4.99 for the time being. Likely to change pretty soon though.

As Blazing Griffin said above the latest updates are about the Beta version.

Version 0.1.0.9 Released - Beta Launch

Welcome to Beta! With this week's patch, we've unlocked all sectors and the final battle with the Erebus Platform. We'll post some more information about what's going to happen in Beta later on today, but for the time being here's the key changes.

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Welcome to Beta!

Distant Star: Revenant Fleet is moving into Beta today, which means our focus will be on performance optimisation and content balancing. We would expect this process to take us through to the end of March – that said, the nature of the work that’s ahead of us may mean that might change!

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Don't forget you can also get a Beta key in a new Giveaway on our site.

Link - http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1061306600#post1061306600

Well for everyone still reading this thread a new patch was released today.

Version 0.1.1.2 Released

This is the first update in Beta, so we added a lot of balancing changes this patch.

Buying Ships / Upgrades / Repairs / Supplies

Quite a few people have mentioned that the lack of these things are a problem and we agree. In this patch we have increased the likelihood that shops will spawn when a sector is generated.

Keep in mind that while we don't want shops to be ultra-rare, we don't want them to ultra-common too. It's a fine line, so let us know and we'd like to hear your feedback on how this is working out for you.

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Blazing Griffin posted the forth development Blog on Steam.

Dev Blog - 4th March 2015

There's no patch this week but given there's been a lot of discussion about some aspects of balancing, we've put together a blog post to update you all on what's currently being worked on.

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