Unfettered - Space Sim

LuckyCarbon · July 23, 2012

Hello my friends,

I wanted to (re)introduce my space sim rpg Unfettered.

http://www.unfettered-game.com

I say reintroduce because there is an old thread from January out there but that was before I even had a name picked out and I've made a lot of progress in the last six months. It's my 100% indie endeavor at this point. When I'm comfortable enough putting together a promo video, possibly an alpha demo I'll probably create a kickstarter for publish (software licenses) and polish (better textures, inventory icons, etc) money.

You play a single space ship pilot in a politically unstable galaxy determined to make your fortune by any means necessary. Trade goods, smuggle, bounty hunt, pirate, mine asteroids, play body guard to dignitaries or do the dirty work the local law would rather hire cannon fodder to do for them. There is a main storyline that you are free to follow or ignore as you desire.

How's it play? The game is very much in the vein of Privateer or Freelancer in terms of flight mechanics and goals. Controls are 100% mouse driven at this point, presented from a 1st or 3rd person camera. No cockpit representation at the moment but I'd love to add one if I can find the time/money.

Progress? Flight controls are 100% and I'm working almost exclusively on content. Distributing and balancing the 130+ equippable items, the 30 different commodities ( including 5 black market goods that will get you hunted by law enforcement ) and putting together each sector of space together. I'm doing a bit of UI revamp at the moment, in flight UI is almost finished and I'll have to start reskinning the planetary UI next. Main storyline writing is lagging behind a little but the development end of the story is coming along quite well. My very talented composer has 6/8 music pieces done and my character portrait artist is….well, she works for free.

Here's the latest screenshot I've posted to the site, I'm in mid-revamp of the In-Flight UI right now. I try to post new screenshots to my site every time I have something new to show, so check the site often.

I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about the game, development, the site, whatever.

blatantninja · July 23, 2012

I remember the thread (I thought you had the name at that point though). Having just finished a few months ago WC1 & 2, I eager anticipate your game!

Tragos · July 24, 2012

Ok so here are few questions :

How realistic are physics? i mean do mass count when it comes to speed and agility of a ship or it is just engines?

Is there possible for a group to get eliminated ?

Is the economy dynamic , semi-dynamic or just set per vendor ?

Would there be SEN or HEN ( shield/hull eating nebulas)

Combat will be tactical like in X series or heavy guns always do it like in Freelancer?

Is the AI made in a way like after you show up all combat between different groups stops to attack you?

There will be wingmen ?

Are areas "levelled" when it comes to ships/ equipment ?

Do the worst guys get the best weapons ?

How big are capital ships and can you fly one ?

Do you apply reputation limits before buy equipment ?

thanks in advance .

LuckyCarbon · July 24, 2012

Tragos said:
Ok so here are few questions :

Awesome! Real quesetions!

Tragos said:
How realistic are physics? i mean do mass count when it comes to speed and agility of a ship or it is just engines?

Physics are semi-real. Engines provide thrust to counteract your mass. Mass does count for stopping and acceleration, if you turn quickly, you'll slide a ways before your sideways drag and forward thrust overwhelm your previous vector and you're going exactly the direction you think you are again. Run into something, you'll bounce appropriately. That being said, I'm concentrating on fun and playability over trying to get every detail of the physics correct.

Tragos said:
Is there possible for a group to get eliminated ?

Possibly in the storyline but not just because the player decides to spend all his energy blowing up their bases.

Tragos said:
Is the economy dynamic , semi-dynamic or just set per vendor ?

Semi-dynamic. Mostly set per vendor but there are trading subsidies as random missions that will drastically affect prices and if time permits I would like to build in random events that affect prices on a planet or sector.

Tragos said:
Would there be SEN or HEN ( shield/hull eating nebulas)

Yes, absolutely. Some shields are designed for mining those plasma clouds, less effective in a fire fight but stand up much better to radiation and corrosive plasma.

Tragos said:
Combat will be tactical like in X series or heavy guns always do it like in Freelancer?

Freelancer style combat. Or Wing Commanders, Xwing/Tie Fighter, Privateers, Freespace 2, etc if anyone's not familiar with Freelancer.

Tragos said:
Is the AI made in a way like after you show up all combat between different groups stops to attack you?

No. The AI has a formula to choose it's targets based on how much it hates the other factions ( player included ), the value of the target, how much of a threat the target is and whether it's being attacked by that target. Every AI reevaluates it's possible targets periodically to make sure it's on the best possible target.

The players is just another ship in the galaxy as far as the AI is concerned. Your standing with the factions will change how they react to you. Of course it's impossible to be friends with everyone. Pirates and military police just won't be friends.

Tragos said:
There will be wingmen ?

In the storyline yes, but not that you can hire just because you want backup. You also may become a wingman during the storyline or if you just feel like providing backup, you can form up on the wing of any friendly ship (great for escort missions as well).

Tragos said:
Are areas "levelled" when it comes to ships/ equipment ?

Yes. It's possible I add a small amount of scaling based on play testing but right now every sector has a level. With some few exceptions, expect to find weapons, ships and competition roughly around the level of the sector.

Tragos said:
Do the worst guys get the best weapons ?

No, the player does! However the worst guys get the second best weapons.

Tragos said:
How big are capital ships and can you fly one ?

Um, big. A capital ship is approximately 30 fighters long and 15 fighters wide? Haven't measured, I just eyeball it. Military and trading frigates are much more common and are about 6x the size of a fighter.

No you can not fly a capital ship or frigate. The player is restricted to one single pilot fighter or transport ( about 3x the size of a fighter and flies like it too ). There are currently 19 fighters and 5 transports that are flyable by the player.

Tragos said:
Do you apply reputation limits before buy equipment ?

Yes. If you're not friendly with a faction, they won't trade with you. Want to buy that military grade "excess" hardware, then you'd better be sure the military likes and trusts you.

Tragos said:
thanks in advance .

Thank you for your interest!

Unfettered - Space Sim

LuckyCarbon

RollPGs

blatantninja

Resident Redneck Facist

Tragos

Otinanist

LuckyCarbon

RollPGs