Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Indie, Card & Board Game
Takara Cards
New Map and exploration mechanics in BETA!
Hello Cadets! It's time to try out the second part of the next BIG update in the OPEN BETA: A new NAVIGATION system!
The game now has a procedural MAP that can be freely explored by the player. The cadet is free to choose when to face the Dragon, which is positioned on one of the Map's stars. After "clearing" a jump point of enemies, the star becomes available for jumps WITHOUT combat. Each jump now consumes 100 Credits indefinitely, even if the bank balance is negative.
Several changes have been made to the game's event and combat systems to make them work with the new Map:
Events and points of interest are more organically integrated into the map and give a sense of exploration that was previously lacking. Combat encounters are shorter and with fewer enemies overall.
Minor improvements:
- Improvements to the Jump generator, combat is a little more varied now. - New HP bar for Mothership units. - Some Reputations have had their mechanics adapted to better integrate with the new Map. - Improved Rank System with yet another multiplier: Clear the Jump of enemies! - Changes to the EMP damage system: Any drone now suffers EMP damage and the value of this is always subtracted from the overall HP of the units hit. - Tutorial and Manual updated with changes to the mechanics and improvements to the text. - Several small improvements to Dragon events. - Some bugs fixed in Card mechanics. - Several minor bugs fixed.
Existing characters should work with the new Map system, but after playing in the Beta, these personas can no longer be used in the previous version. There are still a few details to be worked out before we release this update to all players. Our target for this update is mid-November.
Have fun and please let us know what you think of the new mechanics.
Next big update and the Open Beta!
[Hello Cadets! We revealed in the last announcement that we now have a Publisher helping us, GrabTheGames! Thanks to them, we can now allow ourselves to improve some aspects of the game that we'd like to.
We decided to focus on these improvements before finishing the other two races. Despite this, the other two races are still in production by the artists, as most of the changes are mechanics and code.
These improvements come first in the Open Beta, which is now available for all players to use (go to the "Betas" section of the game on Steam). We'd love to hear what players think about these changes! We'll keep the Beta stable, but characters played in the Beta are incompatible with the Current version.
Score and rank system implemented
The first improvements come to the game's Combat. With the exception of dragon bosses (which remain as they were), now a jump only ends when ALL UNITS are defeated and turns are added together instead of subtracted. Along with this, we've implemented a scoring system and Ranks. The Cadet's performance in a jump is measured based on the number of units defeated minus the number of turns spent doing so. A point multiplier system also exists: Didn't take damage in the Jump? Your points are multiplied! Didn't get the score you wanted? You can try (ONCE per Jump) again!
Several changes have been made to the game to make these new mechanics work, including:
Decrease the number of units per Jump, so that combat doesn't take too long.
Introduction of a new card that allows the Cadet to leave the Jump just before defeating ALL the units. This card is drawn automatically when there are only 4 units left in the jump.
Now, in most card-giving Events, the player can choose between three options (one of them being a Fetched card). Just like when you level up!
Complete revision of the Event texts. In some cases, the texts have been rewritten!
Minor improvements and changes
Manual updated with new mechanics and revisions!
Distances to bosses have been reduced even further. They are now, in order: 5 > 4 > 3 jumps.
Improvements to the "BreakOff" mechanic: Enemies on the top outside jump to the board when the Jump Stack is empty now.
Silver Tape card is now an intuitive Reputation and can only be earned this way.
Reputations that give cards can now be PRESSED to buy these cards in the middle of combat.
Temple visits now cost a few credits.
Solar Wind no longer deals DAMAGE and can move the player's attack pieces.
Several bug fixes.
The next major update will focus on the game's Navigation system and mechanics (the Map!). This major update is scheduled for the end of October - the beginning of September.
Announcing our partnership with GrabTheGames!
Hello Cadets!
Today we'd like to announce our partnership with publisher GrabTheGames! They will be helping us with marketing and localization in several languages, among other things!
In practice, this means:
The game will have a better chance of finding a wider audience on Steam.
A little more time and resources for the development of the game, resulting in more improvements!
Finally, a delay (thanks to the improvements and localization) in the release of the final version. We had previously planned to release 1.0 in August/September. Now the plan is to release it at the beginning of 2024.
We're already working on additional improvements to the game, such as mechanics and new Enemy Units:
The next game update should be out in around 10 days! Until then, safe jump!
Finally: New and final boss implemented!
We apologize for the delay!
This update was supposed to be out more than ten days ago, but we experienced several delays, including each of the team members falling ill on different days.
Light "story mode" implemented in the Events system:
In addition to the general events that the player encounters, the game also has "fixed" events that appear during the journey to each of the three bosses. These fixed events encountered vary randomly in each Run, and depending on the Cadet's responses, new events can appear afterward.
Third and final Boss implemented:
The first and second bosses are very similar, changing the units that appear and increasing the difficulty from one to the other. The third boss, except its first phase, tests your Cadet in a completely different way: So different that we decided not to reveal anything and leave it as a surprise to whoever manages to get to it! But reaching the last boss is a real test of combat!!! ;)
The game has seven possible endings that vary depending on your actions on the final boss...
"New Run+" mode implemented:
Upon finishing the game, the player can continue playing normally or do a "new run" with the SAME character on Normal or Hard difficulty.
Runs are now slightly shorter and more focused:
There are 7 initial jumps to the first boss. Then 4 and 3 to reach the second and third boss respectively. We feel the game has a better pace this way.
New mechanics:
The Cadet can choose between three Maneuver cards every time he levels up. If "Searching" for a card, one of them will be present on the menu. The "Forced Ejection by the Dragons" mechanic/event now only happens ONCE to the player, acting as a kind of tutorial. In subsequent runs, the invasion occurs directly on the first attempt.
New environment and unit implemented:
The Wind Field environment is filled with Solar Winds, which push both your ship and the other units around! Be careful!
New combat music implemented: Humans now enjoy their own music! :D
Some minor improvements:
Requirements (number of jumps) to "unlock" Humans lowered, future races will also unlock faster.
Added dramatic pause when being "pushed", for better visual feedback.
Various minor improvements to the interface and visual feedback of combat.
Improved card selection during combat (mouse and touch).
Knock Three Times card now Moves instead of Swapping with the enemy.
Slight balancing of some cards (especially Humans).
Bug where Lucky Stab could be bought in stores fixed.
Some minor bugs were fixed.
We'd like to thank all of you for your support and patience: your criticism and praise make all the difference to the game. We have lots of other stuff to share, but we'll limit ourselves to saying that the game will have a better chance to improve even more. ;)
About the current state of development
Hello Federation Cadets!
Today we'd like to update you (again) on the state of the game's development.
The Third Boss update is already in the final testing phase! It turned out to be more complex than we expected and testing it properly has taken time. Also, some of us got sick in the last few weeks, which delayed the update a bit too.
The good news is that in addition to the final boss and the "light story mode", we will have other improvements in the game!
One of them is a NEW mechanic:
Your cadet can now choose from Three Maneuver cards when leveling up. If you are “Searching” for a card, one of them will be present in the choice.
Another piece of good news is that we have already started working on the NEXT big update (after the Boss one):
A third playable race, the Orks! The artwork for this update is already well underway:
Check out the process of our artist, Keiko, painting:
We have a lot of other good surprises to reveal, but today is not the day to do that! Thanks for your patience, in a few days the update should be live. :)
Coming soon: Last Boss and Events!
Hello Federation Cadets!
Today we'd like to update you on the state of the game's development.
We are in the middle of development of the last Dragon Boss:
This boss will be VERY DIFFERENT from the previous two... but we want to keep the details a surprise. ;)
Along with the third boss the game will receive a light "story mode":
During the search for the dragons, the Cadet will find specific events (different in each Run) that narrate some consequences of the Dragons' attack. Factions and other beings in the galaxy are slowly realizing that the Federation has been plundered!
In addition to these "fixed" events, new events have been created that appear depending on the Cadet's responses and attitudes in the story!
This update should arrive at the end of this month, at the beginning of August at the latest.
New version: b091
- New difficulty mechanics:
Some base units now have a chance to start with more HP and this becomes more common as the Cadet levels up. This mechanic affects all difficulty modes.
- New “Hard Mode”, selectable at character creation:
When activated, ALL units now have a chance to start with more HP. Cadet ship repair cost is higher as well. (this implementation is an initial sketch for testing)
Minor Improvements:
- Slight balancing at the beginning level of some Maneuvers: Barrel Roll is slightly worse at level 0. Ace Pilot and some other better ones. - Balancing some units to make the game a little more interesting. - "Beholder" unit's side attack now "Pushes" and deals more damage. - "Fire Punch" unit now Moves and Pushes in "zig-zag". - Minor improvements to the text of some cards. - Mission to invade mothership is only activated when selecting a Portal in the Jump interface (STG). - Fixed bug where some cards sometimes did not damage the units of the dragon's mothership.
New version: b090
New Faction/Store implemented: THE UNICORN EXPRESS!
The largest delivery company in this arm of the galaxy has its name inspired by the animals previously used as jumping engines: The Unicorns! During their jumps, the cadet can now encounter two new types of Units: Unicorn Cargo and Lost Cargo. Both can be delivered to Unicorn drop Stations for credits, but LOST Cargo can be identified and converted into equipment! It's like a Loot Chest!
Other improvements:
Level UP now requires 500xp more, but leaves 500xp left over every time the cadet evolves.
Greater consistency when saving Current Sectors: Shops no longer “disappear” when opening and closing the game.
Drawing cards from the discard pile mechanic now ALWAYS draws the last card used.
Balancing to some Human cards.
Mothership units (such as turrets and engines) can now be attacked by cards that deal damage on the direct tile.
Some Mothership units now have an "HP bar".
Attempted balancing on choosing random tiles: Now at least ONE selectable tile must be within the navigable board (in testing).
Enlarged LOG font for better readability.
Added to the Codex (in Anatomy of Units) a list about some unit actions (micro-jump, decay, random movement, battery...).
New entry in the Codex on how Cards are draw during combat.
Fixed several bugs in selling Equipment. Prices are in line with damage type and Equip state now.
Fixed bug where Humans were drawing more cards than normal.
New playable race: Humans!
Build 89 of the game features the Intuitive Humans as a new playable race! They are unlocked in the character creator once the Cadet defeats the first boss or completes 16 space jumps.
The power of Humans is called Ventura:
Each turn a ventura value is drawn [0, 10% or 20%], this value is added to the Cadet's LUCK attribute and influences several things IN and OUT of combat. With an unusual intuition, humans can almost predict their luck!
The Human ship is called Knife:
She has the most fragile hull of all races, but has more Shields and Batteries capabilities. Also, it's main attack varies with the Ventura value, and can even cost ZERO energy in some situations!
10 new Cards, 7 exclusive to Humans plus 3 general:
New maneuvers have been made exclusively for Humans, who move around the combat board SWITCHING places with their enemies.
Improved Jump interface!
The jump interface has been reorganized, now the jump information is displayed at the top, while details about the landing sector are at the bottom.
Other improvements:
- English text of almost ALL events revised or rewritten. - Reputations that affect race “powers” now work dynamically for each race. - Reputations that deal cards on the first turn now have a chance to deal the same cards every turn. - More “balancing” of the cards! - Improvements in the text generator of the “summaries” of the cards. - Further improvements to Card text rendering. - Some bugs fixed.
And last but not least, we have Avatars available in the Steam interface with paintings of the game's Cadets:
Coming soon: new playable Race!
Hello Cadets!
Today we would just like to update you on what we are currently working on: A new Race, the Humans!
We are already in the testing phase of Humans. New cards, mechanics and other changes have already been implemented. Our forecast for this update is June 12th.
In the meantime, here's a video by artist Keiko showing the process of painting one of the new cards:
