Hi people,

the development of "Cosmic Explorer" continues! Here are the changes for this version:

- Changed surface landscape view: Now you can see a real landscape instead of the top-view created by patterns.

- City icons on the surface are also more realistic now.

- The navigator module shows all systems now, not only the ones around the current position.

- While in a sector, you can only buy the hyperdrive for next sector, not for others too.

- You can pick up powerpacks on planets from which you either get more energy or budget.

Happy exploring!

Regards

SpaceRider

Hey SpaceRider

v1.31d seems to be running nice on my system. I have been playing for about 2hrs now and have seen a few things..

- Where is sector 2? I try to buy a bigger engine and says only can be installed in sector 2.

- The sector list window doesn't move. Is there a way to get this to move so when you are looking at missions to take you can see how far these sectors are? And on the sector list does the 'dist' column show you how many lightyear from your present location?

- On Windows7 64bit, when I save a game the game window seems to lockup/non-responsive roughly at 50% and then after about 1-2mins it will save correctly.

- During the config screen I choose windowed mode and start the game and that runs fine. But if I close the game and restart I have to choose windowed again.

- I have been observing the equipment prices and they don't vary much from city to city. Is this intended?

- Are there any plans to make any of the artifacts in the game beneficial to player? (like finding alien tech to replace a part on your ship)

- On the star map, when you visit a sector does the color the start turns mean anything?

I have been having fun going to every sector and think I am about 45% finished with the map. Is there some sort of ending when you have visited every sector? Thanks for all the updates and keep it up. I was going to do a write-up for Cosmic Explorer really soon so trying to get some answers to some of these questions and issues that I am seeing 🙂

-D1-

Hi DarkOne,

thanks for the first review! Here are my answers:

- Sector 2 is a part of the galaxy, which is divided into 4 sectors numbered from left to right: You start in sector 1 top left, then sector 2 is top right, sector 3 is bottom left and sector 4 bottom right. I think I will have to make this more clear in the manual. You need a bigger engine to move from a sector to the next, but you can only buy the engine for the next sector, not for the ones following the next. For example, while you are in sector 1, you can just buy the engine for moving to sector 2, not sector 3 and 4. The sectors do not have a distance, they are just an area you can reach with the right engine. The galaxy sector map you can see at left beside the command panel will show you in which sector you currently are.

- I think you mean the system list, not sector list, right? You are right, the numbers mean the distance in lightyears from your current system to the others. Depending on your navigator module, it shows you which systems are in range of your current energy level or provides a button to move to a system directly.

- My operating system is Windows 64bit too. Saving the game needs a bit for the FIRST time, but all next saving operations should go fast. The reason is that saving data of 600 systems and all planets and cities will need some time, but once done, only differences will be saved, not all data again.

- I think the automatic window mode is still not perfect, I will fix that in next version.

- The equipment prices do not vary much, that is true. The reason is that it should not be too easy to upgrade. However, I think I will change this in future so depending on the sector, a certain equipment class will be cheaper.

- Yes, I also plan to implement something to make found items beneficial to the player. This will not be artefacts but lost modules, e. g. a module which removes storage limits or alien technology to stop energy consumption when you move between sectors etc. Lots of ideas on my to-do list :).

- The color of a visited star system (not a sector) has a meaning: Grey = no life form, Green = just Plants, Purple = just animals, Red = intelligent life forms (see manual, chapter "Main window").

I am just implementing some changes. For example, you have to pay a lot for getting the direction where the artefact you need is located. You can cheat this easily when you save game game, ask and then reload the game again. So in next version, the people you transport from one system to another will tell you a hint at the end. Also, the destination systems will not be somewhere in the sector (which is not very logical) but more local near you present system.

So I suggest you take a break now from your exploration, relax a bit and wait until the next version is ready (in a few days). You will be able to continue your game because I will take care that it is compatible.

Best regards

SpaceRider

Thanks for all the feedback on the things I mentioned. I will wait to write a review until after I have played your new version.

One thought on something that just came up. I know you can set this in the options, but in the in-game events that happen when you fly or leave stations. How come the negative events seem to really come up more than the positive? Or the negative events seem to cost me more 🙂

Here is something to think about that I was thinking would be nice to have in Cosmic Explorer is the ability to capture the fuel/energy re-suppy rate so you know where to go for cheap energy. Say as you visit a system and it sells fuel it gets recorded at the price on visit and you can use this list to save you some credits. Because I have paid out some credits $2-3 per unit when the next system over had it for .2 🙂

Or if that is to costly to code in, could there be a way to flag a star-system and then it pulsates/blinks on occasion to show that you have marked it for fuel. Just some thoughts, I am just trying to point out some frustrations is all. Like I mentioned about that star map the smallest stars are actually very hard to target on the screen. I will try it in fullscreen mode to see if that changes things. But in windowed mode it is hard to find the hotspot to click on.

Great work and keep it up!

Hi people,

after some rework and testing rounds, I can now proudly present version 1.40a of Cosmic Explorer! These are the changes for this version:

Additionally to the 4 artefacts you can now search a "mystical alien module" in each sector, providing a feature to expand the functionality of your star map. Depending on what kind of module you found and installed, you will be able to see the star systems

• with lowest energy prices
• which are destinations of your passengers

  with power pack

• which are in range of your current energy level

Similar to artefacts, your passengers will give you a hint where you can find the module (after your found the artefact).

• There are now 10 landscapes per star type, not only 5
• Events will only occur once when you leave a city, not each time
• The navigator module wil show you destination systems of your passengers with a red arrow in front
• Lots of minor bugfixes and enhancements.

Hope you will like it!

Have fun!

SpaceRider

Good changes i like the additional landscapes

Hi people,

just a little information that a new version of Cosmic Explorer is available. In version 1.41a, this is new:

• The headquarter is not a building somewhere any more but a large cruiser which your boss uses to travel with you to the unexplored galaxy. From there, you will start your explorations using your own ship and have to return to deliver the requested artefacts. Depending on the number of artefacts found, your boss tells you a message for encouragement.
• Some landscape pictures were changed by better ones.
• Minor bugfixes.

Have fun!

SpaceRider

Thank you! I will try to find additional ones. Maybe I will get the chance to generate more by myself.

Regards

SpaceRider

Hi DarkOne!

Do not worry, the positive and negative events should be balanced, they occur random based and you have always a chance of 50 % for the positive ones :).

That was a really good idea! It is now implemented. There is an alien technology module (one of four) which shows you the (already visited) star systems with lowest energy prices. However you need to find this module first before you can use this feature.

I also realized that. There will be 2 alternatives to solve this: Either to create more sectors, e. g. 8 with 75 systems each, or to implement some kind of magnifying function. I tend to the last and will implement it at next chance.

Yes, sir! I will do it so :)!

Regards

SpaceRider