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Star Traders 2


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Kickstarter for StarTraders 2, https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tresebrothers/star-traders-2-rpg never heard of the first one, me neither but according to the vid lots have about a million.

 

So best description is a 2D turn based  space trading RPG, looking for $50K and have 34 days to do it and as ever more detail on Kickstarter.

 

Website http://www.tresebrothers.com/

 

 

From Kickstarter.

 

For four years, our players have asked us to break new ground and create a next-generation RPG in the Star Traders universe. It’s time for us to make good on our promises. Star Traders 2 will be, at its core, an RPG and trading game set in a completely open, non-linear universe. We've mingled inspirations from genre-defining series like Firefly and Battlestar Galactica, books like Dune, and games like Mass Effect, Pirates! and Dwarf Fortress, but the core of the project is inspired and driven by the original Star Traders RPG and our community's vision for ST 2. If you're new to the Star Traders world, we hope you'll join us as a backer and as a Captain. If you're already a Captain - here is the project for which you've been waiting, but we can't do it without you.

d739b4330ad85d0591291991244307fb_large.pCross-platform, adaptive interfaces - Android (phone and tablet), iOS (iPhone and iPad), PC and Mac

From your bridge, command your hand-picked crew and fully customizable ship. Roam through a massive open-universe with complete freedom to choose how and when to approach your goals. Interact with hundreds of detailed characters with unique personalities, strengths and weaknesses.

  • Explore a huge game universe with over one thousand years of rich lore developed from our Star Traders games. Experience the galaxy from whatever role you choose for your Captain and ship. You can be a pirate, trader, bounty hunter, mercenary, spy or any blend that suits your style. 
  • Develop living relationships with the denizens of the quadrants you visit. Your choices will make friends and enemies among the Factions that hold power in space. 
  • Assemble and train your crew, developing them from lowly staff to bridge officers. Recruit and promote individual characters from the star systems and colonies you visit.
  • Exploit the economic and cultural diversity of the quadrants to gain the upper hand in trading, smuggling and political dealings. Expand your commercial success by discovering new trade routes, trafficking rare goods or illicit cargo. 
  • Explore uncharted worlds, walk the halls of ancient palaces and lead your crew and officers on dangerous missions.
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Star Traders 2 will let us explore Faction reputation at a personal level - through the members, leaders and enemies of each Faction. Get to know individual courtiers, merchants and soldiers. Build your own realistic network of contacts, allies and enemies.

The game’s new Motivation Engine will let you uncover the humanity of your ship’s crew, and you will get to know the officers and even the rank and file sailors. As the ship’s master and commander, you’ll depend on the crew as they’ll depend on you. From our study of inspirational works like Firefly, Traveler and Battlestar Galactica, we clearly saw that the crew dynamic is where the drama and story begin -- ship morale in Star Traders 2 will be a function of both what the Captain does, and how he or she does it.

The Trese Brothers have created 6 games (Star Traders, Cyber Knights, Templar Assault, Age of Pirates, Heroes of Steel, Star Traders 4X Empires) and now we want to take our concepts to the next level. Star Traders 2 will expand on the original in multiple dimensions by exploring both the big picture and little details. We want to make a game that truly focuses on the characters that make up the Star Traders universe and allow you to dig deeper than the broad backdrop of Factions and ships.

 

 


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Couple update from the Kickstarter, first one adds Linux support to the game.

 

 

Dear Team,

First, I want to express our gratitude to our first 200 backers!  You've kicked off this project with a bang and helped us already reach the 11% funded mark in less than 48 hours.  We are well on our way now, and the thrusters are just warming up.

Second, I wanted to correct an oversight we had in the platform matrix for the game.  We WILL be supporting Linux as one of our platforms for Star Traders 2 RPG.  So, if you are a Linux fan, or know some Linux fans - be sure to back the project or share it with your friends.  We've updated the pitch, but are unable to change the actual rewards running down the side (once taken, they cannot be updated).

 

And the second one was saying they have hit the social target thing and have decided to release 8 wallpapers to backer of the game as a thankyou.

 

I am hoping this game may help with my itch for a space RPG in the mould of Megatraveller/Starflight ect.


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Update from Kickstarter.

 

 

Dear Backers, Captains and Fans,

What an exciting first six days!  We've just cranked up over 21%. You can feel the ship's hull shaking in that familiar way as the main thrusters engage.  We're headed up!  

Today, we wanted share more about one of the most important systems in Star Traders 2 RPG - the Motivation Engine and how it will affect your crew and the stories you create with them.

Your Ship Needs a Crew ... 

A ship cannot fly without her crew and so one of your most important responsibilities as a Captain is selecting, developing and retaining a talented staff of varying disciplines. Each individual ship will have specific requirements as to the number and type of Crew to operate it efficiently. Ships with high maintenance hyperwarp drives demand more engineers while military ships with heavy armaments will need well-trained gunnery teams. Ships with large crews will need an officer corps to take commanding positions of leadership in the crew hierarchy. 

It’s your story - and Star Traders 2 RPG will be built to support both large and small crews. Will you Captain a small and discrete Moon Runner -- a true smuggler’s rig -- with a classic Firefly crew of 8? You’ll need to assemble and nurture a team of veterans. You’ll come to know each of them closely, and their issues, goals, and problems will reverberate down the metal halls of your ship. Or, will command more than a hundred men and women from the bridge of your behemoth Strikecruiser MK2? You’ll look to your officer corps to lead them, as there are too many to know them all. But even with 150 crew aboard, we’ll track them all in them as individuals, and in time some will rise while others will fall - from their ranks will rise the next generation of officers: the veterans, the scarred, the leaders.

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... You’ll Find Them Eager ...

Across thousands of worlds scattered through the Quadrants there are millions of citizens, and on every world you visit there will be potential crew who are looking to work on your Star Trader vessel and traverse the galaxy via hyperwarp gates.  

The motivations for these men and women are myriad and varied -- some wish to escape poverty, violence, persecution or leave behind a dark past. Some will join because they have specific goals or plans while others are simply gravs seeking a new life of adventure. As the Captain, you'll be able to visit the Spice Halls, Military Bases and Palaces of these worlds to evaluate and recruit new members to your crew.

In untroubled times, you have the freedom to try to select crew whose allegiances, goals and motivations match your own as a Captain. At other times, you won’t have the luxury, needing to quickly replace crew lost in battle, as deserters or to retirement with whoever is available on world. Your skills as a Captain and those of your ship’s officers will help you select effective crew from the crowds found in the local Spice Hall. As your Captain's career advances, you'll be better equipped to detect dishonest or unreliable recruits.

... And Come to Know Them

The Motivation Engine will breathe life into the members of your crew and officers. Each soul on board your ship will have a unique personality assembled from their strengths, weaknesses as well as their goals, both obvious and hidden. Across the wide spectrum of quadrants and worlds, you’ll find individuals shaped by their climate, environment, political and economic environments. Everyone comes from somewhere, and these conditions will be used by the Motivation Engine to form the basis of the personalities of the characters you meet. 

An engine is a thing in motion, so it is fitting that the Motivation Engine’s greatest strength will be its ability to change these characters. Their experiences -- good or bad -- will change them, scar them, strengthen them, or drive them away from you. Traits will be added, mutated, eroded and cause friction as you keep flying - phobias, bravery, delusions, loyalty, and trauma. Every choice you make as a commander will leave a stamp on your crew, your story written into the scars they carry and the bars they wear. 

As you lead your crew across the galaxy, they will gain critical experience as warriors, explorers, spacers or traders, making them more effective in their jobs. Crew members who are achieving their personal goals will develop faster and learn more -- so it will be in your best interest to align the Crew with your Captain's lifestyle. 

The interaction of your crew, career and choices will create a game system that supports both hero and anti-hero by providing a realistic supporting cast. Our goal is to provide engaging personalities filled with quirks, foibles and strengths. If you chose the path of a ruthless pirate, you’ll find that the crew and officers who flock to you, and chose to stay, will be villainous and criminal. Lead as a righteous officer within the Cadar military and you’ll crew and the stories you’ll create together will be altogether different.

 


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doing well on the funding front.

 

 

Backers, Captains, and Fans!

We are honored to celebrate the 25% funding milestone tonight.  You've shown us such love and support, and we've come so far so fast toward turning Star Traders 2 RPG into a reality!  Your positive energy and support is infectious and it's drawing many new Captains to our project as well.   

To capture the excitement swirling in the air, the feeling of gamers-and-devs working together, and the general love for Star Traders, I wanted to share a word cloud for our big 25%.  It's composed of all the comments that have been left by backers on our KickStarter page (removing only the words: Trese, games, game).  What a happy picture -- you would think we were forming a commune instead of making video games 😛

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Over the weekend, we will release another feature update that will look in more detail at a major game system. If you'd love to hear about something specific in a future update, please post in the comments and we will try to cover it!

For the social rewards - don't forget to share the KickStarter project page, retweet this tweet and share this Facebook post!  We have over 400 shares now, and counting up to 500 to release of the epic Star Traders title track.

For newcomers to ST 2, if you haven't played Star Traders RPG - now is the time to find out what all the buzz is about!  Play for free on your Android or your iPhone or iPad.

Our deepest gratitude,

Andrew and Cory

Trese Brothers - Two Brothers on a Mission

 


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They are having one of these ask me anything on Reddit which always happens when I am asleep.

 

 

Reddit Ask Me Anything

Also, I wanted to share that we've just opened up a Reddit Ask Me Anything on the AndroidGaming subreddit.  It's titled "I am an Android dev with 4 games with 4.7 or higher stars. AMA"

If you are on Reddit, this is your chance to ask Andrew Trese anything and get real time responses!  I will be hanging out for the next few hours and promise snappy answers.  If you get this update too late, I will catch up and answer all questions in the next day or two, so post them anyway!

Join the conversation on Reddit

Thank you again for your support,

Andrew and Cory

Trese Brothers - Two Brothers on a Mission


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I actually have played Star Traders! It's under Star Traders RPG on Google Play. It's a pretty old game now, but it was a lot of fun to play. You have all these options of how to play and I (of course) chose to join a faction's privateer group and just go about shooting other factions' ships whenever they were at war with my faction. You get reputation, get better ships/upgrade your ship, hire officers, get crew, etc, etc. It was a pretty fun game. Fighting gameplay was sort of like Smugglers without the random card mechanic from it. I've also played one of his other games, the name of it I forget though.. The best part was the dev is very dedicated to his games and fans! He regularly updated the games to add new things, get rid of bugs and such.

 

If his game developing skills has progressed over the years and if his dedication is any indication of what Star Traders 2 might be like, I have really high hopes for it!


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Not familiar with their previous games myself but they do seem to have a good rep with their buyers of their games and it's looking promising.

 

Looking for a bit more info on the planets and what you can expect to see and do on them.


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New update from Kickstarter along with them going for Greenlight on Steam.

 

 

Dear Captains, Backers and Fans,

We’re excited to announce two launches with this update - the start of competition to see which Faction commands the most loyalists, and the opening of our Greenlight project for Star Traders 2 RPG!

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Faction Competition

It is time to come out and support your Faction. We’re opening a friendly competition among our Captains and Backers to spotlight the most popular Factions among those in the Star Traders RPG Quadrant. There are bonuses at stake in the existing Star Traders games (RPG and 4X Empires) so get to your voting poll as fast as possible and make your allegiances known!

Any Faction who receives at least 50 votes will receive a minor Faction bonus in Star Traders RPG as well as a minor advantage to their Faction-specific technology in Star Traders 4X Empires. Getting a full 50 votes is not going to be easy, so get the vote out!

The Faction who receives the highest number of votes will be crowned the winner and will receive a major Faction bonus in Star Traders RPG as well as a major advantage to their Faction-specific technology in Star Traders 4X Empires.  Your Faction needs you!

Voting will close promptly at midnight EST on Saturday, September 13 - so you have about 72 hours to get your vote in! We'll be sure to keep everyone up to date on the vote counts as we publish more updates.

To vote, add a new comment to the KickStarter page that nominates your Faction of choice. Use the simple format below.  Feel encouraged to leave more than a simple vote - tell us why you love your Faction!

Faction Vote: Thulun

A few quick rules and notes:

  • Only backers of the project are able to vote.  Back the project at any amount and get voting!
  • The valid voting options are: De Valtos, Cadar, Rychart, Thulun, Javat, or Steel Song.  Sorry Independents.
  • You may only vote once. If you vote multiple times, we will only count the last vote.
  • We love suggestions and feedback! Please feel encouraged to post a comment suggesting what you think your Faction’s bonus should be in either RPG or 4X Empires! 

Greenlight Shines on Star Traders 2

Today, we have launched the Steam Greenlight project for Star Traders 2 RPG. If you are on Steam, please visit the Greenlight page and give us a Yes vote to help Star Traders 2 RPG get added to Steam. If you choose Windows, Mac, or Linux as your platform for your copy of the game, you will receive a Steam key whenever we Greenlight in addition to a key or digital download on another distribution network (such as Desura).

With a history of being able to successfully Greenlight games (Heroes of Steel is already on Steam and Star Traders 4X Empires is climbing the Greenlight charts) we are confident that we will be able to bring Star Traders 2 RPG to Steam with your help.

Please share the Greenlight project and this KickStarter with your Steam friends and let’s make this happen together!

 


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Enjoyed Star Traders RPG a lot on my phone 🙂 Hope this one will be as good as its predecessor 🙂


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Another update to the game.

 

 

Dear Captains, Backers, and Fans,

As a Star Trader Captain you command a special place within the quadrants and among the mighty Factions. You are one of the elite few who possess the skills, leadership and luck to be a licensed Star Trader and the sole owner of a spacing vessel. As a Captain, you may choose to ally with a Faction or strike your own path - you are the final authority on your spacing ship, and it is both liberating and a great responsibility.

It is your ship, and your license to use it as an independent Star Trader, that sets you apart from the rest of the galaxy.

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Ship Design

In the years following the end of the great Exodus, the new colonies of the isolated quadrants lacked large shipyards. Most Star Trader Captains made do with heavily modified and upgraded vessels that were a hundred years old or older. Over the years, some of the quadrants found their footing and grew in power and wealth and they began to construct great shipyards to build the ships of the new era.

Your craft’s hull will determine its basic design and allow you to slot components of your choice into its modular structure. Your ship’s blueprint sets the layout of the decks, cargo bays, bulkheads, compartments, and primary engines. Each deck of a ship will have empty compartments that can be filled with upgrades of all kinds -- crew cabins, weapon magazines, gunnery pods, medical bays or hundreds of other options. With enough Credits, you can upgrade or replace every compartment to build your ship to your exact specifications. At capable shipyards, you'll also be able to pay for major upgrades such as improving the engines, outer armored hull and solar sails.

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As a Captain, you'll upgrade your ship to fit the needs of your profession, your type of work and your crew. A Bounty Hunter Captain may prefer the battle-ready design of a Vector hull, with three decks and large compartments well-suited to heavy weapons, barracks and an armored bridge. A Smuggler Captain may prefer a sleek Cutter hull, with five decks and many small compartments ready for hidden cargo, luxury cabins, fuel storage and electronics compartments.

For backers at $75 tier and above, you’ll receive the Hyperwarp Starter Pack Digital Reward. Any time you create a new Captain, you’ll have the option to use this exclusive KickStarter reward which will allow you to upgrade the compartments of your starting ship. You’ll be able to load out your ship in a way that suits your Captain’s profession and your plans, giving you a big head start in the galaxy. These additional component upgrade options will be unique and only available to through Kickstarter.  Note that you will always have the option not to use this Starter Pack if you don't want a head start in some games.

The original Star Traders RPG uses a score-based system to balance ships and gives your Captain the option to install over 60 different upgrades. Many of those upgrades, such as Battle Prows and Smuggler’s Holds, will be available as modules for Star Traders 2 RPG ships. Star Traders 4X Empires uses a modular ship design system which is the first edition of our new design engine. Star Traders 2 will feature our most advanced ship design system yet, supporting millions of configurations.

314d72fbcac4cce4bce112835c7f68a8_large.pThe original Star Traders RPG features over 600 ships and many classic hull designs that you will see again in Star Traders 2.

Isolated for centuries, each Quadrant evolved unique technologies, hull designs and upgrades. This variety will give the Captain an incredible array of options for designing his or her ship. However, many ship upgrades you select will have crew requirements that must be met to support the upgrade. Installing an auxiliary engine bay and fuel processing station will provide no bonuses without extra engineering staff. A heavy gun deck in the ship’s prow does not fire itself - it needs experienced gunnery crews to blast holes in the enemy’s hull. If you try to make those combat-trained crew sleep in their prow battle stations, morale will plummet into a mutiny very quickly - so you’ll need to install enough crew cabins to house them all.

Faction Competition Update

The Faction competition is still roaring along with votes coming in every hour. I've totaled up the votes again before the last 24 hour push to Saturday at midnight (US, EST). Every Faction is still within striking distance of the 30 vote threshold to get the minor bonus in ST RPG and 4X Empires.  Thulun has pulled farther into the lead with 20 votes!  Get out and support your Faction!

If you’re interested in learning more about the 6 Factions of Star Traders RPG, read about them here in the original Star Traders RPG manual. The manual is 4 years old, but it has a great description of each Faction. Even if you’re a newcomer to Star Traders, check them out and then vote for the one you think you’d enjoy the most! 

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Thank you for your continued support!

Andrew and Cory Trese  

Trese Brothers - Two Brothers on a Mission

 

Very Traveller like those deck plans.


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New update.

 

 

Dear Backers, Captains, and Fans,

Today, we wanted to highlight what will make the Alpha Access phase so special and so awesome, as well as share the results from the Faction Competition.

Spotlight on the Alpha Access 

Alpha phases hold a very dear place in our hearts here at Trese Brothers. Our focus during an Alpha is to give you the game when it has reached a point of both stability and fun, but before it is finished. We love hosting these Alphas because we get to work so closely with the team members while they are playing the game, sharing their first experiences, and brainstorming with us on how to take the game to the next level. 

I wrote up a few questions and answers about the Alpha Access phase I wanted to share. We believe that a Trese Brothers Alpha Access phase is a very unique offering in the game development world. We have 90 Captains signed up already. We hope you will consider joining us!

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Why Do You Call It an Alpha Phase?

We landed on calling it the Alpha Phase because it’s somewhere between Alpha and Beta. We are not providing a game that is going into its first round of testing. The game will be solid and bug count will be very low. However, we purposefully start early enough in the cycle that the game still has time and room to grow. We don’t like to call it a Beta because that indicates you just get to play a finished product early. In a Trese Brothers Alpha, you’re invited to join into the final process of improving, polishing, and expanding the game. You’ll see your feedback and suggestions discussed by the community and often implemented in the game for the next alpha build.

How Important is the Alpha?

Ever since the massive success of Heroes of Steel Alpha, this phase has become an integral part of our release cycle for a new game. We honestly couldn’t imagine putting a game out without hosting an Alpha. The Heroes Alpha had such an impact on the fun, balance, playability, and success of the game!

How Long Will the Alpha Be?

The Alpha Access phase will run for 2 - 3 months. During that time, you’ll have access to an Alpha-only board on our forum, and continued direct interaction with Cory and Andrew. The Alpha will be broken into multiple phases, and with each phase we will point the spotlight on certain systems and content within the game.

What platforms will the Alpha support?

We will support any platform on which an alpha team member wants to play -- that means we will cover Android, iOS, PC, Mac, and Linux. If you’re a multi-platform gamer, we’ll be asking you to try the game on all your platforms or devices.

Is the Alpha Fun?

That’s actually the whole idea! We have learned from experience that the right time to bring the game to the Alpha team is when it is ready to be played and it is fun. And I know that our Alpha teams have certainly enjoyed themselves and I can't speak highly enough of how they have helped increase the fun of our games by giving their feedback and pushing us to improve.

Can You Tell Me about the Heroes Alpha?

In the Heroes of Steel Alpha, we were able to deliver a very playable, very fun game to our alpha team. It was our first multi-platform game release, and we were very pleased with how few bugs existed in the game. So, the alpha team got to focus on having fun and they were the first to experience the revolution that Heroes of Steel was in Trese Brothers Gaming - all animated, all new lighting, fast, smooth, and explosions - the works! We rolled out the game in stages - first combat and exploration, then a town and subquests, and then the full blown story of the game. The alpha team got an opportunity to play and enjoy heaps of content that has never been released in the game, but more importantly they had more than a month to play the game and work directly with Cory and Andrew to improve it. 

We hope you will consider joining us on the Alpha Access team if you aren't already among the 90 Captains!

Faction Competition Results

I am excited to announce the three winners of the Faction Competition.  There was an absolute rush of votes on the different updates, KickStarter page, and through personal messages during the 72 hour voting period.  It was exciting to see everyone piling on.  And so many of the comments got me rolling laughing 😀

  • Thulun is the WINNER with 38 votes.  Over the next updates to Star Traders RPG and Star Traders 4X Empires, we will be adding a major faction bonus!  We're still open to suggestions if you'd like to leave a comment.
  • Java was near second with 35 votes, and Cadar just hit the mark with 30 votes.  Over the next updates, both Factions will receive minor bonuses in Star Traders RPG and 4X Empires.
  • Unfortunately, the other Factions did not reach the 30 vote mark.  Thanks to all the Captains who got out and cast their votes of support!
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The Faction Competition was a lot of fun and it was great to see the Faction pride, love, and rivalry posted into the comments.  Thank you for joining in and for having fun with it!

 

Still a couple of grand away from the half way point but they still have 17 days to go.


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Past the half way mark now with just under two weeks to go.

 

 

Dear Captains, Backers and Fans,

This afternoon, we want to share the details of exactly how you will create your new Captains for Star Traders 2 RPG. Also, we are kicking off the second friendly competition - this time to find the most loved Profession! There are rewards at stake for Star Traders RPG, so don’t miss your chance to vote.

Creating Your Captain

Your Captains, and their adventures, are the heart and soul of the Star Traders saga. Star Traders 2 will offer you fine grained control over your new Captain -  from picking your profession to customizing your skills and talents, designing your ship, and building out your personality with character traits and flaws. 

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We wanted to build a character creation system that was fun, easy and quick but also offered you total control over every aspect of your Captain, if you want it. If you want to play immediately, you can select one of the pre-made archetypes and go! These archetypes will represent typical character builds such as Syndicate Merchant, Clan Pirate or Independent Bounty Hunter and will follow all of the normal character creation rules to create a unique character when you pick them.

Creating a new Captain from scratch is where the excitement and balancing act really takes off. During Captain creation, you will use priority weighting to help you answer the question: What does my Captain excel at, and why? In identifying the areas in which you excel, you will in turn establish the areas where you are mediocre or weak.

For example, if you are creating a Bounty Hunter then you may choose Talents as a top priority. A Bounty Hunter needs to be able to track, fight and pilot -- both on worlds and in deep space. You might also pick Ship as a mid-level priority, because a Bounty Hunter needs a fast ship. On the other hand, a Smuggler, may put priority on Contacts instead of Talents, to start with an extensive network of informants, fences and dealers.

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The priority system used in captain creation allows you to put a priority level (from 1 to 6) on six different factors: Profession, Attributes, Talents, Credits, Ship and Contracts. Priority Level 1 is your Captain’s most important asset, while and 6 is the weakest. As you create your new Captain, you’ll assign each factor a priority level to create your topography of advantages, mid-level strengths, and weaknesses. For example, assigning priority level 1 to Attributes indicates that your Captain’s physical and mental abilities are your most developed aspect. If you assign Contacts to priority level 1, your Captain’s friends, connections and network are most important.

We’ll give examples of four of the six factors: Profession, Talents, Contacts and Ship.

Profession

Your Captain’s Profession priority will determine which professions are available. Professions with special bonuses and powerful additional abilities, such as Templar and Bounty Hunters, will require that you set Profession to a higher priority level. 

Talents

Your Captain’s Talents priority will determine how many starting Skill and Talent points you have, which you will be able to spend exactly as you wish among the Skills and Talents determined by your Captain’s Profession. For example, Bounty Hunters will have access to the Quick Draw Talent and Military Officers will have access to the Aimed Shot Talent but both will have access to the Ranged Weapons Skill.

Contacts

Your Captain’s Contacts priority will determine the number of Ally, Friend and Enemy slots that you must fill during captain creation. Based on your Captain’s Profession and Faction allegiance, different character options will be available for each slot. Your Bounty Hunter might select a Syndicate Arms Dealer while your Smuggler might take a Clan Spice Dealer. Enemy slots will be filled in for you. Every Contact you establish will be fleshed out by the Motivation Engine, so when you meet them in game, they will be a unique character with goals and traits.

Backers who pledge at $150 or more will receive a KickStarter exclusive Powerful Ally Digital Reward. This reward can be used during captain creation or saved to be used later during game play. The special Powerful Ally slot will always uncover an influential or mighty character who will help your Captain, but who will also provide unique story hooks which may result in an unexpected twist.

Ship

Your Captain’s Ship priority will determine which starting Ships are available and how many customization options you can use. For higher priorities, customization includes configuring compartments, placing weapons and installing upgrades. No matter the priority, your Captain will have a ship and you’ll be able to learn about where it was built, for what purpose and tweak the appearance. For those backers who have taken the Hyperwarp Starter Pack Digital Reward, you’ll be able to install KickStarter exclusive components for your starting ship. You’ll load out your ship in a way that suits your Captain’s profession with special, exclusive upgrades and get a big head start in the galaxy.

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Profession Competition

The Faction vote was so much fun, that we've decided to open a second friendly competition -- this time all about your favorite profession! As a Captain and a backer, you’ll help us highlight the most popular and most beloved professions. There are bonuses at stake for the professions in Star Trader RPG, so get to your voting booth as fast as possible and make your allegiances known!

Any profession that receives at least 15 votes will gain a minor bonus in Star Traders RPG. With so many professions to choose from, getting 15 votes will not be easy! The profession who receives the highest number of votes will be crowned the winner and will receive a major bonus in Star Traders RPG.

Voting will close promptly at midnight EST on Monday, September 22 - so we have a solid weekend of voting ahead of us! To vote, add a new comment to the KickStarter page that nominates your profession of choice. Use the simple format:

Profession Vote: Bounty Hunter

A few quick notes:

  • Only backers of the project are able to vote and you can only vote once.
  • The valid voting options are: Star Trader, Merchant, Smuggler, Pirate, Bounty Hunter, Military Officer, Explorer, Captain, Zealot, Spy
  • Tell us why you love your profession in your comments! Tell us what you think your profession’s bonus should be!.

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7 more days to go and $13 grand short of the target, looking like it might be tight this one although they could do with doing some more updates about the game instead a pledge drive as the last one about.


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The pledge drive seem to have worked as they only 5 grand away from the target but they only have 4 days left to hit it.

 

Latest update.

 

 

Dear Captains, Backers and Fans,

What a weekend! Thanks to all of you, and to the honorable and generous Lord Gansai, we have once again broken our record for our best day on KickStarter. In just one 24 hour period, you helped us match Lord Gansai’s $2,000 offer! With his full match next to yours, we funded 8% of the KickStarter in a single day. We are so proud of and thankful for our community -- we would not be here without your support!

This weekend, the honors go to Lord Gansai and the generous backers and new pledgers who matched him.

We’re coming into the home stretch for the Star Traders 2 KickStarter now and have four days left to reach the funding goal and then push for the stretch goals. With Orbital Stations well within reach, we hope to focus an update on them later this week. Let’s keep sharing the word and beating the drum, new Captains keep arriving to support the project daily!

Tonight, we wanted to take some time to talk about the economic simulation aspects of Star Traders 2.

You’ll Need Credits ...

As a Captain, you’ll be challenged to find Credits to fund your ship, pay your crew, purchase precious Water-Fuel, and still have money left over for a decent lifestyle. The global currency across the sprawling Quadrants is the Credit, and at every turn you will need to earn them to spend them.

Part of your challenge will simply be to pay the bills and maintenance costs. It doesn't sound glamorous, but it is a reality of life for any successful Star Trader Captain. Your Credits will go further in some systems than others, driven by the game’s Reputation system. The prices offered to you will be influenced by your galaxy-wide Reputation, but also by your Reputation in the local system, and even your relationship with the merchant with who you are negotiating.

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As important as ship maintenance, your crew needs to be paid, and your officers and veterans will demand a higher rate than your average sailor. Fail to pay them, and they may desert you if they are motivated by money. When it comes time for taking their leave on urban areas, crew and officers will expect extra bankroll for their time off and for spice and vudka in the halls. Maintain a good relationship with your Crew, and they’ll stick with you through times when Credits are tight.

If you find yourself locked in the life and death dance of capital ship combat, or leading corridor to corridor fighting in a boarding battle it is unlikely your ship or crew will escape unscathed. Battle damages will be expensive to repair, and a boarding battle may claim souls and leave you recruiting new crew rather than caring for the wounded.  

Even outside of combat, there is nothing gentle about traveling through the hyperwarp gates that link the quadrants, across deep space, or passing in and out of planetary atmospheres. All types of travel will cause slow but constant wear and tear on your ship, its solar sails, engine and hull.

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If you’re smart, quick and have the right friends, the Credits will flow. Paying to keep what you have is survival, but you will thrive if you can pay to keep the cutting edge, outfitting your ship with the highest quality upgrades for your line of work, and equipping your crew and officers with the best weaponry and protective gear.

And You'll Earn Them in a Diverse Economy ...

The force driving the reunification and reconnection of the isolated quadrants is commerce, and Captains like you make that possible. The voracious appetites of Faction economies across the galaxy will not be satiated or quieted. They roar for your trade goods - import, export and new goods. No longer limited to industries available from the local star systems, the quadrants are experiencing a gold rush and industrial revolution simultaneously.

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The original Star Traders RPG is, at its core, an economic and political simulator. Star Traders 2 RPG will expand upon that well-developed and nuanced baseline, deploying a more reactive pricing system, character-driven negotiation and a next generation supply and demand simulation. Through the Motivation Engine, you’ll meet and come to know the personalities and foibles of the merchants, spice traders, and smugglers with who you trade.

Not only will you have the opportunity to get rich unloading your cargo hold, but your data banks as well. There are fortunes to be made by Captains willing to risk uncharted space and discover, explore and scan new systems, or dabble in the secretive work of the Spy.

As the Quadrants are reunited, political conflicts swirl and the Credits clink, there is a fortune to be made in trading for an astute merchant or smuggler ... not to mention, as a pirate.

Our deepest gratitude for your support,

Andrew and Cory Trese

Trese Brothers - Two Brothers on a Mission


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Just been looking at the Kickstarter site and the game has been funded and still has 56 hours to run.


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And Star Trader 2 finish it Kickstarter to the tune of just over the $61,000 mark.

 

 

Honored Backer-Captains,

As we countdown the final hours of our Kickstarter, we are most grateful to all of you who made this possible through your support, excitement and generosity. We are eternally grateful.  

We look forward to your contributions to our community and game. We are delighted with the number of backers who shared in our commitment to make Star Traders 2 the best game it can be. Your pledges will go directly to the development budget and without your generosity we would never have been able to realize the vision for the game we are now setting out to build.

Something Special Extra

We owe you all so much and we cannot stand to go out without one last hurrah -- so we’re going to pile one more rewards on every single backer who pledged to the project. Andrew and I have been brainstorming for a week on what we could do that would be a really special and personal gift from us to you.

I am pleased to announce that all backers, at every level, will be granted access to a Kickstarter exclusive storyline hidden within Star Traders 2. A unique plotline that will be yours and yours alone. We’ve reached far back into the archives and found the perfect candidate: the first adventure module designed for the Star’s Edge pen and paper RPG! We will digitize that module’s plot into Star Traders 2 and provide you with a secret way to access it.

What’s Next

While our crowdfunding campaign is ending after months of planning, execution, and promotion the real fun is about to start. This will be our last update while the project is running, and then we are going to let the dust settle over the weekend. On Monday, we will put out a big update that provides details, estimates timing, and the ordering of reward fulfillment and next steps. Following that, we start send out backer surveys promptly.

Special Thanks

We would like to extend special thanks to the honorable Lord Gansai, Balgair the Magnificent (who is back in the town’s tavern), the Zendu Ten, Imphenzia, and to those veteran Captains who have been with us for 4 years running since the launch of the original Star Traders RPG.

Thank all of you for pledging. From the bottom of our hearts, we appreciate your support. We were ecstatic every time one of you pledged for our project. My brother and I smiled and high-fived for each and every backer who signed on. I’m tearing up a bit ... must be the Star Traders theme song playing in the background.

This is what Kickstarter is all about: the creative freedom to build something unlike anything that has been done before with a community that is as passionate about this game as we are. We are setting out to make the best Star Traders ever, and with your continued support I know we will.

Thank you for making our dream a reality,  

Cory and Andrew Trese  

Trese Brothers Games - Two Brothers on a Mission 

P.S. As a final thought, I wanted to re-share this word cloud that was created from all of the comments on the KickStarter page in the first days of the project. I think it still sums up the resonance of the entire Star Traders 2 project so well.  Thank you again.

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Update from through Kickstarter.

 

 

Honored Captains, Backers and Friends,

The great design grind for Star Traders 2 is on and now picking up steam as we have covered some of the biggest and most important systems for the game. As we work through each system, we’re detailing its connections to other systems and continuing to drive toward a ready-to-go roadmap.

This week, we want to share our progress on the design for planets and urban zones within Star Traders 2. As in the original Star Traders, planets and their urban zones are an integral part of your Star Trader’s life. Urban zones provide the friendly (or not-so-friendly) places where you can land and repair your spacing vessel, recruit new crew, trade in the licensed Exchange and find work.

In Star Traders, urban zones and the planet’s they inhabit are defined by a set of ratings for their Economy Type, Economy, Security, Prince, Starport and Spice Hall. These ratings help determine the availability of goods, services, repairs, contracts, personnel and intel on the planet. The mix of ratings on planets and their proximity to each other help to create the trading routes of the Quadrant as well as eventually helping your Star Trader Captain to establish “your territory.”

Star Traders 2 will use this already strong system as a foundation and then further expand it to increase the diversity of planets and urban zones. Our design also focuses on strengthening the interconnectivity of all of planet’s ratings so that it is better woven into the larger economic and political landscape. These ratings will also drive what economic type it has, what characters and crew inhabit the world, and what types of goods and services it can provide that will be of interest to your Captain.

While the design of urban zones is more complex, we are working to ensure that this does not slow the speed of play. The critical ratings will still be readily available and enable quick decision making, and you’ll be able to navigate and explore urban zones with a few taps or clicks.

When you land on an urban zone, you’ll first focus on your ship and the nearby Star Port. You’ll be able to examine other Star Traders’ vessels that are in port, and quickly travel to destinations of note -- such as Palace, Exchange, Military Base, Star Port itself, and the ever present Spice Hall. As you learn more about the urban zone and meet its inhabitants, other destinations of note may appear on your map, allowing you to visit a smuggler’s den, black market, or the home of an eccentric noble.

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In Star Traders 2, Quadrants and their planets will be procedurally generated, giving you a new experience and chance for exploration with each Captain. The procedural generation algorithm will first determine the Quadrant’s attributes and then drive down a decision tree of rules to build out the details of all the planets in the Quadrant. This juicy rule set will be responsible for creating exciting, challenging, and unique Quadrants and endless worlds.

To really make things even more varied, we've expanded the design for planet and urban zone ratings to include new defining values such as atmosphere, lawfulness, and technology level.

For example, planets with low atmosphere ratings will require EVA suits and specialized equipment to explore. The Factions are unlikely to settle such planets with any more than a military base or an outpost, and will have built their large population centers on planets with better atmospheric conditions. The atmosphere will also be linked to the planet’s climate, which will have an impact on its possible economic types.

The range of a planet’s lawfulness rating will determine what types of prohibitions are in place on the world and what can be traded legally in the world’s licensed Exchanges. How tightly does Shalun’s Law grip this world? Are Artifacts sold openly in this heathen’s Exchange? Can you leave your ship with armed with weaponry? For those with smuggling on the mind, planets with high lawfulness rating are likely to have a burgeoning black market if you’re willing to take the risk to sell outside the law.

As the great Exodus ended, the Star Traders splintered across the the galaxies along the route and established new homeworlds. As you might see in any Star Traders 4X Empires game, some excelled -- with luck, determination, the right cluster of planets, or a specific technological breakthrough -- and achieved a high technology level. Others struggled, facing overwhelming xeno threats, stymied by political strife, or only scratching out a living on barren worlds and became stuck at a lower technology level. Within each Quadrant, an average technology level will drive the possible values of the technology level of all of the planets within it. The tech level will have wide sweeping effect within a Quadrant -- determining what types of weapons, gear, and ship upgrades are available, the technological strength of the security forces and price of importing higher tech goods.

Suitable landing zones are more rare than they may at first sound. When a Star Trader’s vessel lands, it requires a prepared landing zone built upon solid bedrock due to the immense weight of the ship and it’s Void Engine. Upon take off, without the right preparations and a proper landing field, the blast of the Void Engine can strip the planet’s surface back to its substratum. There will be few places you can land on each world -- the Factions’ Urban Zones will be easiest, while you may gain access to smuggler’s camps or other landing zones through your contacts. Also, we are excited to have unlocked the Orbital Stations Stretch Goal, so there will be places that you can land and explore without having to touch down on the surface of a world, such as Orbital Military Bases and Orbital Trade Stations.

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We’re excited to keep the best parts of urban zones from the original Star Traders while also expanding the system to be more interconnected and detailed. As you’ll see in future updates, these attributes will have a big impact on the game’s economic simulation as well.

As always, Captains, we’re excited to hear your thoughts and feedback!

Thank you for your support,  

Andrew and Cory Trese  

Trese Brothers Games - Two Brothers on a Mission

 

 

The more I read about this game the more am thinking Traveller which is not bad in fact brilliant as it's unlikely we will see another Traveller video game.


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