Galaxias

[Songbird]

Came upon this Elite-like clone; "Galaxias" Indie and shareware with a working demo can be found here:[url]http://www.jexea.co.uk/Galaxias/Home.html[/url] game boasts the following:3D space trading and combat PC game.A thousand solar systems and over 3500 planets spread over 27 sectorsOn-board navigation databaseShip upgradesSpace Station dockingAsteroid miningDiscover new worlds18 missions It is visually well done and not bad, not bad at all

[sscadmin]

As always Songbird good find. Will have this added to the game listing.

[Songbird]

it's a simple once-a-month game I play: one search phrase on Google and go to images. Scroll at a fast pace. You'll notice what is new quickly.

[Pinback]

Good find songbird, but I would question why anyone would want to pay £20 quid for it when you have Oolite for free?I really don't think you can sell this type of game on the pc now there's just too many free one around although there is still a market on the consoles and phones for this type of game.

[OSH]

And I agree with you PINBACK...I understand, all want money, but in this case...

[Songbird]

I admire the creator's vision, but perhaps (GULP) he's not heard of Oolite...

[Pinback]

You might not be far off the track there Songbird I can think of one other Elite clone that was abandoned after the author found out about Oolite.

[Galaxias2000]

HiI'm the designer and devleloper of Galaxias. This project represents 2 years work, a lot of it full time. So you'll understand that giving it away does not appeal.For me the market is quite small. The "hard Elite fan". You know, someone who prefers sim and stategy to shoot-em-up. They'll have a playstation but get bored and prefer to be immersed in a more gentle kind of role play without the cachophony.OK now the price. The thought that screams out to me is "there're talking about the worth of this game ... but no-one has actually played it! It's a bit chicken and egg.The problem is that ... well what is software worth? ... you can't tell until you use it. The demo doesn't tell half the story.However, from comments here and others it appears in retrospect the the current price is real barrier. Therefore the price has been reduced to £10 (4 pints of beer, 8L of petrol, 1.6 packets of cigarettes)Re: Oolite. I did look at the game (some time ago it has to be said) and found it practically unplayable (I prefered Pinder's "The New Kind") It seems as though the game has evolved considerably however I still feel that Galaxias has appeal and could find its place in the field.There is a newer, improved version on the close horizon (about a week).http://www.jexea.co.uk

[Pinback]

Think you made the right decision about the price Galaxias200

[Songbird]

I did play with the Demo, and in fairness it is very well done game. At the risk of having tomatoes thrown at me for the suggestion, I love mouse controls.... Price is never an issue if a game is good and I'll likely add this one to my collection. Time can be a barrier though...

[Geraldine]

Galaxias2000 wrote:
OK now the price. The thought that screams out to me is "there're talking about the worth of this game ... but no-one has actually played it! It's a bit chicken and egg.The problem is that ... well what is software worth? ... you can't tell until you use it. The demo doesn't tell half the story.
Firstly welcome to the SSC This is a fair point you make, even though Oolite is out there, your game deserves a try out. So I am not going to say anything else until I have given the demo a go. I should point out here though, that I do love Oolite to bits....

[Geraldine]

Ok gave the demo a try. First thing that struck me was how big the download was, over 200 megs. Good! Lots of content then. On inspection I found out there are a lot of textures in the game, but I almost flew into a star thinking it was a planet. May I suggest changing the star texture? Everything is clearly laid out and like Galaxias said, it's clearly aimed at the Elite hardcore fan who is not interested in all the bells and whistles, but just wants a "purer" Elite experience. The ships are brightly coloured which reminded me of the Amiga version and the sounds are simply done with shades of the original BBC version as well as Elite The New Kind which I also have. It's a nice retro styled Elite game. That's my honest opinion. Still trying to figure out this waypoint system for docking or perhaps docking is not allowed in the demo version?. Is it better than Oolite? Well that depends on your point of view. It doesn't do anything better than Oolite and can't touch it for looks either, but it does have a charm all of it's own. I think for someone who has worked just by themselves on this, it's a job well done. But room for some little improvements. Would not change too much though if you want to maintain the "purity" of the game. Maybe have another think about the docking part of the game. I think you need to streamline that a bit. I wouldn't want to be stuck at a waypoint as I feel I would be a sitting duck if there was hostile ships nearby. Will take another look at your up and coming updated version demo. Keep at it Galaxis!

[Galaxias2000]

Thank for you comments.Improved star look is already on the wish list they need "glare".FYI you can dock and trade (with other planets in the Siaka system) in demo mode. It's a bit slow without x16 time rate.Going to other systems is even possible but takes forever without hyperspace jump or time rate acceleration. Can't save the game either. The other thing you can do is to massacre the poor defenceless shuttle craft and use the containers that result as target practice. The new version has:-Ships more intelligent in combat New, improved hyperspace graphics effect Now, 3 levels of difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard)Keyboard delay time and repeat rate added to the Launchpad Station orientation incorrect when jumping very close to planet - fixed If a ship enters into combat having passed the "From Space" waypoint the docking port is locked up - fixed. Station now responds if you fire a missle at it Unkown stars; under certain conditions the navigation screen showed the name - fixedUnfortunately none of this will be visible in the demo

[Geraldine]

Good! Glad your going to take a look at the stars texturing. Perhaps make them like the ones on the amiga version with the outer edges constantly moving. I always liked that effect. Also the docking, perhaps put nav buoys at the way points? Would give you something to lock onto to? Nothing complicated just something like two brightly coloured triangles stuck together. Remember and let us know when your new version is available. I will give that a try out too. Oh well, back to X Beyond The Frontier, what a slog that game is!

[Galaxias2000]

V1.0.1 is now released. I quoted a list of improvements above. However, 2 commentsI suggest you leave the default keyboard delay and rate at zero (ie off) unless:You're really keen on keyboard controls and don't mind tweaking.The User Guide has not yet been updated to reflect this change. One comment I've had about the demo is that it's bit hard to tackle the pirates. I didn't do it on purpose but by chance you just happen to be by a Dictatorship ... it's calmer at Corporates and Democracies (but worse at Anarchies)Staying nearish to the space station will reduce the numbers of pirates.

[Geraldine]

Good! I will download it and try it out. Thanks for keeping us updated Galaxias

[Galaxias2000]

Is anyone else having trouble with Gamepad being too fast? The keyboard issue is work-in-progress, so I'll leave that alone for the minute.Since docking has been mentioned a couple of times, I think it deserves a reply. At the risk of repeating stuff in the user guide ,,,, the station radar gives you the course to each waypoint (the yellow circle). Just aligne the yellow circle in the centre of the station compass and when you get to within a distance of about 10 you'll hear a bing and it switches to the next waypoint. Target the next waypoint etc and dock. Go slow.re: hostile ships attacking during this procedure. They'll only attack if they've been actively following you from way out.You need to deal with them (or hope that the police do) before starting on the approach to docking.

[Songbird]

Mouse for x, y axis? As it Elite plus...

[Galaxias2000]

OK, Songbird I'll take the bait. I did play Elite Plus with a mouse once (I think) and for me it was a nightmare. Can't remember how it worked, though.Did a little test with Galaxias and it works (at least with XP). You can even fire with the mouse buttons ... but what's the best way to control the direction.The test I did was as follows: theres a small dead space in the target crosshairs nothing happens here.To the left of this you roll left to the right right etcSo bottom and left pitches down and rolls left.Another way would be for the direction to follow the mouse pointer .. my prefered ... but I haven't even thought how to implement this.

[Songbird]

I'm one of those lazy folk that has to use the keyboard a lot at work and wants to just keep one hand on the mouse... please... If you bite on at least the x and y axis I'll reel-in the game If you ever figure-out the mouse point-direction aspect that would be awesome! But the Elite Plus system would be just fine...