Approaching Infinity

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Kickstarter for a roguelike sandbox game in space like the free one (which I can't remember the name of,might be one and the same?) but with better graphics, anyhow looking for a small 5K[url][/url] Explore an infinite procedurally generated universe, alive with memorable alien races, fantastic technologies, and deadly monsters!Play Approaching Infinity Right NOW! What Is Approaching Infinity? Approaching Infinity is a classical sandbox roguelike game set in space. Take command of your ship and crew as you explore space, planets, shipwrecks, and other unique environments. Find, buy, and sell commodities, items, and mysterious artifacts. Complete quests for profit, or to change the very power structure of the galaxy! And the universe is infinite. There is no limit to the number of sectors and planets you can explore. There is no "level cap". Items, equipment, and monsters continue to get more powerful no matter how far you go.But what is a "roguelike"? The world is represented as a 2D grid. Movement and combat are turn-based. The environments are procedurally generated (meaning you'll never see the same place twice). There are things in the game whose properties must be identified by trial and clever thinking. And it enforces Perma-Death. When you die, you die. And you will die! Just learn what you did wrong, and be more careful next time. When every move you make could be your last, each one becomes all the more precious!But unlike many other roguelikes, Approaching Infinity strives to be accessible. Graphical tiles, simple controls, mouse support, availability of information. All of these contribute to a game that is easy to get into. And hard to walk away from!Play Approaching Infinity Right Now!Gameplay:What do you do in a game of Approaching Infinity?Exploration is core to the game. You never know where anything is going to be, so you have to go find it. You even get paid for the data you gather while exploring. You might also run into a few monsters, or even space pirates, so you'll want to use caution. To this end, great effort has been made to provide the player with novel experiences and new things to see. There are reward tiers specifically designed for you to directly contribute to what the player sees and finds on their journey.Loot is also a driving factor. It's everywhere. Go get it, sell it, and buy yourself something nice. Your enemies are out there getting stronger too, so you really need that shiny new graviton disruptor to replace your boring old fission torpedos. Oh, and the neutronium armor. And a new reactor. And what does a 'Ram Scoop' do? A 'Warp Breach'? I'll take one!Look at all that Loot!

[Straker]

That looks like fun.(I'm a big fan of tile-based games)

[Pinback]

not big on rogue games but I like this.update Hi and thank you to all backers!I can't wait to see what kinds of things you'll be contributing to the game: Names, images, items, words... it will all make for such an interesting gameplay experience!I'm planning a new playable version of the alpha for friday evening, 11/15/13, to showcase a few visual improvements. And if i can get the time, the new "new game" screen.What features would you like to see implemented first? I already know a lot of you would like a "game save" option, and I will get to that (I want one too!)David is working on a custom font now, and has churned out an amazing array of character images for the game, allowing you to customize how you look. This is a prototype mockup:Ectogemia is hard at work in the studio, and i've got a little teaser of a new track right here! And I am here, managing the Kickstarter, trying to get the word out while still finding time to code. I'm really looking forward to when the project is fully funded (and stretched!) so I can dive into development full time!Thanks again,Bob

[sscadmin]

I think most Rogue-Like games would do well on tablets, but this game does have some nice features and the kickstarter is a very reasonable goal so I would be surprised if it didn't get funded.

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Nearly at the 2 grand mark with the funding, Prospector was the game I was trying to think of earlier. Here it is, Approaching Infinity v0.0.6Improvements Include:Awesome “New Game” screen where you customize your captain and choose your shipYour custom captain is then rendered in-game Animation of planet monsters, explosions, asteroid mining, and “breeders” Fixed vim keys (hjkl) to the correct arrangement (sorry!) Landing parties opening helmets on planets can now catch diseases (DoT)New “fog of war” presentation, more ‘nebulous’ Tons of small fixes Part of ectogemia’s first original track for the game! What? Wait, why are 'diseases' listed under 'improvements'? It's the consequence of not paying attention to your oxygen supply on a terran planet! Thank you all so much for your encouragement! The kickstarter is going strong, but still needs more support. The sooner this thing gets funded (and stretched!), the sooner I can stop worrying about it and get on with actually making the game.So if you enjoy Approaching Infinity, or just think it’s a great concept, please send a link to your friends, followers, readers, viewers, whatever you've got! Thanks again, Back to work!Bob(& David, & Nathan) 

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Over half way and 22 days to go. :party: Greetings, all! Approaching Infinity just hit 50% in its first week, thanks to you! Please join me on twitter if you do that kind of thing. I'm @IBOL17. Now, what have I been up to?I've got 2 minutes of the next track from Ectogemia, and I am very excited about it. Also had a long conversion via skype with David about the graphics side of things, getting on the same page for the next stage. Also, I recently reduced the pledge level of "ENGRAVER!", because I think it's an awesome reward, and I'd like it to be available to more people. Anyone who has already pledged at the $40 level or higher will now have that included. And anyone who was close to the $30 level, you can now easily upgrade if it sounds cool to you too! I Wanted to start giving you all some background about the universe in Approaching Infinity. There are currently 12 intelligent races in the game, though you've probably only ever run into 5 in the alpha. These races, their personalities and stories, shape the world you're about to enter. You know The Bankers, Tentaculons, Gruff, Space Pirates, and Sigorn. But who are they? To start off, The Bankers are *not* good guys! Sure, they repair and refuel your ship, and buy your excess loot, even pay you to go on missions. But they're not doing it to help you. They have no interest outside their own bottom line, and most of their time is spent getting other races to feed them resources! "Over 25 years ago, a massive station materialized in a thriving human sector and began selling advanced technology to the highest bidder. Warring factions scrambled to acquire the next big thing, and eventually, humanity decimated itself while fueling the Bankers' expansion even further. When human ships finally turned against their true enemy, not one Banker Station was ever destroyed, and mankind's fleets were in ruin. Only too late did we learn that we were not the first race to be financially conquered by the Bankers. "This story is core to your character's path. When you were a child, you knew nothing of this; your parents kept moving you further from the threat. As a teenager, you dreamed of taking revenge on the evil Bankers. Now as an adult, you face the real possibility that you may be forced to work *for* your oppressors. Which route will you choose? Maybe you can find another path to fulfillment, outside of this conflict?That's it for now. I'm working on revamping the station screens right now, writing this while compiling. If you want to read more about the world of Approaching Infinity, you can check out my dev blog, although the older posts may no longer be entirely "canon". Thanks again! Bob 

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And another one. Hi all, just a short update today.Working on improving the screens inside space stations. They're looking even better. Thanks again for all the support, people have been spreading the word! Tonight (Wednesday 11/20/13) at 9pm EST , Jim Shepard, Creator of the awesome roguelike Dungeonmans, is going to stream Approaching Infinity on twitch: [url][/url] him out, and see how far he can get!And if you miss that, you can always watch Donny from Beals Software, doing Indie Spotlight #6 Approaching Infinity Part 1Mock-up of new Commodities Exchange, with a cool new "credits" symbolNew Banker ShipsStylish Item Icons Thanks again,Bob

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New update Hi, everyone! Here's the latest on Approaching Infinity:ProgressIt's the halfway point in the kickstarter, how are we doing? 72% funded! That's pretty awesome! Just today, I realized that a pledge of $50 (KICKSTARTER!) is actually 1% of the total goal! That's huge for you as backers. Even the $10 (GAME!) level is quite significant. It's rare that you get to contribute such a large part to a video game project. So thanks, it means a lot! I'm working on fine tuning both the look and game-play every day.Private Release For all you backers, there is going to be a Private Release on Wednesday, November 27th (that's my wife's birthday!). The alpha has been public for quite a while, but i want to give the supporters something special. In this special backer-only version, you will start in sector 50, with equipment and enemies to match! This is to showcase what you might see further down the road in Approaching Infinity. You'll also be among the first to play with new game screens and new enemies! I might even throw in a few new devices! If there's anything you'd really like to see, let me know, maybe i can squeeze it in. And remember, to all PLAYTESTER! and above, the save feature is coming on the day the game is funded.FeatureApproaching Infinity has had a number of Let's Plays done, and has been mentioned on a few indie gaming sites, and for that, I say thank you! But soon, it's going to be featured on an awesome retro gaming website, complete with an interview of me! You can check them out here: Retro Game GeeksThanksgivingLike many of you, I will be spending Thanksgiving with family. And for me, that involves a major road-trip with my wife and two daughters. I will have some internet access at my mom's house, but I won't be able to have the same level of connectivity that i do at home. There's just not enough room in the car to take my desktop :p Bye!Bob 

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If you have backed the game you should be able to download a Kickstart backer version of the game, still about $600.00 short of the target but it still has eleven days to run.

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They hit their target :fans: and still have 6 days to run. Big update, because Approaching Infinity is funded! You can rest assured that the current design of Approaching Infinity will be completed! Thank you for all your support. And hey, check out that awesome new video produced by Zach Long! And very soon, Retro Game Geeks is going to publish an interview they did with me! Now I am going to ask for some specific help. There is still a lot more I'd like to do with Approaching Infinity, and you can read about the stretch goals below. What I'm asking now is to spread the word! Obviously, enough people believe in the project that it will succeed. But I think there are a lot of people out there who haven't even seen it yet. If you belong to any of these forums, please visit one of the links below and post about Approaching Infinity. Or, if there's nothing about it on your favorite site, you could start one ;)TIGsource reddit SpaceSector IndieDB Rogue Temple (This is the thread that started it all!) The Game Creators 

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Now with save function Yay. :nyam: Thanks!Exciting times for Approaching Infinity as it enters the final week of the Kickstarter campaign. So thank you all for everything you've done, and all of you are going to add such great content to the game too! Well, "Controller support" was the first stretch goal reached, then there was... Approaching Infinity will have a Mac Release! I don't own a mac. That's the plain and simple reason why "mac release" has always been a stretch goal. But the good news is, the language I'm coding in should (fingers crossed) transfer over pretty painlessly. So when the final game is released, there's a paid service I can use to get Approaching Infinity ported to mac. Awesome! A Next Stretch Goal? Auto-Explore Bot You don't have to use it, but it will be there. And it will have lots of settings, to determine what it is and is not allowed to do with your beloved ship and crew. From the basic, "Explore until you see something" all the way up to "do everything for me". Of course, there's so much in Approaching Infinity, you'll really want to play the game yourself. The main reason I'm doing the Auto-Explore feature is because I like writing Artificial Intelligence routines. But it can get to be time consuming...After that, a detailed modding guide, the achievement system, and more. Let's Do It! Save Function The save function has been coded! I am still testing it to make sure everything gets transferred, and I need some nice UI buttons to go with it (David!) but still, it's looking great! As far as I can tell, it works, but I want to make sure it's perfect... Final Release Coming All backers, regardless of pledge level, will receive the final alpha with the save function included. After that, people who've pledged at the "PLAYTESTER!" and above levels will continue to receive betas throughout the development process. And your feedback will help shape the game! People who haven't pledged will still have a stable version to play, but it will be capped at sector 25 (or less). Plenty of gameplay to evaluate. Maybe other teasers will come out along the way...  Avatar - A - Day I've started changing my twitter avatar once a day, to showcase different ships in Approaching Infinity. First up, the Tentaculon Minelayer. "A powerful mid-sized alien ship that litters space with deadly mines." Tentaculons are not immediately hostile to the player, and if you give them enough distance, you can eventually become friends with them. They also tend to drop powerful devices when destroyed, but if you cross them, you're in for a tough fight! Found Another One! "Star Control in an infinite procedurally generated universe. That’s the point where designer Bob Saunders could drop the mic and walk off the stage..." Read more THANKS!So thanks for the millionth time to all the backers, supporters, yay-sayers, playtesters, youtubers, bloggers, forum posters, xeno-archaeologists, and every one else that ever said anything nice about Approaching Infinity.

[robske]

Backed.

[IBOL17]

Hi,Bob here, creator of Approaching Infinity.Just wanted to say thanks for starting this thread and talking about the game.Development is already back in full swing, and you can follow my dev blog for updates:ibol17.wordpress.com Thanks again,Bob

[Pinback]

Welcome to the forums Bob. Great Kickstarter the game just got better and better as it went on, I am on the art work pledge so I need to think of some thing to send in. :good:

[CaptainKal]

Welcome aboard, Bob. You will find some nice chaps, in this forum!!! :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

[DARI]

Hi Bob, thank you very much for the public demo of your very good game.(warning - little feedback ahead) Even the 008 version makes lots of fun andi did not encounter any obvious gamebreaking bugs and not a single crash orother expected weird alpha-behaviour. Maybe the following items are already on your list: -game uses almost the whole cpu on a single-core cpu and uses also a whole core on a multi-core cpu (although it seems to be frame limited and sticks with 60fps) -maybe another shortkey for sell-all instead of shift-? (on german keyboards ? already needs shift key for itself so that is not working) or better userdefinable keys -area effect weapons for those extremely fast respawning monsters on some terran planets (nuke from orbit will also do  Good luck with your nice gameand anyone trying the demo take the explorer for an easy start !

[IBOL17]

Hi, Everyone!It's been over a month since I posted here, and Approaching Infinity has seen a lot of progress! It's now in the Beta stage, with every major planned system represented in the game. New major systems of note are skilled officers, component crafting, variable speed, the shipyard, and a victory condition. There is also a new free public demo available, as well as a sale on itch.io for continued full beta access:[url]http://ibol17.itch.io/approaching-infinity-early-access[/url] Dari, I have removed the need to hit "shift" as you suggested. Also, there are area of effect weapons in both space and planets. There are also tons of new little fixes and improvements.

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New update from Kickstarter. What?! Wow! I was originally planning on only getting 4 of the race quests done during february, but once I started working on them, that changed. I find it much easier to focus on one aspect of the game at a time, and so I went crazy with the quests. Five are basically 100% complete, and the rest are half done or better.Banker Quest LineAs I have said, each intelligent alien race in the game will present you with a quest line. These quests tell a story about each race's history, present, and future, as well as give you lots of neat new stuff to do. Many of the race quests can also lead to victory. Game ending, checkered-flag-waving, score totalling VICTORY! And the ones that don't can still go on for a long time, providing an excellent source of rewards. Much new functionality has been added to handle all the new types of missions. Not all of it is perfect or pretty, but it basically works. I have made some other minor adjustments to the game, but nothing major. Many of the temporary systems that were put in for the beta are still in place. Crafting is still in its test-mode, with random parts and recipes. Officers are still unkillable. Beta 02 will come out by this sunday. Playtesters will have the opportunity to experience the racial quest lines, and see deeper into the game's story, as well as encounter new areas and unique enemies. Galactic Megastructure 

[IBOL17]

every time I try to post a link in this forum, I get a popup that wont go away. kills my post and I have to re-type. [url]http://ibol17.itch.io/eden-sector[/url] This is Eden Sector, my entry in 7DRL 2014. It is a unique adventure set within the world of Approaching Infnity.If any of this space roguelike awesomeness sounds good to you, please give it a try. It is free for windows.

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every time I try to post a link in this forum, I get a popup that wont go away. kills my post and I have to re-type. Strange one that not seen it myself as I usually just copy and paste links in.