Orbital Margins: dicerolling small-business rpg in a hard-scifi setting

[TheBob]

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Orbital Margins is a character-driven small-business dicerolling RPG that puts you into the shoes of an independent spacecraft operator in cis-lunar space of a potential mid-future. Try to survive in the margins of a merciless orbital economy where your most dangerous enemies are propellant costs, docking fees and customs clerks that are having a bad day.
The game is free to download from itch (no account required either):
[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins[/url]
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The game is currently in early alpha stage and is missing quite a lot of things (most notably long-term goals and progression systems). What it does have right now is a core loop that might engage you for a couple of hours (or see you go bankrupt or lost in space a lot faster), a cool UI, some sound and music, and a tutorial to introduce the basic concepts of the game.

At the moment I'm mostly looking for feedback, which it turns out is really hard to get on game prototypes these days. If you play the game for a bit, please consider leaving a feedback on your experience either on itch or right here. I would highly appreciate it!
While updates are not entirely regular, I do post to the devlog every month to keep people informed about where development is headed:
[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/767302/state-vector-july-24[/url]

[TheBob]

Minor update with a couple of fixes this month, while I'm working on some chunkier mechanics:
[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/788683/patch-notes-091[/url]
I'm talking a bit about what I'm working on in the new devlog, as well as about crickets...
[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/788070/state-vector-august-24[/url]

[TheBob]

It's been a while, but it's finally here: The new major feature changing a lot of the early game, and the first actual progression system. Now you'll have to build your network of business contacts to get good jobs, but maintaining good relations with them will also have other long-term benefits, making some things easier.
Expression is now finally a truly useful attribute. Quite a powerful one, actually, allowig you to build relations with contacts much, much quicker than the stick jockeys that think the business is just about flying spacecraft.
Just don't get cockey. Flying a spacecraft *is* still very much part of the business, and those that don't do it right will find that running out of remass is not economical at all...
download here (no account required), or through your itch app.
Patch notes:
[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/832253/patch-notes-0100[/url]
More musings about the slight delay in development, the challenges, and the new feature:
[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/831628/state-vector-november-2024[/url]

[TheBob]

Devlog for december is up, revealing some of the struggles I'm having with getting orbital mechanics into the game. No actual update to the game yet I'm afraid, and probably not next month either.

[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/857103/state-vector-december-24[/url]

[TheBob]

A bit of info on the games background story and general philosophy behind its design, and some words on how the integration of orbital mechanics is going:
[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/876022/state-vector-january-25[/url]

[TheBob]

Orbital margins, now with orbital mechanics! Take on the new challenge as you don't just manage your money and your DV, but also your time!
[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins[/url]

Latest devlog to go along with the release:

[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/900901/state-vector-march-25[/url]

[TheBob]

Minor update, finally introducing other aspect ratios than 16:9, and a couple other improvements:

[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/918609/patch-notes-0111[/url]


New devlog, outlining a bit what the features are going to look like that I'm currently working on:

[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/918602/state-vector-april-25[/url]

[TheBob]

New update out! Now comes with the actual parameters of the starting spacecraft intended for the game. Also, there's a Codex page now. There isn't much in it yet, but I'll be adding some background info on the world with each release from now on. This months featured entry is about the Great Lunacy, the time period during which much of the orbital infrastructure present in the game was built.
Read the patch notes for a more detailed rundown about what's changed with this release:

[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/937744/patch-notes-0120[/url]

I also heartily recommend the state vector of this month! I had promised last month that I'm going to geek out about the first actual spacecraft designed in-depth for the game, and that's exactly what I'm doing. There's pictures, too!

[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/936912/statevector-may-25[/url]

[TheBob]

THERE BE GRAPHICS NOW!!
Looks like I can't really post images here, unfortunately. There's some in the first link below though.

We also have 3 shiny new orbital depots for remassing, enabling a lot of profitable options for a spacecraft like the Alex. This is acompanied by this release's codex update, which is an *entire section* about Orbitography. It's like geography, but with orbits. I recommend to read at least the logistics page to get a couple of pointers on how to plan your journeys!

[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/961002/patch-notes-0130-some-graphics[/url]

In this months devlogs I talk a bit about games that do menus in a way you don't consider them menus, and about keeping myself in line when my brain is running off with ideas:

[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/961031/state-vector-june-25[/url] empyrean_core_scene.jpg

[Pinback]

Will have to have a look when I get some time.  

[TheBob]

Small update this month while I'm working on bigger features in the background. Adds a new graphic for Huanggong, one of the bigger stations in the game (see patch notes for screenshot), and a codex entry about the Big Bust (though that consists of 3 parts):
[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/979699/patch-notes-0131[/url]
And this months state vector, also a shorter affair right before I sign off and take a week of vacation:
[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/979676/state-vector-july-25[/url]

[TheBob]

After skipping a month, I’m back on the dev track, with a… very minor update. This adds graphics for one of the smaller stations, kroonhaven, as well as a couple of codex entries about the busted years. This really starts to go into the meat of the games background history and how the current orbital civilization came to be.
[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/1020328/patch-notes-0132[/url]

Right now, there’s no more than that. However, spacecraft upgrading is coming fairly soon. Read all about that in this month’s state vector:
[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/1020259/state-vector-september-25[/url]

[TheBob]

0.14.0 is here!

Now with zero-g toilets and other fun upgrades for your sardine can of a spacecraft, an additional graphic for one of the space stations, and a couple other things. Complete list (and download link) in the patch notes:
[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/1068034/patch-notes-0140-spacecraft-upgrades[/url]
And as always (well, most of the time anyways), there's a more in-depth look at the new features and the general state of development:
[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/1068206/state-vector-october-25[/url]

[TheBob]

I’ve finally managed to wrap up all the loose ends for this release. New station graphic (see patch notes), quite a few new codex entries, but most of all completely overhauled job generation and UI. The game now feels more friendly to play, give it a spin if you miraculously find some time this month.

More details in the patch notes:
[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/1137723/patch-notes-0150[/url]
And some more information about that station graphic, as well as where I’m headed next, in the last state vector of this year:
[url]https://randomactsofconstruction.itch.io/orbital-margins/devlog/1135147/state-vector-december-25[/url]