Relic Space : Open-world, roguelike, space RPG

[Asid]

Open-world, roguelike, space RPG in which you play an elite starship pilot. Tactical, hex-based ship-to-ship combat in a rich, sci-fi setting.


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Single-player


Trailer coming soon




About







Tactical turn-based space combat
Use your tactical skills on a hex grid with ‘one-tile-per-turn’ mechanics inspired by traditional roguelikes.

Flexible development
Use your growing reputation and influence to acquire more powerful ships and equip them with countless weapon and utility combinations. Acquire new piloting abilities through a flexible skill tree.

Deep Simulation
Realistic combat mechanics simulate damage to individual ship components. Each weapon, engine or utility item can catch fire, leak power, and acquire many more status effects.

Real Space
Movement rules based on actual space physics: motion in a straight line is free, but turning, starting or stopping cost energy.

Immersive setting
Uncover a rich, branching narrative threaded with endless procedurally generated stories in a detailed setting inspired by hard sci-fi.

Open World
Explore a vast procedurally generated solar system with handcrafted elements. Factions and NPCs pursue research, trade, construction projects, and other goals irrespective of your actions – though your actions affect their success or failure!





It is the year 2612 and the galaxy lies in ruins. You are a member of Omega, the elite pilot wing of a community of survivors known as the Order.

Originally an elite military organization set up to protect posthumanity from high-impact, low-probability threats, the Order is a community of genetically engineered supersoldiers with a fierce sense of tradition.

After failing to prevent the devastation known as the Fall, their core aim is to recover lost knowledge and rebuild civilization. But recent events show an emergent new threat to their very existence...




The early Alpha version of the game contains a tutorial, followed by a limited selection of randomized mission types in the open-world solar system.

You can engage in combat, purchase equipment, research relics, acquire skills and boost your faction stats by completing missions, though there is currently only a very limited range of equipment, skills, factions and mission types.

To gain exclusive free access to the Alpha, sign up to the (low-volume) newsletter or join the game Discord via the Website (click 'Visit the Website' on the right-hand side of this page).

[Asid]

Alpha Access Begins 15th February!
Wed, 10 February 2021



The very first round of Alpha Access to Relic Space begins next Monday 15th February.



Take part and
•   be among the first to experience the innovative gameplay first hand
•   become part of the early community around relic space
•   help shape the future of the game through your feedback


To sign up, join the discord at https://discord.gg/Z5TktgQq82 or the newsletter at https://www.fourfoldgames.com/relicspace

[Asid]

Alpha 7 'Pilot Skills' Available
Fri, 2 July 2021

Alpha 7 is now out on the Discord! It's the biggest update yet in terms of sheer number of changes, and the focus is on bringing out the tactical depth to the game from the start.

Pilot Skill Tree

Like skills or abilities in many RPGs, Pilot Skills can be activated during combat to have specific effects, such as repairing a part of your ship, boosting some stats, or performing a specific maneuver. They are therefore central in offering the player specific tactical choices, in addition to moving and shooting.

To give players more tactical choices right from the start of the game, you can now choose from one of three character ‘backgrounds’, each of which has three starting skills, and a 'trait' which determines which skills can more easily be developed in the game.



Alongside this, the skill tree has also been completely redesigned to a) more easily distinguish different types of skill b) introduce more interesting choices when selecting a new skill to acquire by having interdependencies between skills and c) bring out the thematic or narrative aspect of developing skills associated with your background trait.

The new skill tree now has a more familiar division of skills according to themes, e.g. combat, movement, engineering etc. It also has a proper tree structure in which new skills become available as you unlock previous ones - though at the moment the structure is quite simple - as more skills get added I will add extra complexity to the structure as well.

And there are also six entirely new skills, to make the three starting skill choices more balanced and equally playable.




Combat UI

Relic Space has quite a deep simulation of many aspects of combat, including different damage types, effects of cover, impact of motion on hit chance, and managing heat and energy, so there are plenty of tactical options available: the challenge is to present this information in a way that is clear and without resulting in 'information overload'.

The new 'target analysis' mode (which can be toggled on or off) causes a panel to be shown that contains information about the impact of firing your ship's weapons on its current target - and importantly, this panel is shown irrespective of where the mouse is hovering. Making it independent of the mouse in this way allows for the addition of tooltips that enable the player to drill down deeper into the figures shown, and thereby learn more about the core combat mechanics.




Original Soundtrack

This build introduces for the first time an all-new original soundtrack by talented composer Peter Gagliardi. As you can see from his bandcamp profile Peter has a lot of experience creating sci-fi works with a grand cosmic scale, and so is a great fit for the project.

The soundtrack is 'adaptive', changing in response to what's happening in-game, and there are three main music states. The most intense music occurs, not surprisingly, during combat, and the least intense - a quieter, more relaxed, ambient loop - occurs when the player is just travelling with no current mission. Then there’s a state of intermediate intensity that plays when the player has accepted a mission, though is not yet in combat.

In addition to being adaptive in this way, the music is also themed around the main factions in the game, so that music with characteristics corresponding to a given faction plays when you enter a sector primarily controlled by that faction. When you enter a sector that is contested by two factions, the music itself becomes a mix of the themes of those two factions. And there are also variations that occur to keep things fresh when you enter a new sector that happens to be controlled by the same faction as the previous sector you were in.

Here’s a short video that gives a taste of the way the music transitions smoothly to become more intense when a mission is acquired, and again when hostile ships are encountered.




...And More

The tutorial has also been augmented in various ways, and extended to cover the first Relic mission, to introduce players to the relic/research mechanics. There are also a host of smaller graphical improvements and bug fixes that should make for a smoother, more playable experience.

The full list of changes can be viewed on the dev blog https://steamcommunity.com/linkfilter/?url=https://www.fourfoldgames.com/devblog

Join the community

To help test the new Alpha and be among the first to play Relic Space, join the Discord for access instructions, or sign-up to the newsletter for access to future releases.

[Asid]

'Going Rogue' Demo Update
Sat, 30 April 2022




Hi folks, its time for another update to the Demo in preparation for the upcoming Going Rogue Festival here on Steam.


While it may not be obvious from the screenshots, 'under the hood' Relic Space is many ways a traditional roguelike: it's turn-based and grid-based, with procedurally generated levels and missions, and like many classic roguelikes it's a non-party-based RPG where you focus on controlling a single character. And the full version will also feature a Permadeath game mode. So it's super-exciting to be participating in Steam's Going Rogue festival!

As there may be quite a few new players trying out the Demo, we wanted to make sure it's as polished as it can be - meaning there's a whole host of bugfixes in this update! But there's also a few significant new additions gameplaywise as well:


Difficulty Levels

This update introduces difficulty levels to the game for the first time. 'Adventure' difficulty offers a gentler introduction to the game for those who prefer to focus on uncovering storylines, or who find the more demanding 'Tactical' difficulty too challenging. (The full game will also feature a third, harder difficulty for veterans who need even more of a challenge)




16 new sector environmental effects

The new environmental effects are features that affect an entire sector, like quantum storms, asteroid showers or radioactive residue. Some of these have a potentially game-changing impact on combat, for example by making shields unusable, or reducing the effectiveness of specific weapon types. This will help each sector feel more distinct, as well as offering interesting new challenges.




New Gas Cloud Types

While all gas cloud types offer a useful bit of extra cover, the new explosive and corrosive gas clouds come with an additional risk as well. Being fired at wil hiding in an explosive gas cloud could cause the whole cloud to go up in flames, and your ship along with it!




Bugfixes and balance change

As mentioned there are plenty of bugfixes, particularly as relates to the new weapon display that was introduced in the last updated. In terms of balance tweaks, the biggest change is around fuel, where the fuel capacity of all ships have been decreased, so that fuel has more of an impact on progress.


Change log

Full details of the changes can be viewed on the (see Demo 152) website. https://www.fourfoldgames.com/devblog


Join the community

To discuss the game with fellow fans and get free early access to bleeding-edge builds, join the Discord. Alternatively sign-up to the low-volume newsletter to be notified of key updates and new releases.