Sad times

Well it's been a fun 6 months and things were going so well, but today I have to announce the worst of all news. Due to circumstances beyond my control I have to announce that Oort Star is to be cancelled, at least for now.

Unfortunately Jarvis has had to pull out of the project and at this time I do not have the resources available to continue work on Oort Star alone. I will be looking for a way to return to Oort star in the future but it may not be for a while.

To all of those who have shared in the journey so far, I thank you. To all of those who find us after this announcement, I will see you again. For me Oort Star has been a dream for so long, this will not be the end of it.

I apologise to those who have been let down and I will see you again.

- Flux

Screenshot Saturday 5

It feels like it has only been a few days but given its name it must have been a whole week, it's time for screenshot Saturday.

Earlier this week we released information about combat scanning and explained how different scanner combinations would show you different things. This week our screenshot is demoing a combination of missile and repair scanners which would result in the following.

A combat scan using missile and repair kit scanners

Last week we unveiled 3 new ships and received a lot of positive feedback, as a reward for your kind words here are more 2 ships.

2 brand new ships

Let's talk combat scanning

In its most basic form the mechanic is very simple, you go to a location, use a combat scanner and are shown the enemies available. Each enemy has a variety of attributes which are predetermined by a set of rules.

A basic combat scan being performed on the navigation screen

Levels and difficulty

Enemy difficulty is indicated by the colour of their level

The most simple of these rules is the level of the ship, each system within Oort Star contains a selection of enemies ranging from a minimum to a maximum level. As you progress through the game and travel further from Satora you will encounter more challenging (higher level) enemies.

Satora contains level 0 - 5 ships, as you can see in the screenshot, enemy levels are displayed in white, green or red to indicate the difficulty of the fight. There are no artificial mechanics to make higher level ships more challenging to lower level players. So, a level 30 player could attempt to kill a level 40 ship should they think they are more powerful than average level 30 players.

Ship types

A selection of enemy ships, showing one of each primary type

Just like players, enemy ships will follow the 6 primary types, one for each specialism. These 6 types of ships are then broken down into sub categories and classes, resulting in hundreds of combinations spread throughout the Universe.

Ship types determine the way the enemy ship will behave, for example combat ships may be more aggressive than mining vessels. Transit ships may have a higher tendency to try and run from battle compared to explorers.

Sub categories and classes will provide variation in the ships abilities, survivability and power. These variations will remain consistent throughout the game, so if you meet a low and later high level Leto Class Death Dealer, you can expect the higher level version to have more powerful equipment but fight in the same fashion.

Customise your scanning

There are several types of scanners and which you equip comes down to personal preference, some will provide more information whilst others will cover a wider range. Some examples:

• Basic scanners: These will scan the furthest distance but only return basic ship information.
• Drone scanners: These will only scan at close range but will inform you of any drones a ship is carrying.
• Missile scanners: Close range scanners providing information about missile types and quantities.

Short range vs long range scanners

As you upgrade your ship you will be able to mix and match scanners, meaning you could equip multiple scanners at once. Some combinations include:

• Basic scanner + drone scanner: Long range drone scanning.
• Drone scanner + missile scanner: Short distance scanning providing both drone and missile information.
• Basic scanner + Basic scanner: Providing extremely long range scanning but only basic information.

Conclusion

I have only touched on the basics of combat scanning with this post but hope to have provided you with an insight as to how the system will work. It will be interesting to see what scanner customisations you will value and whether quantity or quality will be the most desired.

Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments below.

Screenshot Saturday 4

It has been a quiet week in terms of updates but never fear, we have made loads of progress on the combat system and will have plenty of updates soon.

For screenshot Saturday 4 we would like to show some new ships which have been spotted flying around Wellspring. Each of these will be obtainable by playing the game and offer you a variety of options.

A selection of obtainable ships

On our travels we also spotted some rare artefacts which were found whilst looting ships, it seems these may have some value?

Rare artefacts are scattered around the Universe

Strangely, we also found one crews lunch, obviously the battle took place at the worst possible time.

An unlucky crews lunch, what else will you find?

Screenshot Saturday 3

Our screenshot this week shows the SGN for Wellspring, a set of gates allowing you to move between systems in the same Galaxy.

Wellspring system gate network

Travelling to another system costs fuel and will take a calculated amount of real time based on the distance from your current location.

Mining updates

Since our first mining screenshot was released a few weeks ago we have animated the asteroid display and included more randomness.

Whilst animations wont show in a screenshot, you will be able to see an active mining session with tooltips and logging in this updated image.

Updated mining screen