Greetings, commanders, some big news from Starcom HQ!
After maintaining radio silence since I wrapped up development on Starcom: Nexus, I’ve been hard at work on a follow-up title, tentatively called Starcom: Unknown Space. The Steam store page is now live and you can check out the brand new trailer.
There’s a lot of work left to do, but I’m hopeful that it will be ready for Early Access in 2022, with closed betas starting soon. Due to the way Steam’s visibility algorithm works, it would be a big help to the game’s eventual launch if you add it to your wishlists now.
Overall, players have strongly expressed the opinion that the gameplay shouldn’t change too much from Starcom: Nexus. So my goal has been to create a new story, with new races, new mysteries in a new universe, but not change too much of the mechanics.
That said, there are some interesting new changes:
New Shipbuilding System
You’ll still be able to fully customize your ship build, but the system has been completely overhauled. Modules now come in different shapes and sizes, depending on their type and “level” and can be rotated, opening up a lot more design possibilities.
Crew / Skill System
In Starcom: Nexus, your crew was basically just a resource who occasionally got eaten/vaporized/diseased on away missions. In Starcom: Unknown Space, you will have a persistent command crew that can progress overtime in several key skill areas. Along with this, anomalies and alien interactions can have skill checks and observations, adding another dimension to your choices.
New Narrative System
Less visible to the player, but equally important, I’ve created a completely new mission/narrative system. My hope is that this system is more robust and flexible, allowing me to craft more interesting stories and missions that weave together encounters, anomalies, and factions with greater depth. At the same time, I’m integrating it with an improved mission tracking system.
More Everything
This is more of an aspiration than a feature, but I hope to spend more time in Early Access creating an even bigger universe.
Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to wishlist the game on Steam! If you have questions for me, post them on the game’s discussion page.
