PULSAR: Lost Colony

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

PULSAR: Lost Colony is a science fiction video game developed by Leafy Games, LLC . The game wasacceptedon Steam Greenlight on October 3, 2013and successfullyfundedon Kickstarter.com on October 31, 2013. The game was released in an alpha version on February 25, 2014.

PULSAR: Lost Colony is a space exploration game in which a procedural galaxy is generated with a ship of the player's choice. Players move through multiple star systems and can upgrade / repair their ship when they encounter a system with a trading post. Combat systems are present in the game - the player can attack and board other ships. There are five playable classes in the game: a captain, a pilot, an engineer, a scientist, and a weapons officer. The game has single and multiplayer modes , both modes are identical.

The game contains four playable factions: the CU (Colonial Union), WD Corporation, the AOG (Alliance of Gentlemen) and the Fluffy Biscuit Company. In the future a faction will be added: a "secret faction", the Polytechnic Federation. Different ships are available for each playable faction: Intrepid, Roland and Outrider for the CU; WD Cruiser and WD Destroyer for WD Corp, Stargazer and Carrier for AOG, and Fluffy One for Fluffy Buiscuit Company. Every ship has its own strengths and weaknesses. The developers plan to include the factions in the story.

Functions

The current PULSAR: Lost Colony features are as follows

  • Single and multiplayer
    • Five player co-op online or LAN
    • Single player / multiplayer with AI - Bots
  • Four factions
  • Five classes
  • Soundtrack
  • Procedurally generated galaxy
    • Planets
  • Ironman mode (without resuscitation)

Planned functions

When the Kickstarter page for PULSAR: Lost Colony was created on October 2nd, 2013, several features were highlighted that should be introduced if the goals were achieved. The goals that have been achieved are displayed on their website. These are the planned features :

  • Improved soundtrack
  • Sectors commanders
  • Custom / Mega Galaxies
  • Two additional secret ships
  • a community created player center

The website's authors promise to publish more information about the planned functions at a later date.

Gameplay

The current game mechanics of PULSAR: Lost Colony are in an early phase and not final. The core mechanics revolve around exploring a procedurally generated galaxy while completing optional missions for credits. There are also light role-play elements, in the form of classes that collect experience points and talent points.

These classes consist of a captain, a pilot, an engineer, a scientist and a weapons officer. There can only be one member of each class on the five-person crew. Each role is responsible for the various functions required to operate the ship:

  • The captain monitors the crew and makes command decisions, such as setting a course, accepting or rejecting orders, and can rebuild the ship in the vicinity of a station. The captain can also unlock critical or dangerous systems, such as the emergency jump. The captain also has the ability to improve talent for his team.
  • The pilot is responsible for maneuvering the ship, including navigating around objects, aiming the ship at a target beacon, evasive maneuvers during combat, and repair station docking. Although the pilot can fly in first person perspective, he is one of only two that have exterior view modes as part of their role (the other is the weapons officer). It is important to note that any member of the crew can fly the ship as long as the ship's helm is unoccupied.
    • Upgrade paths include dodging, personal combat training, and navigation.
  • The scientist uses the ship's sensors to scan contacts and planets. He can recognize whether a planet needs an exo suit, the type and number of life forms on board ships or on the planet side (but he does not recognize any robots) and begins the game with a hand scanner. He also does research by collecting samples from planets and placing them in the ship's atomizer. The samples then create a kind of research point. When the correct number and combination of research points have been generated, new talents can be researched. Scientists also operate the communication screen, run useful programs from the ship's computer (and send harmful viruses to enemy ships), and can act as ship's doctor.
    • Upgrade paths include hacking, medical, and advanced research.
  • The weapons specialist manages the weapons on the ship, including turrets and nuclear weapons. Weapons officers are usually the ones who man the turrets on ships, although any member of the crew can currently use turrets.
    • Upgrade paths include nuclear technology and advanced weapon systems.
  • The engineer has the task of constantly maintaining and repairing the vital ship systems as well as preventing the engines from overheating and controlling the ship's energy flow. They also charge the warp drive and get the ship up to warp speed.
    • Upgrade paths include engine improvements, reactor energy management, and automated repair tools.

development

Leafy Games, LLC was founded in July 2012. Shortly after it was founded, the indie studio began work on their first game, PULSAR: Lost Colony, after several attempts on prototypes for a new game. They published their first “Devlog” on their official YouTube channel on August 2nd, 2013 called “PULSAR: Lost Colony - Video Devlog # 0”. Since then, they have updated the game with new features several times. For each station they have added functions for the role of the captain, engineer, scientist and weapons officer such as: commands that the captain delivers to the players / bots, ship cores that must be monitored by the engineer at all times, and viruses / scans that the scientist sends and new weapons / turrets have been added to the ships. The developers have also added new ships and planets to the game. The game is now in beta version 19.6.

The developers occasionally publish "devlogs" on their channel.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ PULSAR: Lost Colony Greenlight Page . Steam / Valve. August 30, 2013.
  2. ↑ 32 New Steam Titles Greenlit . Tom's Guide. 3rd October 2013.
  3. ↑ Co-op sandbox FTL? - PULSAR Is The Most Exciting Game . Rock, paper, shotgun. 2nd October 2013.
  4. ↑ PULSAR: Lost Colony Kickstarter by Leafy Games, LLC . Kickstarter. May 8, 2014.
  5. ↑ Pulsar Features Cooperative Space Exploration with a Side of Permadeath . Co-Optimus. May 7, 2014.
  6. ↑ PULSAR: Lost Colony - Video Devlog # 1 - Multiplayer Demo . YouTube. August 11, 2013.
  7. ↑ Pulsar: Lost Colony - New developer video for the co-op spaceship simulator . Gambler's home. October 13, 2014.
  8. ↑ PULSAR: Lost Colony - Video Devlog # 2 . YouTube. August 20, 2013.
  9. ↑ PULSAR: Lost Colony - Devlog # 38 . YouTube. December 31, 2014.
  10. ↑ PULSAR: Lost Colony sounds amazing, wants your money . Games.On.net. 5th October 2013.
  11. ^ "PULSAR: Lost Colony" Is a Coop Starship Sim Game, Now on Kickstarter . Softpedia. 3rd October 2013.
  12. ↑ PULSAR: Lost Colony Official Website . Leafy Games, LLC. 2nd August 2015.
  13. ↑ We Are Floating In Space: PULSAR: Lost Colony . Rock, paper, shotgun. 2. September 2013.
  14. ↑ 32 New Steam Titles Greenlit . YouTube. August 2, 2013.