[WIP] Omicron Sector - Squad Based, Tactical, Sci-Fi Roguelike

Heya folks, my name is David and I'm working on a game using Unity. It is called Omicron Sector.

In short, as the title says, it's a roguelike game intended to be a tactical RPG set in space. Right now the team consists of me and...well, me. I'm doing the art and the programming. This is what happens when you let somebody get a CS degree at the same time as an art one.



I've been tinkering with roguelike games for a while and this one has been in the works off and on for a bit. Now that it's starting to come together it's time to start talking about it more.

The basic idea of the story is that humanity, not long after taking to the stars, found an infinite energy source. Nobody was entirely sure how it worked, how it got there, or how to make another one. It was the greatest mystery of the time. However, nobody was about to turn down infinite energy. It ushered in a golden age; humans spread far and wide throughout an increasingly large chunk of the galaxy. Unlimited energy meant effectively unlimited resources. The problem was that it eventually turned off.

The prosperity of the past was forgotten and the empire increasingly fell to ruin. One of the leftovers were the Trade Gates; massive wormhole machines that connected two distant points of space as if they were adjacent. They closed quickly due to the massive amounts of power needed to use them. Left to rot they eventually seemed impossible to salvage. Eventually, however, a method was found to turn one on thought it was brief and allowed little to be sent through.

This is where you come in. You play a crew of four given a small, sturdy ship and tasked with not only repairing the other side of the Gate but also exploring the area. Of course the area is far from safe; leftover experiments of the past survived and began seeking their own resources. The ruins of the old empire are often home to pirates, raiders, and far worse. There is technology there to scavenge but the missing piece is power. Much of what was left behind was built on the assumption of infinite energy. Pieces of technology bordering on magic still exist if you can generate enough electricity to use them, assuming they even still work.

The job sounds simple but trust me, it isn't. You're cut off from the support of the new, growing empire. They can power the Gate if you can manage to get it working again. You know...if.



Planned features include scavenging and mining systems, hostile environments, a procedurally generated region, procedurally generated areas, and unpredictable access to high tech gear. The game will never play quite the same way twice. There will also be a few bits of overarching, major plot that will be guaranteed to be in the game. That and a salty old fisherman living on an ocean world.

The plan is to also improve on the AI of roguelike games. While doing my college education I wrote a paper about advanced AI in roguelike games. I'll be doing similar things with this. No longer will every enemy just suicidally run at you with no regard to its own survival.

The paper is here if you care to read it:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwP1brHacuDVQS10QkJJTy1SU2M/view?usp=sharing

Major inspirations for the game include Starflight, Star Control, X-COM, ADOM, and NEO Scavenger. The biggest inspiration is the roguelike genre as a whole.

I also have a Kickstarter up because I'd really like to see this game be finished.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/daveycakes/omicron-sector

So now some more screenshots!




Thanks for reading. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have. I'll be back with more news as it comes together.