Xenovoid 4X Sci-Fi Strategy MMO - Now Accepting Beta Members!

CAPTURE PLANETS, EXPLORE THE UNIVERSE, DESTROY OTHER PLAYERS!

The latest trailer:

I am the leader for a large gaming organization (800+ active members) that has been around for over a decade and my members and I love games that have strategy involved. FPS games like Battlefield 4, Arma 3, MMORPG games like World of Warcraft, Eve, and hybrid type games like League of Legends and World of Tanks are all common games you can see our group playing every night.

We also like the occasional "casual" strategic game and this is where Xenovoid comes into play. I like galactic conquest games where you build up planets and send ships to attack players. I like being able to take a few turns during the day and let the game work out the combat and logistics of everything. I like working with my friends to go after an enemy together. The games are easy to get into and they are fun to do well in.

The problem comes is that most of these "conquest" games do not have a point to them. Once you capture a planet, you own it for good. Commonly there is no reason for where you capture a planet. Everything is just a number somewhere in a database. One of my goals with Xenovoid is to change this. In Xenovoid you find the usual 4X elements but there is a strategic map with front-lines and battle positions that can be captured from the computer or from players. You strategize, and you can move the map. There can be reason for what you do and your actions count towards winning the game for your faction. This is one component among many others that set Xenovoid apart from the rest. Read on:

Xenovoid is a WIP Massively-Multiplayer-Strategy free game supporting thousands of players in a game of galactic conquest. Build massive cities, research important technology, construct ships, and expand your colony to other planets in another system or galaxy. Send fleets of ships to attack other factions/players, gather materials, and spend your time trading in goods across the universe. Work with other players to take control of the map in the name of your Faction and eventually unlock the secrets of the universe!

Join the beta here!!! --> http://xenovoid.com/download-and-play/



The Website
http://www.Xenovoid.com

A wormhole opens to a brand new universe that has never been explored by humankind. You must colonize planets there and build an empire all in the name of your corporation. After everything the corp has done for you, it is the least you can do for it. But, something is out there. Something is waiting for you...

Features

• Control your empire from the cockpit of your personal ship in a universe with thousands of players.
• Manage mining, power production, and more on your planets.
• Build planet defenses to keep invaders from taking your resources.
• Research over a dozen technologies to assist in your conquest.
• Produce trade goods to sell to space stations for a profit.
• Build ships for combat or commerce.
• Attack other planets to raid raw materials.
• Invade and conquer enemy planets with ground forces.
• Complete quests for experience, in-game money, and planetary resources.
• Explore each universe with up to 31,000 planets each.
• Help your Corporation by taking over enemy territory to win monthly payouts.
• Form alliances and conquer entire solar systems to call your own.
• Hire commanders to assist you in your efforts.
• Win battles and explore the universe to level your character.
• SMS Text messaging to your mobile phone for user-defined alerts.
• Email compilation daily telling you of the day's accomplishments and issues.
• Hire commanders for bonuses.

Work in Progress Screenshots

The manage planet scene where you can upgrade your industries to produce more raw materials for use in universal conquest. Resources are needed for ships, defenses, research, etc.


View of the research scene where you can spend planet resources to research technology used to build new ships, research other technology, build defenses, and more.


Xenovoid contains a complete metaverse where you fight for control of planets in the name of your corporation.

About
Xenovoid is designed to handle over 10,000 players per universe of over 31,000 planets and has the ability to scale to an infinite number of universe instances. The engine is C# based and runs on the MS Azure Cloud platform for scalability. The current client runs on Unity 3D Pro with add-ons for iPhone and Android. I have been working on the game for over a year now and to date this has been a solo project. You may recognize some of the assets from the asset store (or other places) as I do not have the time to create all of the art-work myself (and the sound.)

F.A.Q.
Q. An MMO, are you crazy or stupid or what?
A. Maybe. I am a Principal Solutions Architect for a large company (~7000 people) and my specialty is distributed processing and "big data" solutions for customers. I have been the lead architect for systems which involved thousands of processing machines and over a hundred terabytes of data (in a single solution.) I work on large complicated problems for my customers and Xenovoid, although complex, is much simpler from a system standpoint than what I do for my "day job." I have been programming professionally for over 20 years as well and have the necessary skills to write the game.

Q. How many people are on your team?
A. Just me. I used to own an animation studio (and was a lead animator); therefore, I at least have the skills necessary to create some of my own assets when I can not find them or hire for them.

Q. How long has Xenovoid been in development?
A. Over two years now. I hope to release the first version in 2014. The Beta is available now.

Q. What is the financial model?
A. Xenovoid is a micro-transaction model where I am trying to leverage many of the concepts found in other MT games. It is all very much a work in progress though so expect the model to change a lot. What may cost $ today may not cost anything tomorrow, while I balance the game. Everything non-vanity will be available without spending anything (but through in-game work.)

Q. What language do you support?
A. I am programming the game to support over two dozen language on the first release.

Q. What operating system are you targeting?
A. The first release will be for the iPhone and possibly the PC. I am also building it for Anrdroid, Linux, and OSX. The resolution is designed for mobile but in the future I plan to release a high-res design for PCs. Transactions will work between operating systems since the server manages everything. I have it working where you can issue orders on your iPhone while at work and then play on your PC when you get home, all with the same character and in the same universe. XBox One is a platform I like as well and have been working with MS to get into the dev program.

Q. Do you have a website?
A. Sure! http://www.Xenovoid.com.

Q. What is left to do?
A. Several things are left and I have a ton of items envisioned but all of the basics exist. As the game evolves, you can expect a lot of updates, well past the first release. The servers are online now and ready!

Q. Are you using Photon or something else for the MP?
A. I am not using a prebuilt solution for multiplayer. Everything is written in C#, created by me, and is deployed on Microsoft's Azure Cloud Platform for scale. The front-end client communicates via HTTP(S) to the server and receives responses via XML. This gives me the flexibility to write the client on any platform/language that can parse XML. Real-time systems use TCP for chat and other components that require an immediate relay. The chat server(s) work in the same Azure cloud for expandability.

Q. Do you need help or are interested in partnerships?
A. Yes I am to both. If you are an artist or interface designer for Unity 3D, please send me a notification in the forums. If you are interested in plugging in your project to mine, send me a message as well. For example, if you are doing a sci-fi TBS or FPS, I would be interested in using Xenovoid as a lobby of sorts where players can accept missions that take them to an instance of your game. If they "win", they get rewards in Xenovoid.

SOME OF THE ASSET STORE ITEMS USED
1. Sprite Manager 2
2. EZ Gui
3. Localization
4. Space Graphics Toolkit
5. Radar Arrows
6. Space Unity
7. SciFi Level Kit
8. A ton of models from 3DRT
9. SciFi Muzzle Flashes
10. War FX
11. USequencer
12. Texture Tools
13. Shuriken Magic
14. Cartoon FX
15. Game Analytics
16. Imphenzia Soundtrack
17. Glow 11
18. Autopilot
19. Andromeda System
20. Finger Gestures
21. Master Audio
22. Heavy Armored SFX
23. HUD Interface SFX
24. 83 Explosion SFX

 

Lookin' Good!!!

 

@thanks Tylernocks!



The Meta-Game
The meta-game for Xenovoid is really what sets it apart from the other space conquest games and is also one of the more complicated facets of the game. The universe (world) is made up of quadrants. Each one is the home-space for a corporation in the game except for the one in the center. The central quadrant is the neutral zone.

Each quadrant contains galaxies, systems, or planets, depending on which level you are viewing. For example, when looking at the top-level universe, each quadrant contains galaxies. When you "zoom to" one of the galaxies, you are taken to the galaxy view. In the galaxy view, each quadrant contains systems. When you "zoom to" one of the systems, you are taken to the planet view. In the planet view, each quadrant contains planets. When you select a planet you are taken to the planet where you can manage industries, build ships, build defenses, research technology, etc. if you own it. Current universes are designed to hold a little over 31,000 planets but I am testing smaller ones for speed purposes.

The meta-aspects come into play as it is all about territory control. In Xenovoid you can take over planets from other players but only the planets on the front-lines can be attacked. In order to take over a system on the front-line, you must capture every planet. To take over the galaxy you must capture every system. To move the front line you must capture every galaxy in the "line". Eventually, if you move the line far enough, you get to the home zone of the corporation you are fighting. You cannot invade the home zone but if your corporation holds every other corporation to their home zone, your corporation wins the map (with a huge reward for everyone involved.) The idea is to allow corporations to fight back until the bitter end.

 

Just please don't make it a play to win game. Anything bought and paid for should be either a short cut to something reasonable (as compared to 'theoretically' like in many games) available if you work for it or entirely cosmetic.

Also, suggestion... "Corporation" is just so Eve Online. Let players found EMPIRES!

 

Heh, I actually didn't consider the Eve tie-in. I think it's my own life experiences that led to corporations being the term. I can see your point though.

As for pay to win, I am building it where everything you can pay for that is not purely cosmetic, you can play for as well. It will be one of the harder balance parts to the game.

 

True enough. Its moments like that its good to have someone give you an outside viewpoint.

Thank god for that. I do understand there's a border between trying to find a level that will get you a reliable income without ruining balance or alienating the player base.

Just at a random thought of dubious usefulness. You've made it sound like you want to have multiple servers. Have you considered subscription servers as well as free servers?

 

I've written it where I can bring on new universes (servers) with different rule-sets, speed, etc. In my current alpha/beta test I run two universes for example. I have considered a monthly subscription where you get a fixed # of benefits but have not really considered a pure paid-only member universe. Technically I could do it though if enough players wanted the option.

 

** Update **

I have been working the past few weeks on several updates but the largest one is the new Deploy Fleet Screen. The following shows the progression so far. I expect to have it complete this week!



This is the current view you see in game. You can only select one type of craft to send and it only shows you available quantities so I could test transmission from the server. It functions enough to test fleet deployment but not much else.



Here I have completely replaced the scene with a new one. The quantity bar allows you to drag out how many ships you want instead of having to hammer away at plus and minus buttons. On the far right you can see a text entry box which allows you to enter exactly how many ships you want to send. On the bottom you can see the start of the marks selection where you can select the target of your fleet.



In this version you can see the slider bar graphic updated and the markers at the bottom are now dynamically pulled from the server. The entire marker window can be hidden as well. If you drag up and down on the far right, the list of ships moves up and down. If you drag left to right in the marker window, the selection of markers moves left to right. The quantity sliders are limited by the # of ships you have at home (which is also pulled from the server.)

I need to update the button graphics, add the are-you-sure box, update all strings to support global languages, clean up a few things, then it will be ready for the next release!

 

The concept is great, I joined the forums and I hope I will get my beta key soon

 

Great, thanks for helping to support!

Have you tried the following link to request a key? You will get emailed one automatically (check spam folder!)

http://cosmosquest.cloudapp.net/ValidateBetaKey.aspx

You need to register inside the game client first but that only takes a minute.

 

EDIT:
You need to register inside the game client first but that only takes a minute.

Aaah, so you have to dl the client before registering, tricky

My original post:
I am a bit puzzled here. I registered a forum account, as I haven't found anywhere else to register. The forum sent me a mail that okay, now I am a registered forum member, but didn't asked for email verification, it just confirmed that I registered as "kalamona".

Since on the beta key request form it writes that you have to validate your email address before asking for a beta key, I tried the support page's "resend email validation request" feature; however that wrote that my account doesn't exist.

I suspect that game account and forum accounts are different; however I did not found where to register a game account. Probably just missed this, but some help would be nice

 

Yeah, sorry for the confusion.. The forums are a separate system and not linked yet. They will be down the road but for now they are just a feedback mechanism.

 

I added TestFlight support today using the Unity Asset of AutoPilot! If you would like to help test this on your iPhone, please let me know and I will send you an invite.

Keep in mind this is a very early ALPHA build so expect a severe lack of instructions and many bugs.

The Test Flight App Area
https://testflightapp.com/

My Application's site
http://www.Xenovoid.com

Thank you!

 

I added a new alpha gameplay video up top. It contains several of the key scenes. If you are an asset developer you may recognize your work as I am using over a dozen!

 

Ground invasion is coming and it will allow you to take over enemy planets! Here is a sneak peak screen-shot of the Deploy Fleet interface where you load ground troops onto your transports. Also of note are the real-time shadows added for a nice visual.



The # of Troop Transports you have determines the amount of Stowage available to the fleet. This is used to determine how many troops you can load. In the scene, there are 100,000+ Scout troops on the planet and each one requires (1) unit of Stowage. With 10 Troop Transports, you can load 1,000 Scouts. Deploy more Troop Transports to have carry more troops.

During combat, if the enemy fleet is destroyed, your ground troops will land on the planet and begin a siege. There they will fight against the Planet's defending troops until one side is victorious. If you win the siege, you capture the planet.

Siege takes time and the defender can call in reinforcements to help, but, so can the attacker. The amount of time it takes depends on the size of the planet under siege. More to come!

 

id even offer my help as 3d modeller if this wherent ANNOTHER space RTS... NO MORE COPIES OF SOSE PLEASE YES? PLEASE

 

Wow, this game looks great..
Can't wait to see it finished.

 

Thanks Lancer!

 

The new Hire Commander screen.


The new help system. If you click on the robot's portrait on the console, a holographic version pops up. When it is shown, if you click on an item in the view the robot will explain the function of it. For example, when the robot is up if you bring up the command bar and select Manage Planet it will explain what you do on the manage planet scene.


The new recruit window where you can select what type of ground troop to recruit. You can build armies to defend against invaders and to send out to conquer other player's planets.

 

I'm adding the ability to create, join, and manage Alliances to Xenovoid currently. This allows you to join your friends in galactic conquest! You will be able to apply to alliances in-game, manage applications if you have the job role, and have different ranks in the alliance.



Also included are tie-ins to Facebook and other benefits such as sending in reinforcements and joining together for planetary combat!

 

The navigation view, where you go to in order to travel about the galaxy, now has additional information. You can see the temperature, diameter, atmosphere type, and upgrade plots for each planet clicked.

You can also see if the planet is currently terraforming, recruiting, or under attack if you own the planet. An indicator at the top-middle of the screen tells you if it's friendly, an enemy, or neutral as well (green, grey, red.)

There is also a cross-hair on the screen to better show you which planet is selected and you are prompted now before traveling.

 

Anything new coming soon??

 

Lookin great, using NGUI?

 

@rorakin3: I am using EZGui for now but own NGUI. I may migrate to it in the future.

A ton of changes are coming.. for now I'm focused on the client. Here is the latest.

The new Manage Planet concept is coming along nicely as I have implemented the changes necessary to support multiple industries per in-game building. You can now select a building to bring up a list of build options with sub-options based on what you are allowed to do. For example, if you select the Ore Mine and have already upgraded it previously, you will see the option to downgrade it. If you are in the middle of upgrading it, you will see the options to cancel or speed up the progress.



The list button works as well and shows you a list of all the industries that are either built or can be built. If you cannot build one, it will not show up! This should cut down on the confusion of what can and cannot be built. In the near future, the recruit, terraform, and production buttons will go away to be put as sub-options under in-game buildings. The only thing left will be the info button and the list button.

If you want to be notified of changes, please sign up for our newsletter on the right side-bar of the website at: www.xenovoid.com

Thanks!

 

Here is the List Industry view in action. From here you can see all industries on your planet (that are buildable) and can choose to speed-up existing upgrades, demote existing industries, cancel an upgrade in progress, or initiate a new upgrade. You can still do this by navigating around the planet but the list view gives you a central place to see what all is going on without having to scroll around.

 

Another update to the client and to the server(s)!



Please visit the website and play for free! http://www.XenoVoid.com.

Feature highlights:
◾(CLIENT) – The Build Ships scene now deducts planet resources from the client view when you build ships. It was always doing it server-side but now you see the change immediately on the client.
◾(CLIENT) – The amount of Terraforming resources is now shown next to the # of planet plots. The left # shows how many you have, the # on the right says how many are still needed.
◾(CLIENT) – The Build Defenses scene now deducts planet resources from the client view when you build ships. It was always doing it server-side but now you see the change immediately on the client.
◾(CLIENT) – Several scenes have a pop-up slider that tell you when an action has executed. For example, when you upgrade an industry it now tells you “Upgrade in x seconds” as a clearly visible pop-up.
◾(CLIENT) – The resources shown in the Manage Planet scene persist if you leave the scene and come back.
◾(CLIENT) – The level of research, industry, ships, and defenses was incorrect after a speed up request. This was visual only (the server had the right level) but it now shows reality in the client.
◾(CLIENT) - The requirements to build the Terraformer on the Manage Planet scene now reflect what you need to build.
◾(CLIENT) – Several messages were not translated properly resulting in a MISSING_LANG error. They have been fixed.
◾(CLIENT) – In the Deploy Ships scene you can now see the name of the ship along with the quantity on the planet. Previously you only saw the # available.
◾(SERVER) – You now get Experience Points when you complete an industry upgrade or win in combat. You also get XenoPoints that you can use to purchase in-game speed-ups and other items!
◾(SERVER) – The amount of resources needed to Terraform has been fixed. It was zero previously, keeping players from terraforming.
◾(SERVER) – Space stations now buy goods like they were intended too. Before this update they didn’t offer to buy goods like they were supposed to.

 

I’ve had a ship construction concept in my head for a while and am starting to work out how it would function in-game. The general idea is you see the ship in a large space-dock and can scroll through the different types available to you. If you can’t build it, you can’t see it.



When working, you would swipe left and right to cycle the type of ship. For ships currently under production it will show an icon on the screen with the time left for it to produce. To cancel or speed up the process, you click on the icon and then choose the appropriate option.

Graphically this is JUST a test and doesn’t look as good as the final would. I imagine adding several “effects” such as comets, little space ships zooming about, etc. The dock itself is currently just a bunch of cubes and I would implement a full model as well.

 

Video of the Build Ship scene work in progress. I hope to have it done in the next couple of days. The base scripting and server pulls are in-place, just need to implement the cloning logic and some other aspects.

 

Now that the Build Ships Scene is ready for the next release I am focusing on making the Deploy Ships Scene (and Manage Ships Scene) work better. In the prototype you select ships from a list box, much like you select industries in the Manage Planet Scene. From there you can drag to select how many you want to deploy in your fleet.

As you add ships, representations of the fleet show up in orbit over your planet. Once you have the fleet selected, you then click the single Deploy button and it will bring up a selection box allowing you to pick the type of mission (colonize, attack, spy, etc.) based on the types of ships selected.



I'm also working out the interface to load troops onto troop transports and cargo onto cargo transports. The other big difference is the Mark window has been removed. Instead of selecting the Mark, you will deploy fleets from the Navigation scene. The current planet you have selected will automatically be the target of the mission (you still need a mark but you don't have to remember the mark name.)

Fleets that have a current mission will show up in the lower portion of the window with text explaining how long is left on the mission and what part they are on (flying to, flying home, etc.) When you select one you will be able to recall the fleet if you wish to cancel the mission (limits apply here to prevent fleet saving.)

This scene will be bundled with the updated Build Ships Scene on the next update!

 

The new Deploy Ships scene is coming along nicely and in this screenshot you see the mission deployment types that appear when you select to deploy your fleet.



Another change I made to the original concept is the addition of the total fleet capacity at the bottom of the screen. As you add ships to your fleet, not only do they appear in the background, but the total amount of cargo space and troop transport space available increases as shown. When you add cargo or troops to the mission, the total capacity goes down. This way you can easily adjust the # of ships, cargo, and troops based on what is available for optimal deployment.

The following missions are in-place and working now:

Attack - Attack an enemy and steal resources if you win.

Spy - Find out what the enemy has to steal and to protect themselves.

Transport - Send cargo to a friendly planet (or enemy for protection payment!)

Recycle - Travel to the place of a recent ship-to-ship battle and recycle the resources floating in space.

Transfer - Send ships to another planet permanently.

Colonize - Take over a non-colonized planet and build it up from scratch!

Next up I'm working on the fleets in progress buttons and integration with the Navigation scene as I mentioned earlier.

 

This all looks very awesome. I wish I had time to make something this vast!!!

How did you send SMS messages from unity? I have tried to figure how to do this before and couldn't figure.

 

Thanks Raider!! Now to get people to create accounts in the Beta.

For SMS I use the SMS service at twilio.com. Everything "important" is handled by the game server(s) that are not part of Unity. When the player is to receive a SMS message, one of the game server(s) will queue a SMS message. I also have a backend message server that watches the queue(s) and then calls the Twilio API to send a SMS message. The message server also handles email which I use elasticemail.com for.

I use this pattern as to avoid bottlenecks and also for overall analytics. The game servers don't bog down waiting to make an external API call for example and I can look at a users complete history to customize content. In one use case the message server can choose to compile a series of emails into one if several are queued over a short period of time. This way the player isn't spammed with 100 emails but rather receives a single compilation email.

 

Thanks for letting me know. I will have a look at twilio. I had just been calling php scripts for emails, but sms messages would be so much cooler!

 

Version 0.23 is now online and available for Free Download!



Feature highlights:
◾(CLIENT) – The Deploy Ships interface has been completely overhauled!
◾(CLIENT) – The Build Ships interface has been completed overhauled!
◾(CLIENT) – The Deploy Ships option has been removed from the Cockpit and now is located in the Navigation Scene.
◾(SERVER) – The download file is now a Windows Installer instead of a .zip file! It also has been moved to the cloud for faster download and more bandwidth.

 

Server Update 0.24
•(SERVER) - MAJOR fixes and enhancements to the combat system:
◦Ships now fire multiple shots based on the type of ship they are and the type they are attacking.
◦Shields regenerate properly now (they didn't after round 1 before.)
◦There was a major bug in how the # of attacking ships worked and that is fixed.
◦Ships that drop below 30% hull strength have a chance to explode that increases as their hull gets closer to zero.
◦Some ships are better at attacking defenses than others.
◦Defenses have a 70% chance to regenerate after combat is over. This way you aren't left defenseless if attacked while offline.
•(SERVER) - You can test out ship-to-ship combat in the combat simulator here: Combat Simulator
•(SERVER) - Combat results are sent via in-game messaging as well as email.
•(SERVER) - "You were attacked" emails now tell you who did the attack.
•(SERVER) - Skynet builds all types of resource tanks now instead of just Ore (this will let Skynet build more defenses.)
•(SERVER) - Message of the day is sent back in the version request.

New Chat System Sneak Peak
I've been working on an interactive Chat system that allows players to chat with other players who are online. The new system uses an entire new game server setup that allows for real-time chat! I know it's normal to have chat in MMOs, but it's harder to implement than it sounds!



For now there is just a single global channel and your username is random, but in the near future I will be adding your actual username and the ability to join local channels, alliance channels, faction channels, etc!

 

We squashed a lot of bugs, added a bunch of features, and you DO NEED a new client for this release be sure to download it from the PLAY NOW area!

Feature highlights:

Counterespionage!!
◾Light Fighters and Heavy Fighters have a 50% chance (+/- tech) to destroy enemy probes (1 probe per fighter) that comes in for a Spy mission.
◾Heavy Fighters count x2 in the effort (each fighter gets 2 shots).
◾The enemy will NOT get the info if you destroy all the probes!
◾If you are the one doing the spying, send more probes than the enemy has fighters to ensure some survive.
◾Each level above the enemy’s level in Espionage Technology equates to a 10% modifier for fighters to hit their target. For example, if you have one point higher in espionage tech and spy on a planet, their fighters are reduced to a 40% chance to hit each probe. If you are five points or higher, they cannot hit them!
◾If you are lower, they gain a +10% for every point difference. For example, if you have one point lower in espionage tech and spy on a planet, their fighters are increased to a 60% chance to hit each probe. If they are five points or higher, they cannot hit miss!

Client Updates

◾Completely reworked Chat system. Access Chat from the Cockpit scene and chat it away with other players!
◾Reworked Message List scene that is more clear to use. It will be completely redone in the future but for now it at least is easier to use.

Server Updates

◾Transport ships now take the resources away from the planet they are transporting from! Those of you who haven’t tested transport didn’t realize you received the resources for nothing did you?
◾Colonization missions now only work if you take just colonizers. If you send other ships with them, the mission will fail to start.
◾ Recycle missions now only work if you take just recyclers. If you send other ships with them, the mission will fail to start.
◾Chat requests are now accepted via a brand new and separate chat server system! It’s basic for now but is built to handle thousands of players in each universe all chatting together.

 

wow, this looks "all encompassing"

 

Thanks (at least I think it was a compliment)! I started out knowing it would take me a long time but the major functionality is there with a ton of foundation code/process. I am now able to focus on adding the "fun" stuff and its quite rewarding.

 

Lots of new changes are coming in the next update and Radar is one of them!



Radar

When enemy fleets are dispatched to your planet your radar may warn you of the incoming invasion! The chance to detect the incoming fleet is based on the Industry Level of your radar plus your Espionage Technology rating and minus the Espionage Technology rating of the invader. Depending on how your radar level and technology compare to the enemy, you may get all, little, or no information.

The formula is:

Your Espionage Tech Level – Their Espionage Tech Level + Your Planet’s Radar Level divided by two. (Def_Esp_Tech – Att_Esp_Tech) + (Def_Planet_Radar/2). For example, if you have an Espionage Level of 8, they have it at 10, and you have a radar level on the planet at 8, the following would apply: (8-10)+(8/2) or (-2) + (4) or (2).

The result determines how much information, if any, you receive:
◾Zero or below = You receive no warning
◾1 = You are told which planet is being invaded and by whom
◾2 = You are also told which planet they are sending a fleet from
◾3 = You are also told how many of each ship they are sending and when the fleet arrives
◾4 = You are also told how many of each troop they are carrying

 

This game looks amazing! I am loving it Have you made any other games before and do you have a team?

 

Thanks Georetro! If you like it I'd appreciate you downloading the free game and playing the beta at www.Xenovoid.com!

"Have you made any other games before and do you have a team?"

The game I worked the longest on was War3100 and then Battle Cards for mobile. I also wrote Exisled for the Xbox XNA program and The Covenant for the Amiga (way way back when!) War3100 is very outdated now and this is the most significant game I've worked on since when I was a game developer for an arcade company.

And no, I have no team. Just me, myself, and I.

 

Version 0.26 is up - Need more Beta Testers!!!



Expeditions

You can now send fleets on Expedition missions to unknown areas in the Universe! Go to the Navigation scene and you can see planets marked as Unknown. They cannot be conquered but they can be explored. Sometimes you may gain resources, other times you may lose your fleet, or you could even run into combat with pirates or aliens!

For the base universe you can only send fleets on an Exploration mission every 12 hours so choose what to send wisely!

Radar

When enemy fleets are dispatched to your planet your radar may warn you of the incoming invasion! The chance to detect the incoming fleet is based on the Industry Level of your radar plus your Espionage Technology rating and minus the Espionage Technology rating of the invader. Depending on how your radar level and technology compare to the enemy, you may get all, little, or no information.

The formula is: Your Espionage Tech Level – Their Espionage Tech Level + Your Planet’s Radar Level divided by two. (Def_Esp_Tech – Att_Esp_Tech) + (Def_Planet_Radar/2).

For example, if you have an Espionage Level of 8, they have it at 10, and you have a radar level on the planet at 8, the following would apply: (8-10)+(8/2) or (-2) + (4) or (2).

The result determines how much information, if any, you receive:
◾Zero or below = You receive no warning
◾1 = You are told which planet is being invaded and by whom
◾2 = You are also told which planet they are sending a fleet from
◾3 = You are also told how many of each ship they are sending and when the fleet arrives
◾4 = You are also told how many of each troop they are carrying

Client Updates
◾The Navigation scene now allows you to enter up to 5 digits in the warp-to area. Previously you were limited to 3 characters which were not enough to set the #s for planets in larger universes (ie, planet 1000+).
◾Chat is now visible in the bottom of the Cockpit Scene. You cannot type back but you can see what others are saying. Select to go to the Chat room if you want to send something.
◾You can force a chat connection refresh in the Chat Scene by selecting the recycle button. This is in place in case you lose connection to the chat server and the game does not recognize the problem.
◾Several language translations have been fixed. Did you know that Xenovoid is designed to support over a dozen languages? Coming soon you will be able to pick your language since the translations are already in place!
◾The Navigation View displays ”Go to Galaxies” or “Go to Systems” text to indicate where you click to change the view. Use the go-to functionality to move about the Universe.
◾The popup indicator is positioned properly now on multiple scenes. Previously it got out of alignment.
◾The start of the tutorial system can be seen in some scenes. Over time you can expect to see a lot more tutorial information and the ability to turn it off.
◾Fixed some swapping of the gold and silver alien heads on the purchase popup. It kept interchanging them even though the text was correct.

Server Updates
◾Chat timeout changed to allow for more time for players to not talk.
◾Recycle missions can now be sent to the local planet. Previously you could only recycle from another planet.
◾Additional security fixes put in place to prevent fleet mission cheating.
◾Xenopoints (earned by playing and not financially) now cost 75% less to perform various actions such as speeding up an industry upgrade. We are continuing to balance this to discourage a pay-to-win scenario.
◾Radar logic implemented.
◾Exploration logic implemented.

 

I am hard at work on a new combat replay system that replays fleet-to-fleet/fleet-to-planet combat of any of your assets you have. This enhances the text-only view with a visualization of the battle! The video footage shows you a very early version of the system with each side firing volleys at the other. In the release version, sides will blow up and the different ships appear with representations of their quantity (100 carriers for example.)

 

The Combat Replay system is the most significant feature of the next release but I am always looking to improve the user experience and the next update also includes a new version of the Messaging Center.



I have changed the button and message bar graphics to match the rest of the game and the buttons have been re-done functionally to make more sense. For example, when viewing a message you now only see the “Done” button which looks like the stop button on your DVD player (or DVR.) When you are on the message list view you see “down” and “up” arrows that you press to scroll the list of messages down or up.

Another small feature is the ability to see the last message opened. This also happens to be the one that will be deleted if you hit the delete (trashcan) button. The trashcan with the globe on it deletes every message you have.

Hidden from view is the new “Play Combat Replay” button that will appear on messages that have a replay attached to them! Expect more to come with scrolling messages soon. I realize this isn’t as exciting as combat replay, but the ability to quickly view/send in-game messages is very important to being successful in Xenovoid.

 

This reminds me of imperium galactica 2 !

 

When I updated the Planet View I ruined the Info Box that tells you what each building does. It still works, barely, and does not look that great. In the next Client release that is fixed and now you see an entirely redesigned information window. As a side benefit for those that do not natively speak English, the industry descriptions are translated into multiple languages. Expect to see the language option in the Options area soon.

 

Trying to figure out what you are allowed to build can be difficult at times, especially as you advance into more complicated items (Titan ships, Plasma Turrets, etc.) The new Technology Tree view helps alleviate the pain by showing you every technology, ship, defense, industry, and ground troop you can build in the game. Not only can you see each item but you also can see everything required to build it with connections to the required objects.



In the prototype screenshot you see the Large Cargo ship that requires the Space Port industry and Combustion technology to build. The Space Port industry links to the master Space Port object so you can see what is required to build it. The Combustion technology links to the master Combustion Technology as well.

In addition to the links, you see a green check-mark for those items you meet the requirements for. For items where you do not meet the requirements, you see a red x-mark. In addition to the red x-mark you also see the number of levels needed to make it green (and available.) In the same screenshot you can see that the Large Cargo ship requires one more level in Combustion technology before that requirement is met.

This view makes it quick and easy to see what is needed to build a particular item and the various buttons will allow you to “warp “to the scene needed (the Manage Planet scene or the Research scenes respectively) with the item you need pre-selected for you.

You scroll around the view by dragging in the main area and when complete you will see ~50 different items and their requirements. Overall this should be a pretty exciting addition for veterans and new players alike!

 

I've updated the Trailer video with the latest scenes and information (and updated the original post.)

Check it out!

 

Learn the basics of how to manage your planets in the first video of our series!

My plan is to release several videos showing players how to perform various aspects of game management such as defense building, ship construction, combat, etc.

 

Lots of work going into this one, looks great. I like the concept. I'm on track to most likely end up a .net (c#) developer when I finish school here. Might have to look into getting a jump start on learning Azure(open to any learning resources you could point me towards), sounds kinda cool how your doing it like that. Good luck with the rest of the project.