itch.io

Formatting for this narrow for some reason, you can also read this update here: https://itch.io/t/3983102/12-month-update

Hello Commanders!

Assault Fleet Centauri has been out for just over a year now in early access in some form, and I wanted to give you an update on the game.

I'm still working diligently on refining the game, making new ships, new officer abilities, and refining the rules. In fact barely a day goes by where I'm not thinking about AFC, Section 5, or the Solar Cold War setting. I've been picking away at them all pretty diligently, but I'm only one person and this project is huge. I thought, since it's been a year without a game update I should tell you what I've been working on. Basically, the games been going through a full rework. I'm fundamentally changing the basic mechanics of the game, but I'm doing it in service of the spirit of the game.

Why the change?

There are two reasons why I needed to change the game. 

First of all  the mechanics are much more of a convoluted mess than I originally thought. Back in October I showed the game to a friend of mine at PAX Aus. They're a very insightful game dev and have a knack for getting to the heart of what a game is, and what does and doesn't work in a design. Up until this point I'd only showed the game to RPG players, not anyone in the industry. 

Something that became immediately apparent was that every action you could do in the game worked completely differently in a way that was just confusing to a new player.  More specifically, there were too many different ways to roll dice. Another factor in the confusion was that some mechanics were ultra granular and felt like moves in board game, while other mechanics were very loose, narrativist, and open to interpretation...and not in a fun way. So the incongruity of the mechanics alone demanded a revision, but so did the game feel they created. 

When I originally started making this game I wanted to create a tactical rpg where success was based on the choices you made. What Version 1 of AFC turned out to be however was a board game where choosing the right move was all that mattered. I don't want a tactical game of sci-fi chess. As a player I want to be engaging with the game world as closely as possible to the way my character would be. I don't wanna be thinking about action economies and granular rules, I want it to be a narrative simulation. I want the tactical puzzle to be about considering the in universe circumstances, not board game manuvering...I'll save that for board game night

So something also needed to change in the design philosophy of mechanics. The game as it stood wasn't about making choices, it was about system mastery...and that's not what I wanted it to be.

What's Changed?

I don't want to list every little bit of rules difference, both because that'd be tedious but also because it wouldn't be useful. I'm pretty set on the major change, but still working out the details. The basics of the game, what I consider the core experience, remains unchanged. Each player still commands their own warship. Those ships are still made up of Hull Points, Weapon Systems, and Ship Abilities.  Your player character is still your ships commander and has Skills and Officer abilities. Your ship is still represented in the play space by a playing card. And as ever, a key part of your success is managing your resources. 

 What's changed is that the game, where ever possible, focuses more on narrative positioning than numbers and stats. It now uses a decision matrix to determine the effectiveness of your action, but you still roll dice. Graduating up or down dice sizes as the odds stack up for or against you. Instead of Crew abilities each ship has a number of Sub-Commanders, NPC Officers that help you lead your crew in actions. I've also done away with combat phases. Instead each officer on your ship gets to take an action. I've redesigned the Ship sheets to be more legible, coherent, and to better describe the in world capabilities of your vessel. The Officer sheets are more streamlined, and setup so you can print them on the back of your ship sheet.

There's a lot more changes that I've been making to the game but the big one is that I've moved it even further away from what other tactical rpgs are doing. This now feels even less like D&D and Starfinder, and much more like someone fused Blades in the Dark with war collage strategic simulations.

What does that mean going forward?

This Dev Log is just a declaration of intention. Its update on what I've been working on. The new version of the game is nowhere near ready for public viewing but I did want to leave you all in the dark about what I've been doing for the last 12 months. 

Right now, nothing changes for you or the game. I feel that the new mechanics are pretty big departure from what I originally released, and I don't want to steal that version of the game away from you. When version 2 of AFC  is eventually ready for the public, I'll archive version 1 but leave it available as a zip file for you all to access through the downloads. 

I hope you're as excited for version 2 as I am, thanks for reading, and Fair Winds.

Sorry for the slow reply, I've been getting ready to run the game at a convention this weekend.

I think 1-3 players is the sweet spot, but 4 and 5 also work well. At five players you Skill Specialisations and Subtle Manifestations start to double up.

I think early teens an above is the age range. If you'd let your kid watch Dark Angel or Terminator unsupervised, they are probably old enough to be playing this game.

I would argue that all my work has Queer themes by virtue of me being Queer, and that's definitely true of this game. However, there aren't like mechanics or powers related to that. The game explores ideas of self expression, found family, abusive childhood, and running away to make a better life for yourself where you can be who you really are...There's also a bit in the back of the book about two prehistoric angels having a gay romance and being exiled by God, so I'd say it has LGBT content in it.

I hope that helped answer your questions, let me know if you have any more.

I think is the nicest comment I've ever gotten on this project, thank you 💕

That's awesome!

Very cool that someone put up a flyer, it wasn't me. I should do that here in Newcastle sometime. Similarly, no idea why it was pulled down.
Glad you found it time!

A great collection of missions, all presented in a simple but effective layout. At first glance it looks like raw text, but your quickly realise an intentional choice has been made with regards to the presentation. 

I look forward to mining these missions for inspiration.

thank you so much for such a thorough review.

Heads up, game is on sale for 100% off for the duration fo the jam.

If you like Section 5, why not check out it's companion game Assault Fleet Centauri? If you like Space Socialism and Battleship Carrier Hybrids, it's the game for you.

Hello Officers!

Seeing as this is an early access game, we wanted to give you a place to share feedback.
Feel free to share any constructive feedback you have about the game here.
Be it related to mechanics, setting, the formatting, or even just typos. 

Hi everyone, wanted to make this as a place for you to ask question about how the game works.

If you have any questions about game mechanics, check here first.
If no one has answered your question yet, then ask away and we'll try to answer it for you.

Good Hunting <3

thanks 😅

I hope you'll have a chance to play it 😉

an awesome read, thanks for sharing!

Loved reading your summery, and how you filled things in.

Amazing, beautiful, absolute perfection.
Ironically, a universally useful RPG supplement.

This looks like a really awesome conversion! Great work!

What an awesome concept and execution! 
This plays with form in such a creative way, I have to play it!

Looks like a neat adventure, and you did a good job with the formating!

This looks like a great adventure, and it's really cool to see someone specifically shout out dungeonpunk.
Can't wait to give this a try!
5/5 stars.

I'm using this as an excuse to finish of my Power Rangers inspired game Super Sentinels Neo.

I actually came here to see if anyone had asked about Character Sheets.

I'm thinking of breaking convention for the Character Sheet, that is not adhering to the jam when I make it.

https://raycox.itch.io/make-our-own-heaven

If you'd like to hear how Make Our Own Heaven is played, Jeff has an actual play up on Party Of One podcast. 

https://www.partyofonepodcast.com/2022/04/20/324-make-our-own-heaven-with-reizor/

Earlier this month I made the bare bones version of my game for the TRAN FUCKING RAGE JAM. 
With this jam I'm hoping to refine the book, I've got a list of things to expand and improve.

The game is Reclaim Eternity, and the pitch is fringe cyberpunks and outcasts killing Gods Cyberangels, ripping out their guts, and using those to modify your body so you can kill more angels. All so you can steal gods miracle medical tech and use it to help those he rejects. 

So I'm going to be using the jam as an excuse to polish up my lumen game. Part of that is I'd like to give it a little playtest.

I thought it might be cool to maybe do an exchange, I playtest your game, you playtest mine type deal.

Any interest in trying to do something like that?

Love it, almost wish there was more!

It's like a cat I can carry with me that expresses disgust on my behalf.

This is amazing work 10/10!

A playlist I made inspired by Reclaim Eternity.
Hope it helps psych you up before making a run on heaven.

https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/2xUvZwxR3nxRGK3TkNQ6gq?utm_source=generator

"God is real, and He is Our Enemy." - Old Reclaimer Heretic Proverb

This looks SICK!

The lovely people over at the Technical Difficulties podcast just released an actual play episode where they took a look at LLDR. 

https://www.technicaldifficultiespod.com/episodes/2022/3/16/livelovedieremember-one-shot

First off, game is explicitly a commentary on the twin evils of colonialism and capitalism. It's not an Adventuring game.

Second, this comment and others you have left all across the site demonstrate a contempt for the games you are commenting on.

All art is political, either explicitly or implicitly. 

This game is clearly not what you are looking for, but you knew that before you commented. It's a Biopunk game, of course it's gonna deal with political themes. You are clearly out here commenting on bad faith.

I don't want your money, or your patronage. Get outta my comments.

Ah yes, I found the typo you are referencing. How the heck did I use a bracet in place of an O?

thanks for spotting! And thanks for buying the game.

I'll be rolling out typo fixes soon.

Yes, correct 😊

Love what you've made here, an I love that shot of Mars too.
The layout is clean, an a nice show of your skill. I like the triangles.
The text is perfect, giving you just what you need to get going. A little bit of evocative text, the mechanics, some tools for randomisation. Love it. An excellent showing.

This is so sick! 

I'm loving reading through the pdf. Thank you for making something so cool.

Such an amazing thing you've created 🧡

I was thinking about that the other day while reading Sidney's Twitter thread about 3 Question Matrix, wargames, and OSR.

I will admit, the dice rolling is mostly there because the act of rolling a first full of dice is fun. But it also introduces the slight possibility of failure. 

Oh like self sacrificing, or sort of All or Nothing time things?

"When you have nothing left to loose..."
"When you put everything on the line..."

I think it's an interesting idea, what happens when they run out of points?