A Sector Darkly

A 2-D real-time open-world space exploration, trading and combat SIM/RPG. Inspired by a lineage of awesome predecessors such as EV Nova, Starflight 2, Distant Worlds, Star Control and many others which need no mention!

The Story So Far

It all began when you collided with that anomaly... Stranded in a galaxy far away, you've survived so far... ... but finding your way home is now the least of your problems... the sector is in chaos:-
The U'Guul are invading 

The V'Throni are threatening 

The Eurians are hiding something... ...and one by one sectors are going dark and no one knows why. To survive and get your ship and crew home you must choose: befriend and work with these strange alien factions to defend against the U'Guul, or do your own thing. Whatever you choose, an inevitable confrontation with what comes out of the darkness awaits.

Features

• Full Galaxy Simulation:

  • All star systems and entities are persistent whether you are present or elsewhere

  • The simulation manages all entities and actors in the background and instantiates them from data to live objects when you enter their system or they enter yours. 

  • The main Antagonists the U'Guul are invading and blockading systems... help defend, go on the counter attack or not. Your choice.

  • Think of the game as a 4x-LITE. You do not control a faction, you control a ship within and the universe limps along in spite of you. YOU choose where or WHEN to get involved.

• Fully simulated Economy and Logistics:

  • Trade, shortages, supply convoys, haulers, traders, freighters. Everything you see is carrying real cargo you can take by force.

  • Miners work in asteroid belts and take to refineries for refinement, traders move goods within the system to star ports and industrial ports, haulers move goods large scale across the entire sector

  • Supply and demand informs trading, there's no random ticks setting prices or stocks, what you see is what makes it through the trade lanes.

  • Protect shipping routes, or pillage them yourself

  • "Silk Road" trade lane runs through the sector

• Research/Crafting/Salvaging

  • Station's have a full suite where you can research blueprints for advanced components, craft those or others, and deconstruct components into raw materials.

  • Your ship can also craft all available recipes. Low on fuel on a long expedition, far from a friendly port? Mine the resources and craft more fuel cells, ammunition? Gather raw mats and craft, spare parts, food, water, everything.

  • Survive:
    • Mine, scavenge, salvage, pillage, protect, conduct missions the choice is yours
  
  

• Engineering & Ship upgrades:

  • Ship classes exist, but are not made obsolete when you upgrade or purchase different ships. Ships have role bonuses and a special device/weapon per class.

  • There is no better or best weapon or ship. Instead of upgrades, think of them as side-grades. Some things might be all around and flexible, but generally not as good as a specialist item. 

  • Your choices matter and your play-style will dictate the type of ship you build.

  • A fast light frigate, or a heavy hitting but slow cruiser.

  • End game features researchable blueprints to craft more advanced components

  • Missiles, lasers, point defense, special devastating weapons, special devices, mining/repair/salvage drones, support ships you can pilot, all available

  • Save/load your fit profiles when docked at a station for easy switching.

• Sensors & Detection Gameplay:

  • Your sensors have three detection ranges. Short range Auto-resolve, intermediate range and long range

  • Contacts outside this range are marked based on passive sensors, heat/EM signature matters for classification. Is it a stellar natural object, e.g. wormhole/planet or:

    • an unnatural object such as a space station or ship

  • Radar cross-section, heat sig and EM sig play a role in detecting entities. The more powerful these signatures are the farther out you can detect them. Your own heat/cross-section plays a role in how far you can be detected.

  • This enables stealth gameplay mechanics

    • Equip a heat sink and lower your heat signature to mask your signature for a limited time (but get too close and you will be detected!)

    • Sneak quickly before you have to vent the heat which will explode your heat sig radius and alert far off hostiles.

  • Only a focused scan can reveal a target's cargo manifest

• 10 Unique alien races:

  • Each with their own distinct manner of communication

  • From the enigmatic Coriantans to the aggressive V'Throni and invading U'Guul. The passive Noxu The depressed Booloolo & more

  • If you maintain cordial relations they will assist you. Under attack? Send a distress call. Damaged? Ask for repairs. Disabled? Ask for a tow.

• Crew simulation system:

  • Make sure they've got food and water!Crew offers passive bonuses. Send them on away missions using your support craft. Everything is real-time and physical, when you launch an away team they fly a shuttle, land on the chosen planet, gather, and then return to you where ever you are.

• Deep exploration:

  • Stable, Unstable, Ancient wormholes and sectors to be discovered and exploited. Unstable wormholes can be stabilised with the right technology unlocking new sectors to exploit or new shortcuts across the sector

  • Micro wormholes can only be traversed by smaller support craft. Park your mothership go exploring and come back right where you left it, even if you leave the system!

• Reputation: 

  • Maintain good standing with the various factions or not. Your choice.

  • Good standing means access to their stations and their protection, call for help or repairs, they will respond. Bad standing means they may possibly shoot you on sight and ignore any requests for help

  • One other thing to consider: when you obtain a jump drive, some factions have jump drive jammers. With bad standing, your codes are revoked and you cannot jump into a jammed system. You have to travel by stargate the old fashion way.

• Beautiful Lighting and Post Processing effects

  • Like pixel graphics? Turn it on from the options!

• Much more...!   
  Wishlist on Steam:
  
  

Discord: https://dsc.gg/asectordarkly/