Space Game Junkie Podcast

FIRE EVERYTHING! Hello my friends, and welcome to this week’s podcast episode! This week, Jim, Spaz, Hunter and I sit down with Alex Mosolov, the creator and developer of the amazing space sandbox that is Starsector, to talk about that game’s long and amazing journey through its pre-release period. For about a decade, this game has morphed from a straightforward top-down tactical combat game to a fully-realized sandbox with factions, missions, quests, trade and more. We talk to Alex about the game’s journey, its design, and much more in what was a lengthy, engaging and overall really fun episode. Next week on the show, we don’t have a guest, so we decided to use it as a test bed for a new format we hope to try. As we approach six years and three hundred episodes, we’re looking at ways to make the show more engaging, useful and fun, so please join us for that. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please drop them in the comments below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Show Notes Games Mentioned * Mechwarrior* Star Traders: Frontiers* Elite: Dangerous* Mount and Blade* Unreal Tournament* Geneshift* Grand Theft Auto 2* Heat Signature* Battlefleet Gothic: Armada* Stellaris

So Pretty… Welcome to this episode of the Space Game Junkie Podcast, my friends! This week, Jim, Spaz, Hunter and I welcome back Brendan Anthony — owner at Elliptic Games — to talk his amazing game of space exploration, discovery and combat, Rodina. We had Brendan on way back in episode 14, so it’s my fault he’s not been back on sooner. Regardless, we had a LOVELY chat about the game, indie game development, bides and more! It was a show with some tangents, sure, but it was a ton of fun. Next week on the show, we’re giddy as heckfire to welcome on the developer of the open-space exploration, economic and combat sandbox, Starsector! As always, if you have any questions or comments, please drop them in the comments below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Show Notes Games Mentioned * Infinity Battlescape* Star Citizen* Elite Dangerous* No Man’s Sky* Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind* Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall* Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion* Fallout 3* Star Trek: Elite Force* Verde Station

Sure is Colorful… Hey folks, sorry this one was so late in going up to the feed. Life’s been insane of late. Anyway, in this most recent episode, Jim, Spaz, Hunter and I welcome back Herbert Elwood Gilliland III of Lost Astronaut Studios to talk about his latest creation, Apolune! On the next podcast, we’ll welcome back the developer of Rodina! As always, if you have any questions or comments, drop them below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Show Notes Games Mentioned * Fringes of the Empire* Star Control Origins* Arc Savior* Sunless Skies* Battlefleet Gothic Armada II* Worbital

Hellooooo! Just Checking In! Welcome to this week’s podcast, my friends! This week, Jim, Spaz, Hunter and I take a look back at the games we’ve previously covered on the show, to see how they’re doing. Our criteria was games in which we talked to the developer that weren’t already fully released when we spoke to them. To that end, we covered 141 games! In that, seventy games were fully released, forty-nine are still in development, and twenty-two were sadly abandoned. We also check in with each other to talk about the games we’ve been playing. It’s a fun show overall, and one of our longest. Next week we’ll talk to the developer of the space shootey thing Apolune! As always, if you have a question or comment, drop them below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Thanks so much for listening, and we hope you enjoy the show. Show Notes Completed Games – 70 * Episode 10 – Infinite Space 3* Episode 15 – Ring Runner* Episodes 17 & 47 – Void Destroyer – Sequel in development* Episode 21 – Distant Worlds – Obvious.* Episode 23 – Eterium* Episode 25 – Star Ruler 2* Episode 28 – Artemis* Episode 30 – Enemy Starfighter – Became another game.* Episode 38 – The Last Federation* Episode 39 – X Rebirth* Episode 41 – Galactic Civilizations III* Episodes 49 & 160 – SPAZ 2* Episodes 51 & 157 – Ascent – The Space Game* Episode 52 – Tactical Space Command* Episode 56 – Space Salvager* Episode 59 – Exodus of Sol* Episode 61 – Interplanetary* Episode 62 – Starship Corporation* Episode 65 – Zigfrak* Episode 69 – Starpoint Gemini 2* Episode 70 – Elite Dangerous* Episode 74 – Reassembly* Episode 75 – Ancient Space* Episode 77 – Cosmonautica* Episode 78 – Apollo4X* Episode 79 – Beyond Sol* Episode 80 – Gratuitous Space Battles Series* Episode 81 – Rebel Galaxy* Episode 90 – StarDrive 2* Episode 91 – Sol Trader* Episode 92 – Into the Stars* Episode 94 – Quintet* Episode 96 – Transcendence* Episode 104 – Zotrix* Episode 105 – Dimension Drive* Episode 113 – Star Hammer: The Vanguard Prophecy* Episode 114 – Close Order* Episode 115 – Defect* Episode 116 – Battle of Sol* Episode 120 – Everspace* Episode 121 – Conflicks* Episode 132 – Polaris Sector* Episode 136 – Astrox: Hostile Space Excavation Simulator* Episode 138 – Star Nomad 2* Episode 139 – Stars in Shadow* Episode 140 – Tharsis* Episode 146 – Concealed Intent* Episode 150 – The Fleets of Sol* Episode 151 – Starpoint Gemini Warlords* Episode 153 – Close Order* Episode 156 – The Long Journey Home* Episode 158 – Falling Stars: War of Empires* Episode 159 – 3030 Deathwar Redux* Episode 163 – Sol Trader* Episode 176 – Endless Space 2* Episode 180 – Particle Fleet: Emergence* Episode 183 – BossConstructor* Episode 203 – Empyrean Frontier* Episode 208 – Deep Sixed* Episode 209 – Icarus Starship Command Simulator* Episode 210 – Spacecats with Lasers* Episode 211 – Star Fleet Armada Rogue Adventures* Episode 213 – Space Tyrant* Episode 219 – Solar Settlers* Episodes 224 & 266 – Helium Rain* Episodes 230 & 259 – Star Traders: Frontiers* Episode 231 – Orbital Racer* Episode 267 – ADIOS Amigos* Episode 271 – X4: Foundat...

WHAT IS THIS?! Hey friends, welcome to this week’s podcast! This week, Jim, Spaz, Hunter and I sit down to talk about usability and the user experience in games, mostly space games (of course) but a few others as well. We first define what goes into usability and the user experience, for the purposes of our discussion, and then look at games with good, mediocre and poor usability, all of which you can see listed below! It ended up being a really fun discussion in the end! Next week on the show, we’ll be checking in with past episodes and see where some of the games we talked about years back are now, if anywhere. Plus we’ll check in with each other and talk about what we’ve been playing. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please drop them below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Show Notes In-Game Usability Factors * Situational Awareness* Ease of Accessing Information* In-Game Navigation* Entity/Ship Management* World Interactivity Out-of-Game Usability Factors * Accessibility of Settings* Save Game Management* Main Menu Design Games with Good Usability Overall * Freespace 2* 3030 Deathwar Redux* Star Fleet Armada* ADIOS Amigos* Master of Orion* Nexus: The Jupiter Incident* Elite: Dangerous* Objects in Space* Star Dynasties* Fractured Space* Starcraft* Rebel Galaxy* Space Rangers HD* Star Traders: Frontiers* House of the Dying Sun* Pulsar: Lost Colony Games with Okay Usability * Drox Operative* Beyond Sol* Master of Orion II* Wing Commander Series* Star Trek: Klingon Academy* Star Wolves Series* Rules of Engagement (I love it, but c’mon)* Guns of Icarus* Star Trek Online* Starpoint Gemini Warlords* Star Wars: Rogue Squadron* Stellaris Games with Poor Usability * Much of the X Series* Evochron Series (though it’s getting better)* Battlecruiser 3000 Series* Emperor of the Fading Suns* Independence War II unmodded* Star Trek: Bridge Commander* Distant Worlds Universe* EVE Online* Star Citizen* Star Trek: Birth of the Federation* Star Trek: Legacy* * Apollo4X* Stars!

Such Great Explosions Welcome to this week’s episode of the podcast folks. Sorry it’s a touch late, this week has totally run away from me. Anyway, this week, Jim, Spaz and I sit down with Geoff Nagy to talk about his fantastic space fighter combat game, Hypergate! We talk not only about the game, but game development, academia and a lot of robotics (it’ll make sense once you listen). ;) Next week on the show, we’ll be talking usability in space games! Yay! As usual, if you have a question or comment, please feel free to email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Thanks for listening, and we hope you enjoy the show. Show Notes Miscellaneous Items * Single-Handed Game Dev (Geoff’s Development Blog)* Tomato Sorting Machine Video Games Mentioned * EDF 4.1* Freespace 2* TIE Fighter* X-Wing* Star Raiders* Star Rangers* Star Wraith* Star Wars: Battlefront* Dead Space* Mechwarrior 2* Mechwarrior 4* Netmech* X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter* Asteroids Millennium* Star Citizen* Titanfall 2* Omega* XCOM* Colt Express

So Much Intrigue!! Hey friends, welcome to the first podcast of 2019!! This week, Jim, Spaz and I sit down with Glen Pawley, the designer and developer of the currently-in-alpha intrigue-driven space strategy game, Star Dynasties! This is very much a kind of Crusader Kings in space type of thing, and after we played it a bit, we had a lot of suggestions for Glen about his game. Heck, the show was half suggestions and half interview, but overall it was a lot of fun. We learned a lot about the game, the multiple engines powering it, and Glen’s plans for its future. It was really a ton of fun. Next week on the show, we’ll be welcoming the developer of the fantastically fun combat game Hypergate, wherein I’ll ask him how he condensed the entire Freespace 2 campaign into a fun couple of hours. ;) As always, if you have a comment, question or suggestion, please drop them below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Thanks so much for listening, and we hope you enjoy the show! Show Notes Games Mentioned * Crusader Kings II* Star Wars: Rebellion* Alliance of the Sacred Suns* Stellaris* Emperor of the Fading Suns* Sins of a Solar Empire* Star Traders: Frontiers

Hey friends, welcome to this week’s podcast! This week, Jim, Spaz and I close out 2018 by looking back at this busy year and talk about what surprised us, what depressed us and a lot more. We talked about a LOT of games, so it’s a pretty long episode, but we covered a lot, and had a lot of fun, so I hope you have as much fun listening to it as we did making it. We’re back on January 8th, 2019 with Star Dynasties, so until then, may you have a joyous holiday season and a very happy new year. As always, if you have any questions or comments, drop them below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Thanks so much for listening, and enjoy the show! Show Notes Most Surprising Games of 2018 Brian – ADIOS Amigos, Solar Explorer: New Dawn, War Tech Fighters * Jim – Stellaris, Starcom: Nexus, No Man’s Sky * Spaz – Starcom: Nexus, ADIOS Amigos, Executive Assault 2 Most Disappointing Games of 2018 * Brian – Origin Space, Fleets of Ascendancy * Jim – N/A * Spaz – N/A Games You Played the Most in 2018 * Brian – 3030 Deathwar Redux – A Space Odyssey, Helium Rain, Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr * Jim – Battletech, Warframe, Mechwarrior Online, Elite: Dangerous * Spaz – Battletech, Slay the Spire, Civilization VI, Heat Signature, EDF 4.1, Astroneer Quickest Refund in 2018 Brian – Space Rocket, Vicious Attack Llama Apocalypse Jim – Chasm, I’m Not a Monster, Zone of the Enders * Spaz – The Last Train, The Colonists Game of the Year for 2018 Brian – Helium Rain * Jim – X4: Foundations (for 2019?) * Spaz – Valkyria Chronicles 4 What You’re Looking Forward to in 2019 Brian – Starsector, Mechwarrior 5, Rage 2, Rebel Galaxy Outlaw * Jim – Genesis Alpha One * Spaz – Ace Combat 7 Other Games Mentioned * Starbound * Distant Worlds Universe * Tobii Eye Tracker * American Truck Simulator * Elite: Dangerous * Overload * X4 Foundations * Solar Jet Man * X3 * EDF 5 * Robot Alchemic Drive * Second Life * Deep Rock Galactic * Dragon Quest 11 * Nino Kuni 2 * Sins of a Solar Empire * Starpoint Gemini Warlords * Evochron Legacy

Hello my friends, and welcome to this week’s podcast, my friends! This week, Jim, Spaz and I get up super early in the morning to talk to Bernd Lehahn, CEO of Egosoft, primarily about their latest masterpiece, X4: Foundations, as well as the series in general! We also talk quality control, finding bugs, managing user expectations, the future of X4 and much more. It was a really, really fun show. Next week will be our last show of 2018, so we’ll use the opportunity to look back and this busy, crazy year. As always, if you want to leave a question or comment, you can drop them below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Thanks for listening, and we hope you enjoy the show! Show Notes Games Mentioned * Elite: Dangerous * Star Citizen

Welcome to this week’s podcast, my friends! This week, Jim, Spaz and I get up super early in the morning to talk to our guests in The Netherlands, Jimmy van den Bergh and Alex Immerzeel, developers of the fascinating flying and building space game, Interstellar Rift! It was a fun show, in which we talked about early access, custom engines, balancing expectations and much more. Our apologies, but we had a couple of technical difficulties with this episode as well, one which can be blamed on Discord, and one which can be blamed on me. Regardless, it ended up being a really great episode about a game that is shaping up to be pretty fantastic in its own right. Next week on the podcast, we’re not quite sure yet. Our original guest had to reschedule, so we’ll come up with a topic show that’ll hopefully be fun! As always, if you have a suggestion, question or comment, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Thanks so much for listening, and we hope you enjoy the show! Show Notes Games Mentioned * Elite Dangerous * 3030 Deathwar * Pulsar The Lost Colony * Reassembly * BossConstructor * Jumpgate * Kerbal Space Program * I-War * Starshatter * Distant Worlds Universe

Welcome to this week’s podcast, my friends! This week, Jim, Spaz and I talk about deals. There will be an overabundance of sales this coming holiday season, not just the big ones from Steam, but sale from folks like Fanatical and Green Man Gaming, who’ve just been knocking it out of the park in terms of quality andf quantity of deals of late. We did a ton of research, and we came up with the list below. These games — all full releases, we didn’t include early access games — should be at the top of your shopping wishlists if you don’t own them already. They’re also linked to their corresponding Is There Any Deal — which, if you’re not using, you’re a fool — pages, so you can see the stores that sell them, price history and the like. Next week we’re off for the Thanksgiving holiday week here in the US, but join us on the morning (for us) of the 27th when we talk to the folks behind Interstellar Rift! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to hit us up below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Thanks for listening, and we hope you enjoy the show! Show Notes List of Deals Mentioned in The Show [table id=4 /] Other Games Mentioned * Starsector * Rescue on Fractalis * Sublevel Zero

Welcome to this week’s Podcast, my friends! This week, Jim, Spaz and I sit down with CEO Travis Baldree and Art Director Howie Day of Double Damage Games to talk about their upcoming masterpiece, Rebel Galaxy Outlaw! We talk a lot about the game itself, why it will neither have VR nor DLC, the grind of game development, and even some updates on Howie’s other project, Wings of Saint Nazaire! It ended up being a really fun show! Next week on the show, with the holiday season upon us, that means sales. LOTS of sales. We’ll try and find what we hope will be the best deals to look out for, including historically low prices and so on! As always, if you have a question or comment, you can hit us up below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Thank you for listening, and as always, we hope you enjoy the show! Show Notes Games Mentioned * Wing Commander Pioneer * Rebel Galaxy * Freespace 2 * Wing Commander: Privateer * X Rebirth * Star Wars: Battlefront 2 * Freelancer * Starlancer * Vega Strike * Mechwarrior Online * X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter * Independence War 2 * Evochron Legacy * Elite: Dangerous * Saints Row 2

Hey friends, welcome to this week’s podcast! This week, Jim, Spaz and I get up very super early in the morning to welcome our guests, Filip Karlsson and Niclas Forsell, the coder and designer respectfully of the amazing game of space exploration, ADIOS Amigos. This game is not only super fun, but in its own way, super complex (but still very accessible). We talk to Filip and Niclas about their journey as game developers, the origins of ADIOS Amigos and its previous game, ADIOS, as well as the amazing simulation that runs the whole thing (which is shockingly complex). It’s a SUPER fun show about a fantastic game. Next week, we’re back at our normal time (5 PM Pacific) to talk to Travis Baldree and Erich Schaefer of Double Damage Games to talk to us about Rebel Galaxy Outlaw!!!! As always, if you have any questions or comments, please drop them below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Show Notes Miscellaneous Items * John Holmvall – Artist for the game. * Parsec – Apparently allows online multiplayer for local multiplayer games. * ADIOS soundtrack via Bandcamp. Games Mentioned * Elite Dangerous * ADIOS * Starflight * Noctis * Geneshift * Solar Jetman

Welcome to this week’s podcast, my friends! This week, Jim, Spaz and I get up really early in the morning to welcome back onto the show Gwennaël Arbona, the lead developer of the amazingly wonderful Helium Rain. We had a lovely chat about the game’s journey through early access to release, properly managing the expectations of gamers AND developers, and much more. Next week, it’s another early (for us) show, as we welcome the developers of the fantastic ADIOS Amigos! As always, if you have a question or suggestion, you can drop it below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Show Notes Games Mentioned * Starflight * Starflight II * Kerbal Space Program * X Games * X3 * Hollow Knight

Hey folks, welcome to this week’s podcast! This week, Jim, Spaz and I sit down with Kevin Lin of Wx3 Labs to talk about his currently-in-development space exploration and combat game, Starcom: Nexus! We had such a fun time talking about this game — which we’re all giddy about — and it’s rather unique history (it’s the sequel, of sorts, to a very popular Flash game), along with bits about game design, indie marketing and more. It was a great conversation overall! Next week, we’ll be doing a morning (for us) show to welcome back the developer of the fabulous Helium Rain! As always, if you have any questions or comments, drop them below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Thank you so much for listening, and we hope you enjoy the show! Show Notes Games Mentioned * Out There * The Long Journey Home * Starflight * Star Control: Origins * Zork * Drox Operative * Jumpgate * Star Hammer * Shortest Trip to Earth * Distant Worlds * Avorion * Star Citizen * Star Control 2 * Protostar * Conflicks * Starcon