Space Game Junkie Podcast

Hello my friends, and welcome to this week’s episode of the Podcast! This week, Jim, Hunter, Spaz and I sit down to discuss 4X games. We’ve been in something of a deluge of them, but so many of them follow the formula established by Master of Orion 2 over twenty years ago. We discuss which 4X games are unique standouts of the genre, why the MoO2 formula is so feverently emulated, what we’d like to see more of in 4X games and more! It’s a lively topic, one that we’ll likely revisit, and we hope you enjoy the show. Next week on the show, we’ll be recording at a different time than usual (12:00 PM Pacific time) in order to accomodate our guest, one of the developers of the fantastic first person space flying and ground shooter game, Angels Fall First! As always, if you have a question or comment, feel free to drop them below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Show Notes Games Mentioned * Distant Worlds * Stellaris * Sword of the Stars * Imperialism * Master of Magic * Emperor of the Fading Suns * Seven Kingdoms * Sins of the Solar Empire * Imperium Galactica * Drox Operative * Space Tyrant * Starpoint Gemini Warlords * Warpath * Sins of a Solar Empire * Eve Online * Spaceward Ho! * Space Rangers * Star Ruler 2 * StarDrive 2 * Birth of the Federation * Worlds of Magic * Planar Conquest * Reach for the Stars * Gratuitous Space Battles * Endless Legend * Mount and Blade Warband * Offworld Trading Company * Small World Games * Defect * Star Fleet Armada * D&D Lords of Waterdeep * Galcon * No Man’s Sky * Shores of Hazeron

Welcome to this episode of the podcast, my friends! This week, Jim, Hunter, Spaz and I talked nostalgia, thanks to a topic idea from Hunter. Basically, we all went back to the year when we were twenty, which is as follows: * Jim = 1990 * Brian = 1993 * Spaz = 1999 * Hunter = 2007 And talked about the games we thought of most when we think back to those specific years, and then tried to play them to see if they held up. It was a really fun trip down memory lane, where we visited some old friends and learned about some new games (at least I did). ;) As you can see from the lists below, we covered a LOT of games. We also ran a contest wherein listeners wrote in and shared their story, and you can read the winning entry below! Next week on the show, we’ll be talking 4X games, especially the unique ones! :) If you have any questions or comments, hit us up below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Thanks for listening/watching! Show Notes Jim’s Games: * Federation of Free Traders * Gunship 2000 * M1 Tank Platoon * Falcon 3.0 * Epic * Elite Plus * Star Glider * Major Motion Brian’s Games: * Wing Commander: Privateer * X-Wing * Tornado * TFX Spaz’s Games: * Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo * Hybrid Heaven * Star Trek: Birth of the Federation Hunter’s Games: * Day of Defeat: Source * Orange Box * Enemy Territory: Quake Wars * World in Conflict * Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars * BioShock * Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare * Eve Online * Supreme Commander Other Games Mentioned: * Wing Commander * F/A-18 Interceptor * Carrier Command * Pioneer Scout Plus * Jumpdrive * Ooolite * Etrian Series * Myst * Riven * Starflight * Ultima 3 Exodus * Star Rangers * Flight of the Intruder * Megafortress * F-22 Lighting Series * F-16 * Mig-23 * A-10 Cuba * A-10 II silent hunter * A-10 Tank Killer * iF-22 * iF-18 * Battlefield 2 * Ashes of the Singularity Winning Contest Entry! My name is Erik, and I’m a 30-year old family man QA Tester, gamer, and aspiring game developer. When I saw a discussion open up about a game we’ve played from years ago (in my case, 10 years ago) to see if it was still alive and kicking today, I was quite pleased to dive in. I haven’t approached games the same way my family and friends did. They played for the overarching narrative, like they were participants in some kind of movie book. And for sure, they played some great story-centric games. But I wanted something more from what I participated in. I wanted something that challenged the player’s strategy, exploration, and creativity. Gameplay has always been far more important to me. I haven’t been a big shooter fan almost ever, but it didn’t stop me from diving into (and thoroughly enjoying) Metroid Prime 1 (MP1) and Metroid Prime 2 (MP2). One thing I don’t enjoy at all is motion controls, and I was quite weary when I heard Nintendo was moving this direction with Metroid Prime III: Corruption (MP3). Still, I was hopeful it would be alright. And it was very good. MP3 created a sense of immersion with the motion controls I’d not think I would have. Suddenly, the game world swallowed me whole. I became the Space Pirate Bounty Hunter. I was exploring vast worlds.

Welcome to this episode of the Podcast y’all! This week, Jim, Hunter, Spaz and I sit down with David Hernly, Founder and CEO of Mythric Studios, to talk about (and play) his starship bridge simulator game, Starship Horizons! Due to the multiplayer nature of this game, we thought it might be fun to actually play it, and my god do we have a fun time. The game is set up so that it can run on nearly any device once the server is up, as all the bridge stations run in browser windows. We had a great time with the game, and wan’t wait to see it get more content. That said, since we’re playing the game live, you might wanna watch the video of this one to get the full effect. Next week on the show, the topic is, “Can You Go Back Again?”. We’re each gonna play several games from when we were twenty years old. We’re also running a contest in which we want to hear your nostalgia story as well, so check it out for your chance to win a free game! If you have any questions or comments about this episode, as always 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 * Artemis * X-Wing * TIE Fighter * Star Control 2 * Mtrek

Welcome to this latest episode of the podcast my friends! This week, Jim, Hunter, Spaz and I talk to the developer (another Paul, the first in a long time!) of one of my favorite games of 2017, and one of the biggest surprises of late, Orbital Racer! We talk to Paul about the impetus for the game, the decision to spin off a separate arcade mode, problems with getting found on Steam, and many more. This is a game that definitely deserves more love and attention, so if you like what you hear, I implore you to check the game out. It’s so, so good. Next week on the show, we’ll be talking to the folks behind the multiplayer starship bridge sim, Starship Horizons, while actually playing it live at the same time! Yay! If you have questions or comments on this particular episode, as always you can drop them below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Show Notes Games Mentioned * TIE Fighter * Independence War * Freespace 2 * Offworld Trading Company * Elite Dangerous * DCV Flight Sims * IL-2 * War Thunder * Evochron Legacy * Freelancer * Richard Burns Rally * Dirt Rally * F Zero * Redout * Burnout * Dirt

Welcome to this week’s episode of the Podcast, my friends! This week, Jim, Hunter, Spaz and I sit down with Andrew and Cory Trese of the Trese Brothers to discuss the latest (and third game) in their long-running Star Traders series, Star Traders: Frontiers. For this episode, we talk a lot about mobile gaming (which is what the Trese’s first worked on years ago), pen and paper role playing games (which they made before electronic games), Kickstarter (from which they made $20,000!!!) and the ins and outs of being an indie developer. It was a really, really fun conversation that was also very enlightening! Next week on the show, we’ll be recording at a different time (Noon Pacific, Tuesday) because our guest, the developer of the amazing Orbital Racer, is in Central Europe! Yay! If you have any questions or comments on this episode, feel free to drop them below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Show Notes Games Mentioned * Zork * Templar Battleforce * Star Traders RPG * Star Traders 4X Empires * Heroes of Steel RPG * Cyber Knights RPG * Templar Assault RPG * Age of Pirates RPG * Traveler * Dungeons and Dragons * Rules of Engagement * Breech * Megamek * The Viceroy * Elite Dangerous * Drox Operative * Star Hammer: The Vanguard Prophecy * Battlestar Galactica Deadlock * Darkest Dungeon * Bastion * Starflight * Jagged Alliance * They Are Billions * 3030 Deathwar Redux * Emperor of the Fading Suns

Welcome to this late episode of the SGJ Podcast! Sorry it took so long to get this up, but this past week was CRAZY. Anyway, in this episode, Jim, Hunter, Spaz and I look back at the crazy year that was 2017, and talk about the games that surprised us, disappointed us, and quite a bit else. Sure, we go on some tangents, but overall we talk about a TON of games, the lists of which you’ll see below. Next week on the show, we’ll be welcoming the Trese brothers to talk about the fantastic Star Traders: Frontiers! As always, if you have a question or comment, you can drop them below. email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Show Notes Most Surprising Game Brian: * Space: Star Fleet Armada Rogue Adventures and Orbital Racer * Non-Space: LOGistICAL and Geneshift Jim: * Non-Space: Cogmind Hunter: * Space: Mass Effect Andromeda and EVE Valkyrie – Warzone * Non-Space: Sonic Mania Spaz: * Space: Heat Signature and Deep Rock Galactic * Non-Space: Bomber Crew and Geneshift * Honorable Mention: Icarus Starship Command Simulator Most Disappointing Game Brian: * Space: The Long Journey Home * Non-Space: Lux Alliance Jim: * Space: Elite: Dangerous Hunter: * Space: Star Wars: Battlefront 2 * Non-Space: Dawn of War III Spaz: * Space: The Long Journey Home Most Played Game Brian: * Space: 3030 Deathwar Redux * Non-Space: Lord of the Rings Online Jim: * Space: Elite Dangerous * Non-Space: Mechwarrior Online Hunter: * Space: EVE Online * Non-Space: Grand Theft Auto 5 Spaz: * Space: Heat Signature, Astroneer, Everspace * Non-Space: Monster Slayers, AirMech (Wastelands and Strike) Quickest Game to Be Refunded Brian: * Space: Precursors * Non-Space: Nex Machina Jim: * Non-Space: Battleborn Hunter: * Non-Space: Battleborn Spaz: * Non-Space: Rezrog Game(s) We’ll Be Playing into 2018 Brian: * Space: Orbital Racer and Starpoint Gemini Warlords * Non-Space: LOGistICAL Hunter: * Space: EVE Valkyrie – Warzone Spaz: * Space: Astroneer, Everspace * Non-Space: Bomber Crew and AirMech Wastelands Best Early Access Story Brian: * Space: Helium Rain, Avorion and Lightspeed Frontier * Non-Space: Parkitect Jim: * Space: Helium Rain Hunter: * Space: Empyrion, Osiris: New Dawn, Pulsar: Lost Colony * Non-Space: Subnautica Spaz: * Space: Helium Rain, Osiris: New Dawn, Astroneer, Pulsar: Lost Colony * Non-Space: Dead Cells, AirMech Wastelands Favorite Podcast Brian: * #187 – Star Crusader (Runners up: #209 – Icarus Starship Command Simulator and #205 – Remnants of the Precursors) Jim: *

Welcome to this week’s podcast, my friends! This week, Jim, Hunter, Spaz and I sit down to discuss a rather serious problem for both gamers and developers: discoverability. With over 6,000 games released on Steam this year alone — which is more than several previous years combined — how is a gamer not only supposed to find the best games to play, but how is a developer supposed to get their games noticed? We talk about stories we’ve heard from both sides of the issue, tools that are super helpful to combat it, what sites like Steam could do (and aren’t doing) to tackle the problem and more! It’s a fun, yet somewhat sobering discussion on what might be the only problem we as gamers face today: too much of a good thing. Next week on the show, our last podcast of 2017 has us looking back at this tremendously busy, surprising and fruitful year of space gaming. With dozens of space games released, there should be a lot to talk about. 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 Miscellaneous Items Useful Tools: * Enhanced Steam * What’s on Steam * SteamDB Developer Stories on Discoverability: * Twitter * Reddit Gamer Stories on Discoverability: * Twitter Games Mentioned * Starcraft 2 * Wing Commander: Privateer * Star Citizen * No Man’s Sky * Stationeers

Welcome to this latest episode of the Space Game Junkie Podcast y’all! This week, Jim, Hunter, Spaz and I sit down with the Masulas (Jace, Jeremy and Jeana) to talk about their upcoming sequel to the much beloved original game, Astrox: Hostile Space Excavation, which is entitled Astrox Imperium. We had Jace on a while back, so it was nice to have him on again, and boy, did we learn a LOT about this game. So much, in fact, that this has moved up my list of most anticipated titles of the coming year. This game sounds like it’ll have EVERYTHING one might want in an open space game, from meaningful exploration to varied factions to role-playing elements and MORE. It really sounds amazing, and we can’t wait to play it. Next week on the show, we’re taking a break from guests for the rest of the year — due to the crazy holiday season — to have some topics, the first of which will be gaming discoverability! As always, you can drop a comment below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Contest Jace has provided us with eleven clips from space movies starting in the late 1970s! If you can guess all eleven of them correctly, you’ll win a key to Astrox Imperium! Here we go! Clip 1: https://www.spacegamejunkie.com/contests/astroxcontest2017/clip_1.wav Clip 2: https://www.spacegamejunkie.com/contests/astroxcontest2017/clip_2.wav Clip 3: https://www.spacegamejunkie.com/contests/astroxcontest2017/clip_3.wav Clip 4: https://www.spacegamejunkie.com/contests/astroxcontest2017/clip_4.wav Clip 5: https://www.spacegamejunkie.com/contests/astroxcontest2017/clip_5.wav Clip 6: https://www.spacegamejunkie.com/contests/astroxcontest2017/clip_6.wav Clip 7: https://www.spacegamejunkie.com/contests/astroxcontest2017/clip_7.wav Clip 8: https://www.spacegamejunkie.com/contests/astroxcontest2017/clip_8.wav Clip 9: https://www.spacegamejunkie.com/contests/astroxcontest2017/clip_9.wav Clip 10: https://www.spacegamejunkie.com/contests/astroxcontest2017/clip_10.wav Clip 11: https://www.spacegamejunkie.com/contests/astroxcontest2017/clip_11.wav Email Jace your answers before the end of the day, one week from today (12/7/17) to enter! Good luck y’all! Show Notes Games Mentioned * EVE Online * Elite Dangerous * Fallout 4 * ARK Survival Evolved

Friends, I’m so sorry this is late, but life has been crazy. In this episode, Jim, Hunter, Spaz and I have to deal with a missing guest, so we talk roguelikes at Spaz’s suggestion. It’s a very random, yet fun show that I hope you enjoy, even though it’s all over the place. ;) Next week on the show, we’ll be talking game discoverability! As always, you can leave comments below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Thank you for listening! Show Notes Games Mentioned * DoomRL * Star Fleet * Mechwarrior Online * FTL * Cogmind * Everspace * Sword of the Stars: The Pit * The Long Journey Home * Paradroid * Droid Assault * Cosmoteer * Heat Signature * EVE Online * Dark Souls * Dungeon of the Endless * Cuphead * TIE Fighter * Wolfenstein 2 * Bomber Crew * Rogue * Dungeons of Dredmor * Nethack * Dwarf Fortress * Book of Demons * Card Hunter * Monster Slayers * Sproggiwood * Solar Settlers * Arctic Scavengers * CalcRogue * Darkest Dungeon * Dead Cells * Halcyon 6 * Duskers * Road Redemption * Tangledeep * Dungeonhack * temple of apshai * Geneshift * Diablo * Armikrog * Neverhood * Oregon Trail * Skifree * Pac Man * Zaxxon * Berzerk * Nuclear Throne * StarCrawlers * Eye of the Beholder * Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force * Black Crypt * Infinite Space * Xenomarine * Dungeonmanns * Teleglitch * Ashworld * Noct * STRAFE * Auto Fire * Into the Stars * Cosmonautica * Alien Isolation * Enemy Zero * Drift Into Eternity

Welcome to this latest podcast, my friends! Sorry it’s a tad late, but man has this been an insane week. This week, Jim, Hunter, Spaz and I sit down with Jeff Quindlen of Black Lodge Games to talk about his currently-in-early-access spacey RPG, Daath Origins. As the game has something of a learning curve, I didn’t get very far in it at all, but we try to discuss the game as much as possible despite our limited exposure to it. We also have a crazy long tangent about Star Trek, which is fun. Overall it was a really great podcast with a lot of discussion on game design, early access, expectations and much more. Next week on the show…we’rrrree not sure yet. I offered it to a game developer a while back, and have yet still to hear back from them, so…we’ll have to see what happens! Regardless if it’ll be a guest or a topic, we’ll have a good time. :) If you have any questions or suggestions for next weeks topic, drop them below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Thanks for listening, folks, and we hope you enjoy the show! Show Notes Miscellaneous Items * MKXP Game Engine Games Mentioned * Starflight * Holy Potatoes, We’re in Space?! * To the Moon * Cosmic Star Heroine * Star Fleet Armada

Welcome to this week’s Podcast my friends! This week, Jim, Hunter, Spaz and I sit down with Gwennaël Arbona to talk about his amazing space trading, combat and economics game, Helium Rain! We’re pretty gaga over the game, so we talk a LOT about it, and are delighted to learn about the detailed background simulation that powers the game, the options available to the player, what’s coming next for the game and a lot more. It’s a great discussion about a great game y’all should be playing. Seriously. Y’all need to own this. And it’s on sale RIGHT NOW, dangit. Stop reading this and go buy it, damn your eyes! ;) Next week on the show, we’ll be back and the regular time and welcome on the developer of Daath Origins to tell us about his spacey exploration game. 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 for listening y’all! Show Notes Games Mentioned * X Series * Elite Dangerous * Space Rangers * Evochron Legacy * Jumpgate * The Witcher * Privateer * Freelancer * Starpoint Gemini Warlords

Hey folks, welcome to this episode of the Space Game Junkie Podcast! This week, Jim, Hunter, Spaz and I sit down with Bruno de Araujo of Solidmesh games to discuss his games, Nightstar and Nightstar: Rogue Wings, both action space shooter games that are a lot of fun. Since the first game in the series in entirely in VR, we veer off to talk about VR as well, which takes quite a spell because we’re all very opinionated on the topic. Overall it was a fun show, but because I was so tired, it was a bit on the short site, and I apologize for that. We also have some keys for Rogue Wings to give away, so stay tuned for that! Next week on the show, it’ll be an early show to discuss Helium Rain with the game’s developer! As always, if you have a question or comment, please drop it below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Show Notes Games Mentioned * Galaga * Zaxxon * Gyrus * Starfox * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron * Tarr Chronicles * Dark Horizon * The Darkness * EVE: Valkyrie * Gorn * Metroid Prime * Elite: Dangerous * Euro Truck Sim 2 * Planet Coaster * Parkitect * Squad * ARMA * Battlefield

Welcome to this week’s podcast, my friends! This week, Jim, Hunter (who wasn’t feeling great), Spaz (who possibly had to evacuate due to a massive fire) and I sit down with developer Walt Destler to talk about his insanely popular and free space building and combat game, Cosmoteer. In this episode, we talk about the game, its community, full-time game development plus plenty of the tangents you all know and love. ;) Seriously though, we have a great time talking about this game, as it’s pretty awesome, so since it’s free, you should totally check it out! Next week on the show, we’ll talk to the folks at Solidmesh about their upcoming Nightstar (VR, Non-VR) series of games! 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. Show Notes Games Mentioned * 3030 Deathwar * Minecraft * Heat Signature * Space Pirates and Zombies 2 * Iron Armada * Interstellar Rift * Space Engineers * King’s Road * Forza Motorsport 7 * EVE Valkyrie – Warzone * Shadow of Mordor * XCOM 2 * Mius-Front * Operation Star * Wasteland 2 * Jagged Alliance * Battletech * Missionforce: Cyberstorm * Star Citizen * Gunmetal * Boogerman * Earthworm Jim

Welcome to this week’s podcast, my friends! This week, Jim, Hunter, Spaz and I sit down with Mike Stankiewicz, Founder and Lead Developer at MT Worlds, to discuss his spacey trading and economic survival game, Interstellar Transport Company. We spend a lot of time comparing his game favorably to Space Bucks (yay!) and of course, some Apollo4X talk creeps in as well (boo!). We talk about the perils of being an indie developer and trying to live the dream of developing full-time, many of the game’s exciting upcoming features, and take a ton of questions from the audience. It’s a really fun show about a game we’re all really excited to play more of. Next week on the show, we’ll sit down with the developer of the free spacey buildy and shooty game, Cosmoteer! As always, if you have a question or comment, please drop it below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Thank you for listening, and we hope you enjoy the show! Show Notes Games Mentioned * Space Bucks * Crusader Kings * Europa Universalis * Transport Tycoon * Helium Rain * Distant Worlds * Air Bucks * Drox Operative * Offworld Trading Company * EVE: Valkyrie – Warzone * Elite: Dangerous * Euro Truck Sim 2 * Apollo4X * Sword of the Stars * Ascendancy

Hello my friends, and welcome to this week’s podcast! This week, Jim, Hunter, Spaz and I get up super early our time to talk to our guest, who’s in Germany! Joining us is Benjamin Rommel, the developer of Galactic Crew. This game is clearly based on FTL, but has a lot of its own style and flair, such as a meta game of achievements and unlockables, planetary landings and more. We talk to Ben about his game, his journey as a new game developer, the custom engine he’s created for the game and quite a bit more. I hope I didn’t sound too gruff during the show, but man was it early. ;) Next week on the show, we’re back at our normal time to talk to the developer of Interstellar Transport Company! If you have any questions or comments, please hit us up below, email us at hail@spacegamejunkie.com or hit us up on the forums. Show Notes Games Mentioned * FTL * EVE Online * Wing Commander: Privateer * Space Engineers * Grand Theft Auto * Space Rangers * 3030 Deathwar Redux * Everquest 2 * Lord of the Rings Online * Star Fleet Armada * Freespace 2 * Fallout 2 * Red Baron * Baldur’s Gate * Endless Legend * Witcher 3 * Titanfall 2 * Battlefront 2