eXo - snappy space strategy [Android beta released!]

WIP games, tools & toy projects
#1

I released a beta version of eXo, the game I’ve been working on for the past time.

The year is 4096 and all hell just broke loose. Xenophobia got the upper hand, and now all races in the known galaxy are at war. Cruisers are cruising, lasers are blasting and aliens are screaming. There is no surrender, only extermination or victory!

Features:

  • snappy action-oriented space strategy
  • easy to control, easy to learn to play
  • emergent, challenging AI
  • many different sectors to conquer, from tiny to huge, offering many different challenges
  • difficulty setting ranging from easy to extreme (a.k.a. impossible)
  • friendly for your privacy & wallet: this app does not gather personal information and is 100% free (ad supported)

Some features I’m working on:

  • auto-adjusting GUI layout for hi-res screens
  • each empire gets its own star ship graphics
  • tuning difficulty, adding help screens

Play it now:

https://developer.android.com/images/brand/en_generic_rgb_wo_60.png

It is based on a Java4K entry of mine called Galactic Conquest, and developed for Android & Windows (for now) using LibGDX. Graphics & sound effects are homebrew, music is a royalty free purchase.

Find some more info on the eXo page, or follow development on my blog.

Some screenshots:

http://www.basvs.nl/wp-content/gallery/exo-3-14/exo1.png

http://www.basvs.nl/wp-content/gallery/exo-3-14/exo2.png

http://www.basvs.nl/wp-content/gallery/exo-3-14/exo3.png

http://www.basvs.nl/wp-content/gallery/exo-3-14/exo4.png

#2

Looks cool! I’ll make sure to play this. :wink:

#3

I played your 4k entry for hours! It is really nice to see a full game come out of it. Good work.

#4

Thanks, I hope you´ll enjoy the bigger-than-4k version as well ;D

#5

im not moving an inch from this chair until you upload a beta

#6

wow!

I love it!

I can`t beat the hardest one :frowning:

I tried it once though

#7

Brilliant. Your 4k entry just ate a few hours of my life. I think this has a lot of potential, particularly as a mobile game.

#8

Thanks a lot guys ;D You’ll have to have a little bit of patience though, haha.

#9

I defeated the HARD one

LOL! I am so very happy! ;D

#10

Looks a lot like Euflora?

#11

Played a bit too much of the 4k entry really.

Let’s do the same with this one :slight_smile:

#12

Released a beta version, please let me know if you encounter bugs or have tips!

Edit: I found a bug: the main menu is inactive :stuck_out_tongue: I did that to make some promo graphics but sillilly forgot to put it back on. Sorry, heh. Will upload a new version soon ™,

#13

Okay, the fix is online, so please try the game out and let me know if you run into any issues!

#14

I have to sell my house then I can buy an android phone. Might be able to test it in a couple of weeks ;D

#15

I’m working on a deskop version also, although that may need a little work.

#16

This looks really awesome!
But you should have a look at the GUI scaling.
On a nexus 5 (With it’s fill HD screen) it looks like that:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/35633386/Screenshot_2014-03-11-13-17-09.png

Imagine this image scaled down to roughly 5". It’s damn small and the list (the one that appears after clicking “New game”) is nearly unusable!
And maybe you could think of a way to enable the player to select units while they are on their way to a planet.

#17

Thanks ;D Good point with the scaling, I was kind of hoping that it would be ok with these button sizes but I forgot the jump in pixel density that screens still get. I got a nexus 4, so big difference with the nexus 5. I’ll figure out a better approach (should not be too hard).

#18

It is a little bit unfair that the AI can be everywhere at once but you have to move and move…

#19

Well, the AI on easier levels actually has a significant delay between making moves, and does not move everything simultaneously.

Edit: I’ll still have to balance the difficulty a bit though. Also, you can use star bases and the AI cannot, which helps a lot.

#20

G’day Grunnt,

Was meaning to respond to this much earlier, but got very waylaid. Unfortunately I haven’t got my Android in front of me at the moment, so I’m running from memory.

I really enjoy this game. However it would be good to see random generation of levels in the Android version. Perhaps this could be an alternative gameplay option?

It is frustrating to have a hard limit on the number of ships you can utilise (particularly after playing your PC version), but I can understand this from a performance perspective. I guess it forces you to be a bit more strategic too. And I still find this game ridiculously hard on the higher difficulty levels!

The UI and appearance of the game is quite good. I had my phone on silent when I tested it, so can’t pass any comment on audio if there is any. Performance was fine on a Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

One minor gripe is your Play Store page. I think the title “eXo snappy space strategy game” is overly long and unnecessary, and has a slightly amateurish ring to it. Could I suggest that you use “eXo Space Strategy” or simply “eXo”? I would also remove the “Snappy Space Strategy” bit from your store icon.

Nonetheless, I think this is a great game. And I’ve put quite a few (sometimes drunken) hours in to your previous PC version. I really hope to see you take this game further, and I think it is deserving of many more downloads. Well done.