SPAZ: Space Pirates and Zombies

[Jschmuck2]

I've heard pretty cool things about this game and it was just released on Steam a few minutes ago.

Everyone needs another $15 indie title to play, yeah?

 

[KaOTiK]

I'll pick it up for super cheap during some Steam sale, cause I'm cheap like that now.

 

[Elcs]

Glad I found this thread. I was going to pull up my old thread because this has been available for a long time, albeit in beta form.

Early Beta Preview

Release Version Review

WELL worth the money. An extremely good indie game

 

[SMOGZINN]

I'll be watching this game, it looks like the sort of thing I really like. Unfortunatly I've got too many games already, so it goes on my wishlist and hopefully will be picked up on one of the steam sells.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

I'll pick it up for super cheap during some Steam sale, cause I'm cheap like that now.

:thumbsup:

 

[Nintendesert]

I might get it, I've been playing around with the demo and it's fun.

 

[Raduque]

Oh dang, release version! I gotta update my $14 beta copy.

 

[QuantumPion]

Is this based on Gratuitous Space Battles? It looks the same and that game was fairly meh.

 

[Elcs]

Is this based on Gratuitous Space Battles? It looks the same and that game was fairly meh.

Absolutely nothing like it and looks nothing like it either.

Go read a review or check out YouTube.

 

[RandomSanity]

For anyone who wants a copy, this game is available on greemmangaming for $11.16 using the 20% off summer code and can be activated on steam. Just picked it up myself after reading a couple good reviews of the beta.

Unrelated but I also picked up Dead Island for $33 I know these games will be cheaper in a couple months but I'm a sucker like that.

 

[QuantumPion]

Absolutely nothing like it and looks nothing like it either.

Go read a review or check out YouTube.

Absolutely nothing like it? It is made by the same guys using the same engine with the same visuals. The difference seems to be in that you control a single ship and you get upgrades over various missions.

 

[Elcs]

Absolutely nothing like it? It is made by the same guys using the same engine with the same visuals. The difference seems to be in that you control a single ship and you get upgrades over various missions.

GSB: Positech Studios
SPAZ: MinMax Games

They do not look or play similarly.

SPAZ is a 2D space combat action game where you directly control one ship but have others in your fleet, actively exploring the galaxy in an open ended fashion with a story element you can follow any time a la Freelancer (without the voiceover and autopilot hassling you)

Diplomancy, ship customisation, harvesting and multiple resource management...

 

[datalink7]

Haha, this game is awesome. It reminds me of a game I used to play way back in the day that I can't put my finger on.

Anyway, it is a lot of fun and easy to get going in it. I can see plenty of room for good expansion in the game too.

 

[Elcs]

Haha, this game is awesome. It reminds me of a game I used to play way back in the day that I can't put my finger on.

Anyway, it is a lot of fun and easy to get going in it. I can see plenty of room for good expansion in the game too.

Starscape?

Space Rangers?

 

[kamikazekyle]

I loved Space Rangers and SR2, though the Starforce copy protection was busted in Windows 7. Did they ever release a patch to remove that on the original Space Rangers 2? I really don't feel like rebuying the game for $15 when I already own it and it was the DRM that's keeping me from playing it.

As to SPAZ, it really brings back memories of this shareware game I used to play in the 90s. I think it was kinda like Escape Velocity, though was DOS based and had Wind in the title. Starscape was nice with the station mechanics and I liked the semi-freeform ship design. It gives more flexibility than a fixed hardpoint design ala SPAZ.

I'm still working my way through the demo on SPAZ. I kinda wish it was a bit deeper in terms of tech tree and some of the diplomacy/quests. Unless it's a limit in the demo, I only see three types of armor. I'd kinda like a little more variety with different resistances and such rather than just light/med/heavy. Stuff like that to make ship customization a bit deeper.

 

[shortylickens]

Got the demo a while ago. Still aint started.

 

[Elcs]

I'm still working my way through the demo on SPAZ. I kinda wish it was a bit deeper in terms of tech tree and some of the diplomacy/quests. Unless it's a limit in the demo, I only see three types of armor. I'd kinda like a little more variety with different resistances and such rather than just light/med/heavy. Stuff like that to make ship customization a bit deeper.

Four types of armour: Light, Medium, Heavy and Advanced.

Beam weapons are most effective against shielding, Cannons are most effective against armour and Explosive type weapons are most effective against the hull.

Once shields are down, the armour takes the brunt of the damage but there is a hull damage bleedthrough effect which worsens as the hull takes damage.

I enjoy this system because although it's simple on the surface, the game can force you to swap styles around to break through some hairy situations.

Side Note: SPAZ has Steam Cloud Support.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Haha, this game is awesome. It reminds me of a game I used to play way back in the day that I can't put my finger on.

Anyway, it is a lot of fun and easy to get going in it. I can see plenty of room for good expansion in the game too.

Star Control and Star Control 2 come to mind.

 

[datalink7]

Star Control and Star Control 2 come to mind.

That's the one! Thanks

 

[BergeLSU]

For anyone who wants a copy, this game is available on greemmangaming for $11.16 using the 20% off summer code and can be activated on steam. Just picked it up myself after reading a couple good reviews of the beta.

Unrelated but I also picked up Dead Island for $33 I know these games will be cheaper in a couple months but I'm a sucker like that.

Please note: You cannot activate this on Steam through GMG anymore.

 

[kamikazekyle]

Four types of armour: Light, Medium, Heavy and Advanced.

Beam weapons are most effective against shielding, Cannons are most effective against armour and Explosive type weapons are most effective against the hull.

Once shields are down, the armour takes the brunt of the damage but there is a hull damage bleedthrough effect which worsens as the hull takes damage.

I enjoy this system because although it's simple on the surface, the game can force you to swap styles around to break through some hairy situations.

Side Note: SPAZ has Steam Cloud Support.

Ah, so I missed a slot. The beam>shields, cannons>armor, explosives>hull is a nice rock-paper-scissors kinda thing (sorta kinda, very loose analogy there). I do wish there were a bit more depth still, but at the same time I think too MUCH depth would be a detriment to the fast-paced gameplay. The more I think about it, the more the relatively simple elements mesh together well for the gameplay. And when you mix in a few additional hull designs it a good balance.

 

[Elcs]

Ah, so I missed a slot. The beam>shields, cannons>armor, explosives>hull is a nice rock-paper-scissors kinda thing (sorta kinda, very loose analogy there). I do wish there were a bit more depth still, but at the same time I think too MUCH depth would be a detriment to the fast-paced gameplay. The more I think about it, the more the relatively simple elements mesh together well for the gameplay. And when you mix in a few additional hull designs it a good balance.

Yeah, SPAZ looks like it could be a very shallow game on the surface but it's actually quite deep.

The simple idea of each weapon having a strength is not as easy as it looks. Beam weapons are very easy to aim and can be very useful in minefields or zombie matter. Cannons are typically difficult to aim and sometimes simply bounce off shields but they *really* tear apart armour and hull. Explosives are a strange beast nowadays as they've been balanced somewhat but SRM's are very useful for tidying up Zombie matter and drones.

Then not every cannon/beam/missile handles the same

I find myself changing and tweaking my builds quite often to cope with different threats or accomodate new weapons/boosters or to change ship design.

Nearly closer to the Double Turret Mount and also closer to the Hammerhead (which is crazy lethal). Fun times!

 

[SMOGZINN]

I'm going to grab the demo this weekend, because as I said this game looks exactly like the sort of game I use to love.
So question, just how much customization is there? Are there like 3 weapons, and it is just a matter of how many lasers vs cannons vs missiles to put on a ship, or is there lots of different customizations?

 

[Elcs]

I'm going to grab the demo this weekend, because as I said this game looks exactly like the sort of game I use to love.
So question, just how much customization is there? Are there like 3 weapons, and it is just a matter of how many lasers vs cannons vs missiles to put on a ship, or is there lots of different customizations?

Let's see... 5 types of beam weapon, 5 types of cannon, 3 types of missile and i think 5 choices of mines/bombs, 3 choices of drones with cloaked/uncloaked variants of each, different types of booster modules, 4 types of shields, 4 types of reactors, 4 grades of armour and also cloaking devices.

34 Hull types, spread across 5 size categories, each carrying a different number of weapon/turret/missile/bomb/mine/subsystem/drone bay slots which vary between small and huge in size. Factor in different manueverability/crew size/hull strength/top speed/cargo capacity values for each ship.

15 different research topics, each with 10 levels and with a research bonus system which varies with each game (however between each game, level 10 tech bonuses are equal).

Add in specialists to your Mothership, of which you can have 3 and come in various flavours like Common/Uncommon/Rare/Elite/Godlike and they can have a multitude of different bonuses to different aspects such as +% Beam Length or -% cost of Warp Gate Bribe.

There's quite a bit of customisation there, and I might have missed some.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I just noticed this game on steam. It looks like a revamped escape velocity. Anyone play both? Does it have a good branching storyline like EV:Nova?