Star Conquest September Update

Greetings! Time for an update on the state of Star Conquest!

First the good news: our efforts at generating interest in Star Conquest have resulted in the creation of over 70 new characters since the month began, and a return of peak numbers to 20-25 active (not idling) players! That’s a pretty good start, but we’re hoping, of course, to keep up the momentum and keep those numbers growing.

Now the bad news! Long hours at my real job have prevented me from making a great deal of progress on that secret fifth category of points, which I may as well name now: command points. There is to be an aspect of both space combat and ground combat, and I’ve made some progress on the ground combat front, particularly in adding a redesigned form of vehicles. But the command point activity can take place in a number of settings, and I think to get the system out sooner, I’ll set aside the ground combat for now and concentrate on getting the space combat portion working (as those fundamentals already exist), along with the basic functionality of the whole thing. Ground combat missions can then be added in later in a new setting, which will be more plot-appropriate anyway.

But before that, the results of the survey we did this month have convinced me that I should shift my focus a bit. It’s evident that very, very many of you guys want more variety in terms of industrial activity. Upon reflection, using salvaging (SC’s oldest and crappiest point-generating activity) as the top method of gaining industry points really isn’t acceptable. What we should have is, ideally, an industry activity at the top level which is as engaging as some of the combat activities are, and not so mindlessly repetitive as salvaging. My goal is to get that system designed and at least partially coded this weekend. I cannot tell you in detail what form it will take, because at the moment I really have no idea!

So that’s where we stand at the moment. As always, we’re looking for your input into the best ways to gain and retain new players, as higher peak numbers open up many possibilities!