Holy Cats… – Hailing Frequencies for 10/3/17

Wow you guys. Wow. I am so sorry, but last week kicked my ass. Lack of sleep, stress about work (which I put upon myself) and that early morning podcast just wrecked me. I actually took a sick day on Friday to try and recover, and I mostly have, but yeah, wow, it really put a speed bump in my ability to generate content. Stuff did get done though! First off, last Thursday’s stream of Sentinels of the Multiverse was a ton of fun! I’d never played the game before, and I’m just sad it doesn’t have asynchronous play, but regardless, it’s a really solid game that nails its theme.

Friday, I had the entire day off, and actually spent much of it playing Starpoint Gemini Warlords in preparation for the new DLC coming out. Man, I don’t know why I play that game more. It’s SO FUN. And there’s so much to do! I had a great time flying around, doing missions, improving my base and building my fleet. So fun. I also spent more time in the campaign in DOOM. Man that game has an amazing campaign. So many great levels and set pieces, and the combat is so satisfying. I usually don’t finish games, but I plan to finish DOOM, if for nothing else than it’s the biggest game on my hard drive. ;) I then spent some time with PAKO 2. If you’ve not heard of it, it’s a really fun twin-stick shooter driving game where you play a getaway driver. It’s surprisingly great, actually.

Finally on Friday, I spent a lot of time playing EVE: Valkyrie – Warzone! This is because I didn’t wanna be an embarrassment for Saturday’s morning stream with the lead developer.

This stream was SO FUN you guys. Not only because the game itself it really fun — it is, seriously, and I don’t even usually like match-based games like this — but because our guest, Lead Game Designer Andrew Willans, was a total joy. Seriously, he was so fun and funny, and I laughed harder on this stream than many others. It helps that the game is great too, because it really helped with comradarie and shit talking. That was the only gaming I got done on Saturday though, because there were lots of chores and stuff to get done.

Sunday I worked to record the videos for this week, so let’s talk about them here. First up, I recorded only one video of Heat Signature. Why only one? Because I’m so, so rough at the game I’ve decided to spend more time on my own getting better at it before returning to it. I really, REALLY like this game, and so I feel it deserves a better playthrough than the one I’m currently giving it, so give me a week or so and I’ll revisit it. ;)

I then spent more time with Space Rangers HD, which ended up being AMAZING because, as a reward for a mission, I got this really great thing. It’s an add-on that super-extends my jump range. It uses more fuel per jump, but whatever, I can jump like four times further than before in one go. That’s amazing. I also had a great time using the info screen to make money along the way, and made a good chunk of change. I think in a couple of entries I’ll be ready for my next ship!

Finally, I spent a bit of time with the out-of-early-access space station sim, Stable Orbit! The last time I played this game there was really no content, but that SO isn’t the case any longer. There’s plenty to do now, and while there is a tutorial, the game doesn’t mind letting you fail. I didn’t mind either because I learned enough to last a lot longer in the next entry, which will go up tomorrow. This time I eventually ran out of oxygen, so my one crewmember was lucky to evacuate in time. It was really fun trying to optimize the station though, and I can’t wait to play more.

Rounding out the week will be another Stable Orbit entry, followed by the last couple entries of my Ancient Frontier series. I tell y’all, while I usually enjoy the focus of the game-of-the-week format, this catching-up hodge podge format is really fun. I hope y’all don’t mind it for a little while. ;) Finally, last night, I spent time with tonight’s podcast topic, Interstellar Transport Company. It was a bit daunting at first, but eventually I so lost track of time Nicole had to remind me it was workout time. It’s really good, and I can’t wait to play more tonight before the show.

So OMG, there’s just too much news, so I’m gonna give you the highlights:

• Star Control has a new dev update.
• Stable Orbit launched to 1.0 last week!
• Stars in Shadow has a new dev update talking about their upcoming expansion.
• Elite Dangerous launched its massive Return update, with fixes across the board.
• Lightspeed Frontier is in the qualifying round of the Nordic Games Discovery Contest.
• Astrox Imperium now has an IndieDB page for y’all to gawk at.
• Station 21 is having a stream to celebrate their one year on since their Kickstarter.
• Space Wrangler released on Steam early access last week, and I can’t wait to try it!
• Legends of Azulgar now has mining and crafting!
• Osiris: New Dawn got its Proteus 2 map back, which I wasn’t aware was lost.
• Space Impossible has released the latest pre-release build of alpha 10.
• Space Tyrant has a whole new race, the Techno Slugs!
• Stellaris calls its latest dev diary A Glimpse of the Future.
• Starship Corporation is having a ship design contest.
• Infinity: Battlescape has a new dev diary showing off improved physics.
• Void Destroyer 2 has a new video showing off ship commissions and the new trade interface.
• Interstellar Rift is getting a bunch of quality-of-life updates in its next patch.
• Go For Launch: Mercury is nearing its early access launch.
• The latest HLP Newsletter reports several newly released campaigns for FSOpen.
• Games that got patches include:
  • Evochron Legacy
  • Heathen Engineering’s Terran
  • Masteroid
  • Remnants of the Precursors
  • Endless Space 2
  • Space Wrangler
  • I’m Titanium
  • Disputed Space
  • The Away Team
  • Children of the Galaxy
  • Ancient Frontier
  • Starship Corporation
  • Heat Signature
  • Stable Orbit
  • Celestial Command
  • Avorion
  • Interstellar Rift
  • Voxel Interceptor
  • Battlefleet Engineer
  • Elite Dangerous
  • Galactic Crew
  • Stellaris
  • Starway Fleet
  • Station 21
  • Star Waker
  • No Man’s Sky
  • Thrust & Shoot : Flight School

Wow, this bullet thing for patches is actually great for me, I might do it more often. Anyway, we have some sales too. Both IndieGala and GOG are having Star Wars sales, though in this case, IndieGala’s prices are better.

Thanks for your patience folks, and thanks for reading! :) See y’all on the podcast tonight!