Author Archives: admin

  1. Sea of Stars Update – 3/9/2015

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    Hello, space cadets! Today’s Sea of Stars update brings you perhaps the most alien of all the alien races in the game so far – the Ravians. Their take on starships and weapon technology is certainly unique – I think you’ll be surprised and delighted! They are also featured in a major quest that can randomly occur. Other notable additions include the Hyperdrive, a device that provides an alternative way to travel between stars.

    We have also released a brand new trailer video, showing off all the new additions to the game since the previous one. The variety of content that now exists in the game really makes a huge difference! Check it out below.

    On Mac OS X front, we have some good news – Henry now has a version of the game running on the Mac! We’re planning to release it as soon as possible after the Windows version reaches 1.0.

    For all full change lists and discussion about the game, check out the Steam Community Board!

  2. Sea of Stars Update – 8/28/2014

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    Hello, folks! While we have been putting out updates almost on a weekly basis on Steam and many of you have seen them if you’re playing the game, I figured it would be a good time to post an update here as well, as we are releasing a new trailer video. Check it out below!

    The development of the game is trucking along at a steady pace, and a lot has changed in the last few months. All the user interfaces are much nicer, and content-wise we have already surpassed Weird Worlds in many ways. For example, we now have more types of starships than WW and are busy adding more – in the next content update you’ll see a new alien race that had no presence in the previous game aside from one random event, but will now have a full-featured fleet and signature technologies. Thank you for helping make this possible!

    For all full change lists and discussion about the game, check out the Steam Community Board!

  3. Sea of Stars Update – February 2014

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    Hi again, it’s time for another update on Infinite Space 3: Sea of Stars! This month we have been busy basically tying up loose ends and turning all the separate bits into an actual game. At the rate things are going, a beta release around the end of March seems quite doable.

    The highlights of this update video include new user interfaces for buying ships at your homeworld; diplomatic (or undiplomatic) messages from alien races; lifeforms placed on planets that they could actually live on; color-coded weapon icons; deadly new carrier ships and the fiery destruction they cause!

    In other Digital Eel news, as Sea of Stars beta release draws closer, we have lowered the prices of Brainpipe and Data Jammers: FastForward on Steam and other portals to less than a fancy cup of coffee. Check them out!

  4. Steam Holiday Sale

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    Seasons greetings from Digital Eel! Weird Worlds Well, it’s that time of the year again. The wind is chilly, the snow is flying and the Steam Holiday Sale is on! Beginning today, Thursday, December 19, until Thursday, January 2nd, Weird Worlds (space!), Data Jammers (arcade!) and Brainpipe (??!!) are discounted by 50%-75%, which means you can explore the galaxy, prowl twisting bitstreams and invade your own brain (!) for less than the cost of a meal at Back in the Box. Please note that ALL Digital Eel games are alien tested and approved for kids, teens, adults and squid creatures from Bellatrix VII. Feeling festive? Who isn’t! Each Digital Eel game makes the perfect virtual stocking stuffer for your perfect virtual stocking. Whatever that means. Happy Krimble!

  5. Sea of Stars Update – October 2013

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    Hello, everyone. Unfortunately, we have to start this update with some bad news. Last month, our friend and art team member David Cash passed away after a long battle with chronic illness which he kept private from everyone. Rich and I have known Dave since we worked at Ion Storm in the late 1990’s. He will be missed.

    On the game itself, the video shows some new features like the hyperwave radar screen and multi-body systems. Sea of Stars will still only have one “primary” planetary body per system for you to explore (to keep the gameplay brisk), but moons and asteroid belts will add visual interest to special locations.

    Things have been a bit slower than I had hoped lately, and we’re not ready to announce a date for the release of a beta version yet. We are, however, just about ready to start delivering some of the other reward goodies for those backers in the $50 tier and above.

  6. Sea of Stars update – September 2013

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    Hi everyone, it’s been a little while since we last released a video update, so you’re getting one now!

    While we have been creating more art and content, I’ve been busy getting actual game systems running under the hood. The universe you explore on the star map is now actually populated with alien empires you can run into and get in fights with. Transitioning between the star map and combat modes now works, although the presentation is still in a rough state. There are some cool systems already operating that will allow the aliens (as well as Terrans) to develop new technologies over time, and upgrade their ships.

    The mod editor now includes an editor for the procedural materials that we previously had to edit in script files. This will make it easier to create materials for planets as well as the alien races whose fleets aren’t done yet. Being able to edit the material definitions on the fly allows faster iteration and encourages experimentation.

    Our immediate goal is to now produce a playable beta version with reduced content, but all the core gameplay features. Basically, get the game running with the assets we have so we can start collecting feedback from testers including Kickstarter backers in the $25+ tiers. More details to come in the next update!

  7. Sea of Stars update – August 2013

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    Just a quick update for this month: In a few days, I’m leaving on a trip to the distant forest planet of Finland, where my Calatian forebears dwell in burrows undisturbed by galactic hyperwave transmissions. As a result, I’m going to be (mostly) offline until next month.

    muktian ships

    Before engaging the hyperdrive, I’d like to show you a few things. Almost the entire Muktian and Tan Ru fleets are now in the game, with cool new procedural textures. You will come to fear the latest addition to the list of Tan Ru ships beginning with a letter D – the Dominator!

    tan ru ships

    In the meantime, our artists are also picking a few select pieces of Sea of Stars art to be printed for Kickstarter backers in the $50 tier and above. This one by Chris is called “Urluquai Overlord”. If you know the Urluquai, you know just how well it captures their sinister personality.

    Urluquai small

    Last but not least, we have spectacular new combat music from Edwin and a selection of ambient soundscapes by Rich. I think you will agree Sea of Stars is on track to be the most aurally rich Digital Eel experience yet!

  8. Sea of Stars update – July 2013

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    Hello, it’s time for a fresh new Sea of Stars video update! This time we’ll talk a bit about how the game distributes stars and planets, as well as discuss the cat problem before showing off a bundle of shiny new starships!

    Speaking of starships, we would like to finally introduce our second 3D artist, Les Betterley (http://lesbetterley.com/ ). He’s an industry veteran whose work goes all the way back to the 1990’s, and a friend of Digital Eel since we met him in 2001. Right now, he’s occupied by the robotic assembler-mechanists deep within the tunnels of Quarnix, the machine hive of the dread Tan Ru. Welcome to the team, Les!

  9. Sea of Stars update – June 2013

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    Hi everyone, we have just released a new video update for Infinite Space 3: Sea of Stars! While a bunch of work is going on in the background and not quite ready to show, we couldn’t resist compiling a few choice bits of footage into a video clip. The new interfaces are really starting to make Sea of Stars feel like a game, and we continue to be excited about our artists’ efforts. Be sure to watch the video in HD for maximum effect!

    As you may remember, we exceeded our funding goal by over $6000. After all the little fees we were still above $30,000. We are putting some of the extra money to use by recruiting another 3D artist, who will help in the production of starships and other models. Jami has been busy working on these as well, so we expect to be able to show off our growing fleet of ships in the next update.

    We’ll be releasing further updates roughly on a monthly basis, more regularly once we get closer to release. Watch this space!

  10. Full Steam Ahead

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    The Sea of Stars Kickstarter campaign is coming to a close, and we’re happy to have surpassed our funding goal by a healthy margin. While we didn’t quite reach our stretch goals, the response our project received from all of you has been great even after we hit the initial target of $30,000!

    We would like to thank all those who pledged their support. You will soon receive a survey to fill in details such as how you want your rewards delivered. We are now going to go full steam ahead and make Sea of Stars the best possible experience we can.

    We would also like to thank the following people and websites for publicizing our project and helping others find out about it, greatly contributing to our success:

    Blue’s News

    Bytten

    Gamepolitics.com and James Fudge

    Inside Mac Games

    Kickstarter.com Games Fan

    Ohmwrecker AKA The Masked Gamer

    PC Gamer

    Rock, Paper, Shotgun

    Brian and Jim from Space Game Junkie (Listen to podcast interview with Iikka and Rich)

    Finally, we’d like to extend our enduring gratitude to Kevin Matheny and John Slade, Fearless Testers Union #256. They will be instrumental in guaranteeing the quality of our game, as they have been since our first releases in 2001.

    Future updates and announcements about Sea of Stars will be posted here at the Infinite Space website