SPAZ - Space Pirates and Zombies (SPAZ2 EA on Steam!)

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We've been talking about this for a while in the space games thread, but now that the game is set for a proper release, I figured it was a good time to start a thread.

For those who aren't aware, SPAZ is similar to Starscape or Star Control 2 in that it's a top down 2d space adventure blow things up, get resources and grow your ship and small fleet type game. Oh, and zombie ships. Yeah. A video might help:

There is plenty of places to buy the game (including the dev, Min Max Games), and word on the street is that the keys will transfer to Steam.

Also, for those who like to get their hands dirty, there is a demo. A pretty sizable one at that.

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SPAZ2 hitting Early Access on Steam 5/16Your text to link here...

Tagging.

Tagging as well.

I've played the beta through the first 3 systems (out of 250 or whatever the default galaxy size is) and the game is great. I had to force myself to stop so I could start with the full release. If you've played and liked Starscape, Star Control, Escape Velocity, or the Dreamcast's Armada you owe it to yourself to check out the demo.

This looks great. It reminds me of the freeware game Transcendence, which I have dumped many hours into. I'll definitely be keeping my eye on this once it comes to Steam.

I like what I've played of the beta so far - definitely worth plunking down your $15 if you like this kind of thing.
Total Biscuit does the intro narration which is kinda cool. That guy's certainly making a name for himself on the web.

Only real problems with it so far:
- The voice acting seems about par for the course for an indie game ie it sounds fairly unprofessional
- Not easy at all from the start - takes some learning. If you're okay with that, then ignore this comment.

Another game that's remarkably similar to this but not quite as complex and deep, is Starscape - which I also recommend.

Isn't it coming out on Steam tomorrow?

BlackSabre wrote:

Isn't it coming out on Steam tomorrow?

It unlocks in about 3 hours.

I bought it via Impulse a month or so ago, and have enjoyed the brief time I've been able to spend with it.

I've been playing the beta for a long time. This game rocks. It's not especially complex, in the sense that it's not really an economic simulation or anything like that. It's almost 100% semi-twitch space combat. But it's realllly good. I've had an absolutely unreasonable amount of fun for however much I paid -- I think it was $10, not sure.

The basic story is that you start out in a crappy ship on the edge of the galaxy, and you're trying to fight your way past increasingly powerful star systems to get to the chewy center. The game does a much, much better job than most of explaining why stars in the center are more powerful than stars on the edge, and it has a very smooth gradation of power levels. It handles a huge range of combat strength levels better than, geeze, any game I can remember since Bard's Tale. You start out in a tiny ship with a pellet gun, and eventually end up storming around the galaxy in a behemoth, at the head of a small fleet.

Just a TON of fun. Fantastic game.

EriktheRed wrote:

This looks great. It reminds me of the freeware game Transcendence, which I have dumped many hours into. I'll definitely be keeping my eye on this once it comes to Steam.

Wow, I totally forgot about that game. I played a bit of it a long time ago and it does have similar mechanics to SPAZ. One huge problem I had with the game was that you could only shoot in 8 directions, instead of the full 360 degrees. Oddly enough, if you bought an "automated" turret weapon it could shoot in any direction. I have no idea if they changed that by now.

Tamren wrote:
EriktheRed wrote:

This looks great. It reminds me of the freeware game Transcendence, which I have dumped many hours into. I'll definitely be keeping my eye on this once it comes to Steam.

Wow, I totally forgot about that game. I played a bit of it a long time ago and it does have similar mechanics to SPAZ. One huge problem I had with the game was that you could only shoot in 8 directions, instead of the full 360 degrees. Oddly enough, if you bought an "automated" turret weapon it could shoot in any direction. I have no idea if they changed that by now.

Last I checked the developer had not changed that for basic weapons, but there were a number of smart weapons that would lock onto enemies.

Anyway, one thing I liked a lot about Transcendence was that it felt kind very much like a roguelike with random dungeons (star systems), shops (space stations where you could buy and sell stuff), permadeath (sort of), and lots of items you would find that were un-identified with good and bad effects.

Are any of these elements in SPAZ?

EriktheRed wrote:

Are any of these elements in SPAZ?

The systems are randomized and there are space stations to shop at. No permadeath and I don't know of any current items that you find. You'll get blueprint drops but no mysterious weapons or components that I'm aware of. They did a LOT of changes from the last beta to the 1.0 version though. Plus the devs stated that the next patch is going to be more like an expansion.

Everything outside of the starting area is randomized. There are space stations where you can buy and sell stuff, but it's fairly limited and definitely not a trading sim. And sadly, no crazy amounts of weapons with good and bad effects, though you collect blueprints when you kill enemies to gain access to more weapons.

This is more about building up your ship and your fleet than it is about loot. If that makes sense.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, I haven't played the game in a month or so in anticipation of the proper release.

Edit: Erik, did you ever play Weird Worlds? That's a straight up roguelike that lasts anywhere from 5 minutes to a half hour.

Just a fun game at its core, and the dozen or so hours I've dumped into the beta have all been time well spent. Consider yourself enabled.

It's supposed to release on Steam at the same $14.99 it's been selling for pre-orders. I don't know how long that'll hold before it goes up to the intended $19.99.

garion333 wrote:
BlackSabre wrote:

Isn't it coming out on Steam tomorrow?

It unlocks in about 3 hours.

At what price, if you know? Steam doesn't show a price yet. nm, I guess I could have checked one of the other store links. looks like a $15 game.

I'm typically awful at these type games, but I'm glad I looked anyway because I got to learn about the "WTF is"? video series on youtube. I've been watching him go through various games, and he's pretty funny. It's kind of a one-man GB quicklook style.

Green Man Gaming has it for $13.99. Save yourself a dollar.

garion333 wrote:

Green Man Gaming has it for $13.99. Save yourself a dollar. :P

Better yet, wait for the inevitable steam sale and get it for $4.99

Yeah it's on Steam, says 1 hour now, but I don't see a price.

Meh, these are a couple of active devs that went all-in on making this. I bought direct from them so they get the full cut. Plus all keys are supposed to be activate-able on Steam.

Yeah, this is a two-guy shop that bet the farm on making this thing; they were very pleased when they hit 10,000 copies, because it meant, as they put it, they wouldn't lose their houses.

Now available on Steam. $14.99

Demo up on Steam too.

LiquidMantis wrote:

Meh, these are a couple of active devs that went all-in on making this. I bought direct from them so they get the full cut. Plus all keys are supposed to be activate-able on Steam.

I tried my serial from the Impulse version of the game on Steam--no dice yet. Maybe there's a separate key for the retail version?

Yeah, doesn't work for me either yet.

If you want 1.0 in the interim, and if you bought from BMT Micro (ie, straight from the devs), you can just hit the link again in the original email, and you'll get 1.0, instead of 0.9.

I don't think it's set up yet. They were saying they still needed to get all the keys to Steam late yesterday or early today?

Sweet.

Devs on the SPAZ forum wrote:

We have to send them the list of currently used keys and they will integrate into their server. Hopefully this will happen some time today.

I might take a day or 2 for steam to integrate all of our keys into their database. It will happen eventually. Sorry it's taking a while.

Gonna check this out when I get home, looks fun.

Wish there was an iPad version.

tagged

My BMT Micro code activated on Steam now.

Damn, my key doesn't work yet. Alas ...

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