Progress Update and Content Poll (Patreon)

Hey all, here with a mid-month update and a poll! Progress on the space combat encounters is going well enough, although even with the shared functionality I was probably being optimistic when I hoped to get to all three encounter types this month. I've currently implemented most of the things on the player's side of combat - selecting your station actions, drawing and using your 'hand' of Command options, applying Commands to friendly stations, and running through turns. The primary remaining functionality is to set up the enemy side - creating some NPC stations, a limited set of enemy Commands, and then actually exchanging fire and debuffs and such from one side to the other. I do expect to have space combat generally functioning this month, and possibly the ground combat (which mostly differs only in that every team member will be a separate target, rather than single ship vs ship).

I have hit a minor hiccup however, because I now get to be one of the devs to make an 'oh shit, my PC exploded' post. A random failure in my surge protector apparently took my sturdy Win 7 machine down with it, forcing me to finally get around to getting a replacement (not to mention a new surge protector). Fortunately nothing has been lost - I've always been pretty good with backups, and I already have the project up and running on my new PC. However, setting up the new machine has done a slight hit to my productivity. Should be a minor issue in the long run, but I figured I may as well check off the spot on my 'development delay excuses' bingo card.

That aside, it's time for a poll! There will be ten species featured in Carnal Voyages, however there will be no major plotlines in the Figura system and Earth is not currently planned to make an appearance. That leaves at least eight planned star systems and associated plotlines and other content to develop, and the question remains of which ones I should do first once I get to the point of being able to focus on writing rather than code. As part of the planned gameplay loop is to bounce from one system to another, avoiding enemy attention, I will probably be working on plotline sets in pairs. So, you will be able to pick multiple options, but two selections would get the best results.

Which two species and their home systems would you like to see added to the game first? Each option includes a brief description of the species, and a few notes on what I currently envision the feel of their home system to be. Names and concepts are still in development, and always I'm open to other feedback. This poll will run for 2 weeks, good luck!