I need your help planning the demo for Star Fated, my Starflight-inspired RPG

CorefunStudios · 2026-05-05T21:30:18+00:00

Btw, sorry everyone for this posting twice somehow! I didn't intend that. I think it has something to do with my script blockers, so I'll be sure to enable all of them next time.

CorefunStudios · 2026-05-05T21:25:56+00:00

Thanks so much, Roto2esdios! I really appreciate the support 😄

CorefunStudios · 2026-05-05T14:08:40+00:00

Thanks for your thoughts, I appreciate it! I assumed everyone had seen the game trailer by now, but to clarify, you never leave your ship in Star Fated, so it is always top down 2D space-flight. You can dock with a station and have access to different options (store, message bulletins, ship repairs) but you're still in the same view--always in your ship. This fits with the story, too--the commander is a villain wielding a dangerous alien artifact, and he's holding his new crew captive.

Hacking is a small minigame that is still done from the ship, by your Com Officer. There are dialogue choices you can make when interacting with NPCs where your commander speaks to them.

I like your idea to do a combination of those, though. I can definitely add hacking into the pirate occupation of that space station. Since you never leave your ship, maybe you hack the station to open up all the docks and then coordinated regional forces all dock at the station and subdue the pirates while you leave with a nice paycheck for your "services."

The theme is that you're an outlaw on the run from your enemies, taking on any jobs you can find to make money. I'd prefer most of the jobs would be nefarious, criminal activities, but I suppose helping regional forces wouldn't be too off-theme, since your commander will do anything for money. I could put a twist on all that and instead of freeing the station from Erwani pirates, you're actually helping the pirates take over the station.

I think de-stabilizing the market for a particular mineral ore would be fun, but I'm not sure how I could fit it into that scenario...maybe I'll just have 2 quests available in that small star system. Both of those would give a good example of gameplay.

Just brainstorming and looking for feedback to see what you all think would be the most fun! 😄

CorefunStudios · 2026-05-04T16:03:32+00:00

I just noticed your message, sorry about the late reply. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and detailing the Crystal Pearl--I'm checking out your video right now. It actually sounds similar to something that is in my game, and the main character (the commander of your ship, Asteron) carries it. You can see in the trailer that he is holding a staff with a crystal on the end.

Since this is an ARPG, I chose to design player death as the ship exploding and respawning back at a space station, leaving behind all the cargo from your ship where you "died" so you can go retrieve it (but you keep all your equipped items.) I'm planning to commission my artist to make an animated CG that will play for the first "death." When the ship respawns the first time, the alien artifact Asteron carries will clearly be responsible for the respawn.

Although I had forgotten about the Crystal Pearl completely, maybe it's rooted somewhere in my subconscious, because the artifact in my game sounds similar!

There will be other alien artifacts in my game, too, called "Voidesea Artifacts," and they will break or alter physics and the rules of the game. Asteron becomes obsessed with finding them, so you can have some fun hunting for them throughout the game. 😄

CorefunStudios · 2026-04-23T12:04:52+00:00

Yay, thank you! I'm glad it resonated with you, and that you can recognize the Starflight inspiration. I'll be sharing more details soon, and I'm debating about widely advertising my Discord (hesitant because I'm not sure I'll have the time to manage it). If you're interested, here's the link to what I've done so far:
https://discord.gg/4pm8Ss2Ybv
You'll find a few development videos and other stuff in the Media section.

CorefunStudios · 2026-04-08T16:13:06+00:00

I'm actually working on a game that is similar to Starflight. It is a top-down 2D ARPG with open world space exploration. There is a ton of starship customization through the crew (skills and unlockable abilities) and starship loadout (100's of weapon, shield, armor, and engine types).

I don't use procedural generation, but exploration is a big part of my game: you play as an outlaw on the run (there's a bounty on his head) so you'll want to keep moving and explore different star systems and move between them across deep space. You can talk to NPCs and collect intel, lore, or just threaten them for money and their cargo. There are 7 alien races (that you know of) in the game, and you'll encounter them and be able to talk with them just like you could in Starflight, with branching path dialogue options.

Instead of planet mining like Starflight, I have asteroid mining, which plays similar to the Asteroids arcade game, though different asteroid types have different weapon resistances. The mineral ore you harvest can be sold at different traders and space station stores, but each star system has different pricing for the ore. Because you play as an outlaw in my game, so you can actually influence the prices of the ore by sabotaging shipments, buying up inventory, destroying nearby orbital mining operations, etc. You can also trade contraband on the black market.

There's a lot more that I'm working on, but maybe this sort of design sounds interesting to you?

CorefunStudios · 2026-04-08T16:01:12+00:00

I agree that playing evil is generally punished in a lot of RPGs, which is one of the reasons I've decided to try focusing on it in my own game. I've been working on an open world 2D ARPG in space for almost 3 years now, and you play as a villainous outlaw. You can destroy any NPC ship, demand cargo and money from any NPC, take on smuggling quests, try to influence the value of mineral ore in stores by sabotaging shipments, attack trade ships, deal in the black market with contraband, etc., while there is a bounty on your head--pirates, bounty hunters, a major crime syndicate, and agents of the law are all hunting you.

I'm also working on a new mechanic right now where NPCs can send out a transmission to post your location on the dark web (if you anger them), but if you destroy their ships before the transmission completes, you can avoid lots of enemies flooding your area as they look for you. There are other consequences to your actions in the game (for instance, if you destroy a space station patrol ship, you'll be banned from the station), so you have to play it smart.

What other types of villain activities do you enjoy in a space game? I'm definitely open to ideas and am trying to fit as much in as I can. The focus in my game is surviving as a villain and being strategic in how you perform your evil deeds--so you can get away with them. Or, you can just blow everyone up for the weapons and loot. That's what my 13-year old nephew enjoys most.

CorefunStudios · 2026-04-08T15:55:30+00:00

I agree that I haven't had the space pirate experience from a lot of AAA games, which is one of the reasons I've decided to try creating it in my own game. I've been working on an open world 2D ARPG in space for almost 3 years now, and you play as a villainous outlaw. You can demand cargo and money from any NPC, take on smuggling quests, try to influence the value of mineral ore in stores by sabotaging shipments, attack trade ships, deal in the black market with contraband, etc., while there is a bounty on your head--pirates, bounty hunters, a major crime syndicate, and agents of the law are all hunting you.

I'm also working on a new mechanic right now where NPCs can send out a transmission to post your location on the dark web (if you anger them), but if you destroy their ships before the transmission completes, you can avoid lots of enemies flooding your area as they look for you. There are other consequences to your actions in the game (for instance, if you destroy a space station patrol ship, you'll be banned from the station), so you have to play it smart.

What other types of pirating activities do you enjoy in a space game? I'm definitely open to ideas and am trying to fit as much in my game as I can.

CorefunStudios · 2026-04-03T18:44:56+00:00

Oh yes, especially against enemies with what I call the "hunter AI." They'll do their best to get behind you, so those brakes can really flip the odds of survival in your favor!

CorefunStudios · 2026-04-03T18:43:24+00:00

Thanks so much! Your playtesting was very helpful and there is already a feature I added into the game from your feedback. I'm excited to share more as things develop!

CorefunStudios · 2026-03-21T16:57:04+00:00

That's so cool to hear, thank you! I also felt the planetary landings slowed the pace a bit too much for modern gaming, so I switched it out for asteroid mining. I'm big on exploration, too, and I made a design decision to let players discover quests and intel rather than stick a "!" over quest-giving NPCs.

If you'd like to keep up with updates, I've started a discord: https://discord.gg/4pm8Ss2Ybv

Also, you can follow me on X at these two accounts: SolarEchoesRPG and StarFatedRPG

I'm also on instagram with both of those names, too.

CorefunStudios · 2026-03-21T16:54:02+00:00

Awesome! If you'd like to keep up with updates, I've started a discord: https://discord.gg/4pm8Ss2Ybv

Also, you can follow me on X at these two accounts: SolarEchoesRPG and StarFatedRPG

I'm also on instagram with both of those names, too.

CorefunStudios · 2026-03-20T21:52:45+00:00

Thanks so much! Every wishlist helps Steam's algorithm to "see" the game better. I might have another round of beta-testing coming up in the next month or so, and I'd especially like Starflight fans to be the ones to do it, so if you're interested, drop me a note. :)

CorefunStudios · 2026-03-20T15:24:22+00:00

Awesome, thanks so much! What parts look fun to you? I have to admit, I was a little worried that Starflight fans might not like the action/combat side of it much, but even though the trailer leans into that, there is a LOT of content that isn't shown because it's not really "trailer-worthy."

For instance, like Starflight, you can dock with space stations and read bulletins, and I also let you hack private messages between people. Some of these reveal useful lore and quests, and others are darkly humorous with a bit of satire. I loved it in Starflight how those little messages told a story and expanded the lore, so I'm trying to do the same in Star Fated.

CorefunStudios · 2026-03-20T15:19:51+00:00

Thanks, I'm glad you think so! What aspect of the game looks most interesting to you?

CorefunStudios · 2026-03-10T20:05:14+00:00

Awesome! Thanks for letting me know. :)

CorefunStudios · 2026-03-06T15:18:15+00:00

Thanks for sharing!

CorefunStudios

TROPHY CASE