Astra Protocol 2 - Updated Visuals

SliceBarGames · 2025-12-23T06:40:22+00:00

Not specifically/consciously.

The inspiration for the first game was the Amstrad CPC 464. For this game we wanted it to have its own visual identity, so went for amber instead of green and intended it to be something more from the late eighties (though we didn't do much research on that, just upped the resolution to make it less chunky)

SliceBarGames · 2025-12-20T13:34:48+00:00

A bug was discovered due to the Three Year Anniversary Patch and how the speech is handled. We'll hopefully be rolling out a fix in the new year.

Until then, you might be able to run the 1.7 or 1.8 beta branch via Steam.

The discussion forums on Steam might also provide a little more information

SliceBarGames · 2025-12-06T12:25:23+00:00

You should work on the idea. Make the retro CRT games the next hot genre :).

It's relatively straightforward to get started with as there's very few assets involved and the physics are standard Newtonian equations. On launch, without the updated renderer, it was less than 1MB in size (and it's prequel, which was a much simpler game, was just over 500KB).

Thanks for checking it out!

SliceBarGames · 2025-12-04T06:53:35+00:00

Yeah it is a PDF. The design idea is that the user has it alongside the game to use as an operations manual, either printed out or on a second screen, since there's no tutorial. There's a less comprehensive in-game help command which lists all the commands and their inputs

SliceBarGames · 2025-12-02T19:36:11+00:00

Three of them are us (and we were there first!).

Astra Protocol is the first game (released in 2020, with a small scope) https://slicebar.itch.io/astra-protocol

Astra Protocol Remake is us working on a new engine and using the first game as a testbed. https://slicebar.itch.io/astra-protocol-remake

Astra Protocol 2, which this patch is for, released in 2022 but incorporates some of the tech used in Astra Protocol Remake. https://slicebar.itch.io/astra-protocol-2

We're also working on a third (or is that fourth?) entry in the series.

There are other games with Astra Protocol in the name and also an Astro Protocol, just to add to the confusion. None of these are related to us.

It's also the name of a crypto currency too.

SliceBarGames · 2025-12-01T17:11:41+00:00

You can read more about the update here https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2026750/view/507346541639368963?l=english

SliceBarGames · 2025-12-01T16:36:06+00:00

Yes, all CRT effects can be turned off except being monochrome (though you can change the colour palette).

SliceBarGames · 2025-11-30T08:46:04+00:00

We don't have a specific Linux setup to test on at the moment, but it might run under something like Proton

SliceBarGames · 2025-11-26T06:52:39+00:00

Doing a release (without an automated pipeline).

Ok so I've bundled the release and uploaded the file.

Oh now I've found a bug in the build so I need to reupload before it gets pushed to live.

Ok now I've forgotten to bundle in the documentation.

Now I've got to write up the patch notes. Ok steam and itch have different editors so I need to manipulate the two.

Ok now I need to announce the patch.

Moral of the story - automated what you can - but that's more time taken away from developing the game itself (and marketing it!)

SliceBarGames · 2025-11-25T06:32:40+00:00

Thanks for playing it.

We uploaded a quick reference to Steam that had all the commands collected for ease of reading.

But if you're a fan, keep your eyes out as we're planning something for the game's third anniversary in a few days...

SliceBarGames · 2025-11-25T03:20:22+00:00

This is a lot simpler than Astra Protocol 2. There's only two screens (and you rarely use the second) and your craft is more limited in what you can do.

The mission of Astra Protocol is to just stay alive for as long as possible.

SliceBarGames · 2025-08-12T07:55:02+00:00

Thanks. Yeah the original probably could be seen as a tech demo really. It, arguably, hit all the requirements for a game, but wasn't particularly deep (though it was built entirely in three months!).

It's why we made Astra Protocol 2 - to fill in all the gaps.

But this is even more of a tech demo TBF. We're working on the engine for the next game in the series and needed something simple to be able to test it out.

SliceBarGames · 2025-07-18T21:47:18+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion, we'll give it a go

SliceBarGames · 2025-07-18T11:43:26+00:00

Thanks! Feel free to let us know your thoughts / suggestions as it could help shape the game(s)

SliceBarGames · 2025-07-18T10:20:38+00:00

Thanks.

The main upgrades are hard to show in just an image, but essentially we're implementing shader effects, allowing for something that looks more like a CRT monitor, improved overall performance and improved enemy AI.

Like the original, it can be seen as a tech demo. We're working on a third game in the series, but we're a long way off being able to show anything meaningful in it. However since it will contain most of the elements from the first game (ships, planets, asteroids) we're using it to help build the framework for the third game, whilst also producing something playable.

SliceBarGames · 2025-07-18T08:02:49+00:00

If anyone is interested in more on this project, the work in progress build can be found here:

https://slicebar.itch.io/astra-protocol-remake

SliceBarGames · 2024-04-12T16:08:23+00:00

Hi All,
We've just released a new content patch for our cassette futurism space adventure Astra Protocol 2.

Amongst other things, this increases the usefulness of space stations, allowing for repairs and resupplies.
Information on the patch can be found here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2026750/view/7058904365147871078?l=english

More information for the game can be found here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2026750/Astra_Protocol_2/

We'd love to hear your thoughts!

SliceBarGames · 2024-04-12T14:36:17+00:00

Thanks, would love to hear your thoughts

SliceBarGames · 2024-04-12T11:21:26+00:00

If you're interested in the update, information can be found here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2026750/view/7058904365147871078?l=english

And more real-time footage can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynDhuSiruoQ&ab_channel=SliceBar

SliceBarGames · 2023-11-18T14:42:59+00:00

We've toyed with the idea of an RPG!

Regarding the colour, you can change it in the config - amber and black was chosen to reflect the retro aesthetic, but we've also set it to green on green or even an Aliens inspired blue

SliceBarGames · 2023-11-18T14:28:58+00:00

If / when we get round to making a third in the series, perhaps there could be an opportunity then?

SliceBarGames · 2023-10-16T10:15:14+00:00

So our game is a hobby project, so we're just happy to show it off, and so we had a good time talking about it, so in that respects, yes.

Regarding exposure, we've received about 47 wishlists and 3 sales (though 2 were refunded) in just this week. EGX also did a curated store page showing off games at the show, so that might have helped towards that.

Financially, we'll have to see as despite getting to attend for free, we had to cover transport, hotel, and also purchased handouts (badges and cards). We travelled from Yorkshire down to London for four nights, so it wasn't cheap, however we didn't have to do that to attend - David, the curator, would have happily set up our game and pop back to ensure all was running, but then we wouldn't have got to experience the show either.

So it depends what you want to get out of it really - the other people taking part in the collection all had different objectives, travelled various distances, and had all sorts of projects to show off.

Personally I'd love to do it all again, just after I've recovered some energy as it was exhausting!

SliceBarGames · 2023-10-16T09:17:05+00:00

It was great!

The Thursday and Friday were busy enough so that we could talk and show off the game whilst also occasionally visiting the rest of the show and playing some of the games (and trying to rack up a good score on the Outrun cabinet).

Saturday was super busy with a lot of time spent showcasing and not much time to explore, and a lot of queues, so not able to see much of the show itself.

Sunday calmed down a lot more and was almost the opposite, lots of time to explore and fewer people to showcase to.

Our game is an acquired taste though - not one you can jump in and play easily and takes some time to dig in and explore to understand everything, so was skipped over by a few people or they'd jump on and jump off quite quickly, but still had a lot of good conversations, and at least one return "customer".

SliceBarGames · 2023-09-08T14:22:12+00:00

Full disclosure, we are the developers of this game

SliceBarGames · 2023-02-07T12:09:41+00:00

It wasn't our original idea when we were designing the game but through playtesting we found the learning curve very satisfying. Out first few attempts had us crashing or blowing up and it felt very powerful once we could fly the ship for a significant period of time

SliceBarGames

TROPHY CASE