[Megathread] Darkout, a sci-fi survival sandbox game.

[Rooflesstoofless]

Story

An unknown cataclysm causes the player's planet to become infested with alien lifeforms that destroy and reform the world covering it in darkness. In a desperate attempt to escape, the few thousand remaining survivors still on the planet are put into stasis and launched into space on a large ship that was to suppose to relocate them to another, more hospitable world.

Unfortunately, there is a malfunction and the ship gets stuck in the planet's orbit for an unknown number of decades/centuries. In an effort to preserve energy and maintain basic system operations, the ship begins to jettison stasis pods. You are the only survivor of one these pods and wake up to find yourself on the very planet your were trying to escape with only the essentials needed to survive on a now hostile planet.

Gameplay

Darkout is a 2D sandbox game with inspirations from Terraria, Minecraft, and the Aliens movies. The game allows you to craft structures, weapons, and gear, but also makes use of a research mechanic (similar to what you might see in 4X strategy games). You queue the research you want to do and earn research points by performing various actions in the world like mining, crafting, etc. Once the research is complete you will have the crafting recipe for that item. Some research areas have advanced specializations which are harder to reach and have prerequisites where the player needs to learn the more basic recipes first. One of the ultimate goals in the game is to repel the darkness that allows many of the creatures to spawn and reclaim the planet.

Current State

Darkout is currently in open beta/initial release and continues with content updates, bug fixes, etc. Multiplayer is to be added before August with male characters coming in early August as well.

The game is currently being sold through a number of online retailers, but the cheapest I have seen so far is through GameFly for $9.99. If you find it for cheaper let me know and I'll update it.

Links

Darkout Website
Darkout Wiki
...more to come as I get more info.

[Deleted]

They want me to pay upfront to play a buggy/non-refined game ?

No thanks.

[unholytestament]

Looks like a nice variation on sandbox games. Love the art style. It doesn't look very challenging though.

I can throw ten bucks at this.

[teddytous]

HD Scifi terraria? Neat.

[Rooflesstoofless]

They want me to pay upfront to play a buggy/non-refined game ?

No thanks.

To each their own. Lots of developers, especially indie developers are starting to go down this road. I don't mind throwing a few bones to indie developers that have been able to get a game into a beta phase and continue to work on and progress their game; especially if the game looks like it could be fun.

Looks like a nice variation on sandbox games. Love the art style. It doesn't look very challenging though.

I can throw ten bucks at this.

Just picked it up myself so I have no real idea about the challenge or difficulty of it. Figured it was kind of under the radar and might be enjoyable to people wanting to get a fix while waiting for Starbound (like myself).

HD Scifi terraria? Neat.

I'm really enjoying it so far.

[Deleted]

Yet another Starbound clone.

How many of these have come our recently.

Guess scumbag devs want a quick cash grab before Starbound releases I suppose.

[Vespian]

Yet another Starbound clone.

How many of these have come our recently.

Guess scumbag devs want a quick cash grab before Starbound releases I suppose.

Whats with the strong language? It takes time to get a game into open beta. It doesn't just magically appear. These ideas and executions might have been going on for a year or two on both Starbound and Darkout. My point being, don't just assume people make games for the cash. Companies do that, not individuals. Besides, it seems a lot of time was put in the environment, which shows how much love is in this game. Graphics might not make a game, but in 2D environments, they usually are an indication of how much love was put in.