ORBIT: The Quiet Reach is closing in on release and we’ve been adding the few final touches…
Firstly we’ve added stellar hazards – some stars will have massive gravity wells that make navigation and combat risky, others flares or you might get caught up in an ion storm. You’ll be able to see what hazards are in a system before you jump in so can avoid if you like.
On top of the more risky stars and systems we’ve added a fuel scoop mechanic – as long as you’ve got a fuel scoop installed. Scooping fuel from a star is very risky though and if you get too close the heat can quickly fry your shields and make quick work of your hull.
We’ve added some larger ships too – up until the last couple of releases ships were all fixed at a standard 16px. If you have the credits though you can upgrade to a slender, longer cruiser OR even a full size battleship. Larger ships are bigger targets, their mass means their top speed and acceleration isn’t as impressive and they harder to land but their increased weapon loadouts and stronger shields can make them formidable in battle.
We’ve also added a new gatling gun style ballistic weapon that fires a wider, weaker but more intense spread which is enough to do serious damage to any pirates who take an interest in your cargo.
Finally, we already had some familiar stars and planets in the game, but now you might stumble upon some other fun little easter eggs on your travels.
ORBIT: The Quiet Reach is currently undergoing real hardware testing and we’re now feature complete so we’ll be spending the next few weeks adding a level of polish and squashing any bugs we encounter. The game is BIG and there’s a lot to test and we can’t promise to catch every tiny edge case. Our current playtime estimate for a full campaign is around 40 hours, but once the campaign is over you can continue playing the core mechanics forever. We’re hoping to add further chapters to the story over time – either through sequels or updates.
ORBIT: The Quiet Reach is compatible with all ZX Spectrum Next computers with 2MB RAM. It requires core 3.1.2 or newer and a 50Hz display. It supports loading and saving and is being tested on CSpect and ZEsarUX alongside real hardware.