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Author Topic: Interstellar Transport Company  (Read 1878 times)

Urist McScoopbeard

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Interstellar Transport Company
« on: March 19, 2018, 02:42:37 pm »


"Build a galactic transportation empire!
Help colonize the galaxy and dominate the competition in single player and online multiplayer. Use your business cunning to take your fledgling company from humble beginnings on Earth and it's neighboring planets and moons to the far reaches of the Galaxy. Buy ships, manage routes, conduct trade deals, build infrastructure, colonize new worlds, invest in local industry; All set in a procedurally generated galaxy with challenging AI, and Online Multiplayer. You will have a new experience every time you play.

Help Colonize The Cosmos
Help humankind spread throughout the galaxy by managing resource flows and the supply chains needed to sustain it's growth. Balance colony expansion against resource deliveries to ensure you never bring a planet to starvation. Using a highly sophisticated and complex simulation, every decision you make can have lasting consequences throughout the entire game.

Procedurally Generated Galaxy
Interstellar Transport Company has a scientifically grounded galaxy generator which produces challenging and believable maps. Play with 1 to 100 star systems in custom game mode or use predefined game settings and try to top the leaderboards. You can even play without our solar system (replaced by a randomly generated starting system) if you want to freshen things up!

Realistic Business Management
Manage cash flow, take loans and issue bonds, deal with the local authorities and maintain high reputation throughout the galaxy. Invest in developing markets and hedge your risks. Balance expenses against value to crush your competitors.

Play Any Way You Want
Play single player custom games against AI or alone with many different galaxy and difficulty settings. Or play with the predefined settings and compete on the global leaderboards. Maybe competitive multiplayer is your thing? **coming soon** Play a shortened balanced game against players near your own skill level for ladder points. You can even play a co-op multiplayer game, teaming up with friends against the AI."

EDIT: Some information on the upcoming patch which is going to significantly change things:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)




EDIT: let me stress that the game is still very much incomplete. Just in case anyone is feeling whimsical.
So I've been playing around with it a bit and though still incomplete, ITC has been a hell of a time! It's a bit like a space version of TTD (Transport Tycoon Deluxe for the uninitiated.) I'm not sure I can explain it better than the Steam description, but I thought some of us here would be very interested in learning about the game and if it proves popular enough discussing strategy and e-business.

Not sure what else to say... On my second run (I went bankrupt first time round) though, so feel free to ask me questions!
« Last Edit: March 19, 2018, 03:22:23 pm by Urist McScoopbeard »
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forsaken1111

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Re: Interstellar Transport Company
« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2018, 02:45:36 pm »

Looks... interesting. What kind of shipping concerns are there that parallel TTD? Are there different/unique goods in different locations?
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Urist McScoopbeard

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Re: Interstellar Transport Company
« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2018, 02:53:40 pm »

Looks... interesting. What kind of shipping concerns are there that parallel TTD? Are there different/unique goods in different locations?

Right now it's mostly a matter of supply & demand. Maintenance, dock space rent, fuel cost, and market saturation also play important factors.

Unlike TTD the game isn't as focused on infrastructure. While you can acquire some brick and mortar assets that help with maintenance, loading efficiency, and company reputation--you can't really vertically integrate as when you invest in ITC's equivalent of secondary industries (I.E. manufacturing parts and refining fuel) everyone can still access those resources free of charge.

However. You CAN invest in upgrading spaceports, which gives you "free" dockspace included in the upgrade--which can be used to prevent competitors from cornering growing colonies AND allowing you more efficient means of transport in one fell swoop.

EDIT: Sorry, a bit of a roundabout answer. There are only several resource types, but some are more rare than others. For example, there are rare raw materials which only certain colonies are capable of producing, but which are required to make machinery, which all developing colonies require.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2018, 02:55:24 pm by Urist McScoopbeard »
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ZeroGravitas

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Re: Interstellar Transport Company
« Reply #3 on: March 19, 2018, 02:54:30 pm »

eh, i would have preferred Stellar Transport Company, like The Expanse-style
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Urist McScoopbeard

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Re: Interstellar Transport Company
« Reply #4 on: March 19, 2018, 02:56:55 pm »

eh, i would have preferred Stellar Transport Company, like The Expanse-style

ACTUALLY! Most of your transporting is occurring within solar systems. Interstellar transport is pretty expensive, and it's much more effective (I think) to use large hub worlds and then distribute from there. And the early game is 100% within the starting system.

EDIT: I should mention, that while the bulk of the game will probably always be mostly intersystem transport, the economics of it all might change a bit as development go on. For example, there's not a whole lot of opportunity in conducing profitable round-trip routes, and there's no real cases of profitable "triangle trading." Of course, I'm not too far into the game, so as your company scales, that might change, but even if it does--it really only makes your interstellar trading more complicated--you still need to distribute and collect resources on a system level at some level.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2018, 03:03:11 pm by Urist McScoopbeard »
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gomez

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Re: Interstellar Transport Company
« Reply #5 on: March 19, 2018, 04:09:16 pm »

How much replayability is there? I mean Mars is always going to want water right.

Also how long are the games? Is it a coffebreak game or fullon crusader kings 2 play for days?
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Urist McScoopbeard

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Re: Interstellar Transport Company
« Reply #6 on: March 19, 2018, 04:36:53 pm »

How much replayability is there? I mean Mars is always going to want water right.

Also how long are the games? Is it a coffebreak game or fullon crusader kings 2 play for days?

The games can go on for quite a while, and when the new update roles out I imagine there will be a good bit of replayability. To reach a truly titanic corporation that is both profitable and dominant (we're talking Weyland-Yutani here) maybe 100 in game years?

As far as involvement goes, somewhere in-between. Definitely requires some attention, but there are periods where you can leave the game on auto-pilot if you're looking to build capital.

Both questions rely on the AI though, and right now it's bit of a toss up. It's not too hard to get them to fold, and once they're out, the game is mostly about making smart decisions and managing demand. This current game, they were in debt for a long time, and even though they were able to attain over twice the net worth of my company, they invested too heavily in buildings and inefficient ships, most of which were decaying in orbit towards the end. I've only played on normal though. I'll be experimenting with the harder difficulties later.
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gomez

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Re: Interstellar Transport Company
« Reply #7 on: March 19, 2018, 06:32:50 pm »

This might be something that intrests me I believe quill18 may have done some lets plays, if he has and It looks good I may have to buy this
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"They accused us of suppressing freedom of expression. This was a lie and we could not let them publish it."
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Urist McScoopbeard

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Re: Interstellar Transport Company
« Reply #8 on: March 19, 2018, 06:53:40 pm »

This might be something that intrests me I believe quill18 may have done some lets plays, if he has and It looks good I may have to buy this
Indeed.
convenient link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXuSwGQ-BMY
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