NABERON — real-time space strategy with fleet battles and planetary invasions

Hi Tamas, it looks like a cool project, quite impressive for a solo dev. The trailer is good and the connection is made as for as I am concerned. It reminds me a bit of Eve Online, except you fight on land too. How long did it take? Did you do everything by yourself?

Thanks Riccardo, glad the trailer works for you! EVE is a nice comparison. The big difference is exactly what you spotted: every planet has to be won twice, first the fleet battle in orbit, then the ground war with tanks on the surface.

It's been a bit under a year so far, and yes, it's a solo project, there's no team behind it. Some assets were made with tools and then reworked by hand (3D models, music, the narrator voice), it's all listed in the AI disclosure on the Steam page.

The free demo goes live on Steam on October 8, and NABERON will be in Steam Next Fest (Oct 19–26). If you give it a try, I'd love to hear what you think.

Having separate roles for ships and tanks makes the planetary-invasion idea stand out to me in your description. (AI-assisted wording.)

Thanks! The separate roles are part of a bigger goal: with NABERON I'm trying to build a game that you can win in more than one way, not by following a single, linear path.

The two-layer combat, with battles both in space and on the planet's surface, already works in the demo. On top of that there's online co-op, where two or more friends can help each other. For now this works in space battles, and it's playable in the demo too. You can even gift units to a friend.

Early Access will add espionage (not just gathering intelligence, but things like bribery too), diplomacy (including the chance to deceive your enemy), and co-op in ground battles as well.

What I think adds the most is that the AI uses all of these systems too. It weighs its options and makes its own decisions, instead of trying to win in one pre-set way. In the demo I got wiped off the map myself: I attacked one AI, and the others immediately jumped in to help it in the space battle.
(English wording AI-assisted.)

Update: the colony surface comes alive

Every colony now grows into a small town around its buildings: roads with sidewalks and a yellow centre line painted onto the terrain, street lamps and benches, two parked and two driving cars per building with right-hand traffic, and 13 kinds of citizens walking and chatting. Tanks are smaller so they fit between the buildings, and they flatten the grass as they drive through the new meadow vegetation.

Short clip: https://youtu.be/bYHdEsvodWU

The free demo goes live on Steam on October 8: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5162720/?utm_source=gamedev&utm_medium=forum&utm_campaign=surface_1006

(English wording AI-assisted.)

Quick update: the free NABERON demo is now live on Steam. It covers the tutorial, a small galaxy, space battles and the ground war on planet surfaces, and you can play it online with a friend. The demo may still contain minor bugs, so any feedback on what works and what does not is very welcome. https://store.steampowered.com/app/5162720/NABERON/