HIRED STARS offers an open, procedurally generated universe to travel through as an adventurer, mercenary, pirate or however you wish. In search of weapons, ships, loot, money and power. This is really fun! But there are also a lot of big fish out there and failure is inevitable for careless commanders!

Features

A brief overview of some of the features. There is much more to discover and master for an ambitious commander.

• Open universe generated randomly with extensive settings

• Living, evolving universe, with a main campaign

• Quests with several events, own story, battles and loot

• Different factions with strengths and weaknesses

• Any fleet can be attacked, destroyed and plundered

• All ships can be owned, equipped and controlled

• Captains with personalities and traits, with voice output

• Decrypting captured data cores, for additional events

• Very high replayability due to rogue shop and generator

• The mandatory black market

• All ships, weapons, etc. are scripts for editing (modding)

Strategic Map

The universe can be traveled and objectives identified on the strategic map. This is where the fleet is managed. This also includes resource management. Deployment time is an underestimated resource. If a ship is on a mission, it is not available for unexpected opportunities or dangers. A good commander learns this quickly!

Tactical Combat

The direct battle takes place in real time. Positioning determines the success of a mission. The captains control the ship independently and follow orders as far as they can. They evade incoming projectiles and missiles as best they can and open fire on the enemy. But it is up to the commander to decide how a battle should proceed.

Equip & Refit

The ships can be equipped with weapons. This allows specializations to be achieved that were not intended in the original design. The weapons have different qualities. Better and more expensive weapons are hard to come by and then they also have to fit into the slot. The commander has to use his strategic skills to make a balanced decision.

Loot & Trade

Good planning and execution are required to obtain new equipment and ships. A battle to the very end, when your own ships flee into hyperspace with heavy damage at the last moment, has bitter consequences. Even if a lot is left behind on the battlefield, there is no one left to collect it. Good mission planning and execution go hand in hand when looting, selecting the items to be taken and later when trading. An experienced commander always keeps this in mind or he will ultimately fail.

Feel & Mood

• Game is slow! There is time for hard decisions.

• Game is hard! The open world is very challenging.

• The focus is on the open world!

• An experience of piracy in space!

• No aliens! No shields!

• No shiny effects or magic technology. Maybe just a little.

• It is not realistic! This is about good mechanics! And fun!