GDTLancer is a harsh, single-player space sandbox about fitting a ship from parts and making a living on a frontier: mining, salvage, trade and escort work among rival factions, pirates and an alien hive. Think EVE-style fitting in a small, lawless sector.
There is a clear "right way" to play, and the rules are consistent enough to leave room for unorthodox approaches without designing for them.
A raw, early-stage frontier. There are no sprawling empires or massive navies, only small, isolated communities where spaceflight is rare, perilous and logistically heavy.
You fly the ship, not the guns: distance and relative velocity decide a fight, and your tools resolve on their own. Fit lasers, cannons, missiles and harpoons at home, then mine, haul, salvage or hire out as an escort. Losing the ship costs the ship, its fit and its hold; you wake at home with your bank, your storage and your standing.
- One set of rules for everyone. The player and the AI follow the same rules. Nothing is scripted to happen.
- Parts change verbs, not just numbers. Every part has a legitimate purpose.
- A few interacting rules, not many rules.
- The world reacts by its rules. For example, predators weigh expected gain against risk.
- Parity between player and NPCs. Whatever an NPC knows or can do, the player gets an equivalent, and vice versa.
0.x: one sector (Elace), playable as a sandbox. Content and balance are still changing.
For developers (Linux, Godot 3.6): CONTENT.md gets you set up and through the development tool, tools/dev.py; docs/MAINTAINING.md covers evolution and releases.
This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later (GPL-3.0-or-later). See LICENSE for details. See also AI-ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.md.