You can download the game from here:
http://spacesimcentral.com/downloads/Solar_System_Colonization/Solars2.zipFor people having problems with saving and loading use this executable with the above download:
http://spacesimcentral.com/downloads/Solar_System_Colonization/SolarLite.zipPlease leave comment and/or details of any bugs found.
Update History:
6-May-2011: First Beta release
8-May-2011: Included Game option menu (press "o" key).
Included Space Ship location menu (press "s" key).
9-May-2011: Bug fixes.
10-May-2011: Added new features to production section + duplicate minerals bug fix. Also fixed attack bug and made attacks more frequent. Fixed Habitat bug (now each habitat gives population space as told in research screen). Also fixed bug in research section where one could research item beyond 100%.
11-May-2011: Fixed bug in loading routine. Also bug in Research and Production screens when changing planet has been fixed.
11-May-2011 2nd update: More bug fixes and now added resources panel view also in production section and when colonized planet is clicked. Also in production menu it show energy available for production.
13-May-2011 Added New Game option and fixed some bugs in Save/Load Game option and the defence section.
14-May-2011 Made a number of improvements in defence section. Also planet and asteroid resources are now randomized at game start.
15-May-2011 Fixed some bugs and added pirate raid event. Also added choice to choose filename for saving and loading.
16-May-2011 Bug fixes in hanger section and save section.
21-May-2011 Various bug fixes and enhancements + first attack now takes longer to occur.
22-May-2011 Fixed bug in combat section. Added planet list panel.
31-May-2011 Fixed bug in Production section and planet panel.
2-June-2011 Added Asteroid panel + bug fixes.
3-June-2011 Bug Fixes.
4-June-2011 Fixed bug in grazer mining. Added Colony menu.
Information about the Game:
This is a space colonization game of our own solar system. The player starts on Earth and has to colonize the planets to get resources in order to expand his space empire. Here is a quick tutorial:
By keeping the right mouse button pressed and moving the mouse you can pan the camera view up, down, left & right.
By keeping the third mouse button pressed and moving horizontally you can rotate the camera.
By moving the mouse cursor to the edges of the screen you move camera forward, backward, left and right respectively.
By using the mouse wheel you can zoom in and out when in planet view or map view.
By pressing "m" you switch to map view and by pressing "n" you switch to normal view.
By pressing "o" you bring up the Options Menu to save game, etc
By pressing "s" key you get the spaceship menu to easily hold track or spaceships.
By pressing "p" key you get the planet list menu to easily find a planet or moon.
By pressing "a" key you get the asteroid list menu to easily manage asteroid mining.
By pressing "c" key you get the colonized planets menu to easily manage colonies.
You interact with the game by clicking on planets or moons with left mouse button. At first the only colonized planet is Earth, if you click on it you will get a panel with 8 buttons. Clicking the buttons will open the respective screen to interact with. You should start by researching the MK I solar panel, then produce it in the production menu and later activate it in the energy menu. To build items you will need resources, there are 15 resources which are mined from the planets and moons. However to mine resources you need 20MW of energy. At first you get 50 tons of the first 5 resources, you should use these to built 2 solar panels MK I which will give you 20MW. You can then start the mining of materials. Built silos to get more storage space on the planet or moon. You will also need habitats to increase your population, this is necessary to man spaceships, etc. You should then start building a probe. Launch it from the hanger menu and move it to a planet or moon. You move it by left clicking on it and then right clicking on the planet or moon you want to send it to. Once the probe is on the planet, go to research and research the probe data. You should then be able to see what resources that the planet or moon produces by left clicking on the planet or moon. You colonize the planet by building a colonizer and sending it on the planet. There are 3 types of colonizer ships. The Normal Colonizer ship can colonize most planets except those having extreme temperatures like Venus, Mercury, Pluto, etc. For these there is a special temperature resistant colonizer ship. Also Gas giants need a special pressure resistant Colonizer.
You will notice that you will be missing resources to build some structures, for these you will need to use a grazer to mine resources from the ten asteroids orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter orbits. You can mine resources from asteroids by deploying a grazer on an asteroid and then after mining the asteroid send it back to earth or any colonized planet.
You should also research defence items as you may face attack and if you are not well prepared your colony may be wiped out. You should have a fighter to defend the planet. You can also built bunkers where your people may take refuge in case you get attacked,etc. When there is an attack you will receive an alarm and you are given the option to go there or ignore it. If you press go there, this will take you to the planet being attacked, you should then press the defence button to start defending your planet. If you ignore it the attack will still occur and most of the population on the planet will be killed. If the population reaches zero, you will need to transfer some of the crew on any spaceships you may have in space in order to start a new population for that planet.
