About

Torchships ‘Candle’ is an experiment in simulating exploring and fighting in space. It will begin with individual movement inside a small starting space station, progress from there to EVA, and then on to larger and more capable spacecraft.

The demo is a first test of newtonian movement in zero g inside a small station and inflatable hab.

The Game

This is a very early version, I’m a lone indie developer with a real job so progress will be slow. I’ve started and stalled several times on this project so we’ll see how it goes this time. One thing I’m going to do different is release early and often, demos so that you can see the direction I’m going with development. Long term the plans include the following…

• 3-D combat & UI – space is not flat, and neither is TorchShips.
• Newtonian physics – you maneuver in 3-D space using a reaction drive.
• Progression based – you start in a small MMU and work up to a TorchShip.
• Damage & Systems control – detailed damage model and systems control – you’ll  have to manage heat build up, energy, and reaction mass levels.
• Weapons include your own reaction drive, kinetic lance, missiles/mines, and laser cannons.
• Procedurally generated single and multi-player skirmish modes.
• Customize your ship, name and weapon/system load-out.

Inspirations and Credits

TorchShips is inspired by the novel Ender’s Game, Time for The Stars, CJ Cherryh’s Downbelow Station and her Alliance/Union and Chanur series.

We used the sites listed below as references to get the physics of future space combat as ‘real’ as possible.

• Rocketpunk Manifesto,
• Atomic Rockets,
• Space Warfare

To see more more influencers and references see Links.