Dev log

Where the game stands

Hello, and thank you for stopping by.

This is the first entry of the dev log. In it I want to say what the game is about, where it stands today, and what kind of PC it is aimed at. This one gives the overview.

What the game is about

The Satellite Company is a tycoon game about building a satellite network. You do not fly rockets. You run a company that designs satellites, orders their launches and keeps them working in orbit.

The game is set in a fictional star system, Lumen, around the planet Vedrana and its moon, Flint. The world is invented, but the physics is real, at the game’s own scale: orbits follow the real laws, satellites pass through the planet’s shadow, and where a satellite can see is where it can work.

The basic loop goes like this:

• Design a satellite. You choose a body, called a bus, and place modules on it: solar cells, batteries, radios, antennas, cameras, instruments, a computer. There is no free-form editor. The parts are fixed, but how you put them together is up to you. Masses are in real kilograms, and the designer shows real numbers while you build. Where a part sits matters: a camera has to see the ground, an antenna has to see what it talks to. Nothing stops you from launching a satellite that runs out of power on the night side. You find out in orbit.
• Order the launch. You pick the orbit and how many satellites go up, and the game lists the rockets that can fly it. The launch provider flies the whole mission for you: the ascent, the transfer, each release, and what happens to the spent stage afterwards. You can watch all of it, in real time or with time warp.
• Stay in contact. A satellite can talk to you only when it reaches a ground station, directly or through other satellites that pass the signal on. The planet is often in the way. Building a network that stays in contact is the heart of the game.
• Research and earn. Science payloads collect data, and once that data is sent down to the ground it unlocks new technology. The network also serves customers on the ground, and that pays for the next satellite.

The technology runs from the first simple beacon satellites to large constellations. Older parts stay buildable, so a cheap early design can still have its place later in a career.

It is a sandbox-style tycoon: no score and no checklist, and many ways to solve the same problem, some better than others. Mistakes are allowed, and you learn from them.

How it is going

Here is an honest picture of where things are.

• The 3D engine is mostly done. The planet and the moon lit by the sun in real time, clouds and atmosphere, the launch site, rockets with their flames and their sound, graphics settings, fullscreen and windowed play.
• The basic space side works. Orbits, launches planned and flown from the pad to the last release, time warp, contact between satellites and ground stations, power and data on board each satellite, and a world that saves itself as you play.
• The 3D models are partly there. Many rockets are modelled, from small early launchers to heavy ones, and many of them still need more work.
• The satellite buses and modules are mostly in, but with plenty of faults: parts that do not sit right, cables, frames.
• Many scenes and animations are still missing.
• The interface and the whole economy are not done. What is in the game now are placeholders, and some of them point the wrong way.

The pictures in this entry are from the game as it runs today.

Basic specifications

Minimum specification (target)

This is what the game is aimed at today, not a tested promise. So far it has been measured on very few machines.

Thank you

The Satellite Company will come out on Steam when it is finished. The aim is early 2027.

It is a one-person project, made under the name Kotysoft, and I am grateful for every bit of interest in it. Thank you.