Noctis

Noctis is a free space simulation by Alessandro Ghignola. The development was started in 1996 and continues today.

Gameplay

The player assumes the role of an explorer in a spacecraft called Star Drifter. There is no set play goal; Instead, it comes to exploring a fictional galaxy containing billions of stars, planets and moons and catalog. These activities include the travel between the stars and within the star systems, as well as the exploration of planetary surfaces. The galaxy, which is explored, contains billions of stars, most of them with many planets and moons. All celestial bodies can be identified and provided with notes. The player also has the ability to take screenshots of his discoveries and to exchange with other fans.

History

The game was programmed by Alessandro Ghignola in C . The development was started in 1996 and the first publication occurred in about the year 2000. Noctis was written for DOS, and therefore has some limitations, mainly relating to the look of the game. So the resolution to 320x200 pixels is fixed. Furthermore, it is not possible to cover a greater distance on foot after landing, but instead must be changed back to the spaceship and a new landing site will be selected.

Four versions have been published, the latest version is therefore called the Noctis IV. With the current version of the program Noctis IV there is a way to return the name and notes that has created a player to the programmer and to be integrated in a database called GUIDE, which in turn is placed on the homepage of the game available for download. In this way it is easy for players to find the discoveries of other explorers.

Currently, a new version is named Noctis V in development. This is the restrictions that still go back to DOS origins cancel, and introduce a new, modern graphics engine, among others. This new version is, in contrast to the four previous versions, not in C , but L.in.oleum programmed, a programming language that was developed by the author of the game itself.

Some players have already dealt with the development of a modified version as the source of Noctis IV was made ​​available in 2003 under a non-standard license. This modification is called NICE ( Noctis IV Coders ' Edition ) and adds to the game some important changes added, for example, more realistic temperature models, a jetpack, more realistic vegetation, the opportunity to commit the planet's surface completely at once without having to switch on the spacecraft to need, and many other smaller improvements and various bug fixes.

Reception

The game was popular in early 2000, after at Home of the Underdogs a positive review was published in the Noctis 9:43 of 10 points reached and was also awarded the " Top Dog " award.