Dust Fleet

Dust Fleet is a cross between an RTS and a turn-based strategy game. It was developed by an indie team Orbiting Disco and published by Freedom Games.

Plot

Dust Fleet is set in the far future, in the 24th century. Humanity has started colonizing outer space, yet overpopulation is still a threat, as they haven't found many habitable worlds. The demand for resources keeps increasing, though humans have managed to satisfy their needs for over a century by exploiting the resource-rich Dust Zone.

When communication is lost and the delivery freighters stop bringing goods, the United Nation have no choice but to send in a fleet, tasking its commander with finding out what happened and taking care of the crisis before things get out of hand.

Mechanics

The gameplay loop of Dust Fleet consists of two layers. The first is the turn-based strategy phase, during which we manage our forces, secure strategic nodes, gather resources and develop our army.

The second is the real-time combat phase. Battles take place on 3D maps, requiring tactical sense, skillfully commanding individual ships and tipping the scale in our favor through clever maneuvers. If our forces prove too small or weak, we can call for reinforcements from neighboring regions.

As we progress through the game, we develop technology, new hulls, weapons and modules which make our fleet much more dangerous. The game also features an advanced editor, letting us customize each ship's appearance to our liking.

In addition to main quests, there are also plenty of side missions. Completing them grants various useful bonuses.

Game modes

Dust Fleet features a Sector Assault mode, which randomly generates the map, side missions and enemy forces each playthrough, making each one different than the last. It also includes an editor to create your own campaigns and share them with the community.

Technical aspects

Dust Fleet features decent visuals. The creative ship designes may be especially appealing.