- Updates notes for 17 March 2026 - 17 March 2026
Hi everyone!I'm on an bender this month -- a programming bender! CGA Trek gets an update! Cell Sword gets an update, Liberation gets an update... you all get an update!The focus of this release is tweaking the controls for Liberation. Removing the message when input device changes so that "dual gamepads" such as HOTAS and HOSAS work much better.Reworked pitch, yaw and rotation to make them framerate independent. This was a big change I expect some more tweaks to the default settings are likely (your feedback is invaluable here).Added options to recreate classic Elite controls - mostly disable yaw and turn off mouse. Liberation is sort of my alt-future take on the original 1983 Elite and I love that you can play the game the same way! Roll and pitch is all any space game should ever need :D :DRest of the changes:Add: Mushroom towers to LaveestiAdd: Percentages to sliders in Menu->Control…
- Galactic Federation Rebel Dilemma - 23 October 2025
Liberation is two years old and to celebrate I am sharing a short story set in the Liberation universe.It's titled "Galactic Federation Rebel Dilemma". I really love exploring the galaxy of Liberation and it was great to expand on the rebels and the evil Galactic Federation (GalFed).Thank you for your support! Please consider leaving a review for Liberation, buying my new game Cell Sword, and wishlisting Low Earth Orbit Adventures, a relaxing space sim I am working on.Galactic Federation Rebel Dilemma Synopsis: Granthar and Kaan are in trouble. Captured by GalFed troopers they are being held for interrogation deep inside one of the most fortified security installations in the entire Federation. If they stick together their crimes can not be proved. But there's one small crack in their unity... they can't stand each other. Granthar is a smug computer hacker in it for himself and Kaan is…
- Update notes for 25 June 2025 - 26 June 2025
Hi everyone!Cell Sword (my comedy scifi shooter) is OUT NOW and I have snuck in some Liberation time to push a new release.This update I am pleased to add basic VR support for Liberation! Tin Man Games, a game studio in Melbourne, have loaned me a VR kit (a HTC Vive) for a little while. I was unsure how difficult it would be to retroactively add support for PCVR but the game was largely architected with this option in mind so the main hassle has been the HUD and stuff like pop up windows. I must admit it is super cool to fly around a retro space adventure in 3D (I am feeling a bit queasy as I finish up this coding session however).Please consider this experimental VR support and not a full finished release. Here are the limitations at the moment:the game CAN NOT be saved in VR modesome parts of the interface may be unreachable (eg news articles)the only inputs are keyboard/mouse and gam…
- Update notes for 21 December 2024 - 20 December 2024
Hi everyone! I've been really busy working on my next game, Cell Sw--- ok I've been sitting around watching Andromeda (there's only so many times a person can rewatch Babylon 5). I was initially a bit hostile to it (how many times can they say the word Nietzschean in one episode?!?) but it's OK. I have a small update I wanted to push for Liberation sooner rather than later (some of these changes have already gone live). The main change is that the player now gets a reward (I'm not saying what) for winning the Death Race. I have fond memories of watching The Running Man as a kid (I hear they're remaking it?!?) and Death Race is kind of the same vibe hopefully (how many bracket comments can I add to one post?). I hope your 2025 is awesome! Regards, Luke Update add: reward player with an extra system slot upgrade if they win Death Race add: Death Race host contacts player if player wins De…
- Murder on MegaPlanet - 24 September 2024
Liberation is one year old today and to celebrate I am sharing a short story set in the Liberation universe. It's titled "Murder on MegaPlanet". The last year has been amazing and the game has done really well. Thank you for your support! Please consider leaving a review for Liberation and also wishlisting my next game, Cell Sword. Murder on MegaPlanet Synopsis: By all appearances, Eden Towers is a standard apartment block on MegaPlanet. School pods are well occupied, elevator rage is under control, and employment is mercifully low. Except Eden Towers has a big problem. Its community credit score is dangerously low and nobody can understand why. if it falls any further the building is in danger of being recycled... with the 200,000 residents still inside! So when a high ranking government official is found dead, the desperate citizens are forced to rely on an unlikely hero, a servo bot…
- Update notes for 27th August 2024 - 27 August 2024
Hi everyone, I'm back with probably the biggest patch Liberation will ever get! Liberation is meant to be just a small fun game that surprises and delights and that's the focus of this update. The big changes are: New missions -- Mild spoilers follow: There are four and the purpose is to flesh out some of the story and provide variety and surprises. Police are OUT and Space Rats are IN. Before, if you attacked civilians the police would launch. The problem is that it would take forever for them to reach the scene of the crime! So I thought about it and decided to remove them. Instead there is an entirely different mechanism. Each system you enter you may encounter roving gangs of hooligans, known as Space Rats. It's just a bit more fun (hopefully) and that's why I'm here!* One new mission of which I'm really proud happens about half way through the game in a big facility. The lights go…
- Update notes for 7th May 2024 - 7 May 2024
Hi everyone, To me, Liberation is a tight little game that lives or dies on how successfully it explores the concept "retro space adventure meets classic UK sci-fi". Generally I am thrilled with the game. It has far exceeded what I thought was possible and the reception has been fantastic (please consider writing a review!). But as I watch people play several common negatives keep popping up: When players die there is not a recent enough save game. Players often close the communications window before accepting a mission without realising it and then get lost. Restarting would not completely clean the previous game session. Players visit space ports and space stations because they need to not because they want to. A great example is watching youtuber Matt From The Awesome Duo play the game and hit all of these points (all fixed now hopefully). This release addresses those issues! The gam…
- Update notes for 26th April 2024 - 25 April 2024
Hi everyone, A decently large update. Some really nice quality of life improvements, bug fixes and cosmetic changes (including new ships, new planetary features and new items). Liberation has always been a tight little game and it's cool to get to cram some of the corners with extra details. I can't give too much away as they are spoilers! Liberation is starting to get some good polish going on. I can never promise future updates but after this patch I can kind of see where I would want to go... a few new missions (the foundations are in this update) and more zestiness. If you're liking the game please consider leaving a review or a suggestion on what you'd like to see in an update (for example, someone mentioned VR... that would be cool!) Regards, Luke Additions add SFX to reactor boost add planet-wide metrolink to MegaPlanet 1 add heat vent tunnel through MegaPlanet 1 add dirigibles t…
- Update notes for 16th March 2024 - 16 March 2024
Hi everyone, I'm really excited to share this release of Liberation! In my career as a software engineer I've always believed that "people don't have accessibility issues, software has accessibility issues". Why care about accessibility? Well, it's the right thing to do. As the good folk at the Game Accessibility Guidelines write, developers should "avoid unnecessarily excluding players, and ensure that games are just as fun for as wide a range of people as possible". A game built to include people is simply a better game. I guess I've always had a bit of a theoretical view of it. Like an architect doing ramps without needing them themselves. However, for Liberation I've had one real life design aim: To get my Dad to play it. My Dad is 80 years old now and his mobility is not so good. We played the original Elite together when I was a kid and one of the reasons I wanted to make Liberati…
- Update notes for 29th November 2023 - 29 November 2023
Hi everyone, Liberation is not just a game that looks retro, I also want to provide an authentic retro gaming experience. There's a lot of interpretation in that goal. I'm not necessarily here to recreate old gaming mechanics exactly, rather I want to capture the *feel* of playing an early generation space sim. To me that means a sense of wonder, a sense of entertainment, a sense of freedom with not much hand-holding. At launch, Liberation used a flight scheme similar to the original Elite from 1984. To fly you pitch up and down and rotate your ship. There is no turning (fancy name: yaw). I love that control scheme -- it feels so floaty to me, there is no up or down and space battles become these wonderful swooping and rolling affairs. However, based on feedback I have decided to use a more modern flight scheme for Liberation. Here's why: The old scheme does not suit gamepads and that i…
- Update notes for 15th October 2023 - 15 October 2023
Hi everyone, Liberation came out a few weeks ago and it's definitely been a busy time. The main purpose of this release was to add remapping for joypad/gamepads/joysticks/controllers but as I worked on it more and more fixes and changes snuck in until it became a pretty massive release. I definitely prefer to do small releases but occasionally it can be fun to make hundreds of changes and release them all at once. The biggest request by far from players was for controller remap support. Have I got it right? Probably not first go but I think we're on the right track for sure. The biggest changes this release: AUTO-TARGETING. When attacked your ship will lock on target. WEAPON GIMBALS. Your lasers will follow the target inside your cross hairs a bit. This means you will hit the enemy ships a lot more. GAMEPAD REMAPPING. In the menu you can remap the controller inputs. AUTOSAVE. When docki…
- Update notes for 28th September 2023 - 28 September 2023
Hi everyone, Liberation came out a week ago and I'm pleased to upload the first big post-release patch. This is largely based on feedback from the community at Space Game Junkie. Thanks for your suggestions! Please note, gamepad support is really only for xbox one (or similar) controllers at moment. It might not work with other type of controllers/layouts. This is the next big issue I want to tackle. Delivering better gamepad support (maybe even remapping) is the dream but it is not something I can rush. Fixes make entering jumpspace cancel boost and target and docking computer make menus be on top of the galfed map when opened prevent player entering or exiting atmosphere when traversing jumpspace fix tutorial popup from showing each time you enter Penhryn make cooldown buttons reset on reset game reset system information between games reset galfed map update between games stop delayed…
- Updates notes for 23rd September 2023 - 23 September 2023
Hi everyone, Here is the first post-release patch of Liberation, my retro space adventure. Changes add option to disable listening for gamepad/hotas/joystick input (Menu->Controls->Gamepad Input) add a slight displacement to each pointer overlay to assist readability change Boost so that player can not reduce speed while boosting change Boost by allowing player to rotate faster fix issue where docked ships are sometimes undocked after loading from save fix system icons update when loading from save fix when starting new game with story mode enabled to immediately give blast weapon fix returning to Penrhyn will not restart original guard
- Liberation Game Launch! - 18 September 2023
Hi, I'll be playing/poking/debugging my new game, Liberation. Hope you can join in.
- Liberation | Free Demo Now Available - 16 September 2023
I'm pleased to share a pre-release demo of Liberation! Download it for FREE on our steam page. Liberation is a retro space adventure where you pilot an elite stealth ship as you take your revenge against the evil Galactic Federation (GalFed). Upgrade your ship with a variety of weapons and systems. Engage in high-stakes dogfights, dock with space stations and planet spaceports, and work with heroes and villains to destroy GalFed. Liberation is a lovingly crafted single-player open-universe RPG, inspired by classic science fiction such as Blake's 7 and the original 1984 BBC Micro version of Elite. After you play Liberation, I'd love your suggestions in our steam forum. Luke
