Empty Epsilon

About

Empty Epsilon is a co-op spaceship simulator where players take on specialized roles to manage a starship. Each crew member controls a station like Helm, Weapons, or Engineering while the Captain coordinates actions. The game runs across multiple devices connected to a central screen, requiring teamwork to navigate missions. Scenarios range from basic training to waves of enemies, with players needing to communicate and adapt to challenges. Designed for 4-6 players, it emphasizes collaboration over solo play. The game's open-source nature allows for custom modifications and scenario creation. It addresses limitations in similar titles by offering expanded features and smoother multiplayer sync. Players often praise the depth of roles, especially fixing the underutilized comms station found in other bridge simulators. Setup requires a stable network and multiple devices, with voice chat recommended for online games. While technical hurdles exist, the active community provides support and scenarios to ease entry. It's a niche but rewarding experience for those into cooperative strategy.

Storyline

To run a standard bridge for EmptyEpsilon, you need the following equipment: 4-6 devices, 1 for each officer except the captain. These can be laptops, desktops, or Android devices. One big screen (large monitor, TV, or projector). A stable network. Wifi can work, but we recommend a wired LAN. If playing over the internet, voice chat is strongly recommended. All but 1 of the officers operate "stations" that control different parts of the ship. The last computer is for the main screen, which does not need any input and should be visible to all players. Designate 1 player as Captain, whose computer can serve as the ship's main screen. The Captain's only duty is to communicate with the other officers and tell them what they should do. The other officers each operate one of the ship's stations, which are described in the Stations tab. Running the game After starting the game on the computer serving as the main screen, you can also configure it as the game server. The other stations can then connect to the game server as clients. After starting the server, select a scenario (we recommend the "Waves" or "Basic" scenarios for first games), then spawn a player ship for everyone to join. Everyone should select the same ship and choose their designated station. That's it! You're now in command of a fully functional spaceship. Internet play A crew can play EmptyEpsilon over internet connections. This means the game server needs to be accessible from the internet. The server runs on port 35666, which needs to be open in your firewall and forwarded to your server if you are behind a router.