CosmicRicky

Cosmic Renegade

A lawless galaxy filled with pirates, outlaws, and thieves… The ever-growing shadow of capitalism and ‘civilized society’ encroaching on the frontier… A crew with mysterious pasts, motives, and secrets… 

…and running a bed & breakfast in space!

Howdy, Space Cowboy!

Welcome to Cosmic Renegade, a tabletop RPG that combines cyberpunk, steampunk, retro and noir themes under a space western setting. 

Cosmic Renegade is inspired by the incredible games from my childhood – most notably the D&D based gameplay mechanics from Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic games (KOTOR I and KOTOR II), the lifelike feel of the economy and faction system of Sea Dogs 2 (rebranded as a Pirates of the Caribbean game in the US), and the exciting jazz and mystery undertones of the Japanese neo-noir space Western anime, Cowboy Bebop.

Worldbuilding & Lore

With the rise of affordable interstellar travel, the Galactic Communication Net, and increasing economic opportunities in space, many are leaving the core worlds for the Frontier in pursuit of the spacefarer’s lifestyle.

Players embody a diverse crew of interstellar outlaws, bounty hunters, renegades, IT professionals, fry cooks, and remote office workers – each with their own past, motives, and secrets. 

Navigate through the seedy underbellies of the ‘civilized’ core worlds. Explore shoddy but bustling frontier planets. Perform Cargo Dash deliveries on time for big tips. Engage in perilous starship battles, high-stakes showdowns and cantina standoffs. Build your starship’s brand and franchise to off-world systems, all while confronting the ghosts of your past together with your crew.

With a seamless blend of spacefaring adventure, noir intrigue, and tycoon management, Cosmic Renegade offers endless opportunities for epic storytelling and business-building in the vast expanse of the cosmos.

Story Behind the Game

Hello there! My name is Cosmic Ricky, and I’m an indie game developer for fun! Last year (2023) I kicked off my indie game dev journey by starting development on my dream game, Cosmic Renegade.

During the first year, I…

Made a game development document and planned out my game.

How to Make a 2-Page Game Development Document

Coded up lots of prototypes in Unity, but ultimately kept hitting walls.

Posted a few YouTube videos on my channel, and realized how hard making videos actually is.

Created a tabletop RPG version for starship combat that my friends and I had fun with.

Making a TTRPG to Test Game Mechanics Before Coding

Burnt out of making my game, made a video about me coming back, only to be burnt out again.

burning out, coming back, and burning out again

Game dev has been quite the journey. I don’t want to stop, but sometimes it’s hard to keep going.

I made this website to help me interact and get feedback from you guys so that I can make a game everyone can enjoy.

Long-Term Vision for the Game

Like I said, I’m making both an indie game and a tabletop game. 

The tabletop game is something I’m contributing to the larger Dungeons and Dragons community as my way of giving back and saying “thank you”. D&D has helped me through some tough times by helping me connect and socialize with new friends all over the world during the pandemic thanks to a common interest in hilarious Oscar-winning role playing and storytelling. Tabletop RPGs are something that everyone should experience with their friends to preserve that spark of fun and creativity within each of us, especially as we grow older and busier.

The indie game, on the other hand, is something I view as a personal campaign that I’m GM-ing for those of you who may decide to purchase it when it’s done. It’s a place for me to (hopefully) tell an incredible story with you (the player) in it.

I’m going to be working on this for a long time, probably for over a decade well into my late 30s. Here are some of the things I want to accomplish:

  • Write an official Player Handbook and Starter Campaign Guide
  • Create Character and Starship Sheets for you to create your own
  • Create Starship Designs, Characters, and NPCs that GMs can use
  • Code up an interactive Cosmic Renegade galaxy map that you can explore
  • Post pages about interesting alien cultures, worldbuilding, and other awesome stuff
  • Publish an indie game on Steam (someday)

My 3 Rules for Game Dev

Like I stated before, I’m an indie game dev for fun and I want to preserve that – I have no intentions for this little project of mine to overtake my professional career as a [REDACTED]. I like my day job, and I prefer to keep my secret identity hush hush.

The beauty of keeping my game dev endeavors as a private part-time hobby is that I’m never going to do this for money (I’ve got enough, my day job takes care of that). Instead, all of my decisions regarding this game will come directly from my heart and soul.

See, I’ve taken a sacred oath that binds myself to follow 3 rules as I develop this game.

Rule #1: Fun is number 1

I firmly believe that having fun while I make my game will ultimately lead to a fun game in the end.

Rule #2: The Rule of Cool

If you’re not familiar with the term, the Rule of Cool means that we are allowed to “stretch” the rules to do something F-ing awesome. In terms of the game, I’m willing to spend extra time and effort on anything that you (the fans) would like to see in either the tabletop or indie game. Let’s make it happen, people!

Rule #3: Quality is the Point

This is a quote I borrowed from a bestselling author, Jerry B. Jenkins, in one of his YouTube videos. I’m going to spend the time creating my game mostly on my own. All of the game design, writing, characters, programming, and animation will be done by me (your boy Cosmic Ricky). 

Awesome Game Dev YouTubers

Thankfully, there are awesome creators out there who are helping me learn stuff every step of the way:

Art & Design

I’ll be posting original non-AI human-brewed concept art, starship designs, and maps of different locations on my Instagram.

Community & Engagement

If you’d like to be involved with some ideas, playtesting, and maybe some one-shot campaigns, join the Discord server!

Discord