I've been developing an on-line 4X space game for about 6 years. Been play testing with a small group for the last few years and it is running smoothly, so I've decided to open it up to a wider group.

The game is heavily strategic. There is no tactical component. The manoeuvre element is the fleet and you need to think like an admiral commanding fleets not as a "multiple ship commander" as you do in many "strategic" games. This seems to be a bit of a hurdle, in that it is hard to find strategic gamers. I know they are out there how do you find them?

Your best bet is probably to look for communities around existing games of the genre you're developing.

Update :

2 new options now available :
- Design your own ships
- Negotiate treaties with Independent stars (NPCs)

Now 98% working in Chrome, just some issues with canvas.

Tutorial re-done, simplified, got rid of the videos, now text pop-up based. Could use some new blood to test the tutorial...

Graphics marginally improved :
Economic Report :
Building :
Laboratory :
Star Administration :
Treaty Negotiations :

This is kinda off-topic. You see the stars in the background? Yeah, we kinda do sci-fi. But also, no one posts here anymore. But I guess you knew that, and you're just posting here because it's heavily indexed by search engines.

Seems there is a very low percentage of online gamers who want an in-depth (complex) game these days.
It is very hard to find the ones that do.

About the only way I can think of is to look for them on game forums.

If you have a suggestion of how better to find them, I would really like to hear it.

I really have no clue - I think you'll find a lot of users are drawn to reddit these days. Forums are kind of a dying art.

I'm surprised you replied - I honestly thought you were a bot

... maybe just a very sophisticated bot!

In fact I may be bordering on consciousness

We just started a new episode.
Join in if you would like.

Feel free to ask questions here.

Holy thread necro, it's you again! Having never looked that closely before, is there a reason the avatars look more like seamen?

seamen? or did you mean semen?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaman

which avatars are you talking about?

In the screens above, there are avatars for characters - or personas. They look out of place in the proposed universe, but that's probably just me. Did you get them from a royalty free store or were they designed that way?

No, you are correct, if you are indicating the fleet commander, he is based on a seaman , a ship captain... in the 4th millennium fashion is going through a bit of a retro phase...

If I summon thee, will you return? it's just you, me and Xelions at the moment.

We used to have a bustling community, but now everyone has left us