The experience
UMUAMUA — Starfall is a single-player space-combat game built around fast dogfights, exploration, capital-ship assaults and a story where first contact keeps changing what the player thinks is happening. You fly the experimental SF-01 Wayfarer from Waystation K-7 Lantern, intercept unknown craft, protect civilian traffic and recover technology from alien wrecks. Early on, a damaged alien fighter approaches Lantern with its weapons disabled and is destroyed before anyone understands why. Later, you fly inside a drifting five-kilometre vessel expecting a warship and discover hospitals, habitats and evidence that its passengers are refugees. Your Wayfarer changes as you install Veyr shields, Nhar biological systems and Orison technology, opening different combat builds. Missions can also go wrong: civilians can be lost, optional evidence can be missed, allies can enter later battles under-equipped, and the enemy can adapt when you rely on one tactic. The campaign grows from a local first-contact emergency into battles around Jupiter, the destruction of Lantern, an interspecies coalition and a confrontation with the ancient system pursuing everyone.
Next playable milestone
Default first milestone: a browser-first vertical slice, with the longer-term platform decided after the first playable. At the end of this round, backers get a playable build centered on the Wayfarer: flight, boost and combat drift; targeting; shields and hull damage; Pulse Cannon, missiles and Veyr plasma; several enemy roles; a subsystem-based capital craft; and a prototype Tha'ren ace encounter. It also includes a simplified Lantern return screen where the player can install the recovered Veyr Shield Matrix. The creator will post the browser link or downloadable build directly to backers when the milestone is ready. No completion date has been supplied yet, so this campaign does not promise one.
How the AI budget is used
This round funds AI API access rather than paying cash to the creator. Default goal: $2,500. OpenAI gpt-6-astra is the primary game-building model: roughly 55M input and 15M output tokens for implementing and iterating the flight controller, combat systems, enemy AI, mission scripting, tooling and integration, about $1,300. OpenAI gpt-5.3-codex: roughly 70M input and 20M output tokens for longer code-focused implementation, tests, debugging and refactor runs, about $403. OpenAI gpt-5.6-sol: roughly 25M input and 8M output tokens for gameplay iteration, system design translation, debugging and everyday build work, about $260. OpenAI gpt-5.4-mini: roughly 50M input and 20M output tokens for encounter data, item descriptions, mission data, barks and structured content, about $128. The remaining roughly $409 is reserved within the OpenAI request for additional iterations across those served models as the vertical slice reveals which tasks consume the budget fastest. Artwork is being created separately. gpt-image-2 is the preferred image model for maintaining the established spacecraft style, but PowerHub does not serve image models under the supplied catalogue, so image generation is paid for elsewhere and uploaded by the creator rather than charged to this round.
Who is building it
Solo project by King Of The Hour. The creator is defining the game, campaign, spacecraft, combat systems, progression and visual direction, and will build and integrate the playable. AI models are used as development tools for implementation, iteration, debugging and content generation. The final engine/toolchain has not been supplied; browser-first is the current default for the first playable.
Updates
No updates yet.