Hard Nova

A spaceship carrying a mercenary with the crew was hit by a meteor. Its hull
was breached, and only the mercenary and the navigator A’kri Janr managed to
escape. Gerard Kendall, the head of Starkiller Mercenary Group, gave the
survivors a new ship. Now they have to find a new crew in order to complete
their jobs. It’s high time for mercenary work, as various groups are fighting
for supremacy in the Four Systems. Meanwhile, the sun of a remote planet is
dying, and only a miracle can save an entire race from extinction…

Hard Nova is a sci-fi role-playing game with space exploration, spaceship
customization and combat, and trading elements, somewhat similar in concept to
Sentinel Worlds I: Future Magic. There is no character creation in the game:
in the beginning the player selects between the female mercenary Nova and the
male mercenary Stark. They have slightly different attributes and may gain
access to different dialogue lines as the game advances. Most other crew
members have to be recruited from within the game world. Three of them can be
taken to locations on various planets, where they may interact with other
characters and participate in combat, where only the leader is controlled
manually. On-foot combat is done in real time, with delays caused by weapon
properties and the characters’ proficiencies. Guns play a prominent role in
battles.

Experience points are awarded for harming enemies. When a character levels up,
these points can be manually allocated to improve their parameters. Each
character has two sets of abilities, land-based and ship-based. Land-based
abilities include general aptitude in improving through combat, agility,
stealth, fitness, various weapon proficiencies, etc. Ship-based abilities
include mechanics, programming, gunner skills, and others. Each crew member is
assigned a role on the ship, such as pilot, engineer, technician, and so on.

The player is taken to a hovercraft when reaching the orbit of a planet. An
exact location can be selected, where the hovercraft can be controlled
manually. Only a few places can serve as hovercraft docks, and the player
needs to manoeuvre the craft precisely to land it. The hovercraft may also be
attacked by hostiles, which leads to action-based combat.

When leaving an orbit, the player can navigate the starship J-21C Delphenus
through space. There are four star systems in the game: the powerful and
militant Ariel, the Rouyn system known for its valuable minerals, the Ciberan
system with its supplies of water and fuel, and the Mastassini system, where
the player starts the game. The systems are connected by stargates and each
hosts several planets. The player-controlled spaceship may encounter hostile
ships, which can be fought in arcade action style. The ship can be outfitted
with various weapons, and improve in different aspects such as avionics,
thrusters, etc. Better parts and fuel can be purchased on space stations. The
player can also trade between star systems, using the money to buy better
equipment for the crew and customize the ship.