Update (since launch): Bugs and feature requests now live on the issue tracker — file a report or request a feature. The forum remains the place for discussion, ideas, and After Action Reports.

It's been a long road to this moment, and I'm thrilled to finally say it: Protostar 4X is live.

Today marks the first public launch of everything at once — the community hub you're reading this on, the community forum, and v0.1.0-alpha, our first playable release. If you've been watching from the sidelines, this is your invitation to step aboard.

What is Protostar 4X?

Protostar 4X is a spiritual successor to Aurora 4X — the famously deep, famously spreadsheet-loving 4X space strategy game. The goal is to carry forward everything that makes Aurora a legend — the depth, the freedom, the stories that emerge from simulation rather than scripting — and bring it to a modern, accessible, browser-based experience.

You'll command a civilization across a living galaxy built from real stars alongside procedurally generated systems. Design your own ships, manage your economy, research technologies, encounter other species, and write a story that's entirely yours. As we like to say: write your story across the stars.

If you want the full picture — the engine, the layering, the origins — the Project page covers it all.

What's launching today

Three things, all at once:

• The Community Hub (protostar4x.com) — your home base. Project overview, roadmap, news, downloads, and a gallery of what's already in the game.
• The Community Forum (community.protostar4x.com) — where the community gathers for discussion, ideas, After Action Reports, and modding.
• v0.1.0-alpha — the first public release. You can download it from the Download page.

What to expect from the alpha

Let's be honest about where things stand: this is a true alpha. The foundations are solid and a lot is already working — but it is not yet a complete or polished game. Expect bugs, rough edges, incomplete features, and the occasional unbalanced formula. It isn't playable start-to-finish yet.

That's not a caveat to scare you off — it's an invitation to be part of the build. If you're the kind of player who enjoys watching a game take shape and helping steer where it goes, you're exactly who this alpha is for. The full list of expectations is on the Download page, and the Roadmap shows where we're headed.

How you can help

This is a one-developer project (with an AI doing a lot of the heavy lifting), and community feedback is the single most valuable thing you can contribute. Here's where to go:

• Found a bug? File it on the issue tracker — the form has fields for the repro steps, build, and details I need to fix it.
• Have an idea or feature request? Request it on the tracker — you can upvote the ones you want most.
• Just want to talk? The community forum is the place for open discussion and After Action Reports — General is a good starting point.

Reading every post, reproducing every bug, and folding your feedback into the roadmap is a core part of how this game gets made.

What's next

The roadmap runs from Milestone 1 — Aurora Parity (our current focus) all the way through multiplayer, tutorials, and a full modding surface. The long-term vision includes an in-game community hub, a thriving mod ecosystem, and a galaxy that keeps surprising you.

For now: welcome. Download the alpha, poke around, break things, and tell me about it. This is day one of a long journey — and I'm glad you're here for it.

A heartfelt thank you

None of this would exist without Steve Walmsley. For well over a decade, Steve has built and nurtured Aurora 4X as a free, solo labor of love, giving the 4X community one of the deepest, most ambitious strategy games ever made. He has shared it freely and kept refining it year after year — a remarkable level of dedication.

Protostar stands entirely on the foundation he laid. Every system it aims to recreate, every design choice it inherits, every player it hopes to serve traces back to his work and the community he built around it. This project is, before anything else, a sincere thank you to Steve — and a promise to treat his legacy with the respect it deserves.

Thank you, Steve. Without Aurora, there is no Protostar.

— Pascal