Heya there! I’m Jorden Hildrew, Senior Lead Designer on Astronimo and today I’m gonna be taking you on an adventure through time and talk about how a little thing called Project Ambition started off and what helped it evolve into Astronimo!
As you might have read from the other posts, (Which I recommend reading they are really cool!) Astronimo has been in development for a good long while and faced many changes and challenges over that time. I’m super proud to be able to say that I’ve been a part of that journey pretty much the whole way! And when I think back, do you know what got me the job in the first place? It all started with “Bird Mode”.
So way waaay back, Coatsink made their first VR RPG, Augmented Empire! And on that project there was all kinds of challenges myself and the other designers needed to solve, from figuring out level up systems to combat encounters or how to collect enough cabbages without dying. But the one problem I helped solve? Birds! Birds were requested to be added into the environment and for them to hang out on top of buildings and look all cool.
Sounds easy right? Welp, nope! Essentially, because of reasons lost to time and software restrictions, we straight up couldn’t. So Jimmy, Lead Programmer and creator Astronimo's custom in house engine, devised “Bird Mode”, a handy volume which pushes the the bird asset upwards to whatever height you set. So when I started adding the volume to the game, pushing all those birds to the right spot with the volume, guess what else could be pushed upwards too? NPC’s!
And with that I could make characters hang out on top of the buildings and oh if you string enough volumes together, bang! You can now them have them move around and have routes they walked! My discovery made it into the game and was used in all manner of places to really liven up the world.
So imagine my surprise, a project or two later, when Jimmy approaches me and basically says “i’m building a game in a whole new, custom engine, and I need someone that can take the things i build and make multiple uses of them in unexpected ways”
And so, years later, I'm still here, trying to do make Astronimo do all manner of unexpected things! And oh oh boy, it really did start out something completely different!
So lets take a look today at what I was given to work with, what I created from that and over the new few series of articles, I’ll take you through the design process of the games journey from Project Ambition to Astronimo!
The core idea that propelled Ambition at the very beginning was pretty neat; Players were trapped on the sun's most inner planet and it’s going super nova! So you have to navigate the planet, find resources, solve a series of environmental challenges using those resources and then build a rocket ship to jump to the next world! Players need to then rinse and repeat that process to escape the sun! As the giant astral body expanded over the course of the game and engulfed world after world!
And while that was the core idea, the big game loop you could say! Project Ambition came with many aspirations and inspirations that supported that core loop.
Ambition would be Little Big Planet meets Kerbal Space Program, featuring those construction management and realistic space flight simulation elements. But we also would like you to need to explore and discover various resources, such as gold and silver, which you would then collect and build factories Factorio style to collect more of.
You would use those resources to build and fuel various contraptions and vehicles, which would be used to navigate the planets your escaping from. And like Factorio, the end of each world would involve you solving problem after problem and then and only then after solving enough problems you could build the machinery to eventually build a Rocket off world and onto the next. Rinse and repeat!
There should also be Systemic Simulations too, both in the world, it’s creatures and the components you build your solutions too. Each problem a navigational challenge, like crossing a simple gap, would be a test of players to successful manage and build parts that would work together in interesting and surprising ways! It was set to be a kind of daisy chain, alchemy based system, which players could explore their solutions, discover and take advantage of new stimuli or brew a new chain with plugging different components together and seeing what happens!
The discovery and progression through those vehicle component parts was also gonna attempt to be driven by Roguelite Elements! What does that mean? Well it means the Tech Tree players would explore and power their ability to build solutions was going to be random! Every run!
Yep! The Roguelite elements didn’t stop there, the Escape the Sun loop was run based! Players would attempt to escape the sun and it’s all engulfing destruction each time, starring a randomised tech tree in a static series of worlds.
The aim being players had to adapt, and develop deeper and more expansive knowledge of not just the worlds they visited and the challenges they each provided, but the aliens you would meet and the intricacies of the components you’d find inside the tree. Knowledge it was then, your gaining and understanding of it, would be key to your over all progression through the game and your eventually mastery of it on the perfect run.
And all of this, from the in-depth space flight construction, time sensitive runs and systemic, randomised component range should be doable in both single player and multiplayer! Co-operative building would be built on the back of a K'NEX like building system, powered by Rods and Points to act as your frame work for building your vehicles.
Also! Last and very, very importantly, you needed opportunities to “Screw Over Si”. Literally this was actually written into the core tenets of the game and Jimmy was keen on this becoming a founding aspect. You needed to be able to attach bombs to Si’s car, let him drive it away and watch him explode. And so Si was one of the first few playable characters in the game. Right alongside the ability to punch other players.
So there you have it! Ambition in both name and scope! It was my job then to take all these ideas and inspirations and turn it into something playable. And like Bird Mode before it, take it to unexpected places!
Thankfully in the beginning we started off keeping things pretty simple and more importantly it had to be! Whilst we were building the game we were also building the whole engine to support it and run it! And so the plan was to build a demo of what to expect from moment to moment game-play, really nail down and make running around with friends, collecting resources and building solutions to challenges fun and enjoyable! The things you’d do the most through a play-through of the game really.
Fast iteration was the name of the game from then on, and with the power of the engine, it really enabled us to do it! So we built the demo level, got players running around, mining and building and we followed the fun after that.
And we really did follow the fun. Over time, while we iterated on the player and the mechanics of the world, the solar system destroying loop, the concept of runs, the randomised tech tree, systemic components and even creatures, they all all put on the back burner. Problems for future Team Ambition.
We did eventually work on some of those elements but you know what was just so fun? What we kept coming back to, play-test after play-test? Players goofing around! Taking those Screw Over Si mechanics, the little jiggle taunt and the daft physics and really just playing with them. Gosh they loved to punch too. From building that skateboard and riding away into the sunset, inventing silly bouts and petty fights and playing with the little characters; it really helped me realise the game was less about those complex, interconnected systems and overarching goals and more about the stories you were building with your friends in this toy box-like world.
Over time, the game evolved into providing players with more and more ways to emote and express themselves in the game. And i’m so happy it did. In a kind of roundabout way that was my Bird Mode, I took what was built, worked the problem and took it somewhere unexpected. And now you have character customisation, wacky arms and musical taunts and maybe other ways to just be silly space guys on an adventure of your own making.
I can’t wait for you to create your own stories.
So thanks for reading! This will be my first in a series of articles about the design and evolution of Astronimo - I just have so many more stories to tell you about and thankfully I don’t have to rely completely on memory alone!
We recorded every play-test, every decision and why we did and didn’t do something! I mean we went from starting out having a whole run based survival space sim to a cooperative building puzzle adventure game. Of course the journey would be filled with plenty of interesting and fascinating twists and turns. It’s gonna be fun!
Stay tuned for more blogs, more stories and more trips through memory lane!
Astronimo is coming to Early Access this year. Wishlist it now!
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