Greetings ECHOs!
Moving forward, in addition to our regular announcements, we will be posting development updates through here as well, so we can keep you informed on game’s progress.
As some of you may know, yours truly went to the GDC and Game Connection on March of this year, in the hopes that we could gain the support of a publisher to help us finish the game and reach out to a broader audience. We had overwhelmingly positive feedback during the event, and we received many requests for a follow-up with the demo, accompanying documentation and company information. We sent out the e-mail by mid-April, and we are currently waiting for some of them to respond. We have been declined by a few of the publishers that we knew were a long shot (due to their target audience and/or genres they usually publish), but we have not yet lost heart. Rest assured, however, that even if we are not able to make a deal with a publisher, we have contingency plans prepared, so the game will release.
Our main programmer’s rig(s).
Now, onto the promised development update, we’ll start with the engineering department. As many of you may know from the store page, our game supports solo play, local co-op (shared screen), and online multi-player. Our production cycle for most of our features follow that same order, so that we can iterate on those features in a safe and tested environment before adding the more complex layers of multi-player interaction. During the “rush” for the GDC/GCA, we had to forego the online multi-player component of the recently added features because of our time constraints (and because our demonstration during the event was based around local co-op). So now Gonzalo Ortego, our main programmer, has been adding online multi-player functionality to those features. In parallel, lead designer Franco Caltabiano (a.k.a. “Zombie”) has been coding additional game elements (more on that on the next update).
Multi-player is looking good!
Both Franco Glellel (a.k.a. “Pela”), and Federico Pedroza (a.k.a. “Feche”) from our 3D department have been working on the production of assets and levels for a new setting which offers you a change of pace in term of gameplay and aesthetic. Since the game takes place within a spaceship, the natural setting variety is severely limited. That said, we have made it a priority to produce as many different settings as we possibly could while maintaining realistic coherence, and so far we’ve created the following:
Industrial Zone: Heavy machinery and conveyor belts populate most of this setting. Pipes, generators, storage rooms and stockpiles are some examples of distinct assets throughout the levels. The industrial zone usually carries low light and favors blue and black colors, which the enemies take advantage of by blending in.
An example of the Industrial Zone’s environment.
High-tech: This setting encompasses laboratories, clinics and hydroponics rooms. Whites and greens permeate this section, and most of the assets a player can expect to see are cutting-edge computers, incubators, and precise automated machinery. While this setting is usually brightly illuminated, it’s also populated with many assets, giving enemies plenty of opportunities to lay in ambush.
Living Quarters: A stark contrast to the Industrial Zone, this setting offers warm and welcoming colors, favoring brown and orange. You can expect to find high-end living commodities here, including a shopping mall, bedrooms and dining halls. It’s relaxing appearance and open spaces may betray you, however, since it also allows for the larger enemies to guard these modules.
Living quarters.
Passing onto the UI and UX department, Nicolás Dimov has been rolling out a large array of changes recently. Many of the UI and GUI elements have been tweaked or reworked to improve the overall user experience while navigating through the game’s menus as well as during gameplay. We will continue to make improvements over time, in order to provide you with the best possible experience while you take back the Trident from the alien threat.
Regarding the level design itself, the workflow is as follows: “Feche” creates the level layout for the current module, populates it with the “static” assets (term we’ve applied to assets that don’t trigger any game events) and implements the module’s lighting and environment effects. Then, Nicolás sets up the level with all the events and enemies that fit the narrative of that specific module, always keeping maintaining the goal of creating a fun and engaging gameplay experience. Lastly, “Zombie” plays through the levels and tweaks the numbers of enemies and potential resource gains, as well as possible placement and other feedback, making sure the module’s gameplay experience coherent with the rest of the systems.
Last but not least, in the Illustration and concept department, Alejandro “barney616” Romero is cooking up something which will help us tell you the story behind the game (and a glimpse to our handcrafted universe, “Chronicles of the Solar Empires”). Being a small indie studio, completely self-funded, we’ve had to make many hard decisions regarding what feature we could realistically implement on time. Thankfully, Alejandro came up with the idea of creating a set of digital comics through which we will be able to tell you about the story and its setting. We expect to have the first comic in the upcoming days, so stay tuned to our discord channel for when we release it!
A small snippet of the comic.
I hope you understand that game development is a difficult process with multiple layers of complexity, and we feel that updating you with this devlog will help us to provide an open and friendly communication with you, so that you know where we’re at on the game’s progress.
Thank you very much for reading!
Ignacio “Nacho” Baldini Pescarmona (A.K.A. Bacus)
