Hi All
---Red---Tether--> just got announced and I’d like to give you a quick rundown of where the game is actually at. I know a trailer featuring ALPHA GAMEPLAY isn’t ideal on Steam, but the whole page is only up already because I want to apply for Steam Next Fest. The game has actually progressed way beyond what’s shown in the trailer, but it’ll be while till I can update that. I can dump a whole lot of work-in-progress gifs on you though! So here is what I’ve been working on during the last weeks:
The attachment and rip-off system is fully implemented and you can disarm opponents by tethering their weapons to something heavy.
There is a lock on system that makes it easier to tether onto smaller objects, including mid-air missiles. You lock sticks to small objects for a few milliseconds unless you target something else in that time. The lock-on time can be freely configured, lock-on also displays some basic informations on targets.
Your ship can stabilize itself in place with forward boosters. You can use this to pull on something or to brace for shock-waves.
Tech transports that carry ship upgrades can be found at regular intervals during runs. The self- destruct if their cargo is compromised, so you’ll need to choose what to take.
The game got a small tutorial area that is always accessible before launching a run. It uses holo-animations to showcase the game’s mechanics, triying to not rely on text too much. You can also use the tutorial area to train your harpoon-shooting and tether-swing skills on dummy object.
There is a system of hazards and status effects that become more relevant in the midgame.
Once you get there, ships and objects will not only have better means of offense, but also counter your tether attempts in various ways. The game aims to eventually evolve into a more complex combat puzzle where you need to make careful decisions amid the action in order to effectively dismantle the fleet.
The whole glitchy UI thing is something I still want to push further. You’ll be able to turn this off though. The latest addition to the ui was some visualization of you current shield hp. Like in Hyperspace Dogfight, you have hearts as a second line of defense.
The art pipeline for the game is also fairly streamlined, so there are tons of new enemy types on the way.
Enemy variety is also what I will work on next. After that I still want to add endless mode, alternate player ships with new tether behaviors and a black-box system that allows you piece together the games lore by sifting through enemy debris.
If you are at all interested in Red-Tether please consider whistling and otherwise engaging with it on Steam. That would please the algorithm-overlords and I long for their attention. For I am a mere shell of a human, sacrificing content at the altar of front-page visibility.
Anyways, for those of you who wonder what is happening to Hyperspace Harvest: Development is currently paused, since I’m not really sure if the whole thing is going anywhere. I want to experiment with smaller, faster releases. So I'm giving that a try with ---Red---Tether-->. I really like how the art and gameworld for Hyperspace Harvest has developed and I want to return to it, but I’m a bit burned out on long projects and overall I don’t think what looks like a 3 year dev cycle will be worth it in then end. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Stay tethered everyone!
Stefan – Sleeper Games