Hey inmates!
New update on the development of Space Prison! Today, we'd like to discuss the two gangs and their members, as well as the creative process that went into their design, stories, and quests.
Before we begin, we value your feedback, so feel free to share your ideas and suggestions using our upvoting tool! Want to help even more with the development of Space Prison? Register for our playtest, which will start on May 24. We appreciate all of your input, and thank you for your commitment!
One last piece of information before we dive into today's devblog, our demo is still available until May 20. Discover the introductory quests of our two gangs and meet your fellow convicts!
Making the gangs of Space Prison
We wanted to create really interesting and vivid characters who live in this prison. All the gang members are unique individuals who have their own personalities, stories, statistics, and perks that you unlock when you develop a relationship with them. We wanted to focus more on you making individual friends and allies than on making a bunch of nameless goons. We poured our hearts into making characters that we hope you will remember for the stories you had with them—that you will celebrate with them when you succeed together, shed a tear if someone they loved dies, and maybe even help them get their revenge.
Meet the two gangs in our game:
Hypernova. Anarchists that focus on undermining the system. They use gadgets and guerilla warfare tactics like drones or grenades.
Gravity Fist. They are vicious brawlers who rely mainly on brute strength. They support each other but respect the ones who are more powerful than they are.
Both gangs have their identity, they have their colors, a banner, and what’s most important—their unique gang hideout, where you can use their special workbenches.
Ah, and a tip for you, fish: joining a gang will lead to aggressive behavior from the members of the opposite gang! They are rivals in this wretched place. In our prison, you can gather intel to discover more information about any gang member, ally, or enemy, make friends with members of your own gang, or prepare to battle members of the opposing gang.
Handcrafted and unique gang members
Psychological profile and backstory
We focus on the characters—who they are, where they’re from, and where they're going. We developed a process for creating deep and interesting characters. First, we create a psychological profile of the character, with their Meyers-Briggs personality type and their dominant personality traits. How did they come to have those? Where do they come from? What important events from their past made them land here, in prison? Then we think about what they look like—their view on the world, their interests, how they dress, and what they would keep in their cell. And then we come to the most important part: what’s their way of coping in prison, what they do here, and what they need. This is the work we do before we ask ourselves what this character needs here that you would be able to help them with.
Gang members’ quests
And then we craft the quests. We get to know these characters through their unique stories. Every gang member we made is considered an individual and comes straight from their past life to their new one in prison.
Each crooked face in this place has their own story—there’s a crew-less pirate trying to muster their new crew; a movie star with a dangerous stalker looking for a bodyguard; or an entrepreneur setting up an unconventional business. Helping these criminals will get you through countless adventures, like joining a dangerous cult, making a radioactive beard, building a portal to another world, or helping a fighter rat reconcile with its father.
Each gang member has what we call a “quest chain” (a series of quests) that comes from and reflects their real needs. You will need to complete their quests to know more about them. To think of one, two, three, or four interesting characters and eventful quest chains in prison was already requiring some creativity and process, but doing this for 18 characters and making sure they were fresh was a big challenge. Each team member had a chance to throw ideas around. We also asked our community what they would like to see or do when locked in a space prison station. That’s why we amassed a lot of incredible ideas that became food for thought!
Not mentioning all the inspiration we had from pop culture (not only science fiction). For all the geeks out there, you will have a blast finding Easter eggs and references to your favorite books, movies, or shows. Hell, we’ll maybe even make a contest out of it.
Perks of joining a gang
Gang Hideouts (or Gang HQs) are hidden locations that only gang members have access to. They allow for special workbenches, repairs, or trading options. Both have a unique feel to them, so if you choose a gang you like, you should feel right at home. (As much as that’s possible in a place like this!)
Another way to put it is that we kind of see these hideouts as the various Harry Potter Houses in a sense, each with a unique theme and atmosphere.
Thank you for your support and contributions! We really appreciate you providing feedback on the demo and participating in our playtests. It’s incredibly helpful to help us make the best version of the game, and we’re glad to do it with you!
Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to develop Space Prison!
See you behind bars!
Wooden Alien Team