Hello survivors!
We hope you're okay! In case you missed it, last week we unveiled a brand-new look at Dead in Antares, focusing on the battle system. Next month we’ll explore the new features a bit deeper in a captain’s log, but for now as everyone in the team is focused on polishing a playable demo for the end of this summer, we’ll share some more details about our main crew.
Meet The Crew - part 1
Fans of our previous games know that it wouldn't be a proper "Dead in" without a memorable cast of characters that you will need to keep alive.
For players of Dead in Vinland, you might remember that in this one, you had 4 main characters (the family), and then you could recruit up to 8 optional characters that were found on the island.
Losing a family member meant a game over, but losing a recruitable character did not.
For Dead in Antares, we knew from the start we wanted a different direction. In this one, we wanted every character to be as involved in the story as another, enabling us to write interesting dynamics between them. We wanted a real “team” spirit in the writing, contrary to our previous games where the cast was more or less forced to stick together. That’s not to say there won’t be conflictual beliefs in the group as the story unfolds and the tension ramps up.
In terms of gameplay, this means that losing any of the 10 main characters will lead to a game over, as anyone is mandatory to the plot. We survive in this together, or we die trying!
In terms of writing, it enabled us to write more dynamic dialogs as any character can intervene in a scene and speak his or her mind, at any moment. Some scenes focus on different pairings of characters which leads to interesting interactions.
A little bit of secret info here, that we will talk a lot more in another captain’s log: we went completely over our heads designing the relationship system between our characters… You can expect A LOT of possibilities, much more than in any of our previous games.
But enough with that, let’s start by giving you a bit more info about the past of some of our crew!
Amelia Rosenhart | The Captain
Don’t be fooled by her looks, Amelia is quite the military veteran… Daughter of a decorated and renowned father, she aced her military studies in the hope of living up to his unreachable expectations. She then was sent in various extremely dangerous commando and secret service missions which led her in particularly tricky situations - and morally ambiguous ones.
Among the crew, she has the most battle and survival experience and she knows that sometimes you have to take very hard decisions as a leader, but since the beginning of the mission something seems slowly crackling inside her. Will she manage to bear the incommensurable burden of this mission on her strong shoulders, or will she completely fall apart?
William Eriksson | The Field Medic
On the surface, William is this big-hearted giant that is “too good for this world”. Gentle, friendly, calm, he will lend an empathetic ear to anyone coming to him for medical care. But under this - some would call bland - personality lies a terrible past riddled of tragedies.
This past has made him tormented over the thought of losing anyone in the crew, which can become quite the curse for someone whose task is to coexist with sickness and death on a daily basis.
Liu Jian | The Chief Engineer
Liu’s proficiency in everything tech and craft would be a real asset to any team, especially in this kind of situation… He knows the Ixion like the palm of his hand, or an extension of his body even. He more often than not feels that it’s easier to deal with the spaceship than it is with his fellow comrades. They are so tiring with their constant futile chatter.
Physically, he is not really fit for this kind of harsh environment, more so that he was severely hurt by a landmine when he was young, leaving an impressive scar on his chest.
Polina Shevchenko | The Astrophysicist
Double PhD graduate, both in Theoretical Physics and Quantum Physics, she is the daughter of the renowned Professor Shevchenko, a genius scientist who led the Ixion project and is a member of the Global Committee.
Despite her immense knowledge and proficiency, she fears that the others think her presence on the mission is only due to her father… But which kind of father would send his daughter to a certain death in an impossible mission in space? Unless there is something more to it?
And that's all for today! Those 4 characters will be playable in the upcoming demo of Dead in Antares, coming out on August 27th for free on Steam!
Take care! <3