Hello and a huge thank you to everyone who responded to the announcement of "Ocean 17" and subscribed to the development news! Your support is incredibly important for the life of the project.
(Links to all social networks are below 👇)
And now — onto the first devlog! I've tried to keep it structured:
What is the project?
Connection to the past
The team: Why it was "WE" before, and now it's "I"
Technical overview
The failure of the initial Ink idea
Plans for the next devlog
What is the project?
"Ocean 17" is an ambitious project for me, set in a cyberpunk-dystopian style. For now, the easiest way to describe it is as a narrative adventure with elements of an arcade boss battler.
The idea is for the game to last 4-5 hours, leading the player through gloomy neon locations to unique scenes with boss battles. These battles are meant to complement and reveal the story, not to be an end in themselves. This is definitely NOT a Souls-like, but something more casual and arcade-like, serving the narrative.
How is it connected to previous projects?
"Ocean 17" is a direct successor to the Thorns universe. Those familiar with "Thorns. Police never sleeps" know there was a second game, "Thorns. Adlia" — it never saw the light of day because it turned out to be boring. I no longer wanted to develop another purely text-based novel, and the idea of "Ocean 17" was already brewing in my head. So, this is a new interpretation of the Thorns universe, but now in 3D and on a powerful engine.
Who is on the team and why "I" now?
It used to be "WE": We started "Police never sleeps" with a friend who suggested making a visual novel. I was responsible for the scriptwriting back then. Years passed, development dragged on, and by the time the game was released on Steam, I was the only one left on the project, with help from artists, a composer, and an editor coming only sporadically.
Therefore, I decided it would be more honest to speak from my own perspective rather than that of an abstract studio. The development of "Ocean 17" is my solo journey, on which I will occasionally invite talented people for help.
My name is Nikita. Nice to meet you!
Technical overview
After Ren'Py, I wanted greater possibilities, and Unity was the logical choice. There's a 99% chance the game will be released on it. For solo development, its prototyping speed and the power of the Asset Store are unmatched. Yes, there are performance nuances, but I think it will be sufficient for our tasks.
What's under the hood?
Under the hood is a standard toolkit for such tasks:
Cinemachine and Timeline for cool cutscenes and camera control.
New Input System for responsive controls.
Ink — the main narrative tool.
Ink is a plugin for working with text and branching narratives. I built it into the game's core, which has already brought its rewards and... challenges.
The failure of the Ink-as-frontend idea
Ink is a very flexible tool. Initially, I wanted to use it to its full potential: using its tags and C# function calls to dynamically control gameplay directly from the text files.
But in practice, I abandoned this idea. For now, Ink serves simply as a convenient container for text and branching. All the game's logic — reactions to dialogues, triggering animations, etc. — I write directly in Unity using C#.
Why? The game will contain many cutscenes and nuances that are difficult to manage from a text file. For now, this hybrid approach has proven more reliable and faster for development.
What should be done by the next devlog?
By next time, I'll try to show you:
A finished introductory cutscene.
A new location/level.
Just a reminder, I'm working on the game alone and besides this, I have a main job, so plans might change!
You can follow the process on my social networks — everything happens fastest there. Your support and comments are very motivating!
What do you think of this report format? Is it interesting to read about technical details? Or should the focus be more on gameplay and story? Write in the comments!