Hello everyone. This marks the first major update posted to Steam. Going forward, all MAJOR updates will be posted here. I've been somewhat quiet on social media for a while now due to a combination of job searching and some boring coding / system updates.
Pictured: Elevators, Ads, and a VENDING MACHINE.
SCAVENGER ZERO PROGRESS
SCAVENGER ZERO is roughly 60%~ complete as of today. I'm going to list all of the major milestones that have been hit at once. Some of these things I'll go into more detail on afterwards.
Story Web + NPC conversations and dialogue options. Branching story paths. Two of the major characters almost have a full arc / completed quest-line.
Reputation system, factions & game ecosystem.
Extensive customization options. There are currently over 100 unique parts, and 7.9 million possible combinations; not including weapons!
Two of the three planned enemy types are in-game and functional; The Automatons, and The Union.
All planned planets for the 1.0 release have completed assets. All but one have been implemented in some form. Giving each planet unique generation & mechanics is going to be a focus point moving forwards.
Soundtrack with about 50-60 tracks to it, including multiple vocal songs.
Two major boss fights are nearing completion. There is a third as well, but it's a bit less polished at the moment.
Gameplay Loop
Before we continue, I'm going to take a moment to explain the gameplay loop:
Pictured: A mission briefing from The Obsidian Fleet. Please ignore the "FREELANCER" text at the top, that is a bug. :(
The player selects a mission. The available missions are determined by your reputation, the current date, and some choices you've made.
Pictured: A mech staring at a cookie while standing in radioactive waste.
The player completes the mission, deploying onto a procedurally generated planet to complete whatever objective is required of them.
Pictured: The garage / customization screen.
The player returns to the hub world. They use resources collected during the mission to upgrade, talk to NPCs, and customize their build. This is also where consequences will kick in, if your reputation is too low with one faction or another.
In simple terms; Choose, Fight, and Upgrade.
Sometimes the best paying jobs in SCAVENGER ZERO are ones that will step on the toes of powerful individuals. Consequences for pissing off a faction include receiving threatening emails, increased taxes... and in the worst case scenario; pilots aligned with that faction might come to pay you a visit during your missions.
With each mission the player completes, time passes. You have 30 days until the world resets, and a run is complete. It's unlikely the player will be able to do everything in the game in a single run. This gives the player the opportunity to go back and make different choices; optimizing their decision making and how they use time.
There's also a bit more than what I just said in the game itself. But I'm going to keep some things a secret up until the day it actually releases.
Items
During missions, the player will sometimes find items! Items are divided into a bunch of different tiers, based on rarity and the power of the item. Items can help offset the downsides of your mech build.
Too slow? Grab some speed boosting items. Too fragile? Eat a sandwich that somehow repairs your mech's hull. (Don't ask.)
You've got the usual Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary... But then a few extra tiers, for VERY special items.
Pictured: Items!
By defeating enemies you will acquire scrap metal, which can be used to upgrade the items you find. With enough upgrades, and some good item synergies you can produce some uh...
... Interesting results?
Story Web & NPCs
The game's dialogue system has been completed and players can now talk to NPCs that show up in the game's hub world. Talking to NPCs will give the player more information on the world as well as the character of who they are talking to.
I am not going to be giving the player direct answers to a lot of the questions they might have about the world in SCAVENGER ZERO. At least not for a good deal of time. Instead, the player will have to gather information by asking the opinions of NPCs.
They can come to their own conclusions about what is true and what is fake.
Pictured: A pilot, callsign "COWBOY", visits the player's work area and cautions them into not believing everything they see on the news.
Talking to NPCs will progress the "Story Web"; this game's version of a quest log. The story web is comprised of "leads", which give the player hints and information on the characters and world around them.
Pictured: Burger.
Following these leads can result in new information being uncovered and, potentially, unlocking a new route for that character or faction. Here's ONE of the webs for a certain character the player will interact with throughout the game. I've hidden some elements of the web in to prevent spoilers.
Pictured: The story web. Each node contains key information that can be obtained through dialogue, or action.
Soundtrack Progress
SCAVENGER ZERO's OST, composed by myself and Ruddy Fantelli, is nearing completion. There are roughly 50 tracks finished at the moment. All planet themes are complete, most of the combat themes are complete... Really, it's making good progress overall.
And speaking of OST progress: the game's album art was completed recently! There are two covers made by Emil Peyrovi (marrow_jpeg) for two sides of the OST.
Pictured: THE ALBUM ARTWORK IN QUESTION
They are WAR, and PEACE. The WAR album mainly contains the game's combat themes. Lots of heavy metal, screaming vocals, etc. The PEACE album mainly contains lo-fi and calm songs.
In-game the OST usually starts off as lo-fi and then sort of explodes into metal and fast-paced themes when combat begins.
I've prepared an "OST sample" here. It's 6 songs from the OST, 3 from each album.
Conclusion
Aaaaand that about does it for the August devlog. I'd like to do this monthly, but obviously... things are subject to change. I'm going to do my best to finish the vertical slice build and I will be prioritizing that above all else.
