Devlog 2
Where I've been
I promise I'm still working lol. I took a month off this January to focus on a side project for a bit to work through some of the burnout. However, before I took that break I made some massive strides towards finishing the game. I'd say as it is now we're very nearly feature complete for the initial release.
What's done so far?
If you're not interested in reading this whole post at least read this: Selenetrope is now a more traditional survival horror game with combat and resource management. I kept the jumpscares from the demo. I've also completely changed the setting and aesthetic, which may be unwelcome for some of my wishlisters, but nonetheless I think it had to be done. The game is now a sci-fi horror mystery taking place in a colony deep beneath the surface of a moon in interstellar space.
Mechanics
- I've created a central power system which is used to turn on the lights and various interactable objects like electronic doors. I am still considering modifying it a little bit to make it a bit more interesting, but for now I consider it done.
- There is now a new inventory with a new UI. You can take, drop, craft, and use items here. There are a limited number of spots, but you'll increase your maximum as the game goes on.
- I've added weapons and ammo.
- Enemies can now be killed with weapons. Unfortunately they don't tend to stay dead for long...
- Enemy spawning and chases have been changed a bit. They no longer spawn on a timer, but spawn when you make enough noise next to holes in the floor and ceiling.
- I've fully finished the fever and seizure status systems. When your temperature reaches a 106 degrees you will begin to have a seizure. If you do not take fever reducers before the seizure is done, you have a chance of acquiring a permanent affliction. Afflictions are essentially passive debuffs that last until you respawn or find a cure. I've only created about 4 afflictions as of now, but I'm planning on having about 15 before the game launches.
- I've added in robots that wander around doing various tasks. Their behavior is extremely simplistic. There are three kinds right now; a standard service bot, a garbage collection bot, and a security bot. The security bots are really the only ones with a significant impact on gameplay. Service bots wander and sometimes speak to the player. Trash bots function as small containers that occasionally contain consumable and craftable items.
- Security systems have been added as well. If you trigger an alarm you cause a lockdown, which disables automatic electronic doors in your area until the alarm has shut off. Triggering the alarm also alerts nearby monsters and security bots. Right now security bots don't trigger any alarm when they see you, but I might eventually change that. Security bots currently just follow and shoot you when you linger too long in their line of sight.
- The death and revive systems different as well. You now have a revive in addition to a standard save and load system. Revives are a finite resource however, so you have to use them carefully. It also comes at the cost of having to go back and retrieve your resources from where you last died. I'm considering adding more gameplay modifiers that result from repeated revives, but likely I won't be sure what to add until the game is in the pre-release polish phase.
- There is also the new air filtration system to manage while playing. If it breaks down you have to go and repair it, or risk suffocating on toxic fumes. There is also a respirator item that allows you to breathe when the filter isn't working, but you cannot hold it to your face and hold a gun at the same time.
That's pretty much the sum of it.
What's left to make?
Mostly content. This week I'm going to remove a bunch of the old assets from the game and begin modeling new ones. Unfortunately that is going to take a while. I've changed the release date one last time to Q2 2025. I intend to release before or in June regardless of whether or not I'm completely satisfied with the result. I've been building levels as a pastime for the duration of the redesign, and I've gotten much much better. Unfortunately I don't have anything good enough to ship in the full game, but I plan to change that this week as well.
There is also a bunch of writing that I need to at least get started on for the in-game lore and notes you find around the colony, but I'm not too worried about that. It's mostly flavor text and diegetic tutorials and hints.
I'm aiming for about an hour of content for the early access release. Being generous, there's probably about 10 minutes of content currently, but that lack is because I've been mainly focusing on the features that support the content. I want to release the most polished product I can, so I'm allowing myself an extra month or two of work time to put together more interesting levels and a better story, and hopefully a more visually appealing game overall.
Thank you
Alright, thanks so much to every one of you who made it this far through the devlog. I really appreciate it. I'm going to edit the store page and trailer some time soon, but I need to buy a new pc before I can fully do that. My current setup is painfully underpowered for Unreal Engine, with 2gb of vram and 8gb of ram. Somehow I've been able to manage so far with such a low powered computer, but I've gotten tired of it. I hate how often Unreal crashes because I'm out of RAM or VRAM, and I cant' stand not being able to run the game comfortably on anything besides the lowest possible settings. So, hopefully that makes development easier at least lol.
If you have any questions about the game going forward, feel free to reply to the event below!