Where we're at!
Although we're still at the early stages of Development, Astromattech is at a point in the process where we have a fully working and demonstratable prototype. There are many things that need to be worked upon and many changes that still need to be made however as they say, "Rome wasn't built overnight".
The road ahead is long, but every step forward is a victory in its own right.
One thing I've learned for sure though is that game development is rarely a straight line, it's full of unexpected turns and challenges, issues and surprises but that is what makes the journey so rewarding.
Right now, players begin in an empty hub-world with three pre-set core structures: a portal, an "Upgrade bench" and a "Robot Constructor". While the building system is functional, allowing players to customise their base with environmental assets, we're still in the early phases of this system so crafting recipes and materials aren't yet incorporated into the game.
At this time the portal opens a testing menu with three selections, a preset world which will follow a linear storyline where the maps will be completely designed and preset by the team' a planet environment with randomised foliage and colour schemes and a space-station with randomised rooms. At the minute the randomisation is very basic and primarily consists of 2 types of rooms and a hallway, but the concept is there, and it works. That's what matters right now.
In the place of combat the game currently features three basic enemy types: the "Zombie" droid which will follow the player and explode upon contact, damaging all players in a set radius. The "Gunner" enemy, whose accuracy is intentionally poor (Think of a stormtrooper) and an AOE shooter type that spawns 6 projectiles in all cardinal directions.
These basic enemies essentially serve as cannon fodder to help players learn the games core mechanics, whilst allowing you to experiment with different weapons and abilities. I'm hoping over the coming weeks to release a kind of "Fact sheet" for each enemy, with detailed breakdowns of their weapons, abilities and characteristics so stay tuned for this.
At this point in development my primary focus is set on refining the visuals of Astromattech, working on improving environmental textures, adding in dynamic lighting and upgrading the character models to make everything feel more polished and immersive. The hub-world will also be getting a complete visual overhaul but more of this will be discussed on a dedicated post.
There's a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks and I'm excited to share the development process with you. Whether it's new mechanics, visual upgrades or deeper dives into the story of Astromattech your feedback and thoughts are incredibly valuable as we shape this project into what we hope to create. Please don't hesitate to share your ideas or ask any questions, I can't wait to show you what's coming next!