**As always, all assets, sounds, code, and other constituent parts of DRONE SMUGGLER were created by a human being.**
DRONE SMUGGLER's sci-fi spacefaring, high-score-chasing fun is getting a new look this summer. "The Widening" is an in-progress development initiative to bring DRONE SMUGGLER gameplay into a new 16:9 aspect ratio while refactoring or redesigning core elements to better support the kind of local variability, universal verisimilitude, and overall re-play value that suits the original vision. Right now only a few parallax particle effects have been added to the new game space, giving a peaceful feeling of drifting through interstellar space.
Additional updates will be coming in the near future that bring gameplay mechanics up to parity with the current Steam release - the player ship, first and foremost, but also enemies, asteroids, dropping/picking up/deploying tech modules, and a local leaderboard for high scores. DRONE SMUGGLER is the debut release for Debauched Sloth Games, which is a personally-funded venture by a solo developer.
Here is a screenshot of the new look, followed by a short (90 seconds) video showing the particle motion in deep space.
Screenshot:
This initiative will require a lot of "reformatting" of existing mechanics and functions so it may take some time before a playable release is available - but I'll be putting in at least an hour or so of work into this every day this week so I'm hoping to have a simple playable version out in a day or so. It'll mean a bit of regression of game features in the first few iterations but I think the juice will be well worth the squeeze.
Demo video (ft. "The Great Resonator" - Aliquid Novi, from DRONE SMUGGLER EARLY ACCESS OST):
I will, more likely than not, keep the original version available as a free-to-play demo on Steam once I get at least one "widened" version out on the store.
If, by some chance, there's a player or two out there who have been following along patiently - thank you. I've been navigating a lot that has kept me away from the game for a while, but feel that receding somewhat and am excited to get back into it.
Without making any specific promises as to timeline, I feel very excited and energized about working on this game again and am looking forward to getting privateer mode ready for its first iteration here soon :)