So we got to a point where the main world mechanics were in the engine and we could start thinking about adding all of the content we have been planning forever. Here's what we've been doing.
We were adding new things here and there and looking at a huge list of little things we wanted to implement like new crew and new modules etc, and we made a big overhaul to crew combat and monsters. It looks great, and it's in the game, but we wanted to add a bit more for the patch so we kept working on new content and after a while we started questioning when we should release the content we had made.
Ultimately we decided we needed a roadmap, so we sat down and mapped out a plan that would take zero falls all the way to version 1 and the proper release from early access. It's a lot of work and a ton of fun content that we want to add, so it took a while to lay out the map, but I can tell you there are exciting things to come in the future. Here's a look at some of the things you can expect for the future:
Release Stages
First of all, We're going to try to release content in stages that won't break save games, and we have divided up the release stages to line up with stages of the main game story. That means that in the future we plan to release big updates on a semi-regular basis that add a new in-game event to progress the game world, the story, and the available loot to the next stage. We're going to try to release game content and game mechanics in the order that you would unlock them through the game's story.
In order to start this system we will need to reshape the home sector map and introduce some new mechanics that can progress over all of the stages, so the first update we are working on right now will take a little while longer to be ready and you will probably want to start a new save game when it releases. As a result we're going to try and pack it with enough new content to give you motivation to start over. Making a new character to experience the exact same content isn't fun.
New nano auras
We are adding new equipped items with new ship-wide effects, and consolidating the effects to make sure they place nice with the simulation. Just because we don't have scaling hitpoint values doesn't mean we can't have neat combat effects in the game. As we make more of these, they will show up as loot that you can either find or purchase.
Additional Crew
We've added new crew members to the game. Their personalities aren't fully fleshed out yet with long dialogue options, but they are all very unique. Each one of them will have a nano aura that provides some benefit to your ship passively so long as they are alive and in your ship. By finding them and recruiting them you will have the option of choosing which to bring with you on adventures.
Since their nano aura effects stack with your own nano aura, building the perfect crew has the potential to make your ship very powerful. You will need to unlock more cloning bays in order to increase the number that you can fly with at any given time, and initially those cloning bays will most likely be found by exploring abandoned stations.
New ships
We have been sitting on a lot of unreleased ships, and the reason is two fold:
- They are meant to show up in parts of the story that aren't out yet
- They will have unique modules that we haven't made yet.
Our plan is to overhaul ships and generally give about half of the ships in the game a unique purpose, or an ability that benefits a certain play style. These will come in the form of ship specific modules that can't be removed and can't be researched, and which provide either an activated ability or a passive effect. A rare few of these can already be seen in the current game, but we have much more planned for the future.
Many of these ships and modules will not show up until later updates.
Mastery system
As you know, Zero Falls is both a simulation and an RPG. Past updates have focused heavily on engineering the simulation aspects of the game because those necessarily must come first, and module design has tried to remain balanced so that all choices are essentially equal. Now we are working on more RPG mechanics and one of them is going to be the ability to improve your own skill at using certain system types or specializing into ships of different size categories.
In other words we will be adding player talents to the game, unlocked by progressing the game's story. These talents will work in coordination with nano aura effects and the design of your ship to make a lot more combat diversity available to the player. The talents will be difficult choices with both benefits and drawbacks that will fundamentally change the evaluation of different types of ship builds.
The goal here is to design talent, module, and nano-aura combinations which can be recombined in creative ways. We hope they will allow players to come up with overpowered builds that even we as the devs can't imagine ahead of time.
New challenges
Finally, since we are going to be adding all sorts of interesting ways to customize your destructive abilities, the players are going to want a way to test their setups in combat. Our aim is for every update to include at least one story event that will be a serious challenge for the player, their ship, and their crew.
Big space battles, tough enemies, and scripted events are jotted all over our notes, we just need time to sort them out and build the parts.