As version 1.6 draws to a successful close, I'd like to look toward the future, and share with you my vision.
If I had to sum up version 1.6 in just 2 words, I'd say "away missions". The next major milestone's theme could be described as "non-violent play". And while I am about to describe some enormous additions to the fundamentals of the game, know that 1.7 will encompass more than what is presented here, just as 1.6 included features that had nothing to do with trees, guns, or monsters.
Please note that this is not chronological, but an overview of large systems that may be added in any order, and work synergistically to create a richer game universe.
And now, I present to you:
Asteroid Bases
Imagine a neutral spaceport where you can park your ship, stretch your legs, talk to people, take new quests, and purchase services you've never seen before...
(This is a quick image David made to help flesh out the idea.)
When visiting these hidden bases carved out of space-rocks, you might encounter a mixture of these services:
- Cybernetic Upgrades: Improve the power, duration, and cool-down times of your cybernetic skills!
- Artifact Dealer: A shop that allows you to exchange two artifacts for one. They might also sell clues to temple locations.
- Cartographer: Someone who deals exclusively in planetary surveys.
- Scrap Dealer: A merchant interested in salvaged shipwrecks...
- Gadgeteer: More on gadgets later but buy and sell them here.
- Advanced Crafting Lab: Fine-tune your crafting output to add specific powers to weapons and suits. Of course you'll need a variety of new items to accomplish this.
- Weaponsmith: Take what you already have and make it better!
- Alchemy Lab: Learn all about the special properties and uses of the 135 rare plants you can find, or just sell the ones you've collected.
- Medlab: Cure diseases, heal injured officers, and maybe even get yourself a clone (?!)
- Gambling: Have too much money? Throw it away here!
- Zoologist: Sells cages, wants animals. Also interested in "bestiary" information you've collected.
- What can you think of? What kinds of services have you been wishing for?
And the craziest part? No combat!
Depending on the reception, this system could be expanded to give you the option of exploring existing space stations on foot (instead of just using the current menu interface), or even WALKING AROUND YOUR OWN SHIP! Maybe you could even decorate it? We'll see...
Shipwreck Repair
What do you do with a shipwreck when you've killed all the monsters, scavenged the loot, and fully mapped it?
- Salvage it yourself? Blow it up and see what else falls out?
- Sell the rights to the scrap dealer?
- Tow it to a space station for a salvage fee?
- Repair it? Put in the work and turn it into your new home!
That last one is a much more involved process, but it would also be a lot more rewarding. Fix up the walls, patch the holes in the floors, restore power and atmosphere. You'll need special skills, tools, gadgets, and even some problem solving skills. But you'll end up with a brand new ship :O
Gadgets
These unassuming little boxes look a bit like crafting parts, but they have a wide variety of uses:
- They'll be featured in the majority of the new game systems.
- They're used to repair shipwrecks.
- They're used to 'solve' puzzles.
- They're used to power or activate certain machines.
- They can be a reward for a quest...
- ...or the very thing a different quest-giver wants!
- Could be necessary for alchemy (see below) or advanced crafting.
- Buy or sell them if you can find a "gadgeteer" in an asteroid base.
- As a major factor in the Barter system, each one is valued differently depending on your trading partner.
Puzzles
Ready to challenge your mind in a new way? Puzzles in Approaching Infinity are intended to give you new interactions and reward your ingenuity.
- Search for clues in your environment.
- Push an item into the proper slot.
- Arrange a series of machines so that they function correctly.
- Press the buttons in the right order.
- Deduce the next number in a series (math, anyone?).
- Choose the non-trapped chest on the first try.
- Assemble pieces of a password.
- Figure out how to bypass certain traps.
- (Your ideas here!)
Machines
Here are some facts on these awesome-looking esoteric contraptions:
- They're similar to "furniture" items that populate shipwrecks and underground bases.
- Each one has an "on" state, which is animated, as well as "off" and "broken" states.
- They're destructible, so watch where you throw those grenades!
- You may have to push them around on the map.
- You might have to fix them.
- They might give you important information.
- Turning all the machines on in an area could reveal something previously hidden.
- You will see them during shipwreck repair missions.
- They will also be featured in their own purpose-built new areas.
- Certain puzzles will be designed around them.
- (Ignore the slime-monsters, they were created in some evil genius's lab...)
Barter
One sentient's trash is another's treasure, so why not trade for what you need!
(Again, a quick mockup)
Meet with traders on stations and asteroid bases, surface colonies, underground hideouts, or just pull your ship up next to theirs and start exchanging.
Each side has only a few things that the other is interested in, and NPCs will have their own ideas about the value of your offerings. But if you give the glow stones to the Gruff, they might just hand over that Firax clue they're holding on to.
Alchemy
Remember when I asked for your help in naming all those rare plants? Remember when you found them on planets and tried to pick them up (but couldn't)? Soon you'll be able to *do* something with them!
Did you know there are 135 of them in total, and each one is found on only a handful of planet-types? Conchbud and Hive Bulb occur on 7 kinds of planets, while Withervane and Moldercurtain can be found on only 3 (toxic, irradiated, and dying planets).
Each plant can have multiple "properties": fire resistance, healing, cyber-gel component, hull salve, warp widener, sensor soother (ok, some of those names are silly and made up on the spot, but you get the point...) They can do a lot of things!
But the properties aren't useful by themselves; you've got to combine them with others that have the same effect to actually create something useful. And the results of this system could be:
- Away team consumables (make you faster or give your bullets shock damage)
- Spaceship consumables (heal your ship or make you a better negotiator)
- Disease cures (or even vaccines to keep you from getting sick in the first place!)
- Trade goods (other people need these things too you know!)
- Crafting Ingredients (how else are you going to give your equipment the powers you want?)
- Harvest their seeds and find a place to farm them?
- WHAT ELSE?!
Bestiary
(Semi-non-violent...)
Monsters can have almost 100 different powers, as well as resistances and vulnerabilities to 22 types of damage! That's a lot to remember. You already get feedback about your weapon's effectiveness, and sometimes your crew will shout out hints. Why not keep track in some official way?
(An early iteration of the bestiary, showing all the details up front.)
But what if you didn't know it all up front? What if you had to learn it each time you started a new game? Of course, *you*, the player, would retain your knowledge... we haven't figured out how to erase your memory yet. But your character's knowledge would need to be built up in each new play-through.
And there can be weapon-testing quests, and merchants who buy and sell information on monster's abilities. Even notes found from previous runs that restore parts of your missing knowledge. The zoologist mentioned in the asteroid base section is certainly going to be interested in this kind of thing, might even sell you a cage trap to bring back a live specimen...
More Quests!
There is a *lot* more story to tell, and many more ways that conversations and inter-species dynamics can play out. Several weeks of this development supercycle will be dedicated to pushing the boundaries of what a quest can be in AI:
- Meet new NPCs who want your help.
- Obtain more diverse types of items and information.
- Face new restrictions and challenges.
- Visit previous sectors instead of always being forced onward.
- Choose between branching paths that change the world!
Art Collection
Currently, when you find alien artworks, you see a picture and get some data and credits. That's it.
But where does it go?
Soon you'll have a browsable art collection. But it won't just be for show. You will meet art dealers looking to complete their collections. Maybe you can use art pieces in the barter system? Perhaps a quest to locate certain stolen or illegally released works that are embarrassing to a particular regime?
And maybe we can begin to see more details about each work? Who created it? Where and when? What's the title? Maybe not only could these things be shown, but they could be *written*... BY THE COMMUNITY!
Starting-Ship Overhaul
OK, this might not have much to do with "non-violent play", but...
Thanks to conversations (and members' hard work!) on Approaching Infinity's Discord, the ships you can start the game with will be getting lots of attention. The big idea behind this is to make each ship fill a specific role, and do something that no other ship can.
Of course some ships already do this: the Gruff ship has a melee attack! The Eaters ship "consumes" commodities instead of picking them up! The Star Skimmer gets a shield-and-damage bonus when close to stars (I bet you didn't know that) !
But the other ships need some love too. Starting supplies will most likely go up across the board, and the starting equipment of each ship will become much more specific. And to tie back in to 1.7's driving force, new interactions will be created to help these ships find their niche.
For example:
The stealth runner is fast and sneaky, but easy to kill and not really suited to away missions. Maybe the new asteroid bases will need to hire you for smuggling or spying missions where not getting caught is key?
Conclusion
Approaching Infinity 1.7 is going to bring massive changes and rich depth to this already expansive game. It will also take 9 months to get all this stuff right.
Please join me on this incredible journey!
Bob / IBOL17
May 2021