Overview
This update will be rather lengthy as I want to get into a number of topics but first: Chapter 3 is finally out! Now that that's out of the way, it's time for celebrations! STARDROP has been in development for 2 years now. OMG! And it seems that STARDROP is quite well received during this years Level Up Game Developers Contest!
Continue reading for more details on everything.
Two Year Development Anniversary
Two years of hard work has lead to what you are currently playing. To celebrate this I have put the game on sale for two weeks. Releasing chapter 3 was very important to me in order to make this occasion something slightly more special.
As a solo dev working on STARDROP it's been an amazing experience. I've met a lot of encouraging people along the way from so many different walks of life, one of the most interesting times of my life so far.
My Personal Background Story
It's been a very tough two year production to be truthful. Hardly any budget to work with and what I did have, had to be spent wisely.
Two years ago I was still working for Monochrome. I have been the lead Level Designer for Contagion for over three years but I was gradually downgraded from my role for increasingly odd reasons. I could see the writing on the wall and decided to do something for myself just to see if I could make a game by myself and as you all can guess, this was the basis for STARDROP.
Shortly after I started STARDROP I got sacked from Monochrome for the aforementioned weird and odd reasons. In general the quality of my work was being brought into question and I still don't understand why to this day I prefer to believe that it was just an excuse but I don't want to go into it any further.
Loosing my job and halting my career, one I have been working incredibly hard for, lead to me having to give up my home. I have been working on STARDROP from a small room where I live with my wife and daughter ever since then. I believe in the game and I have fought and will keep fighting for it. I believe the story I'm trying to tell is important enough.
I've always wanted to tell my own stories and I had a general idea of the kind of game I wanted to make. A rich story driven experience but I hadn't yet figured out which genre or setting.
Then, one night, I was playing Alien Isolation and it hit me. I wanted to play a Sci-Fi game without all the shooting or the constant fear of being hunted. I loved Alien Isolation, it ranks very high on my personal favs list but for my game I didn't need some evil corporation, I didn't want a hostile alien. I didn't want any sort of conflict that you see in so many Sci-Fi games.
Above: This is where it all began. When I'm too tired my daughter takes over.
My personal opinion is that there's so much more to Science Fiction then what we're always being given. You don't always need a gun, or a weapon to create tension. So I set upon myself the challenge of creating a story, characters and a general gameplay philosophy and started work on prototyping STARDROP.
I don't know how I got so lucky to find the voice actors I'm working with at the moment but by god am I grateful. These actors are so incredibly invested into my story and they're able to turn my crappy yet sincere dialog into something presentable.
Aryn Rozelle is just overall amazing and a very fun person. Robert Ducat as John is an old friend of mine I worked with a long time ago. He basically reprized his role as I reinvented his old character. Jordan Potch is being introduced in chapter 3 and I'm sure you all will love his performance as much as I do. (get it? I-do?... NVM) I love the dynamics between all these characters and without these actors I could NEVER hoped to be able to get this far.
Then there's Katabelle as Archer and Makenzie as Meryl. THey're both also incredibly talented. And lastly being introduced in chapter 3 is a crew member of the STARDROP called Jonathan Endee who is actually voiced by one of our Kickstarter backers. That was an incredible awesome surprise to the extent that I want to work with him for real on a future game.
I also have been granted the amazing talents of Adam Halpin who has been killing the musical side of the game. I used to work with him ten years ago and I am so glad I decided to contact him and ask if he was interested.
On top of that I have three really hard working and dedicated play testers. Sensi has been with me for the longest time. He was the first and still is the most dedicated and STARDROP would not be this polished without him. Dmitry and Mondrian also are of immense value as they all keep an eye out on the internet and here on the forums. Always keeping me in the loop if anything's up.
And lastly I have one environmental artist, Ildar, working with me. While his time is scarce his dedication is there. His quality is consistent and he really loves being part of the development process. I'm very glad he's around to add in the small little details that the game needs.
Two years of hard work and I am here, today, to finally release chapter 3. I hope you guys will enjoy it and I have a lot more planned and cannot wait to share the full story when it's all done.
So, thank you all for your support so far. It means the world to me and I hope that with the conclusion of STARDROP later down the road I am able to continue making games once it's finished and hopefully tell other stories in the future. Whatever they may be.
Chapter 3 Released
That's right. After finding a number of issues I decided to roll back the public release of chapter 3 to fix the most glaring errors. While there still might be a number of issues in chapter 3, there shouldn't be anything game breaking. I forgot to finish a few subtitles which I will finish up asap and I wil need to fix the translations system too which has been giving me a hard time.
The chapter builds greatly upon the previous one and it all ends on a pretty neat cliffhanger. As the story currently progresses I think I can finish the game up in two more chapters. However, the next two chapters should be longer. I can't say how much longer for certain though. As you might know I don't like to stretch the game's playtime just because.
If you measure a game's length by its playtime then I believe you're not taking its quality into the equation. To me said quality is far more important and while I do my best to make the game as long as possible it has to make sense. Progression has to flow properly and that to me is far more important then adding 2 more hours of just roaming an empty lifeless ship.
So, please let us know if you enjoyed the new chapter and remember: if you have any suggestions, problems or anything, leave a message and I'll read it.
Now with all that said, let's get into what this new chapter offers.
New Features
With the release of Chapter 3 comes a number of new features and mechanics. I won't go into every one of them as I want to keep some stuff a surprise, I will showcase most of them below.
Chapter Selection Menu
I've finally managed to get a proper Chapter Selection Menu implemented into the game. The way it works is very simple. You unlock the current chapter you're in.
Unlike most chapter selection systems where you have to finish a chapter to unlock it, in STARDROP you unlock the chapter the moment you're starting it. The reason for this is because I don't see a reason why it should be unlocked AFTER you completed it.
Second, with this system you'll be able to simply select whichever new chapter I will release in the future. This way you guys won't have to deal with save-games and all that.
Third, because I am planning achievements to be implemented as well at some point, anyone can select whichever chapter they need in order to try and get a possible missed achievement. DataPad (Audio) logs will not be overridden. This also applies when you start a new game.
Collectable Audio Logs
On top of regular text logs you are now able to find audio logs as well. These logs work exactly the same as text-logs. They get saved and you can scroll through past logs just the same.
These logs enable to create an even richer background story regarding the crew of the STARDROP. It's a feature I wanted to get into the game for a long time and I'm very excited to have it implemented and working.
Some audio-logs tell a small story regarding a crew member which may tie into the overall story arch. Each new entry will offer some more information as to what's going on.
There are a number of audio-logs already present in chapter 3. The plan is to have achievements attached to some of them if you're able to find a complete set.
Information Kiosks
Another new element to further immerse players into the universe of STARDROP are these Information Kiosks.
You will find these around the ship and they are multi-purposed in functionality. These kiosks may simply offer up information regarding which area you're in and what other areas you may possibly access from where you are.
They also can function as simple advertisements as seen in the picture above. These adverts may also offer a small insight into interesting areas you should possibly go visit. Or they're just adding to the immersion extending the world-building.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz3hJrrMHT4&feature=youtu.be
Finally, some of these kiosks may have an actual video advertisement. These videos may also help expand the background story and are mostly related to the STARDROP and its crew and just simply adding more background story.
Control An Android
While it's nothing truly ground-breaking, it is a fun little addition to the gameplay. It also provides a new way to create puzzles for me for you to solve.
I have a number of ideas as to how I want to expand on this feature in the future but I didn't want to overdo it the first time. I like to add variety to the game and will always attempt to keep things fresh, even if I reuse an older feature or mechanic.
Improved Features
I have looked at some of the existing features and mechanics and have tried to improve upon them. Aryns stamina has been increased as I mentioned in the former update as well as reduced power drain for the flashlight and scanner functions.
The Zero Gravity movement system, while not yet perfected, is a significant step forward and feels much more fluid. It also now shows how fast you're going on your HUD.
Updated Inspection System
While the inspection system was around in chapter One and Two I didn't utilize it as much as I should have and I knew it.
Chapter 3 attempts to make this system much more viable. Inspecting objects will result in new information or having Aryn share her thoughts on whatever she's looking at. These now also include Easter Eggs and there's two new ones in Chapter 3.
Besides that, I have attempted to also create a few new objects that are much more tied to the game world compared to before.
While there's still a bit more room for improvement I do believe that this is a solid step in the right direction and am certainly going to continue using the system as I am now going forward.
Postponed Features
I don't like to hold off on things but in this case there's one feature that I will have to take my time for to get it working right.
Retron One
Retron One was to debut in Chapter 3's initial release but due to having to switch to the latest engine something's off in the render camera and I need some time to figure out what it is.
I will keep working on it and it will become available once I get it sorted. I can't give a time frame yet, but I think about a week or two would be a decent estimate.
STARDROP is A Level Up Game Developer Contest Finalist
Earlier this week I received an email and I was kind of blown away. STARDROP is a finalist of the Level Up Game Developer Contest held by Intel.
Obviously I did not expect this and while we're still just a finalist, to me this has been an incredible boost in confidence. Regardless if STARDROP wins anything or not. To me personally it's quite an achievement that the game is being recognized.
The award ceremony is being held on August 25th on IntelGameDev's Twitch channel
I'm quite excited but have learned to never get my hopes up. I will be watching of course and it would be amazing if we'd win. I don't know which category we're in so everything will be a big surprise.
Final Words
As always I will leave you with my final words, which in this case is. I hope you'll have fun. I will get translations working asap and after finishing a few more small issues I will finally start work on adding in a keybinding system.
It's truly long overdue but I will do my best to get a proper system into the game. I have a few new ideas as to how to achieve it, so wish me luck. :)
I will now leave you with a few more images of some of the new areas in chapter 3 as I am very happy with how everything is turning out so far.
I hope this post was informative and as always, if you have any questions, concerns or just want to say hi, then feel free to do so in the forums.
Joure & Team V