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[eobet]

Wow, is this game three years old now?

Are there any videos of any interesting new gameplay to look at?

Also, I'm curious as to what you are using to make it. Unity?

[Blodyavenger]

I like the theme and woah, I love what I see. It looks like that will be rich world to explore but I'm wondering - will there be some action imbued to the game? Or is it more like exploration adventure type?

[zede05]

Oooh, very nice! Are the levels procedural or designed?

[dhontecillas]

Having had a look at the art and comming from the creators of Aqua Kitty , I must post to follow the evolution of the game.   

Offtopic: I thought you were already greenlighted : http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=93326437&insideModal=0&requirelogin=1

[diegzumillo]

Always nice to see old projects that are not dead. Usually after some time away there's a big change it's abandoned.
That screenshot looks faithful to the concept art. Very nice!

[Rudolf Kremers]

Oooh, very nice! Are the levels procedural or designed?

They are designed. Slowly, lovingly, and... MADLY!


Well, not madly.

[Rudolf Kremers]

Wow, is this game three years old now?

Are there any videos of any interesting new gameplay to look at?

Also, I'm curious as to what you are using to make it. Unity?

It has been a lot of on and off development, with long periods of off. where we were busy on our other games or jobs. This is the big push though.

Problem with these kind of games is that you need a lot of features in place and locked down before you can make levels. Especially in this game where A LOT of gameplay relies on manipulating AI and exploiting AI systems. (creatures have all kinds of behaviours that affect other creatures and their environment). Without a good sense of the final number of factors it is impossible to do anything but really rough sketches.

It's all coming together now though!

[Rudolf Kremers]

Back on this with a vengeance now...

It's a fascinating game to work on. As our AI content falls into place, as well as the editor tech, it becomes more and more complex.

A key part of the game is learning the intricacies of how AI interactions affect the world and your place in it. So for example, a "Spider Hunter" can chase a player down, but can get distracted by preferred targets, like "Jump Mites". It will try and web-wrap smaller enemies like the jump-mites, which then can be picked up by the player, and released into the game at any point. Jump mites eat spider eggs, which is why they are arch enemies.



Or: Glow Plants, which collect and store solar energy, and release it in laser attacks. These attacks can be provoked, and drawn to hit other targets between the player and the plant. Furthermore, after it has released all of its energy the plant must recharge, at which point the layer can steal it's "glow orb". This then becomes a pickup that can be used to illuminate dark areas of the game, and deter creatures that are scared of light, like the "Dark Bat".

Anyhoo, you get the picture. This stuff gets exponentially more complex as you add creatures and inter-creature behaviours and relationships. You kinda get amazing emergent gameplay out  on the other side, but it makes it extremely hard to do any formal level design.

SO, my current approach is to create levels with some core interactions (Enrage the Gonka beast to make it rush you and let it ram the Skrillian Hive Crystal, thus freeing up all infected animals), but surround that with a huge amount of loose content that will generate interactions based on the player's own choices. Pepper it up with some progress puzzles, unlocking mechanisms, photography, and traditional metroidvania exploration, and hopefully it will all kinda gel. :-D

 

[Rudolf Kremers]

This emergence/data driven approach to game dev can be really good fun.

Today I discovered various unexpected mechanics. Here are some of them:

1) The game features an infectious plague that manifest as glowy orbs.(Skrillians) They stick to their targets and if not killed in time can lead to paralysing infection. They do glow in the dark however, so, it is entirely right to get attacked, and run into an area with creatures that fear light (dark bats). Not only will it disperse the bats, they also provide new targets for the pursuing orbs, and illuminate the dark area.

2) The player can freeze and subsequently pick up little lizard critters. These are really handy as they can be food or targets for other creatures. (throw them and they start running around where they land). All nice and good and as designed, but if you throw them into an infected area, they attract the Skrillians, which get expended in the process, leaving infected lizards everywhere... but nos Skrillians! The nice thing is that the game offers ways to clear the infection, thus freeing up the lizards for re-use.

The game is chock full of this kind of stuff. :-)

 

[migrafael]

This looks sweet! Didn't read through all the developer's posts so I'll leave this tab open for later. Seems really interesting.

[Rudolf Kremers]

This looks sweet! Didn't read through all the developer's posts so I'll leave this tab open for later. Seems really interesting.

Thanks :-)
I have been terrible about communicating the project, and it has been hard finding the time for it. We are back on track though and it is finally coming together, so a good time to blog it properly and regularly.

I should do the same for Eufloria Adventures and Neopolis really.. all these games should come out this year.

:-D

[Rosstin]

Why not combine cut-out style and dynamic lighting via normalmapping? It could be great.

These sound like famous last words, hahaha....

[Rudolf Kremers]

Gonna ramble a bit about scope.

Now that the game features and editors have reached a certain level of maturity I find myself in a bit of a content creation maelstrom. This is one of my fave times in a project really, as every day sees huge progress.

To give you an idea of the planned amount of content I will share our general area overview with a handy image:

Its a semi-linear metroidvania aproach. You arrive at a start level (Hangar) learn to control the character and certain mechanics, while traversing and learning about the world. (gardens, Hub, Crew Quarters, and then back to gardens) and then you get faced with ever expanding access through a teleporter hub. (Player Base)

From then on it will be a matter of discovering upgrades, abilities, powerups, and learning about AI mechanics, which will unlock new area, and sub areas within sub areas. I.E finding the Jetpack in Biodome 2, or in the hanging gardens will give you access to dozens of areas you could not reach before.

Here is an image:of the start level, without art:

(the player sprite can be seen, tiny, bottom left next to the (1)

This is not the biggest level by far, and certainly not the most complex in gameplay terms..

Here are some sub rooms.

As you can see it gets pretty complex with camera areas, triggers, pickups, ai areas, teleporters etc etc...


Now the trick isnt so much the amount of content, although it's a lot, its more about making sure it all unfolds nicely, in a way that is fun to explore, and encourages exploration. The more you explore the more access you get. I've opted for escalating freedom, so you still get loads of exploration fun, but it is a bit more guided at the start of the game. It completely opens up about half way through though.

Furthermore, because of the complex network of access routes, its easy to get confused. (hence fun diagrams and spreadsheets)

Getting there though :-)