next »

[Zuurix]

Echo #84: Complete map rework

This week I've been trying to improve combat HUD and graphics.
I've changed HUD to cover less of the screen and made collisions more impactful.

Next week I will be preparing for one of biggest Sector Six updates ever - complete map rework!

Map rework is a solution to levelling problem.

Because enemy level scales with player level, levelling up is not that beneficial to a player.
Sometimes even harmful.

I want to change that.

There are 3 ways I can do it:

1) Allow the player to change a level of enemies manually in the map screen.

Player levels up > Returns to map screen > Increases the enemy level > Player starts another mission.
It would be effective, but it's a very lazy way to do it.
And possibly exploitable.

2) Scale enemy level with player level whenever the Machines move.

I liked this idea, but it's way too easy to exploit it.
With a simple strategy, the player could easily become 10 levels higher than enemies.
I could make it impossible to exploit, but those fixes would hinder the game even more.
I can do better than this.

3) Get rid of the dynamic map and create different level zones.

Sector Six had so-called dynamic map since the early versions of the game.
In other games, wars and invasions don't really affect the game.
I wanted to be original and make the world into a battlefield, where player actions affect the course of the war.

Currently, every 10 missions player starts - either wins or loses - the Machines moves, occupying other regions.
Because there's 8 of the Machines, it's possible to recover regions faster than the Machines destroy them.
Secure regions are where shops are located and the Machines are able to block access to them, by invading secure regions.

It's an interesting system, I really like how it works.
However, it only works with enemies scaling to the player.

Similar games to Sector Six like Torchlight or Path of Exile have completely different map system.
There are connected zones with different level enemies.

The player plays in level 1 zone, then reaches level 2 and moves to level 2 zone. And so on.

I want to this with Sector Six.

I will have to create a zone for every player level.
Every zone will have 3-12 regions, a story mission and a different set of enemies.

E.g.:

Deep Path
Level 1 area
Minions: Collector, drone, demolisher, probe, tank, swarmling
Mission: The Beginning

The Core
Level 10 area
Minions: Heavy, anode, dagger, revenant factory, veteran, swarmling
Mission: The Core

Tarion Link
Level 11 area
Minions: Veteran, dreadnought, probe, killer, gatherer, scion
Mission: The Eight Keys

Enemies, item rewards and cities will be the same level as the region.
E.g.: Deep Path cities will sell level 1 parts, enemies in Deep Path will be level 1 and drop level 1 parts.

Players will still be able to secure/destroy regions.
I might make some missions more punishing than before - failing them will damage status of multiple regions in the zone.

This seems like the best solution - it will permanently fix problems with levelling, create a strong feeling of progression and increase variety.
By dropping that Machine invasion minigame, Sector Six should become into a much better game.

The only problem is that between every part of the story, players will be required to level up, which might feel grindy.

But if it will end up being a problem, I'm confident that I can fix it as well.

So, that's the news!
Hopefully, I'll be able to include screenshots or even a video of the new map system the next time I post.

Until then!

[Fat Pug Studio]

The only problem is that between every part of the story, players will be required to level up, which might feel grindy.

I think this is the best possible solution. Adjusting difficulty based on players progress feels flatlined. I remember playing FF7 back in the day, you just couldn't pass some areas without the grind to level up, and some were basically an autolose if you weren't jacked up to the maximum. So, if my vote is of any use, i vote for zones. It's by far the most time consuming to craft of all the options, but offers best possible play experience.

Btw how are the sales going, are people getting interested? Game's looking better and better, i advise you to work on those backgrounds with multiple layers and levels of bluriness, and those floating cubes and stuff in the background could float a bit up and down to feel more dynamic than static. As for the missile trails, why not try making them completely opaque with sharp edges like the ships?

[Zuurix]

I remember playing FF7 back in the day, you just couldn't pass some areas without the grind to level up, and some were basically an autolose if you weren't jacked up to the maximum.

Yeah, it's the same with Sector Six.

If everything goes right, players can complete all implemented story missions without stopping to grind.

But if something is wrong - player equips wrong weapons or spends points on less efficient abilities - enemies become slow to kill. When enemies have more time, they deplete player's health quicker, leading to failed missions and lost mission rewards.

Because experience is not lost when a player fails the mission, there's false hope of recovery, so players start grinding missions to kill few enemies before losing. Unfortunately levelling up currently only makes the situation of an inexperienced player worse. Which leads to more grinding.

You can go for long like that, always behind enemies, always losing. At this point is impossible to progress through the story.

That's how bad it is.

A visit to the shop to buy more powerful weapons and upgrade them with amplifiers would fix it instantly, but most players probably quit before they figure that out.

With zones, players will have infinite time to do missions they can finish until they get familiar with the game.
Even better - with zone approach, I can keep more dangerous enemies in higher level zones.

Btw how are the sales going, are people getting interested?

The changes in the latest video aren't available yet.
In August and September, I earned a good sum but it's because I did a bundle sale, promotion and big 50% sale.

There were a lot of positive changes and sales should only go up from here.
I have improved tutorial, I don't hear "Everything is confusing" feedback anymore =]
I have also made game translatable, so the game will probably be available in multiple languages.

The next step is to make those graphical improvements, take good screenshots, make a good trailer for once and write better descriptions.

So yeah, map rework > background, camera, shields, trails > new description, trailer, screenshots > story > translation > release > post-release development - permadeath mode, creative mode, 4th class, other optional stuff.

Oh, and I will consider releasing on DRM free stores like Itch.io, GameJolt, GOG, IndieGameStand.
The good thing about smaller stores like GameJolt - with a good game you can dominate the whole store.
I don't feel like Sector Six is capable of doing that right now, but it's improving quickly.

[Zuurix]

Echo #85: Areas of Deep Path

Last week I spent a lot of time trying to improve HUD.

Unfortunately, none of the changes did anything good to it, I had to revert them and now I'm working on map rework.

My plan is to add 3 zones and see how that changes the game.
The first zone is Deep Path.

Deep Path will have 7 areas:

Aon Way
Initially secured
Sells level 1 generic weapons when secured

Berel Way
Initially destroyed
Has an arena

Cyr Way
Initially occupied
Contributes level 1 optimized part when secured
Story mission: The Beginning

Dask Way
Initially besieged
Contributes level 1 generic weapon when secured

Ewe Way
Initially besieged
Contributes units when secured

Fion Way
Initially besieged
Sells level 1 parts when secured

Galis Way
Initially besieged
Sells level 1 alloy containers when secured

Aon Way, Berel Way, Cyr Way... It just means area A, area B, area C... Giving all the areas in 30 regions unique names would take too much time.
I will eventually give certain areas more meaningful names, but for now, it will be like that.

So, map rework will not only change the way player progresses through Sector, it will also add new features.

Instead of having shops, some regions contribute items and resources to help you fight the Machines.
Contributions will be given out after every successful mission in the region.

For example, if you have secured Ewe Way and then complete mission in Irre Way, Ewe Way will give you some units.

Another new feature is arena missions.

Because the Machines will not occupy regions anymore, you would run out of missions after you have secured all areas in the region.
Arena missions will prevent that.

Securing all areas in the region will be enough to level up and move to the next region, but I'll add arena missions just to be safe.

So, how will arena missions work?

Arena missions will be similar to good old kill missions.

During arena missions, you will never fight more than one minion at once in the arena.

Also, after every minion destroyed, you will need to choose one of two randomly chosen opponents.
E.g.: Heavy or tank, veteran or acolyte, modified collector or probe.

To complete arena mission, you will have to destroy 10 minions.
Arena mission reward is always units and amount of units is based on which minions you have defeated.
Bigger minions will give more units.

There's also an option to continue fighting indefinitely after required 10 fights.

To be able to do arena missions, you will have to secure the areas that have arenas.

Anyway, right now I'm working on making map more eye pleasing.
I'm going to make map squares bigger, mission icons more visible and add decorative map squares.

And that's all of the news.
Until next time!

[Zuurix]

Echo #86: Map rework intensifies

Last week I have done a huge part of map rework and added arena mission.

Arena mission works just like I have described it in the previous echo and map rework is going really well!
I have already changed most of the things to work with the new map system.

Left to do:

• Change story mission 5 to work with the new map system.
• Relocate and rename several regions.
• Add 27 remaining regions.
• Add contribution system.
• Add siege mission.
• Add endgame area and improve new game+.
• Add a few minions.
• Add part compression.
• Improve secure regions further.
• Fix various minor problems.

This is not only the map rework, I'm also trying to add some of the remaining features.

Features like part compression, siege mission and endgame area.

Endgame area will be the last area in Sector Six after map rework.
You will be able to customize it - set the level of enemies, choose which enemies will spawn in that area and other things.
It will your main hub after completing the story.
Alternatively, you'll be able to start a new game+, which will reset story missions and increase levels of regions.

Siege mission will be a fun gameplay loop.
Massive structure of the Machines will spawn minions, you will destroy them for ammo to reload siege cannon
Reloaded cannon will fire a missile at the Machine structure and then you'll have to get more ammo.
This will continue until you will destroy the Machine structure.

Part compression will allow you to compress two parts into one, so you will be able to make your spaceship slimmer.
It will give even more customization.
To keep big ships viable, I'm planning to make certain abilities benefit from spaceship size.

This update is very fun to do so far and will probably make the game like 90% complete!

That is the end of this echo.
Until next time!

[Zuurix]

Echo #87: Harvest week

Map rework continues!
Last week I have added more regions, added contribution system, improved map interface further, relocated certain regions and changed story mission 5.

I would have done more, but I have burned out in the middle of the week and had to spend a whole day recovering.
Also, I had to help my parents to harvest beets, so didn't have much time to work on the game.

Coincidentally, I added a reward system that allows you to harvest free items!
To do that, you need to secure region that contributes parts, then complete mission in the other area of the region and hit the new "Collect" button in map interface to collect contributions.

There are 15 regions now out of planned 30.
I expect to have all regions added to the game next week.
I should have more time and remaining regions have no story missions, so I can add regions faster.

Here's the updated to do list from the previous echo:

Add 15 regions.
Add siege mission.
Add endgame area and improve new game+.
Add a few minions.
Add part compression.
Improve secure regions further.
Fix various minor problems.

Adding one region takes about 10-20 minutes, including adding decorations and naming the areas, so it should be done quickly.
And yes, now I give a unique name to each area.

The interesting thing about area names is that they aren't gibberish.
If you will pay attention to them, you may find out a lot about Sector Six.

For example, Archmist region area names: Colowa, Phasia, Kor, Negatar and Mzenor.

They are archaic names of Negati, Phase, Colowis, Tridenkor and Mzenim.
That's because sentient life in Sector Six began in Archmist asteroids.

People from Phasia colonized region now known as Phase, it was the centre of Phasian civilization.
People from Kor later have conquered Phase and created Empire of Kor.

Which later shattered and turned into three smaller empires of Tri, Den and Kor.

Even later those empires were conquered by nations from Colowa, Mzenor and Negatar.

People of Tri, Den and Kor fled to a distant region that they have called Tridenkor.

Tridenkor region is going to have only one area called Innexis.
And in the Almadi language "Innex" means "Unity".
From the word "In" - "One".

A lot of area names mean something in Almadi language, they will start making more sense as I will develop the Almadi language and reveal more of its words.

I rarely write about this, but a lot of names and features in Sector Six have stories behind them.

Anyway, I have relocated certain regions and added new regions.

Here's a new list of regions: (And names of upcoming story missions for hype!)

Region level / Region name / Region mission

Level 1 / Deep Path / The Beginning
Level 2 / Negati / To Negati
Level 3 / Labyrinth / The Almadi Knowledge
Level 4 / The Core / The Core
Level 5 / Aspil / The Eight Keys
Level 6 / Pylon / The Eight Keys
Level 7 / Niss / The Eight Keys
Level 8 / Archmist / The Eight Keys
Level 9 / Sailemar / The Eight Keys
Level 10 / Ityl / The Eight Keys
Level 11 / Paradise / The Eight Keys
Level 12 / Tarion / The Eight Keys
Level 13 / Tridenkor / The Wrath Of The Machines
Level 14 / Colowis / The Wrath Of The Machines
Level 15 / Mzenim / The Wrath Of The Machines
Level 16 / Broken Labyrinth / The Origin
Level 17 / High Path / Path Beyond
Level 18 / Gallamar / Beyond Light
Level 19 / White Grid / Beyond Light
Level 20 / Eolutch / The Edge
Level 21 / Pulsar Vector / Broken Worlds
Level 22 / Bloom / Broken Worlds
Level 23 / Lumer Pass / Broken Worlds
Level 24 / Wacar / Broken Worlds
Level 25 / Venerion / Broken Worlds
Level 26 / Phase / Broken Worlds
Level 27 / Nebula / Broken Worlds
Level 28 / Spiral / Broken Worlds
Level 29 / Rift / The Birth Of Infinity   
Level 30 / Broken Infinity / The Eight Machines

As you can see story mission 5 - The Eight Keys - is spread through 8 regions.
It used to work better with old map system because it's not designed to be linear, but I can't do anything about it now.

Besides that, the new map system works well and I can continue developing it =]
It should be finished in two more weeks.

Next week I am planning to work on secure regions, I'm going to make cities look better and add part compression.

That's all I have for this echo, so until next time!

[Zuurix]

Echo #88: Part compression

This week I have added remaining 15 regions, improved secure regions, implemented part compression system and began working on siege missions.

The most interesting of these is part compression.



Part compression allows you to combine two parts into one!
Compressed parts are easier to manage and allow to built smaller spaceships.

Things you need know about compressed parts:

Compressed parts use 2 slots like two uncompressed items would.
Compressed weapons use 2 weapon slots.
You cannot compress different grade and different level parts.
Compressed parts cannot be compressed further.
Parts can be compressed in all cities and it costs 5 alloy.

Also, compressed part is two parts stat-wise, but physically it is one part.
Using compressed parts will make Awakening Of Inner Power and Creation Of Energy abilities weaker.
I am planning to adjust few more abilities to work like that and keep uncompressed parts viable.

So yeah, now you choose how big your spaceship will be!

To make part compression, I had to add few things to cities in secure regions.
One thing led to another and I have made several improvements to secure regions.

Most noticeable of them are graphical improvements.
Cities still don't look as good as I want them to look, but it's a step forward.

I have also made city entering and leaving faster and automatic, you no longer need to manually move your ship to the city.

Anyway, as I have planned, this week I have added remaining 15 regions.
Now Sector Six has 145 areas and it should take about 300 missions or 15 hours to secure all of them!
It's unnecessary and I don't recommend doing that, but it still feels good to have so much content.

With all of that done, only four things remain in to-do list:

Add siege mission.
Add endgame area and improve new game+.
Add a few minions.
Fix various minor problems.

I can probably do all of that in a week, so the update is close!

Hang in there!

[Zuurix]

Echo #89: Relics

This week I have added siege missions, improved new game+ and began polishing new map system.

It seems that I'll need an extra week to finish map rework because the list of minor improvements I have to make has become really big.

Anyway, it's been a while since I have written about future updates.

As you probably know, after map rework I will finally be making story missions.
There are 9 missions left to go, a lot of them will be difficult to make, especially the ones close to the end.

There will be a journey to Sector Five, 7 fights against the Machines, important reveals, new characters and heaps of new content.

This might take me months to make, but these months will be very interesting!

I'm planning to sneak in smaller stuff with story missions on each update.

There are several things I want to add to take game closer to perfection.

One of those things is relics.

Item update back in June really helped to make higher tier items more interesting, but they aren't as good as legendary items in other loot games.

I always thought that random items are what makes a loot game, but I have to admit that I was wrong.
Hand-coded items with unique are just better than procedural items.

At least not with my item generator.

I think that lack of interesting items is the final gameplay flaw of Sector Six.

And I am going to fix it by adding relics!

I came up with the idea of relics by watching some video about Destiny 2.
Destiny 2 has legendary items and I was inspired to write a description of a legendary item for Sector Six.

I wrote one, then another one... And now I have a whole bunch of relics!
It's surprisingly easy, there's a lot of design space that I was not aware of.

Here are some of the relics:

Breakcharm Of Mara
Removes 40% of armour from first 10 minions in mission
Only works if Manifestations Of Destruction is active

Avadys, Atomic Collector
Increases damage by 2% on kill
Generates 1% armour on kill

Etherion's Fusion Reactor
+5 levels to Missile Strike ability
+5 levels to Concentrated Fire ability
+5 levels to Detonate ability

Mortal Core
+200% damage if you have transient container equipped
Generates 1 alloy on kill

Darkwork
-80% armour
Alloy containers will restore 10% of armour per alloy

Rifted Lure
+5 levels to Phase Recognition System
+300% phase break damage
Reduces phase break cooldown by 80 seconds
Only works if Risk For Reward is active

Ultranid's Hope
Damage you deal to your spaceship will not destroy it

Plasma's Link
Reduces Piercing Lasers cooldown by 30 seconds

Metasphere, Secondary Main Core
Your spaceship will not be destroyed for 5 seconds after armour drops to 0

Fractal Repository
Generates fractal part after every successful mission

Eternal Nodeno
Transforms Nine Bladed Mines into Thousand Bladed Mines
+30% node damage

Weaver's Song
Transforms Swarm Control into Spectral Barrage
+100% damage

Calm Of Vanadian, Mental Reactor
Azimar's Killframe set effect will not remove ether
Sets ether on kill to 0
Transforms Creation Of Energy into Glory Of Vanadian

Relarei To Burn Worlds
Reduces Death From Above cooldown to 0.5 seconds
Increases Missile Strike cooldown to 5 seconds
Removes 1% ether every second
+30% relay damage

I was planning to add some of those effects as small part sets, but this works much better!

I would like write more about relics but it's time for me to deal with a huge list of not-so-huge improvements and glitches.

Until next time!

[Zuurix]

Massive update! Region rework, new content and part compression

This update completely changes regions!

Sector Six has been split into 30 different level regions.
Regions have different areas, cities, and enemies.

Part compression

Now you can combine two same level and grade parts into one to make your spaceship smaller!
You can compress parts in all cities.

Arena missions

Secure areas with arenas and enter them to fight!
In the arena, you can choose which enemies to fight.
You need to kill 10 minions to complete arena mission.
Completing arena mission will reward you with units.
The number of units you will get is based on enemies you destroyed during the mission.

Siege missions

Use siege cannon to destroy the Machine bulwark!
Siege cannon requires ammo to be used and it can be obtained by killing enemies.
Cannon keeps running out of ammo and minions keep coming, making it the most complex side mission!

New enemies

The Machines have released barragers and orbital platforms to wreak havoc in Sector Six.
Barragers have a weapon that rapidly fires missiles - don't get in front of them or you'll be destroyed!
Orbital platforms are not a big threat if you can remove their shields and don't get hit by their unpredictable mines!

New secured area types

New types of secured areas have been added:

• Areas that sell generic weapons and amplifiers
• Areas that sell parts and amplifiers
• Areas that sell parts and alloy containers
• Areas that sell optimized parts
• Areas that sell advanced parts
• Areas that contribute generic part after every successful mission.
• Areas that contribute generic weapon after every successful mission.
• Areas that contribute amplifier after every successful mission.
• Areas that contribute optimized part after every successful mission.
• Areas that contribute advanced part after every successful mission.
• Areas that contribute fractal part after every successful mission.

Graphical combat improvements

Added additional enemy hitting animations and sounds to make combat more satisfying.
Enemy sprites also become more damaged as they lose armor.

Loot changes

Loot has been rebalanced: Enemies now drop units on almost every kill, while part drops are rarer.
There are also new loot messages.

Full list of version 0.9.0 changes >>

Have fun!

[Zuurix]

Echo #90: New update schedule and story mission VI

Last week I have returned to working on Sector Six story!

But first, here's the new update schedule:

Mission VI and mission VII update

This update will add mission VI and mission VII.
ETA: 2017 December.

Mission VIII and background update

This update will improve backgrounds and add mission VIII
ETA: 2017 December.

Mission IX and item update

This update will add mission IX and will improve items + add the first batch of relics.
ETA: 2018 Q1

Mission X update

This update will add mission X.
ETA: 2018 Q1

Mission XI update

This update will add mission XI.
ETA: 2018 Q1

Mission XII update

This update will add mission XII.
ETA: 2018 Q1

Mission XIII update

This update will add mission XIII.
ETA: 2018 Q1

Mission XIV and last game update

This update will add mission XIV, some endgame content and all remaining achievements, new save system and avatar customization.
With this update, game will leave Early Access
ETA: 2018 Q1

I really wanted to finish Sector Six in 2017, but it's not going to happen.
The new plan is to release the game before the second quarter of 2018.

It should be possible because all that's left is content and story.

Speaking of story, the mission that I am working on - mission VI - will take place in Tridenkor, Colowis, and Mzenim.
This mission will have unique events and enemies like mission IV and a boss fight like mission V!

It's a very important and ambitious mission - it's going to change the direction of the story and it will be very intense.

Mission VI will add three new enemies: Havoc, scythe, and barrier.
Scythe will immobilize, havoc will fire so many missiles that you will need to hide under the special shield to survive and the barrier is similar to barricades from mission IV, just capable of attacking, nothing special.

And that's all I can write about mission VI without spoiling it.

Until next time!

PS.: Go to my website to get a mythical part >>

[Zuurix]

Echo #91: Havoc and scythe

This week I was working on the new story mission.

I'm about 60% done, I have added all required enemies, finished writing and finished 1 out of 3 boss fights.
Mission VI is divided into three parts and at the end of each part, there's a small boss fight.
When I say small I mean that it's smaller than boss fight in mission V.

Anyway, here's havoc and scythe, the new enemies:









Scythe is the first minion that is able to destroy player shields.
It releases slow moving bladed mines that aren't hard to dodge, but if you will activate a shield, it will be gone instantly.

Havoc does the opposite - you will have to shield yourself or you'll take massive damage!

So, that's all news for now.

Until next time!

PS.: Secret Sector Six achievement revealed on my site >>
PPS.: Join my Discord server to enter Sector Six giveaway >>

[Zuurix]

Echo #92: New missions are coming soon

The wait is nearly over!

This week I have finished making story mission VI, with all its bosses and encounters!
Now I need to make story mission VII, but it's more a cutscene than a mission, so it won't take me longer than a day to make it.

Then there's the mandatory polishing/minor bug fixing phase and I can release the update!

This should happen this week, so keep an eye on announcements!

PS.: Go to my site to enter Sector Six giveaway >>

[Zuurix]

Update! New story missions

This update adds two new story missions!

Fight new minions and bosses, meet a new character, endure despair and end the first chapter of the story!

From here the story will get even darker.

Other changes:

Fixed: It was possible to reflect apex's red lasers.
Fixed: Dozan Vel area glitch.
Fixed: "You can use more weapons" message used to appear on level up screen even after maxing out weapon limit.
Fixed: City trade link was above item tooltips.
Siege missions now take less time to complete.
Replaced "Cannot be refilled" alloy container flaw with "Loses 20 alloy after every mission".
Added backgrounds for Silaar, Charred Link, Nebula, Rift and Broken Infinity.
Improved backgrounds.
Removed fog.



Have fun!

PS.: Claim mythical part on my website >>

[Zuurix]

Echo #93: Game reveals

This week I've done many small things.

I have started 75% discount on Steam, updated store page, fixed several glitches, expanded mission interface for new missions and finished writing for story mission VII.

It was a busy week, but what I did is not very interesting to write about, so this post is perfect to officially reveal Sector Six sequel, ENTER and other games!



Yes, I already have plans for multiple games =]
If you have any questions about them, I ready to answer them.

Happy holidays and until next echo =]

[Zuurix]

Echo #94: New year

2017 was a year of difficult advancement!
There were many tough phases both in my life and Sector Six development, but I have pushed through and now I'm feeling stronger than before.

Sector Six has been under harsh criticism several times this year - both direct and indirect.
I have used that criticism to take a better look at my game and improve it further.

After region rework, a new tutorial, better loot and graphical combat improvements, Sector Six is a much better game than it was at the beginning of the year and I am really proud of that.

Another thing that I am proud of is how much hours I've invested in Sector Six this year.
I've never developed this hard before.

Here's what updates hit Sector Six in 2017:

January 18
Controller support beta, and miscellaneous fixes

February 20
Secure regions, trading, and alloy container rework

March 19
New abilities and enemies, city improvements, new game+ and full controller support

May 23
New side missions and achievements

June 27
Part sets and the item update

July 8
New tutorial

August 12
Titan class

September 26
Final combat update

November 18
Region rework

December 19
New story missions

After all these big updates, Sector Six is 88% complete!

In 2018 Sector Six will be completed and will leave Early Access!

This is what I need to do to finish Sector Six:

Remaining 6 story missions
I'm not counting story mission VIII because it needs few more hours of work until it is ready to be released =]

Relics
Unique, build-defining parts that Sector Six always needed!

Broken Infinity
The ultimate endgame area!
It will feature chained missions with the Machine boss to defeat at the end of each chain!
Mission chain rewards include relics!

Save system rework
You will have more save slots and will no longer need to manually save!
This update will allow me to add permanent death mode!

Relics, Broken Infinity, save system rework and story mission XIV will come in one, final Early Access update.

After Sector Six will be released, I will continue updating it to fix glitches and add more content.
Although I will only add additional content if there will be a demand for it.

Possible post-release content:

Tombworld of Hate raid
Raids in Sector Six will be like long story missions, similar to story mission V.
They will have bosses and will give relics as a reward.
They will also be non-linear and difficult as hell =]

Nomad class
The most complex and powerful class!

Two new bosses for boss missions
Comes with new minions!

Omni amplifiers
Amplifiers that double the power of a part!
Obtained by collecting fragments from side mission rewards.

Variety packs
These small updates will add new minions, new side missions, new relics, new achievements and new ruin types.

So, yeah, 2018 will be pretty epic =]

Have a good year everyone!

[Zuurix]

Echo #95: Fixes and improvements

Steam Winter Sale has brought in new players and new glitch reports, so I spent most of the week fixing those glitches.
I have made a major new game+ test run and managed to fix several new game+ problems.

Fixed: Using anode on part upgraded with diode used to allow to apply diode again.
Fixed: It was possible to use diodes on etalons.
Fixed: Minion long-lasting shield problem.
Fixed: Lodeon's Ultimatum set effect used to deal damage to your spaceship in secure regions.
Fixed: Obelisk used to block Swarm Control missiles.
Fixed: Map used to reset to Deep Path during the first play session.
Fixed: Alloy containers in inventory used to show wrong alloy percentage in secured regions.
Fixed: Leaking alloy container used to lose alloy after visiting secure regions.
Fixed: Minor modular difficulty system saving issue.
Fixed: Mission V on Niss glitch.
Fixed: Region level bonus was not displayed correctly.
Fixed: New game+ crash.
Fixed: Unit rewards in new game+ used to give the wrong amount of units.
Fixed: Small graphical Phase Recognition System description glitch.

I have also made a bunch of miscellaneous improvements, some of them are quite important:

Mythical parts no longer have can have wave chances.
Instead, they can increase certain ability levels.
I have decided that wave chances are too good to be on mythical parts, so now they can only be on etalons.

Compression grade and level limitations have been removed.
Now you can fuse [any part] with [any part]!

Part upgrade chance now can upgrade parts to mythical parts and etalons.
Buff!

Parts dropped by modified enemies are upgraded once automatically.
The same part can be upgraded again by part upgrade chance!

Region level XP bonus is now applied even if you fail the mission.
Consistency!

Deep Path, Negati, and Labyrinth regions now have weaker minions.
New player experience!

Now it's possible to enter secure regions even if your inventory has more than 3 pages of items.
You will no longer have to dismantle parts in inventory page 4 just to enter the secure region and sell the rest of the parts.
Basic game functionality!

Trash stats.
Less useful stats will appear on part less often!

Before trash stats, all part properties were considered equally useful by the part generator.
That will end with the next update.

Trash stats:

Initial ether
Maximum ether
+% ether
Phase break damage
Phase break cooldown reduction
+% experience
+% part upgrade chance

After all that, the game will become more stable and pleasant when the new version will be uploaded.
And that should happen in a few days, so get ready =]

Until next time!

[Zuurix]

Update! Mission VIII and miscellaneous improvements

This update adds a new story mission and many small, but important improvements.

Mission VIII

You are desperate.
After all those failures, you are willing to steal darkest secrets of the Almadi civilization.
The knowledge of those secrets will change you, maybe even kill you, but without it, you have nothing.
At this point, you will do anything for another chance to Sector Six.

Improvements

• Compression grade and level limitations have been removed.
• Changed the way opened region is saved and fixed several region saving issues.
• Deep Path, Negati, and Labyrinth regions now have weaker minions.
• Time rift is now called time vortex.
• Now it’s possible to enter secure regions even if your inventory has more than 3 pages of items.
• Region level bonus is now applied even if you fail the mission.
• Part upgrade chance now can upgrade parts to mythical and etalon parts.
• Parts dropped by modified enemies are upgraded - e.g.: Optimized part becomes an advanced part.
• Added part upgrade chance amplifier.
• Added infested defense nodes to Silaar region missions.
• Improved part generator, less useful part properties are now less common.

Fixes

• Fixed: It was possible to use diodes on etalons.
• Fixed: Minion long-lasting shield problem.
• Fixed: Using anode on part upgraded with diode used to allow to apply diode again.
• Fixed: Lodeon's Ultimatum set effect used to deal damage to your spaceship in secure regions.
• Fixed: Obelisk used to block Swarm Control missiles.
• Fixed: Map used to reset to Deep Path during the first play session.
• Fixed: Alloy containers in inventory used to show wrong alloy percentage in secured regions.
• Fixed: Leaking alloy container used to lose alloy after visiting secure regions.
• Fixed: Minor modular difficulty system saving issue.
• Fixed: Mission V on Niss glitch.
• Fixed: Region level bonus was not displayed correctly.
• Fixed: New game+ crash.
• Fixed: Unit rewards in new game+ used to give the wrong amount of units.
• Fixed: Small graphical Phase Recognition System description glitch.

Have fun!

Next update: Story mission IX and maze missions.

[Zuurix]

Echo #96: A day of my life

Last week I was working on story mission IX.

I was planning to add new side mission and wasted a lot of time trying to make it work.
Due to various limitations, I couldn't make maze missions work well, so I decided to put them away for a while.

Now I'm working on mission IX, which is a few days away from completion.

Like always, I can't write about story missions.
Instead, I thought that maybe it would be interesting for you guys to know how I develop Sector Six.

So, here's a day of my life:

I wake up late, 10-11 AM, then go to do my daily chores - cleaning, cooking, taking care of cats, etc.
My father and brother work outside on our farm, my mom usually busy with something inside and I'm the only one who can do those chores.

After chores are out of the way, it's 1-2 PM.

This is when development starts.

My main tools to develop Sector Six are GameMaker: Studio 1.4, Audacity, and Notepad.
That covers programming, graphics, writing and sound editing.


Home sweet home.

On a good day, I would code, write, make sprites and do whatever current update requires until 7-9 PM.

While the game is being compiled I check Steam community hub and other Sector Six places if there are new comments.
That's why I can respond to them so quickly =P

On a bad day, I would try to do what I need to do, fail to do it and quit for the day.

If I could, I would work 8 hours every day but it is not how it works.

I need cool names and new attacks for enemies, interesting sequences for story missions, ways to add new content, ideas to fix game design problems and sometimes I just don't find them in my head.

So I go do something relaxing and wait until my brain finds the right way to do things.

I'm slowly learning how this all works and results are getting better.
In 2016, there used to be not only bad days - there were bad weeks.
Now bad days are much less common and even on the worst day, I force myself to work on something easy at least for one hour.
That's from where the small fixes and improvements come.

After 7-9 PM on a good day, I end development for that day and go rest.
I watch shows, YouTube and play games.

Or sometimes I go to work on side projects.

Most of them are abandoned after a one day, so it's a waste of time, but I can't help it.
Sector Six development is going slowly and I just need to try all those ideas that I get and that cannot be applied to Sector Six.

Sometimes I go manage my so-called network - Twitter, Facebook, Zuurix.com, Steam groups, Discord.
I don't do that often because I don't get much from that.
The network will be useful, once I become more popular as a developer.

Sometimes I have no game I want to play, so instead, I make games.

Sometimes I do everything - play, watch and work on side projects until 1 AM night.
That's why I wake up at 11 AM.

There are only three things I want to improve in my life:

1) Get more money for my hard work.
2) See more player feedback - comments, videos, screenshots. That'll improve naturally over time.
3) Get a bit of social life going. Not too much, because I'm introvert =]

Anyway, right now I am kind of stuck on mission IX.
But I've already had a bad day on this, so I'm hoping to do some good progress soon.

With every story mission it's becoming harder to come up with new ideas and if I had more time, I'd spend it to polish dialogs and other things.
For example, defense system core boss would be much better if I had more time.

Technically I have an unlimited amount of time but I decided that this is it - I need to finish Sector Six, 3 years of development is enough.
I need to start making a new game, that is not limited by old decisions, so I'm going to cut some corners.

Going to cut a corner here and end this echo just like that.

Until next time!

[Zuurix]

Update! Mission IX

This update adds another story mission.

Mission IX

Open a forgotten way to the other Universe beyond time and light!
Story mission IX chains alternative versions of siege, boss and time attack missions.
Features decision making and decision consequences.



Other

Now it's easier to set the volume in settings.

Have fun!

Next update: Mission X, Sector Five, new enemies, and new items.

[Zuurix]

Echo #97: Sector Five

Last week I didn't do much, unfortunately.

Reasons why:

1) I tried to make more interesting names for parts. Which failed.
2) I updated one of my side projects. For the last time. No more side projects until Sector Six is complete.
3) There were a few farm interruptions.

But this week was not a complete loss.

One of the biggest things that happened this week was a small part update.

In near future, it will be possible to rotate most parts by clicking the right mouse button on a part.
Or left trigger, if using a controller.





I've also started making Sector Five for story mission X.

Story mission X will take place on Sector Five, which means new areas, new area backgrounds, new enemies, and new cities!

Sector Five will be different in a way that it's not under attack by the Machines.
That means no occupied regions and no minions of the Machines.

I need to make at least three new enemies for Sector Five missions.
Well, just two missions - story mission X and arena mission.
Since there's no war, the only fights are in the arenas.

Sector Five will have two areas.
One area will be for story mission X, while the other will have a city that sells empty parts and the arena.

Empty parts will expand the spaceship customization further.
Empty parts are parts with amplifier slots instead of part properties.

For example, empty fractal parts will have 5 amplifier slots and no properties.
All of the empty parts will be level 1.

This week I hope to do most of the things required for mission X and finish making it next week.
It will probably get delayed like always, but that's how it works.

So, yeah, until next time!