next »

[Zuurix]

Massive graphical update! Sector Six enters beta!

Graphical update is here!
I proudly present one of the most game changing updates in Sector Six history!
It is also the last alpha update - with it Sector Six enters beta!

Read more...

[Zuurix]

Echo #48: Inventory, challenges and rewards

This week I have improved inventory!

Read more...

[Zuurix]

Echo #49: Modifications

Last week I have improved amplifiers, improved part and map tooltips, changed several part properties and fixed problems with the holy thunder.

Read more...

[Zuurix]

Echo #50: 50th echo

When I began working on Sector Six, I didn't knew that it would become this big.

​I didn't knew that Sector Six is going to be in Steam, I didn't knew that it will get so much positive feedback, I didn't knew that one day I will write 50th development blog a.k.a. echo about it.

But it all happened and it's amazing!

Read more...

[Zuurix]

Echo #51: Mission overview

This week I have began working modular difficulty system.
First thing I have to do is to make mission overview screen and I have spent this week trying to make it.

Read more...

[Zuurix]

Echo #52: Shaping modular difficulty system

This week I was shaping modular difficulty system!
​
Read more...

[Zuurix]

Topic reworked!

 Now with 90% less text walls =]

[Zuurix]

Update! Choose your own difficulty, improved inventory and modified enemies!

Modular difficulty system is now live!
You can now increase difficulty of the missions and earn rewards for beating them!

Read more...

[Zuurix]

Echo #53: Upcoming updates

This week I didn't had much time to work on Sector Six.
I didn't do much, but now it's possible to start game with carrier class spaceship!

Starter carrier class spaceship comes with carrier class weapons and abilities.





Next week I am going try to fix modular difficulty system.
Apparently modular difficulty system doesn't make game that hard and it gives too good rewards!

If I'll fix modular difficulty system in time, I will release new Sector Six version next weekend.

When modular difficulty system will be fixed, I will make story mission V, that will be at least 4 times longer than story mission IV! It will also feature boss fight, that will change based on your actions during mission.

In other news, I have finally bought controller!
I will start working on controller support after story mission V.

Future is bright.

Until next time!

[Zuurix]

Update: Difficulty system improvements, new enemy and new starter spaceship

Modular difficulty system has been adjusted.
Now it will be a lot harder to get high grade parts!

• Aberrant Armour challenge now increases enemy armour by 200% per level.
• Lethal Weapons challenge now increases enemy damage by 200% per level.
• The Decision challenge now increases mission length by 200% per level.
• The Manifestations of Destruction challenge now also adds chance to encounter apparitions.
• Added apparition, new enemy for The Manifestations of Destruction challenge.
• Flow Stagnation challenge now also increases ether cost of abilities that have base ether cost of 0.
• Re-balanced difficulty rewards.

This update also features small, but important change - now before starting new game it's possible to choose starter spaceship!
You can choose from two starter spaceships - apocalypse class spaceship and carrier class spaceship.

Other two spaceships will be available when nomad and titan classes will be added to game.

Other changes:

• Now you can upgrade parts that are on your spaceship.
• Graphically improved dreadnought.
• Bombardment stations now have armour.

Until next time!

[Zuurix]

Echo #54: No spoilers

This week I have started working on story mission V!

Because it's a story mission, I don't have much to write about in this echo, because I don't want to spoil it.

So, about mission V:

It's massive, it's about four times longer than mission IV.
It will feature first real story boss!
It has different structure than other missions, it's first non-linear story mission.

That's all I can say about it! I can't even post screenshots.

This is the end of this short echo. Normally I post echoes on Sundays or Mondays, but since I can't write about story missions, I will probably won't write new echoes until I'm done with mission V.

[Zuurix]

Echo #55: Swarms, secrets and decisions

Last two weeks I was working on story mission V!
I have set up the structure of the mission, now all I need to do is to write last two dialogues, create new enemy and boss.

Story mission V contains more dialogues than the rest of game combined and it took me really a lot of time to write them.
But it was really fun!
The further story goes, the easier it becomes to write and I can get to reveal some interesting things.

Every story mission brings something new to the game.
This mission brings ability for player to make choices.
In mission V and other future missions, sometimes you will have to make decisions that will slightly change the course of the story.

Next week, besides working on mission V, I am planning to work on things that aren’t related to story mission V.
I will add part management screen, that will significantly speed up the management of parts.
I will improve enemy spawning system to create interesting enemy groups. I am also planing to bring back beacons, that were temporarily removed from game during the combat overhaul.
Beacons are special enemies that possess the ability to repair other minions.
If it will be possible I will also implement new modifications: “Evolves” and “Regenerates armour”.

It sounds big, but these things will do a lot good to the game and won’t delay the release of mission V much.

Until next time!

[Zuurix]

Echo #56: Better late than never

Last week I have done several things that I should have done months ago!

Thing 1: Enemy grouping

I have improved enemy spawning code to occasionally spawn enemies in wildly random groups! Two lurkers and heavy / acolyte and probe / tank, veteran and swarmling / etc. Everything is possible.

Thing 2: Quick part dismantling and unequipping

I have added two buttons to speed up part management. First button allows to dismantle all parts of the selected grade. For example, dismantle all generic parts in inventory. Second button moves all parts from building field to inventory.

Thing 3: Beacons

I have added beacons, that were removed during combat overhaul. Beacons are unique enemies, that instead of fighting you, repair other damaged enemies. Beacons and new enemy grouping create many new combat situations.

This week I will continue working on mission V.
Update is getting close!

Until next time!

[Zuurix]

Echo #57: One more week

Okay, guys, I know the game was not updated for longer than the month, but give me one more week!

All this time since the last echo I was working on [classified]. Right now it’s almost done, but I need to add 8 more [classified] until it’s finished.

Like I said before, no spoilers. But it’s safe to say that next update will be awesome!

Anyway, when [classified] will be finished, the polishing phase will begin.

New item management buttons and new enemy grouping has few problems that I have to fix before updating the game.

Besides that, with the mission V comes two changes to Sector Six missions.

You will no longer be able to enter the Core region, only during mission IV, future story missions, and endgame. You will also no longer be able to do resurrection missions without [classified], that can be obtained during mission V.

These changes are necessary for the story to make sense. They should not affect gameplay much.

I should manage to do all this new week and update game on weekend.

Wish me luck!

[Zuurix]

Massive update! Mission V is now available!

Mission V is longest story mission so far and the first mission that is composed of smaller missions.
It features many reveals, decision making, and a tough boss fight!

With the new missions comes few important changes.

The first change is updated enemy grouping system.
Now enemies can often be encountered in groups, composed out of 2 or 3 random enemies. This creates many interesting combat situations.

Second change is the new inventory management options.
I have added two buttons to make inventory management easier.
One button dismantles all items of the same grade, for example, all generic parts and the other moves all parts from the building field to inventory.

Finally, I have added beacons back to the game.
Beacons are the special enemies that instead of fighting the player, repairs other damaged enemies.
Beacons were removed during combat overhaul.

Minor changes and fixes:

• Fixed equipped part upgrading.
• Fixed maximum inventory crash.
• Fixed minor graphical glitch.
• Piercing Lasers ability no longer deals damage to enemies outside of the screen.
• Fixed region glitch, now region missions are generated and saved correctly.
• Heavy no longer reflects seeking missiles.
• The Core can now be entered only during mission IV.
• Now you can only do resurrection missions if you obtain the Resurrection Key during mission V.
• Starter alloy container is now indestructible.
• Armoured colony seeker now has more armour.
• Lurkers have been renamed to demolishers.
• Tutorial now explains how to detonate mines with carrier class spaceship.
• Acolytes now have an additional attack.

Have fun!

[Zuurix]

Echo #58: Controller support

This week I have begun working on controller support!

Going pretty well so far, although Sector Six is not a very good game for a controller. It uses so many buttons!

Now it's possible to do these things with a controller:

• Browse and interact with most of the game's interfaces.
• Move, activate abilities from 1 to 8 and use alloy container during combat.

What still needs to be made possible:

• Inventory and alloy container management.
• Spaceship building.
• Pause, mission end and level up interface browsing.
• Using 9th ability.

When that is done, I will only need to update the tutorial to explain controls with a controller.

This won't take long, so I am planning to also fix several annoying glitches before updating the game.

That's all for this echo. I will post again soon, so until then!

[Zuurix]

Echo #59: Some progress

I hope you all had good Christmas!

Last week I didn’t work much on Sector Six. I was playing games, eating candy, working on my side projects. But even with that, I have managed to make spaceship building and inventory management possible with a controller!

There are two ways to approach using interfaces with the controller.

The good way:

Put clickable interface elements into some sort of grid and allow the player to select them in that grid using D-pad.

The easy way:

Keep all elements as they are and instead make mouse cursor respond to D-pad and other buttons on the controller. Instead of moving the cursor with the mouse, you use D-pad to move it. Instead of clicking on buttons with the mouse, you press buttons on the controller.

Because I don’t know how to put buttons and slots into the grid, I had to go with the easy way. It’s not very comfortable, but it works, so I guess it’s okay, at least for now. When I started working on Sector Six, I didn’t even know what controller is, so it could be worse.

Anyway, before I can say that Sector Six fully supports controllers, I still need to address several issues pause menu, game exit menu, tooltips and tutorial hints.

I believe I can resolve those issues within one day and then start fixing glitches that have piled up over time. I’m talking about minor graphical glitches in mission results interface, pause graphical glitch, several Light Eater Eashor’s glitches, and others.

Because I got really tired while making story mission V and because implementing controller support is very boring, next game update will be in January. Mission V was really challenging to make and I worked so much, that it got me dangerously close to serious burnout. I want to slow down development a bit to catch my breath before massive updates that I am going to work on in 2017!

I’m planning to write more about my plans for the next year in next echo.

Until then!

[Zuurix]

Echo #60: New year

For me, 2016 was a very exciting year.

Sector Six was released on Steam and I have become a real game developer.
Not very successful, but real. That means a lot to me.

I have quit school and so far it feels like the right decision.
It's great to finally spend time meaningfully.

I finally have seen my game flourish.
After many updates and tweaks, Sector Six's mechanics finally began to work together.
I have never managed to make game work this well before.
I can finally say without any doubt that I made a good game.

I have saw players playing my game for massive amounts of time.
There are several people who spent 60+ hours playing Sector Six!

After all that happened in 2016, I have become very confident to continue making games after Sector Six is finished.

Now let's look at what updates I have managed to release in 2016!

January 24
New combat system test
I have started working on new combat in the beginning of January and by the end of it, I had a prototype of the new system.

March 30
New combat system release
It took me another two months to turn combat system prototype into something that works.

May 2
Steam release
Sector Six got released on Steam!

May 5
Minor changes
Several small changes based on Steam user feedback.

May 20
Mission IV, new rewards and new leaderboards
Many improvements to story mission system and mission that I am really proud of.
Looking forward to making more similar missions.

June 10
New enemies, new abilities and combat improvements
This update added Sustained Barrage ability and infamous dreadnoughts.

August 19
Massive graphical update
This update has vastly improved the look and feel of the game! There were hundreds of smaller changes.
With this update, Sector Six has entered beta!

October 6
Modular difficulty system, improved inventory and modified enemies
A monster update, that added a new layer of depth to Sector Six.
I could write the whole page about how much this update have influenced the game!

October 28
Modular difficulty system improvements, new enemy and new starter spaceship
Modular difficulty system was too easy, so I had to make another update to rebalance it.
This update has also added apparition enemy.

December 15
Mission V
Mission V was really hard to make! But I have introduced many new things with this mission.
Decisions, non-linear story mission, first real story boss, multiple armor bars mechanic and so on!

2016 was the year of massive growth for me and Sector Six.
After so much has been done, I believe I can finish Sector Six in 2017!

In 2017, after I will finish working on controller support I'll begin working on three secure region based updates - shops, crafting system and the Router!
Between those updates, I will work on new story missions and combat expansions.

Shops
Located in secured regions, they will allow players to buy and sell parts!
Different regions will have different shops.
For example, to get access to the generic weapon shop, you will have to secure Niss region.

Crafting system
Yes, you will be able to craft parts!
This will be a completely new way to obtain parts! Unlike getting parts from drops, you will be able to craft exact parts you need.
Want a part that is a relay, increases maximum armor and generates ether when your ship is hit?
Get materials by mining asteroids, get armor carcass, relay blueprint and ether mirror by dismantling parts, secure a region with the matter fusion facility and that part is yours!

The Router
This massive portal device located in Pylon will take you to hidden regions!
Every hidden region will be different.
Exploring hidden regions will reward you with unique parts!

New story missions
New characters, new boss fights, new reveals, [classified], plot twists, the journey to the other Sector and more!

Combat expansions
New enemies, new abilities, new region bosses, new classes, new region missions and more!

Other planned updates:

Achievements
Many new achievements!

Permanent death mode
The Elder Mechanism will not resurrect your ship if it will get destroyed!

Hardcore permanent death mode
Because just permanent death is not hardcore enough.
Your spaceships parts will be destroyed on hit.
Lose all parts and game is permanently over!

Resetting story missions
After completing the last available story mission, you will be able to do them all over again!

Part sets
Add a certain amount of parts from the same part set and you will be rewarded for unique set effects.
For example, 10 Lodeon's Parts will increase damage dealt based on how many secure regions there are.

Graphical update
Even better backgrounds, new animations, and particle effects!

2017 will be epic.
Until next time!

Before graphical update


After graphical update


Modular difficulty system


Mission IV


Mission V


Epic player built spaceships

[Zuurix]

Update! Controller support beta and miscellaneous fixes!

Sector Six can now be played with a controller!

There's still few things I would like to polish, so expect to see various controller support improvements coming with future updates!
The controller support has been tested with Xbox 360 controller.
If encounter any problems with other controllers, please notify me.
I am also looking for any ideas on improving controller support.

Along with controller support, I have fixed few old glitches and made important changes:

• Fixed pause graphical glitch.
• Fixed wrong default music volume glitch.
• Fixed a minor graphical glitch in the results screen.
• Fixed weapon amplifier glitch.
• Fixed several spelling errors.
• Now if controls are changed, tutorial explanations and ability tags also change accordingly.
• The mouse cursor is no longer visible when it is not needed.
• Improved story mission III:

• Databases now have less armour, they no longer deal damage and destroy nearby enemies when the player enters their range.

• Improved ability bar in combat HUD.
• Now it is impossible to be outside the enemy range and not trigger the missile barrage.
• Added visual hint to warn players that their armour is low.
• Improved armoured colony seeker:

• Now has only 1 core, but its repairing pylons repair more armour than before.

• Aberrant Armour challenge now reduces the power of The Decision challenge:

• Maxed The Decision increase mission length by 100% instead of 1000% when Aberrant Armour is also maxed.

• Slightly improved introduction cutscene.

Have fun!





PS.: Linux version has not been updated due to technical difficulties. It will be updated as soon as possible.

[Zuurix]

Echo #61: Trading and secure regions

This week I have started working on secure regions and item trading!

It's really exciting to work on such impactful features, even if there's a lot of problems I'll have to solve.

Making item trading is rather easy - I have made trading systems several times in my other games, so I know what to do.
I just need to make interfaces, slightly adjust inventory code and it's done!

The hard part is making secure regions where item trading places - cities - will be located.

It wouldn't be hard if I just removed enemies from a normal region and call it secure region, but that's not what I want!

Cities hanging in interplanetary clouds, heavy traffic, lights, stations, statues, advertisement boards - that's what I want to see in secure regions.

That means a lot of objects, a lot of collisions and collisions is Sector Six weakness.
I'll have to figure out how to place objects in secure regions, how to approach movement, how will player access city interfaces and so on.

Right now I have almost finished making item trading and made a city sprite for the trading interface.

That's how trading works:

1) The player completes several missions in a region and it becomes secure.
2) The player enters the secure region from the map - the same way region missions are started.
3) The player goes to a city in a secure region. Not all regions will have them.
4) As the player approaches the city, the trading interface appears, which contains player's and city's inventories.
5) Dragging and dropping the part from the player's inventory to city's will sell that part for a certain amount of currency.
6) Dragging and dropping the part from the city's inventory to player's inventory, will buy that part if the player has enough currency.

Should be pleasantly simple!

That's all news I got for now, so until next time!