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TIGSource ForumsCommunityDevLogsXenosis - A top down 2D story driven retro sci fi shooter (Fig Campaign)
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EpicNerdRage
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« Reply #40 on: February 27, 2017, 01:13:16 AM »

Hey everyone, I thought I would update you all with a developer video of the game. This is the first video like this I have ever made, so I apologise if I come across waffly or the technical aspects of the video are not the best!!

I wanted to give an overview of the gameplay, stealth mechanics, lighting, crafting, AI and a little of the early stages of combat.

I hope you find the video interesting, and it should give much more of a feel of what the game is like to play.

Please let me know any feedback, comments or suggestions on how I can improve things like this in the future, its all a learning curve!!



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EpicNerdRage
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« Reply #41 on: February 27, 2017, 06:56:50 PM »

Okidoki, so I have settled on a new name at last, Xenosis: Alien Infection

It suits the story of the game so much better, and should allieviate any confusion now!



To give a little more information on the reason behind the name:

Xenosis and xenotransplantation: addressing the infectious risks posed by an emerging technology.

Advances in transplantation biology have enhanced the possibility of xenotransplantation as a therapeutic option for end-stage organ failure. The potential spread of animal-derived pathogens to the recipient and to the general population, termed "xenosis," is a potential complication of interspecies transplantation. Recognition of such infections will be complicated by the presence of new pathogens, new clinical syndromes, and altered behavior of these organisms in the immunocompromised xenograft recipient. Particular concern exists over the activation of latent viruses, including retroviruses, from xenograft tissues. Based on experience with human allogeneic transplantation, a strategy is proposed to stratify the risks of known pathogens from animal donors. Those pathogens considered most likely to cause human disease can be excluded prospectively from herds of animals developed for organ donation. Research is needed into the activation and behavior of retroviruses and other potential pathogens in xenotransplantation. Stringent, expert, peer review of clinical protocols must be performed for scientific merit and to enhance the safety of the recipient and of the community at large.

from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9067941

This suits the plot of the game perfectly, and should mean that is not so generic now and ties into the game's theme in a more meaningful way.
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EpicNerdRage
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« Reply #42 on: March 05, 2017, 01:23:14 AM »

Hi all, just a small update today to let you know what I have been working on this week.



So, A bunch of weapons are now in the game and fully functional, and I thought I would give an overview of them, and talk about the upgrade system.

At present there are a bunch of base weapons that fall into the following classes:

Pistol - Standard sidearm, fast to fire, low recoil and accuracy and low damage.
Shotgun - Close range, slow speed and low accuracy, but good damage.
Assault Rifle, Fast firing, low accuracy and medium damage.
Sniper Rifle, Very slow firing, extremely accurate, high damage.
Pulse Rifle, Very slow firing, extremely accurate, pierces targets, high damage.
Flamer, continuous fire, close range, medium damage.

Each weapon has a bunch of modification slots that you can use to fit various weapon mods. Some of them are a single upgrade such as laser sights, others will allow you to upgrade parts of the weapon to new tiers.

The upgrades you can craft come in 3 levels, basic, standard and advanced. The following can be upgraded on each weapon:

    Rate of Fire - How fast the weapon can fire
    Recoil - How much stamina is used per shot
    Accuracy - How much deviation the bullet has
    Range - The effective range of the shot
    Damage - The amount of damage inflicted
    Impact Force - The amount of physics force that the bullet applies to its target
    Clip Size - How many bullets the gun can hold before reloading
    Reload Speed - How fast the gun can be reloaded

You are also able to craft ammunition types, such as armor piercing, biotech, toxin etc. each having a unique added effect to the target.

This means that there is plenty of variety to be had with the weapons in Xenosis, but you will find that you will have to pick and choose which weapons you concentrate on upgrading as your resources will be limited.

Anywho, short and sweet for this update, but again as always, please spread the word and share as there is a long way to go to reach our goal Smiley
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EpicNerdRage
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« Reply #43 on: March 08, 2017, 11:18:10 PM »

So, time for another update, this time on perspective and performance.

Basically, I realised that I could get better performance from my game by using the deferred rendering path, but of course you cant do this if you are using an orthographic camera. So I decided to do some testing to see if swapping to a perspective camera would boost the performance of the game, seeing as I am using lots of per pixel dynamic lights with shadows.

Interesting results to be had, for example in one part of the scene I tried swapping between cameras and I see these results.

Orthographic, Forward Rendering:


Perspective, Deferred Rendering:


As you can see, the performance benefits are definately real. I had to do some work on the input controls after swapping to perspective, plus it buggered a few camera scripts, and I had to give the walls textures, as previously you could'nt see the sides of them, I was only using them to block light, but to be honest, I think its made the game have far more depth. I made a short video showing the difference when the camera mode is changed.





I think it looks better, and performs better too, so all round a winner!
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EpicNerdRage
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« Reply #44 on: March 10, 2017, 04:10:49 AM »

Hey all, It was about time that I had a build up for people to play, so I have put together a PC version that you can download and play now.

This is still pre-alpha, so there may be some bugs or other funky stuff, but on the whole it seems very stable and should give you a good feel for the game and its mechanics.

Please, if you have any questions, comments, feedback or want to report a bug, please contact me via twitter @EpicNerdRage or email [email protected]

So without further ado, please download and enjoy Smiley

Download the pre-alpha

Controls:

Move - WASD / Left Stick
Aim - Right Mouse Button / Right Stick
Fire - Left Mouse Button / Left Trigger
Reload - R / X (xbox) / Square (playstation)
Sprint - Left Shift / Left Bumper
Action - E / A (xbox) / X (playstation)
Cancel - Q / B (xbox) / Circle (playstation)
Inventory - I / Y (xbox) / Triangle (playstation)
Items - Tab / Left Bumper
Flashlight - Z / Dpad Up
Change Weapon - Mouse Wheel / Dpad L/R
Pause - Esc / Start
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EpicNerdRage
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« Reply #45 on: March 13, 2018, 12:23:26 AM »

Hi, its been a long while since my last update, but things have moved on considerably!

I've been away from this for a few months as I needed to bring in some production funds to finish the game, so I made a game in 3 months called Jump Gunners, which is now on Steam, and is being showcased by Microsoft at GDC next week as one of the awesome new ID@Xbox games coming to Xbox, which is so awesome!!

I will also be demoing Xenosis there too, but today we also launched the Fig Campaign (in super secret early access mode). If you are interested in supporting Xenosis, please visit the Fig page... this isnt live to the public yet, so you can grab a great deal there on the game too Smiley Please feel free to share that link to anyone who might be interested in supporting the game, it would be super appreciated!

So, here is some new footage for you so you can see how far the game has come, compared to the older versions!

Major updates are lighting, shaders, AI performance and player / enemy design. I will go into depth on the new updates soon, but as we have mostly been working on the campaign these last few weeks, I'll get back to the technical posts after GDC Smiley




















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KPas
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« Reply #46 on: March 13, 2018, 11:48:16 AM »

Good to hear that you continued working on this! Smiley
I played the demo last year and really enjoyed the atmosphere!
I remember that I didn't get clear about the flashlight. It didn't reveal anything. At least that was my guess. But in the latest trailer there is showing up a totally dark area (well, with a glowing monster ...) where you depend on your flashlight.  Hand Thumbs Up Right
Good luck!

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JonKelliher
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« Reply #47 on: March 13, 2018, 01:34:26 PM »

This is looking pretty cool! I like the atmosphere you've brought to a top-down shooter. I assume that the idea is that the survival aspect of the game plays a big part in creating the tension - much like how games such as Dead Space make ammo such a luxury so as to ensure you poop yourself when confronted with an enemy that you're totally not prepared for.

Keep it up!
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EpicNerdRage
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« Reply #48 on: March 13, 2018, 06:33:15 PM »

This is looking pretty cool! I like the atmosphere you've brought to a top-down shooter. I assume that the idea is that the survival aspect of the game plays a big part in creating the tension - much like how games such as Dead Space make ammo such a luxury so as to ensure you poop yourself when confronted with an enemy that you're totally not prepared for.

Keep it up!

Hey thanks! Yeah, the survival elements are designed to make you feel like you are never really in a good place, and never have enough to be reckless... its a hard balance though design wise!

Good to hear that you continued working on this! Smiley
I played the demo last year and really enjoyed the atmosphere!
I remember that I didn't get clear about the flashlight. It didn't reveal anything. At least that was my guess. But in the latest trailer there is showing up a totally dark area (well, with a glowing monster ...) where you depend on your flashlight.  Hand Thumbs Up Right
Good luck!

Thanks very much! We are working to make sure that areas rely far more heavily on the use of the torch and other light sources. This will come into effect far more when having to rely on stealth to bypass certain enemies and areas Smiley
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EpicNerdRage
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« Reply #49 on: May 04, 2018, 07:55:36 PM »

Hi everyone, I am switching to a new devlog post style now, so that its more focused and regular. These updates will be posted here, on GameJolt and the Fig Campaign page going forward.

I know that there is post history here from way back, but I don't want to remove it and start over as it shows where I started with this.

So, here is the first of the new updates.
« Last Edit: May 04, 2018, 08:06:57 PM by EpicNerdRage » Logged

EpicNerdRage
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« Reply #50 on: May 04, 2018, 08:01:35 PM »



Hi all, James Stone here, the designer and developer of Xenosis: Alien Infection. I will be posting regular devlogs up here on the progress of the game, but I thought the first few updates should be focused on the background of the game, and what we are trying to achieve.

So today, I would like to talk about inspirations.

So, if you are an old(er) guy like me, you may have grown up playing some of the most influential game experiences of the last few decades. I was born in 1977 so I grew up with gaming from the moment I was old enough to hold a controller, which means that my teenage years were spent playing games that left a lasting impression on me. I spent my days lost in the endless rooms and tight enclosed spaces of Alien Breed on the Amiga, hunting down cyborgs in Syndicate, exploring alien worlds in Hired Guns and of course, facing off against Shodan in System Shock.


Alien Breed on the Amiga, image copyright Team17

The thing about all of these games that stood out for me as a player, was the total sense of immersion they gave, with a finely tuned and crafted experience, designed to completely draw you into the role that you are playing. Even today, I can play any of these games now and still find myself delving into the worlds that they created, reliving the experience with as much joy and wonder as I did all those years ago.

My goal with Xenosis was always to create my own compelling and deeply immersive experience, designed to draw you, the player, into the world we are creating. For me, I think the top down perspective is vastly underused these days, as it forces you to think in a different way when playing. Its open enough for you to make tactical decisions as a player, but restrictive enough to not always know what lurks around the next hallway.


Exploring the Engineering deck in Xenosis

But its not just the perspective that adds to the experience, its the overall sensory approach that builds the layer that draws you in. For that my team and I turned to TV and Film, and thinking about the atmosphere in movies that really captivated our minds. Of course there are the obvious inspirations from the likes of the sci-fi classics such as the Alien and Aliens(I mean, what sci-fi creation isn't influenced by these) But there are other films that really used lighting, audio and visual effects to create stunning pieces of art in motion. I for one remember the growing corruption and total change from exciting mission to hell in space in Sunshine and Event Horizon.


Ripley being a badass in Aliens, image copyright Twentieth Century Fox

It's hard to create something new in this space and not be influenced by stories you have read or seen, but I believe that we are taking a fresh approach on a classic genre of gaming, built on a story I have had in my mind since I was a boy. I think that if those games back in the day had access to the advanced game engines that we can use today, you would see similar use of lighting and audio to create that tension and deep woven story lines with complex narratives and expanded worlds.

If you didn't grow up with these games, or perhaps just never played them, I urge you to try out some of the sci-fi classics that forged the path to the games that we play now. Perhaps I missed out on some classics too, let me know if there is something I  should be hunting down too, a classic from your childhood perhaps...

Kind Regards,

James.



Xenosis: Alien Infection is being crowdfunded on Fig, visit the campaign here
« Last Edit: May 04, 2018, 08:18:34 PM by EpicNerdRage » Logged

EpicNerdRage
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« Reply #51 on: May 15, 2018, 11:27:43 PM »

Xenosis is now live on Fig!

Hi all, I just wanted to let you know that as of today, the Fig campaign is now live and you can support the development of Xenosis and get really awesome unique rewards too.

Many of these rewards will not be present in the retail versions and are only available for Fig backers, and they are going fast!

http://www.fig.co/xenosis

We launched only a few hours ago, and Xenosis is already over 60% funded, which has completely blown us away! The reaction from fans, backers and investors has been nothing short of amazing, so if you have already pledged your support, then please accept a huge thank you from us all here at NerdRage Studios, you rock!

Stay tuned for regular updates on the campaign and the games development, and if you have any requests, please feel free to get in touch.
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