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[luxregina]

THETA LEGION

WHAT IS IT?
Theta Legion is a retro FPS that will play a lot like Doom/Quake. You are impersonating a member of a Space Foreign Legion sent to investigate planets and space stations and clear all the threats you may encounter. The game will divided in several missions, taking place in various environments, pitting you against many different enemies.

Visually, Theta Legion is a ultra-low poly game that uses pixel-art textures. It takes cues from my last popular game, Lost Outpost> https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/629531 and will share some levels with it.

I am currently the sole person working on it, except for a sound designer that I'm contracting... So I take care of everything: code, art, design, etc.



WHAT IS DONE?
I have 4 functional missions in 4 different environments. The game started as a small VR game made for the Oculus Go. I was working with a coder, and we are in the process of submitting the build to the Oculus store. So if you have a Go, you should be able to play it soon, it will be free.

Here's the trailer for the Oculus Go version :



I've decided to port the Oculus build to PC, and hopefully distribute the result on Steam as an very cheap early access game (around $1.99) - if the game sells in early access, it will fund content additions, and as I'm adding more and more content to the game, I'll raise the price accordingly... Some sort of a reverse kickstarter idea: what do you guys think?


WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS?
I want to launch with more content: the current maps were designed for VR, so the levels are shorter than your traditional FPS levels. On top of the existing 4 maps that are already done in the First mission, I'm planning to add 2 more maps.

And then, I'm planning to add an entire new mission, maybe in a space station, to have another type of environment and possibly lift some levels from Lost Outpost. I haven't decided yet.

The game will also allow to replay certain maps in "horde mode" (called Last Stand, ingame) for some hi-octane action.

CAN I SEE MORE?
Yes, I do have a gameplay video capture from the PC build here >


It's a old build that had some aiming bugs that have been corrected since then.
I've also written a few break-downs in my blog, that you can read there > http://luxregina.com/portfolio/category/blog/



SO, HOW CAN I, TIG READER, HELP?
Well, by providing feedback: I'd like to post some WIP as I'm making the new maps, and get some returns, feedback, etc... I'm also curious about what you guys think of my distribution strategy, possibly let me know when I have enough content to publish on Steam, etc...

And just generally, let me know what you think about the game in its current state

[Zireael]

Wow, that's some really pretty pixel art! 

[luxregina]

Thanks @zireael!

Apparently, everything is always better with zombies, so I've been working on a large new map that can be used both for missions and for the last stand mode, and brought a new enemy in-game!

Happy Thanksgiving/BlackFriday (or happy regular Friday) everyone!

[NowSayPillow]

I really like the way this looks; super excited to possibly give it a shot one day.

[luxregina]

Couldn't resist making a Gif from the last build

[luxregina]

Not completely done with the flooded tunnels level, but wanted to start something fresh and get an idea if what the next mission would be:

- The game will be composed of "missions" that will each have independent yet connected narrative... The first mission is on an Alien planet and base, and I thought it would be nice for the second mission to have a Cyberpunk environment... been binging on Ghost in the Shell, and about to start Altered Carbon for inspiration...

This is a preview where I'm heading at, after 6-ish hours of work... just barebones geometry with some lights and a simple skybox to get a vibe for a color palette and lighting...obviously, much more to come, but I thought some of you might be interested by more "work in progress" shots...

[luxregina]

The new outdoors environment is slowly coming together...

[sec32]

I adore the graphics. In my opinion, it's very difficult to blend 2D pixel graphics with real time 3D. You nailed it.

The 1 pixel sparks, the realtime lighting and shadows. Oldschool and fresh at the same time.I wish I came up with this.

[luxregina]

Thank you, it's a fun challenge indeed to mix the old-school, and the (relatively) newer approach. I've been a 2D/sprite guy for a long time, and only recently dabbled in 3D, and I've always been about low-poly esthetic because I'm not a pro-modeler, and in order to compete with AAA industry, you gotta spend days if not weeks on a model... as an Indie dev, that's a big no-no...

With this style, I think I found my niche - and people seem to respond well to it!

Here's a video of the environment, with some music my sound artist composed specifically for:

[Zireael]

I love the aesthetics!

[luxregina]

For those of you that have an Oculus Go, you can grab this for free > https://www.oculus.com/experiences/go/1891861000921757/

It's not as "pretty" as the PC version, because we had to seriously optimize and compromise for mobile VR, but hey, it's free

I've been contracted for some freelance work, so I'm having a short break but I'll be back soon with more stuff to show

[sec32]

Thank you, it's a fun challenge indeed to mix the old-school, and the (relatively) newer approach. ...

You nailed it. It's really fantastic.

[luxregina]

For those of you interested about the future of Theta Legion, this is what has been going on quietly behind the scene:
- I am aiming at a Steam release Q2 2019 with 5 overhauled levels
- All levels have been redone for the PC version and are significantly larger than their VR counterparts
- I added a new "underground" level and new enemy types
- Most of the lighting will see a significant increase in quality in the PC version
- Replacing the laser heavy gun by a shotgun and considering a rocket launcher
- Once the 5 level steam build is up (most likely around $1.99 or 2.99) I'm considering launching a Kickstarter to try to fund the game furthermore (additional levels and multiplayer)

I'm not much of a coder, so I'm doing everything I can for now, hoping to raise some funds to be able to hire a dev to help me with the harder features, such as multiplayer, etc...

- Would you buy a short game to support a dev?
- Should the game be labeled early access on steam?
- What do you guys think of realeasing a small playable on steam then having a kickstarter to support an increased scope for the game? (of course, bakers would get a free key)

[JMStark]

Beautiful environments and pixel art texture work!

If you want to raise funds and get people interested in supporting the project with a Kickstarter, I would think that a free demo works best as a MVP to sell people on the idea. And since it is free, I would focus more on polishing a smaller portion of the game instead of trying to rush out enough content to justify a small price.

[luxregina]

A Quick Hello to show a new environment and the beginning of a miniboss fight:

[luxregina]

Hello everyone!

Lately I decided to add a "cavern" level to the game..this takes us to the 7th fully realized level: a few tweaks on the AI, and I think the best route is to go Kickstarter and see if there is interest for that game!

Thanks for reading!

[luxregina]

Oh, the video is a bit old: the sniper bug got fixed, as well as the hairline over the grass

[luxregina]

It's like I'm talking to myself how the mighty has fallen

[luxregina]

The game is finished and had been submitted to Oculus for store approval. I'll post a link to the website and the store soon, for those of you interested to check it out

[luxregina]

We got 2 streams, if you guys are interested to see the game in play:





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