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[mushroomblue]

ABOUT THE PROJECT

This project started as a small side project to keep me actively developing something while my main project was momentarily bottlenecked. However, the more I worked on this project and shared captures with my game developer friends, the more suggested I pursue it more seriously. Many non-developers also expressed interest in the project. This motivated me to try to elevate it from personal exploration to something more suitable for a pair of developers. Tasks are on an online Kanban system, Project is hosted on a Git repo, and documentation is currently in text and spreadsheet form.




DEVELOPMENT CAPTURES

Here are some images and videos captured during development over the last few months, as such some older captures feature art that has been redone and redone again. They still serve as examples of what I've been working on.

• Pixel perfect UI in Build mode
• Animated conveyor belts
• Very simple character creation
• Dialog system
• Holographic objects (preview, plan, built)
• Customizable colors
• Utilities are important
• Food and Drink Dispensers
• Gas and Liquid Storage
• Research Tech Tree
• Sitting Posture
• Self-Lit and Animated Screens
• Dynamically Connecting Conveyors
• Slopes to make Ships and Stations less blocky
• Functional Utilities
• Animated Machines
• Sweet Dreams
• Automation prototyping, including a first pass of conveyors
• With conveyors you also need grabbers. These guys have unique features like customizable pickup and drop zones
• Turrets that also tie into the automation system, can be fed ammo from conveyors/grabbers, and can accept different ammo types for various effects
• More work done on exoplanet generation, here showing an alien-colored biome

CURRENT STATUS

In terms of Art and Design the project is more or less ready for production. The design being largely adapted from other projects and games, and in some cases simplified. The art, all developed my myself, is consistently progressing - I tend to throw some art at the pixel project daily, typically after working on the other project. The code has progressed intermittently with a handful of programmers dropping into the project to move elements of their interest forward. Generally speaking the prototype art and design is ahead of what is coded. The project is well suited for someone who wants to take a long-term position in a Lead Programmer type of role.




ABOUT THE GAME

The game has a number of inspirations, but also things we'd do a bit differently.

• Oxygen Not Included is a great reference for both building and crew management, however ours is top down and focused on building ships, stations, colonies as opposed to retrofitting an asteroid.
• Factorio is an excellent reference for the automation side of things, especially in terms of exoplanet surface gameplay. Some major design differences: our conveyors don't have two paths, and our research isn't color-based.
• RimWorld is a great reference for emergent gameplay and some AI simulation. Perhaps less for intense 'story generator' gameplay but more just added depth and flavor for your crew.
• FactoryIdle is a good reference for our goals of persistence incremental gameplay. We like the idea of playing on the web as well as on a dedicated gaming platform. The conveyor building is very intuitive. However the intense linear grind and very limited gameplay is not something we're looking to include.
• The recent title, Cult of the Lamb is a great reference for the two major gameplay loops: the lower stress downtime of working on your structures and crew, and the more intense action gameplay of exoplanet exploration.
• The Sims 4, in terms of code architecture, does some things I really appreciate. Smart Objects especially. Less work for programmers, more work for artists/designers, is ideal for this project.
• The main project, Sol Invictus, is a massive influence, but it differs largely in terms of presentation, being realistic 3d with generally more mature subject matter. The 2d project is designed to be cute, colorful and better for a broader audience.
• There are many other influences: Space Haven, Starmancer, Prison Architect, etc. And in each case there are things I would do differently.

ABOUT MYSELF

I'm a professional digital artist who's been working on game development in a hobby context for about 26 years. My primary skillset and expertise lies in Art and Design as those are the areas I spend the most time working and learning. I have, over the course of my gamedev hobby, learned every aspect of game development: audio, shaders, postFX, scripting, all of it. I would describe my programming skill as intermediate and definitely my weak spot as I seem to lack the codebrain some of my programmer friends have. Perhaps, it's a mental block related to me not wanting to do absolutely everything. Ideally my perfect partner is someone who just wants to focus on coding, while I handle pretty much everything else.




ABOUT YOU

• Familiar with Unity and Git
• Can independently architect code, with or without design guidelines
• Can self-motivate (or lacking motivation, just willpower and dedication) and has free time
• Desire to release a finished product, and support it with regular updates
• Interest in rapid prototyping of gameplay systems
• Interested in data-driven design
• Ability to work with existing codebases
• More interest in 2d than 3d
• You think Socrates "I know that I know nothing" is the smartest thing you can say.

Does this sound like something you'd like to both play and develop? I'd love to hear from you, feel free to add me on Discord (mushroomblue#0384)