We thought that that day would never come. But it is near! Just around the corner.
The demo of our Cryospace game is one of the many that you may play during Steam Next Fest which starts today, the 13th of June, and ends on the 20th of June.
So, what should you expect? It will be the beginning of Cryospace, only a few first levels. It means that you will see only a glimpse of what we are preparing for you in the final product.
The beginning of the Cryospace is much easier than later levels. It's primarily a plot hook that we've been baiting players with. Here and there you will find clues that will later allow you to solve the most important puzzle of the game - what happened on the beautiful interstellar ship. And that means that you may walk around the destroyed halls of Ascendency more than once to find all clues.
You will also experience some resource management elements and a few battles. Of course, you can test different tactics - trapping enemies, avoiding them, or doing WWCD (you know: What Would Conan Do)... there be some weapons to choose from to help you test those options.
But many things will still wait for you in the full game. We are not showing NPCs that later will be helping (or impeding) you. We are also saving for later many monsters and some other kinds of weapons. And, of course, we are unvailing only a little bit of the storyline. Because the plot is very important for us - and environmental storytelling is our tool for sharing it with you.
Last but not least, the demo is only part of what we are preparing for you. We have also some not seen before gameplay footage that will be available exclusively. You should check also the developers' walkthrough through the demo that we are preparing - especially for you. And yeah, we have new trailer ready.
Remember, space travelers, this is a demo, not a final game. It may have some glitches, surprises, and shortcomings. But is a great tool for you to tell us, what you think about Cryopsace.
Safe travel!
DevDiary #13: And the story goes…
Hello Spacewalkers!
As April begins, we have another episode of DevDiary for you. Something cool and chilly to start this spring with (it’s even snowing in Poland when we’re writing this - yes, at the beginning of April. Wonderful April Fools’ day, my darling Spring. Truly amazing… not).
This time we would like to tell you a little bit about the setting of our game. And by setting we mean the world of the game - not only the spaceship where the action takes place.
As you know, we were inspired by many works and different media - from science fictions books of the 50s/60s to the Alien(s) movie franchise of the 70s/80s. That’s why we are creating retro sf mood and look. You know, crude inventions, wire connections, and almost no high-tech as we are seeing it.
This is not to say that in our setting computers, Artificial Intelligence, or cybernetic implants do not exist. Everything - and more - is here, but with a more classical, 80s cyberpunk vibe. More hardwires, more rough inventions, and fewer transhumans ideas. So, almost everyone has a brain implant, but wireless connections it's a rare thing. People may use exoskeletons, but there is no Wikipedia-like knowledge database that connects everything.
In our retro-futuristic version of Earth, the home of mankind becomes a less and less hospitable place. Not only for “ecological” reasons - but also because of those evil corporations and their power-hungry attitude. That’s why more and more people look into the skies for a way to escape the so-called Old Terra.
Fortunately, there are still people, not only religious ones, thinking about the other poor souls. People with enough connections, money, and resources to build spaceships and to offer at least some humans possibility to find a new home. Those “magnates” create special charities or humanitarian organizations, which help everyone find a new home.
Of course, the big corporations and international companies also work hard to colonize space. These kinds of entities have much more options and power but are less trusted - at least by part of the citizens of the planet Earth. Nevertheless, those enterprises have much more tools to build better-equipped colonies in space.
That is how the setting of “Cryospace” looks. You, as a player, will become an ordinary maintenance guy on a spaceship aiming for the New World. A spaceship full of usual people, like you - not-trained workers waiting to be unfrozen on the other side of the galaxy. A spaceship with some crew, some trained professionals, and a strong connection to the Earth. A spaceship where something goes wrong…
You are just a regular maintenance guy. And you’ve just awoken… …to a true nightmare.
Stay cool, Spacewalkers! Cryospace Team
DeviDiary #12: So, you wanna know a little bit about combat...
Hello there. It’s great to have some hints about what we may tell you about “Cryospace”. That’s why we’ve decided to tell you something about combat.
First of all, once again we have to emphasize that our game is not a hack and slash experience. We are doing our best to create an oppressive, dangerous, hostile environment for our player’s character. There will be levels where our hero may need to fight, however, the best possible options will be mostly running, hiding, and trapping enemies.
Melee weapons
Remember: You are not a soldier. Not a fighter. Just an ordinary maintenance guy. And this is a survival horror game. So your best friend may be a melee weapon - crowbar or pipe.
Crowbars and pipes may not be the most efficient weapons, but at least you can find them here and there. What’s even more important, using them allows you to remain almost completely silent. Remember that on our spaceship your enemies can always hear you scream…
The most efficient melee weapon will be the one used by some of your enemies - a medieval mace-like thing that can cause a lot of damage.
Melee combat
It works just like you may imagine. You have to have your enemy at arm's length and smash it - or click the mouse button. Keep in mind that such effort costs you more oxygen. It will also lower your stamina a bit.
Our advice? Crowl slowly to an unexpecting enemy and hit it hard once or twice and then retreat to a safe distance. This is more like a marathon, not a sprint. You have to be careful, you have to be patient and you have to be accurate. Missing the enemy is not an option in melee combat!
Ranged weapons Yes, there are a few ranged energy weapons, that will remind you of classical firearms.
You know that “Alien(s)” franchise is one of our main inspirations and you will see it also in “Cryospace” arsenal.
We have pistols, for example.
And rifles.
Shotguns.
All such weapons will make noise. This, in turn, may attract enemies. It is not always bad - you may use it as an advantage. Dragging the opponents into a trap sounds like a great idea after all, doesn’t it?
Ranged combat
There are no silencers in “Cryospace”, which means that every shot makes some sound. You have to aim at the enemy (we will help you a little bit in that area by special “lines” and “pointers”) and click. Range and damage depend, of course, on the type of weapon you are using. Sometimes one shot will be enough to kill the enemy. But mostly, you have to put some effort to eliminate advancing monsters… And remember that shooting also costs some effort - like stamina and oxygen.
Oh, we’re also planning on making one particular level where you will be able to experience some hack and slash commando mode :)
Other stuff
We have some grenades and mines in “Cryospace” also. They work the same as you may expect. With one important exception - low gravity. But we already told you the story about that one here ;)
Environment
Remember that environment is also a weapon at your disposal. There are electrical wires that you may change into traps. There are doors that you should close to cut the enemies off. But mostly - forgive us for repeating ourselves - you just have to run and hide!
We will tell you more about the environment another time.
For now, may the ship survive with you!
Cryospace team
DeviDiary #11: Breathe deeply and turn on the lights!
Hello, you poor souls who decided to book a trip on “Ascendency” - the deadliest spaceship in the galaxy! Today we will tell you a little bit about three important mechanics of our game.
Oxygen
The first one is oxygen or O2. As you know, this is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. Of course we, humans, do not breathe O2 per se. Oxygen is the essential component for breathing gas and uptake of O2 from the air is the essential purpose of respiration. That’s why we use O2 / oxygen as an abbreviation for breathing gas.
There are a few places on our wracked spaceship where breathing gas is still available. But in most cases, you have to rely on tanks. So looking for tanks and careful monitoring of oxygen levels is essential.
But there are a few “buts” :) First of all, oxygen consumption depends on the activities performed. When you run, your oxygen usage is much higher than when you are just standing. Same story with fighting.
Another important “but” is connected to unfrozen people that may help you. Here and there you will find cryo-capsules that still work. You may use the helping hand of other people. But all of you breathe the same oxygen. So you have to decide who needs the O2 now, and who has to wait a little bit, till you find a new tank. Who has to stay and lower consumption level, risking an unfortunate encounter with enemies…
Straightforward and soldierly speaking: there may be not enough oxygen for everyone. And suffocation from lack of air is not the sweetest death.
And last but not least: if your oxygen level is low, you are a little bit slower…
Stamina
Basically, stamina symbolizes endurance or the ability to exert an organism and remain active for some period of time. And once again it depends on the activities performed - running, fighting and other strenuous activities uses more stamina. And without stamina, you are slow, you breathe deeper - so you use more oxygen.
Luckily, stamina renews itself spontaneously - just wait a moment.
Of course, everyone has their own stamina, you do not need to share it ;)
Batteries
One of the most important weapons of yours is… flashlight. Everyone knows you - you have to see a danger to avoid it. But remember, that light also attracts enemies. It's a good idea to turn the flashlight on and off as needed.
The flashlight of course needs batteries, which also are scattered around derelict. You and others may use them to provide energy.
To sum up
As you can see, we have some interesting mechanics at our disposal. And we are willing to use them to build tension, emotion, and horror.
DevDiary #10: Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live.
As you know from the previous DevDiary, the best strategy for surviving the CryoSpace is running. That way you will live - at least till you have oxygen.
We’ve also mentioned that there are different kinds of enemies. Their origins - who created them and why, for example - is one of the riddles that you may solve exploring this huge, almost totally destroyed ship.
Today we would like to share with you some arcane knowledge concerning strange creatures roaming the derelict floating through space…
From idea to animation
At the core of our game lies the story. That storyline also affects the design of different enemies. Look for example at their arms and hands.
You have certainly noticed that we created zombie-like creatures with some metal parts. At the beginning of the design, they still have hands - kind of human. But then we get back to the storyline and: BAM! no more hands.
Think about it: metal parts are tougher than delicate tissue. And metal “palms” are more useful in cold outer space.
Check also this mace - inspired by a famous medieval weapon.
Scraps of metal are tied together to create deadly weapons. That way we changed some concept arts to highlight our world. But other game elements should follow the design. That’s why we created such lovely attack animation.
[previewyoutube="EO2CWaVNLoc;full"]
The story of the Blinded One
One of our favorite creatures - the Blind - started as an enemy with a special covering-eyes helmet. A few days later it evolved into a creature with special “blindsight” power.
Then we once again thought about those delicate palms. We were sure that the Blind One needs something more dangerous - a welder or a nailer. And we finally decided that the old chainsaw will do.
Head also evolved a little bit to support “blindsight” power.
As you clearly see, the final Blinded One now looks like a strange alien creature.
That’s not the end, because we need animations. The idea for the attack was an easy one.
[previewyoutube="04ZAo33hOpw;full"]
However, the "blindsight" made us think about the best way to show players the effect of that power. How are we supposed to do that? Well, just think about creatures which senses are constantly attacked by powerful stimuli. Will it remain calm? Of course not.
[previewyoutube="GbYjKjGeEyY;full"]
The story is the key!
As you clearly see, everything is connected in our game’s world. The story supports the design, design influence concepts, models, and animations, etc. There are tons of goodies that we scattered here and there. Of course, not only the design of enemies tells some parts of the story. The ship’s corridors and rooms are filled with leads, suggestions, and elements that interconnect - together with dialogs and audio-logs they will create an engaging storyline.
Are you ready to fight - or more precisely - to outrun such nasty creatures?
DevDiary #9: Please remain calm and just fight those nasty monsters!
As you know, our slightly destroyed colony ship travels through space. And on a board, there are a few nasty things. These creatures are scary, dangerous, and stupid (at least, most of them). And there are lots of these things…
On the other hand, our hero is mostly alone, with a small number of resources - not only oxygen but also ammunition or even weapons are lacking.
However, that does not mean that he is helpless - not at all. There are different ways to eliminate monsters.
Of course, the shooting is the most obvious method of elimination. But you have to remember that each bullet is very valuable and that noise the hero is making may attract more enemies. Foes are also very tough, so shooting should be the last resort, not the first one. Hack’n’slash tactics will not work in our survival horror game.
[previewyoutube="7f7Ky3MDNCs;full"]
A careful hero will check all rooms and corridors - of course, if he has enough oxygen. And such searches can bring tangible results, like for example mines. Remember that explosions may attract some new enemies.
[previewyoutube="f5q058x4bKs;full"]
A smart hero may use the environment of the destroyed ship to his advantage. Here and there he will find dangerous things. And they are not only dangerous to our hero - but also (and even above all) - to his enemies.
[previewyoutube="MVjZuppKWyg;full"]
A careful and smart hero may also use some compartments as traps. All he has to do is drag his opponent into a game of cat and mouse. A game that’s very dangerous but also winnable…
[previewyoutube="Kj-a7vfCySU;full"]
A careful, smart, and stealthy hero may slowly crawl to the enemy and use a weapon that does not need any bullets or ammunition - crowbar! This is a very dangerous move but at the same time a very satisfying one.
[previewyoutube="S79q4dADPBw;full"]
A careful, smart, stealthy, and intelligent player will use the best weapon and the best move of them all: run!
[previewyoutube="KaqZWUmTNFo;full"]
You have to remember however that the ruins of the ship roam with different kinds of enemies. There are fast ones, smart ones, or armed ones. Not all tactics will work during each encounter. Our hero has to be very careful, very smart, and very lucky to survive…
DevDiary #8: Glory of the UI
We all know that a user interface (UI) is “the space” where interactions between humans and games occur. HUD, on the other hand, that’s a head-up display: a transparent display that presents data without distracting gamers.
We have been working on it for several days. Where on screen and how to show the valuable information. What kind of “resources” should be on HUD? What color and style should it have?
Check out a few of our ideas!
We took inspiration from classical hack n slash games, like Diablo, and also classical survival horrors like Resident Evil.
We make some tweaks and then look for space designated for NPCs, because sometimes our hero will have some company.
In terms of style, we are looking for something really simple and useful. That’s why not many colors and a few elements.
If you look closely, you will find some inspirations from famous movie series we all love and admire. You surely know what we have in mind - Alien(s), of course. ‘Cause in space, no one can hear you scream.
That retro-sf look can be found also in the equipment window.
Of course, we still have a lot of other work to do. There are some enemies that we are still preparing for you - how they look, how they fight, and how they will die…
[previewyoutube="EijQGIBjSEg;leftthumb"]
What’s next?
Demo of course. That means that we have to face our own fears and start to balance all elements - weapons, enemies, oxygen and batteries, etc. - because the conglomerate of all that will create the true survival horror experience we are looking for. All that and of course, the story, atmosphere, sounds, music, and animations :)
After all, you don’t wanna leave Earth to be safe, right? CryoSpace team
