Devoured Time cover
Devoured Time screenshot
PC Steam
Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Adventure, Indie

Devoured Time

Weekly Update 4
Yay Friday is here and it’s time for a new update. I covered most of the important stuff in the mid weekly update so this one will be short. I have about 3 pages of dialogue just for the first chapter so I hope everyone enjoys a heavy emphasis on story. I’ll have chapter 1 done this weekend and begin on chapter 2 very soon. When I update the game after chapter 5 there will be a great deal of content to play. All of the feedback has be noted and worked into the game story.

So just a little bit of info, for this major update when it comes it will go up to chapter 5, have sandbox v-1, and no multiplayer. Just an idea of the content, plus when I get closer I will find out the amount of game time on average will be in.

As always thanks for your support.

Mid Week Update
Mid Week updates will just happen when I have things I feel should be told earlier than the normal weekly update, so they might be random.

A few things about the game info wise, If you were following its facebook page and noticed its suddenly gone don’t worry that’s not a sign I’m stopping the game. Instead I decided to remove that from the long list of things I manage so I have more time to work on the game. I still have my website, steam will have the most up to date info, at least for now. Once I get the game to a place I’m comfortable starting to advertise again I will do so but until then I have more than enough things to do on the game.

As I mentioned this first update will be quite large and is going to take longer than most updates, but I’m confident the wait will be worth it, content wise. While I don’t want to share to much as not to spoil it I will tell you about a few things that are in and working nice.

There is now a completely dynamic weather system in the game which handles day/night cycles, temperatures, light/heavy rain, and thunder storms with lighting as well as snow to. The weather is random based on the month and %. This will be in the next update so look forward to that. The day/night cycle will go hand in hand with the farming system as well as the type of enemies that are out and about.

I have a RTS system in play that handles battles with over 2000 units, which has some standard resource collecting and three types of units thus far. That won’t be in the next patch, but will follow soon.

And building the most popular system is coming along. There are still a few bridges I need to gap before its ready, and since it’s the most popular I want to make sure it’s perfect so look out for more info on that as I work on it.

Finally my progress, I am near the end of the first chapter, doing all the dialogue which is quite a bit. While it’s one of the smallest chapters it’s where I worked in the weather system so that made it longer. But all other chapters will already have that system so no extra time there. Also I had a few premade maps but they just didn’t fit what I wanted so I’m creating my own which takes quite a bit of time.

Again thanks for your support and look out for the Weekly Update

Weekly Update 3
Votes are in thus far and a slower more content filled update is what’s winning at this point. At this point I think it would be better to, that way there’s more to play in between updates. I still plan on shortening updates to every week when I get to the stage of adding content instead of systems. Thanks for those who participated in the survey, there will be more surveys to come.

Progress is coming together, slowly but steady. I’ve taken in to account for all the feedback I’ve received and incorporated most if not all of it into the story. Also building is leading in the most excited system while multiplayer is leading in the least excited system. That’s works to as multiplayer wasn’t part of my original plan and will be getting much more love later in development.

This week besides the story I continued to work on Chapter 1 of the main story. My goal is to get up to Chapter 5 before I update the game again. This will provide a great deal of content for everyone to play. These first 10 chapters serve as tutorials so it won’t take away from the main story at all. Coupled with this there’s also a collectable system for those of you who want to learn about this world I’m creating. While the first 10 chapters won’t feature a save while playing it will allow you to either manually exit during play at which time you can save, or after you complete the chapter you will be allowed to save. As these chapters are not meant to be too long, saving isn’t a factor for them, instead saving what you’ve collected it. This way you can read about the game and things you found whenever you view the chapters menu.

I will add a detailed chapter’s breakdown soon, but I will say they all take place one the same map, they all will have at least 10 collectables, and all will teach you how to use the systems.

As always thanks for your support.

Recent Survey Results
I created a survey discussion section to post results. So far slow patches is wining for time frame, Building is winning for system excited for while multiplayer is leading in system not excited for. Feel free to discuss your votes in that discussion.

Thanks.

Vote Link
http://www.crackedpiston.com/survey-page.html

Please vote here. If you have any issues voting message me.

Weekly Update 2
New assets have been acquired to help with the project. Currently all the systems assets are in the game, which include inventory, rts, building, multiplayer, and rpg system. While in they are still being worked on so they won’t be fully working until I integrate them all together. Also have a new player model (still temp but much nicer) and three new environment scenes. As more funds become available assets will grow and even custom ones will be made.

This week I was busy getting all the assets in the game as well modifying some of the story elements. Getting the assets in wasn’t too difficult but the integration will be the hardest part. By integration I mean getting them to work together as one system. Having a game with so many different systems and making it user friendly is quite tough but progress is being made. The story has for the most part been the constant in the whole process. It was conceived long before the game systems were and is the driving factor for the game as a whole now. From the start Devoured Time has always been a game set in a fantasy world with strong ties to science fiction. That combination isn’t new as many games do that now. The story of Devoured Time is very important so I wanted to make the game stay within the story as much if not completely through play time. During the beginning this seemed impossible because Devoured Time is going to be quite complicated and require some sort of tutorial to help players get used to the systems. I really didn’t want the player to jump into the game and be told by an npc to press this button to do this or that, or really anything as blunt as that. I also don’t want to force the player to read a large guild so I had to ponder on a solution.

The solution was simple once I realized that the story itself makes specific things possible with the right setting. Devoured Time now starts the player off after the game has been completed. You awaking on a space station completely alone except for a robot. This part of the game serves as a hub and takes place completely in first person. As I explain more it will share similarities to Assassins Creed but I assure you it’s very different when it’s all said and done. This HUB as I’ll call it has no enemies and no items to collect physically, instead it’s full of game lore, collectables, and other things hidden all through it. It takes place in first person so you can see more detail and find those secrets. The robot acts as a guild and will provide hint and tips during your time here. The robot will show you where you can find out what happened. Like AC you will be able to relive memories, but these memories where pulled directly from your mind. There are ten tutorial style chapters which will completed go over every system and task you will be doing in the main game. They range from ten minutes to hours of gameplay just getting to know the systems. Once done and ready you will be able to jump in and play the game as if you were there. You will be able to find hints about bosses, crafting, etc. in the HUB if you search and find those hidden things. For more on the HUB and chapters I will create a new discussion this weekend, so check it out if interested.

Besides story mode there will be a sandbox mode which is basically everything besides story content in a open world where you need to survive. Multiplayer will consist of different modes like death match, co op, story co op, and mmo stlye play. Sandbox and Multiplayer are not yet ready and will come in a little while after story mode kicks off.

The first update will come soon and will be a completely new version, so old saves won’t work (not that it matters this early in the game) . I will also create a poll on my website and link it here soon so people can vote on if I release patch as I complete chapters or wait until I have all ten chapters then release. Early release just means less content at first with shorter release times, while the latter means about a month or so wait for all ten chapters and some sandbox. I’ll let those who have paid to vote and if no one votes it defaults to the long time frame.

As always thanks for your support and look out for a new discussion soon along with the link to the poll. Thanks

Weekly Update 1
To get consistent I wanted to start weekly updates. So every Friday I will post updates about my progress and anything related to the game. I will consolidate all info into this update to make it easy for everyone to see what’s going on each week. So even if I don’t have much going on or very little I will still update weekly.

This week I have been working on some feature integration and it’s going well. Having many systems is great for fun but can be a tricky when it comes to getting them to work together. But the progress is coming along fine. I have also began to restructure the main menu, adding an easier layout with settings you can adjust. I plan on having that part complete this weekend, but until I transfer the content over to it I won’t be updating steam. More on that soon.

Game sales have tapered off but again that’s to be expected. Only the hard core fans support games this early in development and those individuals will be rewarded. Without proper advertisement and more to show its best we keep the fan number low at this stage. However with the current funds received I will be grabbing some new player models, creatures, clutter, and environment assets. Along with the visual assets I have some new animations I will be getting to. Those assets including three others will be the last I purchase for a while. Those will provide enough content for me to bring the game to a much more polished level. I will save the remaining funds for special integration needs.

Next week I will continue to focus on V 2.0 as well as focus on the main website and Facebook page. Now if you have skills related to anything I’ve talked about you can always message me and maybe we can work out something.

Thanks again for your support and please continue to utilize the forums here, your ideas and feedback goes a long way.

Multiplayer
I have been playing around with multiplayer and with some new assets it’s looking like it will be possible much sooner than originally planned. So I spent some time thinking about this system and if I should implement it in yet. After a week or so I decided it would benefit people that buy my game to have something to do while I work on the main game. Since I am developing this game alone it will take longer to get things done so in the meantime multiplayer will serve as a fun place for people to play together.

So like the other systems it will be basic at this stage but functional. The first mode will be a horde like mode where you and some of your friends try to survive wave after wave of monster. It will contain some generic weapons found in shooters as well as some melee weapons. Again its early and later builds will move from ranged weapons to magic and many more melee weapons, but for now I will use the standard weapons.

This will be for those that want to play with friends. I also will work on a point system where the highest scorer will win prizes in the form of items, creatures, and lore created by the winner for the main game.

I have some more work to do on the multiplayer, mostly the online integration so as I get more done I will post in the Multiplayer forum section.

Thanks again.

Back
I'm back from my trip, so here’s the current schedule.

I did some testing on systems, specifically multiplayer systems. I didn’t plan on implementing one yet but I found a really great system to build on. That being said it will be like the rest, limited but it will allow for you and your friends to play together. I'm still working out the gameplay style of this system so continue to check back for updates on it and its release.

Since I’m back I also need to take time and advertise more, so I will be doing that for a few weeks to. I will still be updating the sandbox mode with new features and tweaking the story mode.

While progress is slow right now, I expect it to pick up as I get more of the foundation systems in. I have received feedback and great ideas which I will be working into the game to. Thanks for those who have supported me, continue the feedback and get ready for some new features soon.

General Update
With my plan on being completely transparent during development I want to provide general updates not related to patches or builds. Things like sales, events, and other general topics will be covered in these updates.

Sales have been slow but steady considering the stage of the game and my terrible advertising skills. Again thanks for everyone who got in at such an earlier time, I know the game is far from finished but with the feedback I have gotten so far its adding to a great foundation.

I also want to talk about me, the developer. As I mentioned before it is just me and while I would love to say I'm the best at everything I can't. Using the Unity 3d allows me to pick up the assets I need to fill in for my lack of skill in certain areas. I hope to as sales continue, to have custom things created for Devoured Time. Mostly 3d models and animations are my weak points so that’s why the current art style is pretty unoriginal. But I feel that many developers focus on pretty graphics and art and less on systems and story. While I want great graphics, I would rather have a game that’s full of the systems I like with ok graphics to an amazing looking game that’s boring. Ok so you know I'm currently a solo developer, besides working on the game why else does that matter? Well updates and patches taken longer is a given, and that’s do to the fact that I still work M-F mid-day at a normal job. I don't have the ability to live for free with family or friends so the bills need paying. While slower development sucks, it’s not so bad when you think about it. I pay all my bills with money I’ve earned from my normal job leaving every cent I make on the game to go right back into the game. It’s also another reason why you don't have to worry about me quitting the project because I don’t have funds. As the game becomes more popular development will increase.

The 13th of June through the 20th I will be out of town with no internet access so there will be no responses from me during that time. I will however be working on the game so development will continue. Thanks again for supporting the development of Devoured Time.
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