Lightstep Chronicles
Updates: New patch, retrospective, and a big thank you
Some of you reported that the game crashes on Windows 7 machines. Thanks to your feedback, we've managed to identify the issue, test it, and fix it.
The game should be good to go! Thanks for your patience! Hope that you enjoy the game. Be sure to write the review, and join our Discord server to have an additional game discussion.
While we are at the subject at thanking - we would also like to say big thanks to the press that supported us, and to our players. Thank you for your kind words. Be sure to tell your friends about our game as every bit of visibility help.
Enjoy the new 1.1.0 version, everyone!
Lightstep team
Lightstep Chronicles is OUT NOW + launch discount!
Our narrative adventure in which you are the prisoner of an AI with multiple personality disorder is now on the Steam store for the price of 9.99$! With lunch discount, you can support our game with -15%.
That's right - you can buy the game and tell your friends about it. We would appreciate it to keep those spoilers to a minimum for now as the story is a pretty big part of the game, and since we are a small indie team - awareness is super important to us.
Thanks for being with us on this journey, and thanks for the support. It would mean a lot to us if you could support us by buying the game as well as sharing about it to the others. Support your indie developers.
Thank you all from the Lightstep team!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68QfOb4bpUQ
Giveaway Week: Lightstep Chronicles launches in 3 DAYS
Hi Steam,
Big week in front of us! Our game is launching in 3 days!
Thursday, August 1st, 12:00 PM PDT!
We'd like to call this week our 'Giveaway week' since we'll be giving away Steam keys on our social channels every day, starting today!
If you are on Facebook, here's what you have to do: https://www.facebook.com/lightstepchronicles/videos/1072962266427590/?__tn__=-R. Mention your gaming buddies, help us spread the word and get a chance to win a key for our very first game launching on Steam in a few days!
We're sending love your way for every share, retweet, mention, 'tell a friend' this week! Thank you very much for your support. It's much appreciated!
Til next time,
LSC team
The prequel to the Lightstep Chronicles
Here's a log report that works as a prequel to the Lightstep Chronicles the game. This post will not be mandatory to understand the game's story, but they'll add a bit flavor to it.
What will be presented down below are a series of reports from the officer Jacob Umbra to his supervisor.
REPORT #1
"Sir,
We've finally managed to lock down the signal. That's the same signal we've been tracking for weeks, only this time it's different. It's like it wanted us to find it.
Before, it would appear randomly, all over the nearby planets. Soon after that, it would go silent, the speed would be so fast and hectic, that it would be impossible to lock precise location.
But now, now it's different. The signal is strong and precise. Located on planet Kepler 452b, its frequency is so mighty that it's creating earthquakes.
I will update you as things further develop.
Officer Umbra."
REPORT #2
"Sir,
Something interesting happened. Captain Cain Phoenix wanted personally to lead the expedition. He stated that he "felt" a need to be there. We would dismiss such a request, but we are talking about Captain Phoenix here. There is nothing but the praises for him. Exceptional soldier and a leader.
If anything, this is the best-case scenario for us. After the source of the signal is reached and identifies, we'll get an update on the expedition.
I will update you as things further develop.
Officer Umbra."
REPORT #3
"Sir,
I don't know how to report this news. We've found it. We've finally found it. Proof that we are not alone is right in front of us. We've discovered alien technology. It appears to be an alien spaceship.
After hundreds of years and so many planets colonized, we have something. The ship appears to be deactivated, which is strange, and it looks like it's been that way for a long time.
Which poses a question - What triggered the signal? The team is currently setting the parameter and will report in due time.
Officer Umbra."
REPORT #4
"Sir,
The spaceship got transferred to the nearby Kepler base. The decision was made after the initial research established that the vehicle is inactive.
That's right - it seems that the ship is empty. No lifeforms detected. It appears that the spaceship crashed a long time ago, possibly killing the crew in the process. Then, planet evolution led to it being under the mountain.
We are still on alert, but now that is in our base, we have a better chance of controlling the situations. Captain Phoenix is supervising everything up close. I can't tell if he is in awe with the ship or just incredibly cautious.
I will update you as things further develop.
Officer Umbra."
REPORT #5
"Sir,
The team started to investigate the vessel up close. Here are some fascinating deduction points that they've made. I'm listing them here :
-The design itself has a lot of similar traits to some human spaceships. The position of wings, as well as the cockpit, confirms this theory.
-The vessel seems inspired by the Art Deco style. It's the style that originated on Earth somewhere around the year 1900. How is that possible or is this just some mere coincidence, we do not know yet.
-The vehicle has a certain amount of elegance and gracefulness in its presentation and shape, indicating a somewhat royal origin.
-There are numerous visible weapons on the ship. It seems that every part of the spaceship has a dedicated set of weaponry.
With all this info combined, it's clear that we are dealing with a very dangerous thing here.
I will update you as things further develop.
Officer Umbra."
REPORT #6
"Sir,
The day has come. The team is sent to investigate the interior of the spaceship. Captain Cain Phoenix's team called Salvage Squadron assembled for this mission. They all worked with the Captain before and have high respect for him, so there is no problem there.
Cain himself, on the other hand, well I've never seen him like that. He seems like he expects something in there. It's hard to explain. Like he trained for this mission his whole life. I am probably overthinking this.
Cain is an exceptional soldier, and that's what matters. I am sure his team is in the best hands they could be.
Honestly, I am skeptical about investigating the interior, but I understand that there will be no progress until we do so.
Officer Umbra."
If you'd like to discuss the prequel with us, join our Discord server. Also, we've promised several giveaways in this prelaunch period, so here's a new chance to win free keys.
Already joined our Discord server? If not, join now and enter an exclusive Discord giveaway.
Reminder - Lightstep Chronicles is launching on August 1st.
Our Discord server is HERE.
'Til next time,
LSC team
Discord: https://discord.gg/P2qteu9
Twitter: https://twitter.com/colony_66
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Lightstep/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REGHXe_eJVM
Lightstep Chronicles launches on August 1st! More details here.
Hello Steam,
Here is the big news:
Lightstep Chronicles release date is August 1, 2019.
That's it. Definitive release date.
It's been a long journey, but we're super excited to see people finally playing and completing our game. We'll be curious about all the story discussion you guys will have, all the SF homages you'll notice, all the easter eggs you'll find.
If you'd like to help us spread the word and get a chance to WIN a free Steam key, retweet this post: https://twitter.com/colony_66/status/1148918731189473281. Also, inviting friends to wishlist the game and joining to Discord is a HUGE bonus. We'll be forever thankful! :) Indie love <3
If you have any questions, comments, nice things to say, we are discussing in our Discord channel, come and join: https://discord.gg/P2qteu9.
Thank you very much for being here with us!
‘Til next time,
LSC team
Discord: https://discord.gg/P2qteu9
Twitter: https://twitter.com/colony_66
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Lightstep/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REGHXe_eJVM
FINAL DEMO OUT + sneak peek of the RELEASE DATE
Hello Steam,
Are you ready? We have a lot of stuff to announce - new demo, sneak peek of the release date, AND Steam key giveaways! Let's get to it.
JUST PUBLISHED FINAL DEMO
There's a new, final demo in the town. After you've played the last one and gave us your feedback, we've noticed areas which we could improve. So, this demo is the final representation of the game that we will publish on the store. Here: https://gamejolt.com/games/lightstepchronicles/400809.
We're so close to the end of the development! All the major things are complete. That's right! Optimization? Done. Texture polishing? Done. Sound effects and music?
All done! Sooo… release date announcement coming next week.
PREQUEL STORY AND DISCORD
We have prepared you an interesting prequel story that works as an introduction for the game. Is it necessary? No. Will it provide additional context to the game? Yes. The optional world-building is always fun in our book. It will prepare you for the upcoming journey and give you a little bit of material to discuss on Steam/Discord. We’ll publish it in the next few weeks so join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/P2qteu9.
STEAM KEY GIVEAWAYS
Also, be sure to join our Lightstep Discord server as we plan to make steam key giveaways in our prerelease campaign! That's right - there's a chance to be an active part of the community and get prizes according to that! Also, you'll be able to talk to the developers, discuss popular AIs, and many other off topics with fellow sci-fi fans.
----> DISCORD <----
'Till next time!
Gameplay trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REGHXe_eJVM
Discord: https://discord.gg/P2qteu9
Twitter: https://twitter.com/colony_66
Demo: https://gamejolt.com/games/lightstepchronicles/400809
PUBLIC DEMO REMINDER + Dev update | May 20, 2019
Hello Steam,
It’s been a while since you last hear from us and the reason is mostly because our work is now - bugs and fixes. We are now aware too - that is how the final process looks like. During what we thought was our final playthrough of Lightstep Chronicles, we came upon some lackluster moments that wouldn't do for a game of this size. So, beside bugs and fixes, we are back at polishing and touching up the lighting, some animations, and the sound effects. Here is what we did (and still doing) since our last update:
- Sound effect and music polish
- Postprocess optimization
- Lightning rebaking for several locations
- Texture polishing
- Animation improvement in final scenes
Also, we wanted to highlight here that we have a public demo - for all of you new to our game and updates. The free demo includes the first chapter of the game and it’s available for download at Itch page and a Game Jolt page.
We believe you will have loads to tell us after playing the demo so we are looking forward to hearing from you - whether here in discussion tab or at our Discord server.
‘Til next time,
LSC team
Join: Youtube | Twitter | Facebook | Website
This week at Lightstep Chronicles - April 25, 2019
Last week, we looked at all the Lightstep Chronicles images we released so far, and realized that we put a lot of focus on our animated sequences and skimped out on actual gameplay. We're very proud of our animation work, but to be fair, most of the game is based around conversations with Aleph.
We made this pretty video of a situation you will encounter in the game – or already encountered if you played our public demo (still available on Game Jolt and Itch.io). Here's a very reassuring Aleph:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thlpniewtyA
Due to a series of national holidays, we won't be posting any updates in the following two weeks. After that, we're back on the job, back with release dates and the likes.
'Til May!
This week at Lightstep Chronicles - April 17, 2019
Hello Steam,
We'd like to maintain our weekly update tempo, but the closer we are to finishing our game, the less we actually have to write here - once again, our work has become:
- play build
- find bug
- fix bug
- polish scene
- start over
Devlog:
As promised, this is what we did in the past week:
- UI animations
- editing the text where QA found typos, discrepancies, etc
- bug removal
- optimizing lighting and particles
- showcasing more of the in-game text rather than cutscenes
Next week, we will work on
- bug fixes
- optimization
- looking for a viable release date
- reaching out to the press
We've got some time set aside for more traditional marketing (gaming media, streamers). If you're interested in collaborating with us, or know someone who loves Space or AI-themed games, we'd really appreciate it if you could contact us! Thanks in advance.
'Til next Wednesday,
This week at Lightstep Chronicles - April 11, 2019
Hello Steam,
We are in the last leg of development and these updates are starting to feel a bit repetitive – polish, bugs, audio, polish, bugs, audio, and so on... It sort of looks like we're running in circles. The good news is that there is a reason for that: Lightstep Chronicles requires a beastly setup, and optimizing it is extremely important. In our last leg of development, we are all about making the game more accessible.
Devlog
As promised, this is what we did in the past week:
- had some more people playtest the full build
- prepared the final build for said playtesting
- polished additional sound effects and music
- locked down all gameplay. We're only polishing animation and graphics from now on!
We also had the QA test out the game with the new music and sound effects, and tested out new tags on Steam. We are currently in the More Like This sections of some regular text-based games, and that seems a bit dishonest, for us, for these games, and for the people coming to our page. Gonna tweak it out, but if you want to help us, please + the Story Rich and Artificial Intelligence tags. We are eternally grateful <3
Next week, we will work on
- UI animations
- editing the text where QA found typos, discrepancies, etc
- bug removal
- optimizing lighting and particles
- showcasing more of the in-game text rather than cutscenes
'Til next Wednesday,
Take care!