Interview with Iris, Lead Designer at Mi-Clos Studio
After our article on Expeditions in Out There: Oceans of Time, Iris, our new Lead Designer, shares with us some insights about her previous position as a Game Designer and her implication in this project's conception.
What do you do as a Game Designer?
On a technical point of view, being a Game Designer means documenting interactions between players, their machine (PC, mobile and console) and making sure when someone looks at them, they can tell they are playing a video game.
The job of a Game Designer is to create worlds, imagine how people interact with them, take into account all the technical aspects and the data related to it. This is all to make sure the data and concept is useable for the other members of the production team.
I was always driven to this career by Ursula K. Le Guin, J.R.R. Tolkien or Hayao Miyazaki, who are willing to create fantasy worlds with their own cultures and share them. Video games are a medium allowing to share such worlds, but they also have the unique ability to put the player as the main protagonist. A Game Designers’ job is to define how they interact with the world.
There was huge work done on the expedition, notably to remove endurance. What were the difficulties to remove it?
I worked twice on the production phase of the gameplay. First, as a freelancer, I created a prototype of the expedition system in 2019. It was done from a boardgame previously made by the project team. This expedition mechanic is inspired by systems found in boardgames and 4X games.
I worked again on it in 2021, on the final stage of production of the game. At that point, the team had realized the system was too rigid and did not go along with the new game dynamic present in Out There: Oceans of Time.
Removing endurance was a way to allow players to explore further and this decision was approved after several tests. We aim to create mechanics to encourage curiosity from our players, so they can discover the galaxy we have layed out for them.
We started by deactivating the endurance system. Then we reharmonized several gameplay elements which were related to it. We kept the turn by turn way of playing to keep the essence of a boardgame. Furthermore, we wanted to keep this pace to allude to the several jumps needed between spaceships and solar systems to progress in space.
We did not have any difficulties to do all this but it was a delicate process. Each detail is important and touching one can alter everything done before.
If you were an alien in Out There: Oceans of Time, which one would you be?
I would have loved to be able to say an Osqueam, I think I am a Void Surveyor. With their iris looking at all the corners of the Out There: Oceans of time galaxy, it is me.
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Discover and explore planets in Out There: Oceans of Time
In Out There: Oceans of Time, you can go on expeditions to discover different biomes. This additional feature allows you to manage your crew members and hone in on their specialities. It is unlike spatial exploration where you manage resources.
Going into an expedition allows you to progress the story, attempt new missions and level up your crew members.
Gather additional resources, necessary to build new modules and technologies on your spaceship. You can also trade them using the barter system in villages and inhabited planets.
To attempt an expedition, you need to scan a planet to reveal any anomalies. repare your team composed of 4 crew members and send them out to explore the planet.
Each member possesses their own class, health points, action points and competences. Those statistics are created randomly when the character is generated, they will vary depending on their class, rarity and can be upgraded when the character levels up.
Crew members all possess action points. You need to manage them carefully as once you run out, you won’t be able to use the character’s competences or make choices during the story. During the story you can obtain bonuses and rewards, which can be new crew members or unlocking a new story point.
Once your team is ready, you can go explore! You will discover new biomes and randomized maps each time you attempt an expedition and you will encounter hazards: from the environment and story events. They can affect your party by giving them maluses or bonuses. Hence why the creation of your party is so important.
Will you be able to gear up your party to succeed in your expeditions? Find out this spring!
Out There: Oceans of Time is showcasing with The MIX 10th Anniversary Showcase
MIX Next is a digital games showcase revealing fresh announcements, trailers and more, we will be showcasing Out There: Oceans of Time giving the community a chance to get involved and get to see what we're all about!
More about Out There:
As Commander Nyx, explore a vast galaxy that is different every time you play, as you search for the Archon; a cosmic villain set on dominating the civilisations of the galaxy.
Encounter other strange lifeforms and learn to communicate, trade, and conduct diplomacy as you build a coalition of allies in your mission to find the Archon.
Recruit new members from the alien races you cross paths with, and build a team capable of traversing the cosmos. Manage your crew, your ship and its systems; the mission’s success is down to your decisions as Commander.
Experience a deep, branching narrative written by FibreTigre, dialogue by Christos Gage (Daredevil (Netflix, 2015), Spider-Man (Insomniac, Sony, 2018)) and beautiful interactive cutscenes illustrated by renowned artist Benjamin Carré (Transformers: Age of Extinction, Alone in the Dark).
🚀 Follow Out There: Oceans of Time on Twitter 🚀 Join the community on Discord 🚀 Wishlist: Steam page
Interview with Mélanie, Business Developers at Mi-Clos Studio
Today let’s talk with Mélanie, our Business Developper at Mi-Clos Studio
What does it mean to be a Business Developer?
I manage top level strategy integrating finding funding for our projects and bringing them to completion with the CEO. I also take care of commercial partnerships and assisting the studio director in daily overall management. My work has no impact, per say, on the game but it is important for our projects!
What are you the proudest of in Out There: Oceans of Time?
The development of the team during the project. It was mainly composed of beginners when we started,they all improved and grew into their roles.
There are other things I am proud of, such as the choices made by the team, the artistic direction and the evolution of the game design.
If you were a species in Out There: Oceans of Time, which one would you be?
The Chicory (Chicoryalen) species, simply because I barely eat vegetables
Don’t forget to wishlist the game to receive the latest news about Out There: Oceans of Time!
Manage your ship and resources in Out There: Oceans of Time
In our previous posts, we showcased several spaceships you will find in Out There: Oceans of Time.
Today, let’s see how to manage our spaceships from the inside! Let’s head to the cargo!
Your spaceship requires a management of resources to help you survive in space. At the same time, you need to manage your crew and make sure they are happy. Finally, it is important to aim to improve the technologies inside the ship.
What are those resources and what are they used for?
First, your crew needs oxygen. Garden Planets are quite an easy resource to find it as they are full of it. Secondly, to travel further, your ship will need to fuel. When running low, create some using Hydrogen or Helium. You can find those elements on Gaz Planets and stars. Finally, as you travel, your space ship will get damaged. To continue on your voyage you will have to repair it by using Iron. You will find Iron on Rock Planets.
You will need all those resources and more to continue your space travel. It is crucial to manage them as the difficulty will increase and those resources become more valuable as the story progresses. You will also need to pay attention to the space they take on your spaceship, as you have a limited amount of slots in it.
Resources aren’t the only thing you will need to keep an eye on. On the other side, you will need to satisfy the needs of your crew: their morale and comfort. It is a new feature compared to Out There. Comfort influences your crew’s morale: the better, the merrier they will be. If morale is too low, some crew members will leave , creating unpredictable events that might affect your travel.
To increase comfort, you will need to construct modules such as the Relaxation Pod, the Regular Cabin or the Mess Hall. This will allow your crew to gather together around a good meal with galactic views.
To create those modules, you will need to find blueprints of them. Stock the necessary materials and construct them on specific slots of your spaceship. You can also disassemble them and repair them.
Now, you know how to manage your resources and crew! However there is one last crucial element to consider in your ship: technologies. They work like modules however they add a new functionality to the ship, such as: the ability to travel further thanks to the Subspace Reactor, prob Rock Planets and Garden Planets with the Driller or gather resources from stars with the Ultraprobe. They will be helpful to continue your journey through galaxies.
Some of those technologies can be upgraded when they are placed next to one another creating a Synergy effect. Keep in mind the specific arrangement of technologies might create new ones and make them better. Interplanetary Propulsion is most effective when placed next to Solar Sails. Same for Shield Generator which is more resistant adjacent to Void Fluctuation Projector.
In Out There: Oceans of Time you will find mechanics from Out There with some brand new ones such as crew management and modules.
Will you be able to manage your spaceship and crew? Find out this Spring!
Interview with Elian and Lilian, Gameplay Developers at Mi-Clos Studio
After our post about space exploration in Out There: Oceans of Time, let’s talk with two gameplay developers and their task in the game creation process.
What does it mean to be a Gameplay Programmer? What role do you take in the space exploration creation process?
Being a Gameplay Programmer means creating rules within the game to make sure the code in the game will go in the intended direction planned by the Game Designers. When tackling space exploration, we have to make sure the player can find the right planet at the right time, input randomized events, make sure travel costs a certain amount of resources… However, our job is generally larger than just those tasks. Since we are a small team, we are also implementing the dialogues in the game or the change of screens between each loading time… We are like a wildcard of the studio!
What programs to you use?
We use Unity, as the game’s engine. We create UI there, camera angles, place elements on the map… Everything visual, really!
We also use Visual Studio to edit the code. It allows us to see the full code with specific keywords and color coded indications while we work on it. It makesit easier for us to navigate the whole game code.
Also, we work on WWise, a software used for sound. Charles, our Sound Designer, uses it to mix sounds.
What are the biggest difficulties you have encountered?
Ressource management in the ship. All the little menus, ones to move, foraging and mining… There were a lot of little hiccups here and there. We have to think of every little thing to make sure it matches the Game Designers vision.
If you were one of the aliens of Out There: Oceans of Time, which one would you be?
I like the Laxians.
Don’t forget to wishlist the game to receive the latest news about Out There: Oceans of Time!
In Out There: Oceans of Time you will get the opportunity to navigate through space to complete Nyx’ mission and explore this endless horizon to survive.
Spatial exploration will lead you from one place to another in hopes of retrieving resources. However, all planets don’t offer the same kind of earnings. Rocky planets will provide you with Iron, while garden planets will offer Oxygen. Retrieve these valuable resources by going on expeditions or finding places to forage for them. Gas planets can't be scouted but you can probe them to collect Hydrogen and Helium, much like what you would expect to find inside stars. But be careful when probing those! They are highly unstable and will threaten the integrity of your spaceship.
In your journey, you will encounter civilized planets. Just like villages in garden planets, you can trade resources with the local alien inhabitants through a bartering system. During those exchanges, you can also find technologies, modules and skills for your crew. That’s not all, you might also end up recruiting a new alien. On those civilized planets, you can meet other ethnicities. They speak the language of the Gods. You can learn various words from events in-game to better communicate with aliens and obtain bonuses.
During your exploration, you may come across black holes. You can only conquer them if you have the right technology. Scavenge abandoned ships and participate in narrative events and discover more about Nyx and Sergeï’s grand quest within the Out There universe.
Space is dangerous and your choices have consequences. You can only count on yourself to survive!
We're teamed up with Twitter account The Spaceshipper to showcase an exclusive look at the ships of Out There: Oceans of Time!
In this video we show the sheer scale of the ships in the game in a way we've never shown them before.
[previewyoutube="voewhjCSYVY;full"]
The Spaceshipper has been sharing commentary and enthusiasm about all things space for years. They're a huge fan of the original Out There and have previously shared screenshots from playthroughs of both games! In this thread they compare the ships across both games as well as exclusive reveals of previously unseen ones...
We also wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you for your support on our last post and the extra time we're taking with the game; your understanding and excitement for Out There: Oceans of Time is wonderful, and we can't wait to explore the galaxy with you on April 7th 2022!
Out There: Oceans of Time | Now Launching April 7th 2022
Let's jump straight into it: Out There: Oceans of Time will be launching April 7th 2022.
This is of course later than our originally intended date, but we are committed to making the best game possible. An extra two months of development time allows us to do that. Mi-Clos has always been an anti-crunch studio and we would rather push out our release date than overwork our already hard-working team.
The extra time allows for more polish and fewer bugs. A game worthy of your expectations, basically. Feel free to check out the refreshed FAQ on our Steam Discussions board.
To thank you for your patience in the run up to launch, we've released three official Out There: Oceans of Time wallpapers to furnish your machine of choice.
We're also excited to share that we'll be taking part in the Big Adventure Steam event from today! You can check out streams of the previous Oceans of Time demo on our store page.
We can't wait for you to experience Out There: Oceans of Time when it's ready. From everybody at Mi-Clos Studio and Modern Wolf: thank you for supporting us, and we'll have more to share in the days and weeks to come...
Out There: Oceans of Time | Lightspeed Towards Launch
We're in the last days of 2021 and just over a month away from the release of Out There: Oceans of Time. The team is working hard putting the finishing touches to the game, which will be in your hands very soon.
Launch is on the horizon, but we still have plenty to share with you in the weeks before launch.
In case you missed it, do get up to speed with Out There and the beginnings of the game with the Across Space & Time trailer below, which tracks the series from its inception, through to today.
[previewyoutube="2XssgE4GcB0;full"] Oceans of Time builds on what the original game achieved in a plethora of ways, bringing new features, new stories and a vibrant graphical overhaul.
We'll be delving into all of this and more as we enter the new year. We can't wait to share more with you all very soon.
From everybody at Mi-Clos Studio and Modern Wolf: thank you for supporting Out There: Oceans of Time - 2022 is going to be a big year for fans of interstellar exploration and survival. Have a great festive break, and we'll see you on the other side.
