Saturated Outer Space
DreamHack Beyond Stream
New developer's stream is going to happen. Come and join us at 7:00 p.m. PT.
Also, there is a playtest available for gamers. So you might want to check it out.
Enjoy the DreamHack Beyond event and don't forget to add the game to your wishlist!
Devlog #21
Passion and Folly
Normally, it takes a lot of money to create a video game. But what if you are an indie team? In this case, two things are absolutely essential. One is passion, the other one is folly.
Passion is something you feel when you have a story to be told. One that would eventually become your game. One that
Folly is something that keeps you going against all odds. Even when your child comes up to you and asks if we are ever going to have something other than a plain oatmeal for dinner. Because you can’t earn money with your project… at least, not yet.
Well, we were brimming with both and we still are. But at some point we realized that there is something else needed to make it to the end.
Great Expectations
Rummy Games is a rather unusual indie team. Unlike many indie dev teams, we are quite numerous. We started as four, but at present, there are more than 30 people working on S.O.S. And I have to admit, it’s hell of a job to make everything run smoothly, when there are so many people around and you cannot resort to some ways of managing the team which a non-indie studio would rely on.
We used to work like this: first, we created an overall plan of what our prototype would look like and came up with the game’s architecture. Then, we held a team call every Monday to see what we had and what we had not done throughout the week.
This was working out quite well, at least for two years. Yet we came to realize that we were lacking efficiency. When you have nothing but a design document and few chunks of code, there is no that feeling of being rewarded for having done something that matters, something that really puts the whole project ahead. In fact, there was only a goal ahead, a big one, but unattainable in any reasonable period of time. So, really, there was nothing but Folly and Passion that were guiding us on this harsh path. And it was time for Reason to lend us a helping hand.
Reasonable goals
Of course, our main goal is still around. But now we slice it into pieces. Or, objectives, if you prefer. And we set a period of three weeks for each objective. Every three weeks, we come up with a new updated game build. We found out that three weeks was just the perfect timing. It is long enough that our team members, who have jobs, real life, and all that sort of thing, can do something cool: come up with a new function, a plot twist, a new graphic asset and so on.
When everything is complete, we release a new build. In general, 80% of what had been planned actually gets done. You can take a look on how well (or, perhaps, not really) we are doing HERE: Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
So, does it work well, after all?
What we wanted to get
When introducing this three-week system, or sprint system, we wanted three things:
- Feedback.
Personally, I see no point in implementing sprint system until you can have a working build. But once you can, it has a great potential of motivating every single member of the team. Each of them can taste the fruits of their work and get constant feedback from other members. - Morale.
People need to see the results of their work. A clear and transparent goal is always needed. Reaching it increases the motivation to move on. When the goal feels attainable, and is regularly actually attained, and then the new goal shows up, the team’s morale raises significantly. - Just… why not?
Many teams stick to Agile as their project management system. We’ve been working together for 2 years and have never tried. Well, why not then? In terms of PM, we are much more flexible than we used to be. For a less experienced team, like ours, it’s just great to be able to reshuffle our priorities when needed, to be able to focus on something that really needs to be done, while putting a pin on something that can be done later.
How we implemented it
As I’ve mentioned, Rummy Games started as a four-man team. These four are sort of… founding fathers, if you don’t mind a metaphor. So, one day in January, they came up with a sprint plan for May's DevGamm and for June's Steam Fest. It consisted of seven three-week sprints.
This plan was drawn up as a table (an example of such table is attached with a link). Each of the points was divided into smaller ones. We’ve also made a corresponding board in Trello, dividing things into columns with current tasks. Despite having a long-term plan, we only put a short-term one to Trello, because our next short-term plan can be revised significantly after completing the current one.
So we had a big sprint plan with big tasks and a board in Trello with sets of cards for each current sprint. That’s how it is, for now.
Some conclusions
- Sprinting, or setting short term objectives, is a great thing for a team. But you need a viable build to really benefit from it. And be ready to update it every now and then.
- Reverting makes wonders. Always have a previous version to switch back to, just in case.
- Planning is essential. If there’s no one to manage and control the project as a whole, the game will most likely never make it.
New Playtest Is Live
We launched our second playtest! Get on board and set up the course towards the outer space!
Remember: those of you who fill out the form for feedback and leave their names (or Steam nickname) will appear in credits in the ‘Special thanks’ section.
Link is in Discussions.
Note: Playtest period will end up July 31.
Steam Next Fest is close to an end! But our streams not!
Steam Next Fest is about to end. Have you tried out our demo?
If not then don't waste your time and download the game. Also, leave your feedback in Discussion section so you will get a chance to appear in credits of the game when released.
Cool upcoming games are waiting for you to be added to wishlists!
Don't dissapoint their developers!
See you on the stream!
Steam Next Fest Dev Stream!
Come and join our Live Stream with the developer team. We continue to show new features and hold the QA session.
Hope, you enjoy the Fest!
Don't forget to expand your wishlist with outstanding projects!
Steam Next Fest is Live!
Come and join our Opening Live Stream with Rummy Games developer team. We will demonstrate new features and talk about future plans. Questions are welcome as well!
Enjoy your stay in Steam Festival and don't forget to expand your wishlist with decent games!
Devlog #20
Dmitry Kondrakov, Lead Game Designer
How did you first get in touch with the games and what were your impressions?
It was the 98th, I came to visit Moscow. And I was allowed to play the new Pentium 166MMX (the oldies will understand). It was two games at once: Age of Empires I and Allods: Sealed Mystery. And that was a delight!
I had Dandy, like many children of that time. But it was the games on the computer that impressed me a lot: the moment I saw Allods splash screen, and when I built the first house in AoE. That moment determined everything for me.
How did you first explain to your parents that “video games are not just toys”?
There was no need to explain, they understood everything anyway. Upon my return from Moscow, I firmly decided to go to study as a programmer. I wanted to make my games, my cartoons, tell my stories.
What is your greatest impression of a video game?
I am at a loss to answer. Perhaps it is The Allods the first part, an introductory video.
Why did you decide to engage in game development?
It is difficult to name a specific reason. I wrote my first game on Qbasic when I was 13 years old. I just realized that this is exactly what I want to devote my life to. Not for the sake of money, but because it's the coolest thing to do.
What game do you “keep in your heart” until now?
The most iconic games for me were KKnD 2, Blood, Fallout 2, Nox, Diablo 2. It's hard to say which one left the most vivid impression. But a certain period of my life was associated with each of them, when I was fiercely fanatical about each of them.
But if you need to choose one, then it's Nox.
A funny story about a gaming or "near-gaming" experience
Blood. I was returning at night from the computer club, and almost died of fear when a dog ran up to me, and I didn't even have a trident.
Julia Korn, Narrative Designer and Localizer
How did you first get in touch with the games and what were your impressions?
The first time I came across games was when I was 7-8 years old, when my parents bought me a Dandy-like console with cartridges. So I got acquainted with the unforgettable adventures of the Darkwing Duck, Mario, Duck Hunt, Mutant Ninja Turtles and other masterpieces. Then there was the first PC with Doom II and the harmless SeXoniX, which, surprisingly, was not banned by my parents.
To be honest, I would have never thought that fate would lead me to the gaming industry as a developer, and I am completely happy now.
A funny story about a gaming or "near-gaming" experience
Once at a gamedev conference I saw a very familiar person and looking at his badge, for some reason decided that I knew him perfectly (the name of one and the similarity of the features of the other person mixed up in my head at that moment). I came up to that person and started a conversation in the style: "Oh, my! What are you doing here? How are you? I'm really surprised, I didn't expect to meet you!.." The person answered, completely confident that we were definitely familiar, answered my questions, we said goodbye, and then I suddenly realized that this is the first time I saw the person. I was very embarrassed. I suppose, him too, trying to understand why he could not remember me...
Why did you decide to engage in game development?
Gamedev is adventures coming from the book pages / screen, the magic that the developer creates himself. Creativity intertwined with technology and a whirlpool of events, interesting acquaintances and immersion in the world in which you are not just a spectator, but also an active creator. That's why teams of people with similar opinions stay together for years.
Ilya Ninomiya, UI / UX Designer
Playtest Is Out Now!
Be ready to join us in playtests and leave a mark in the universe of Saturated Outer Space!
For those who fill out the form for feedback and leave their names (or Steam nickname) will appear in credits in the ‘Special thanks’ section. Link to the form is in Discussions.
Note: Playtest period will end up June 10.
Apply for testing the game
We are glad to announce that Saturated Outer Space is open for signups for playtesting. Soon the access will be granted to gamers - thank you for your patience!
In addition, for those who fill out the form for feedback and leave their names (or Steam nickname) will appear in credits in the ‘Special thanks’ section.
Note: Playtest period will end up June 10. Don't worry - there will be more in future!
Devlog #19
The Rummy Games team is here to welcome you with the new Dev Diary.
Today VFX-artist Anastasia Medvedeva is in touch. She will talk about her experience of working on the Saturated Outer Space project during the last few months. We remind you that the last time Nastia talked about how she created the “swarm” unit in the Development Diary #14.
One of the most interesting tasks over the past couple of months has been the creation of a "shield" grenade, which should form a protective energy field with the help of lightning.
The first references were just an energy hemisphere or cube:
When creating this item, we focused on projects such as Halo or X-COM. But I wanted to add something new to this game mechanism. Therefore, the dome grenade will not only protect against the incoming damage, but will also have several more completely incredible uses. Unfortunately, I cannot write about these mechanics yet, I will have to wait for the official information about this mechanic.
And the first versions of a working grenade look like this:
Later, it was decided to add a mesh texture to make the shield fit more Sci-Fi rather than fantasy:
The mesh has a gradient and shimmer. The shield itself, in contact with any surface, outlines its contour. This is done thanks to the Fresnel and Panner material settings.
Later it turned out that the round shield is not quite what we need. In the end, it was decided to keep the cube version with the four separate mini-lightning generators, from which the shield appears.
The model of these generators was made in Maya, and the shield itself was made on Niagara plugin, which was described in the earlier diaries.
The components of the grenade look like this:
There are 4 of them, and they fly in different directions:
Lightnings out of them:
In the entire simulation, lightning turned out to be the most difficult, since they needed to set the right direction, choose the right length, thickness, oscillation and other parameters that for some reason did not correspond to Niagara editor and the game viewport. In addition, there were the largest numbers of them. There was also a lot of improvements on lightning, since sometimes the lightning bolts were too thick, sometimes too thin or very fluctuating.
The final setup looks like this:
And the type of grenade energy field approved for today is as follows:
After the appearance and disappearance of the dome, it was necessary to make it disintegrate upon the impact. And it will look the coolest - like a cell splitting:
Unfortunately, in the current version of the build, the grenade mechanics itself is still at the experimental level and players will not be able to get acquainted with it in the near future, but let's hope that by DevGAMM in May it will be already realized in the build open to use it.
The development of the project continues. If you are interested in it, add the game to your Steam Wishlist and be the first to know about the news and game updates. Until then, see you soon!