Solarix
Developer Stream with Indie Game Radio
http://www.hitbox.tv/JaShinYa/profile
Solarix Unlock Times
Many of you have been asking about unlock times and we can now reveal those.
8 AM EST
5 AM PST
12 Noon GMT
We look forward to finding out what you think about the game and do head to the Steam Discussion Forum should you experience any issues and we will do our very best to offer support as quickly as we can.
As a suprise here is our latest trailer in which AMI and EYE go head to head. Who should you trust?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaEKUCqRtCg
March 2015 Update & Release date
Since we are gearing towards release on 30th April 2015, we wanted to inform you that we have been very busy digesting all sorts of feedback both from beta-testers and the press. We are very happy about the general positive feedback for Solarix and currently we’re working day and night to make our launch as smooth and as bug-free as possible. Below is a comprehensive list of what we have fixed and worked on in the last few weeks.
General Fixes:
Improved framerates: Most of the testers were happy with smooth framerates, however on some machines and on certain chapters, especially when there is heavy fog (particle FX) around, there were some framerate issues. We made sure this problem is gone, by optimizing the aforementioned particle FX.
More check points: Testers have found Solarix gameplay challenging but sometimes they expressed frustration due to lack of save check point systems at certain areas in some missions. We have added more check points throughout the game to help tackle this problem.
Smooth movement: Some testers have complained about getting stuck in various parts of levels. We went through the entire missions to fix all sorts of collision errors and we made sure players can now transit between crouching, sprinting and walking smoothly. By removing collisions from objects within the environments we have saved some framerates also.
BONUS!
Elevators: Perhaps some players see our elevators as panic rooms and they keep jumping up and down during an elevator ride, thus generating more collision problems. We made sure, the elevators are now less prone to collision errors.
More resolutions added: Now, players can enjoy even higher resolutions to absorb Solarix’s moody atmosphere in 2K.
Improved tutorials: After some initial feedback we have re-wrote and re-designed some of the tutorial sections in the first two chapters so that gameplay mechanics are explained better.
Added more hints: Some players wanted to have subtle hints when they get lost. We made sure this is as subtle as it can get since other players are happy with the “no-hand-holding” attitude of Solarix gameplay approach.
Toggleable mission maps: Again, this was requested by some players, to have better sense of direction. Therefore, some chapters now have “satellite imaging system”, courtesy of our in game artificial intelligence module - A.M.I
Slightly faster crouching speed: This was reported that it was necessary even by some experienced stealth-gamers, so we made sure that the player can move faster while crouching.
Tweaked A.I properties: This is a crucial one and hard to balance. Some less experienced players who do not understand “old-school stealth” gameplay, finds even the game’s easy mode very difficult. More experienced stealth players complain about how easy the A.I is on the easiest and medium difficulties. Based on the cumulative feedback, and thanks to our lead programmer (Iman Shabani) wonderful archetype system, we are able to change AI properties very easily.
Now, just a note, we encourage experienced stealth players try the medium and hard difficulty modes for a more challenging experience.
Some other fixes are as follows:
*Scrolling up and down options added to all readable windows.
*Balanced hacking tools to have infinite ammo.
*Balanced weapon ammo and health pack layouts in the entire game so that player won’t be over-powered. After all at its core Solarix is a stealth game.
*Added fire damage.
*Balanced Electro Shocker (tazer) to work at a further distance from enemy AI to ensure easier knocking down.
*Totally new loading screen videos.
*Fixed overlaying UI in the main menu.
*Improved main menu with more interactive decorative elements.
*Fixed the anomalies voices not cutting off when dead.
*Improved textures to certain items within the environments.
*Fixed health packs not being carried across missions (save bug).
*Fixed health of player not registering correctly during some re-loads and restarting chapters.
*Flashlight is brighter now and has bigger radius, as requested by some testers who want to find their way in the dark areas more easily.
*Improved interaction distance to all interactive objects.
*Added new volumes for the AI so that they hear player footsteps muffles when player is inside certain buildings.
Obviously, we will enjoy tweaking and polishing the game until release to ensure Solarix has a feature complete and bug free launch.
Pulsetense Games Team
P.S.
Check the new trailer on our Steam store page and don’t forget to help spread the news about Solarix!
Yogscast plays Solarix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppExCe1r9YQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwEgIx1Kt2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsbhCtGoYbA
January 2015 Update
We've had a busy January and you may have seen more of Solarix appear on YouTube videos in the past few weeks. We hope this will continue throughout the month of February. This is a build we put together for select press. The build you are seeing has moved on somewhat with many improvements since it was released (we just put out a patch).
If you've not checked any of these out yet, we encourage you to do so as they're a good insight into Solarix and the gameplay mechanics.
· IncGamers Plays Solarix with Producer Mark Gregory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNFPRibLuos
· IGM Average Giants takes on Solarix with Mark Gregory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTtS8dPbez4
What we're working on
Right now the whole team are focusing on bug testing which is a painstaking process but essential as we head up to release in the months ahead. To keep you guys up to date the bugs that are taking the most time to squish are the geometry errors within the environments, no one likes getting stuck. Along with squashing these bugs we are continuing to improve all aspects of the game whether it be how the levels flow, interface and options, and even additional audio and lore information for players.
New Screenshots
To demonstrate how the game looks when the resolution is pumped up, we've released some new 2K screenshots from levels we have not shown to the public before. Supporting the game with as many resolutions as possible is something we're striving to achieve but might require some extra texturing to certain assets later on to make the sure the game looks as sharp as it can at 2k and 4k. You can see more screenshots in the link below.
http://www.pulsetense.com/2015/02/new-hi-res-solarix-screenshots/
Help us spread the word about Solarix
As we're a very small indie development team, we need our community to help us spread the word about Solarix and you can do that simply by following us on social media, liking our posts or engaging with us on Twitter but most importantly, tell your friends about the game.
We'll be back with another update soon so make sure you keep an eye on the Pulsetense website for more updates. Also, be sure you tell us what you think of Solarix in our forums and on our store page here on Steam.
Inc Gamers talk Solarix with Producer
Last week I sat down with Peter from Inc Gamers and talked mechanics, game design and story aspects of the game whilst he played the latest beta version of Solarix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNFPRibLuos
We hope you enjoy the video and look forward to your feedback as always.
Mark Gregory
Producer of Solarix
Pulsetense Games
www.pulsetense.com
December 2014 Update
As some of you may not know we hit alpha in October and have been working on play testing, polishing and bug fixing ever since. During the internal play testing process it became apparent to us we wanted to add more story content to Solarix and change the way in which you interact with the HUD and UI. With that in mind we’ve now added layers of polish to the story for the sake of pacing the story and gameplay progression and it now flows more naturally.
I mentioned previously about adding additional story content, after play testing internally we felt we had scope to add more lore content. So we did it. We secured the services of two wonderful voice actors who have done an excellent job of expanding the Solarix experience.
One of the major challenges we're still facing in pacing the gameplay is ammunition distribution throughout the levels. Getting that balance just right is taking time and a lot of play testing by the team. The good news is we feel we’ve reached a point where the balance feels right as you progress through the game.
Our trip to the PlatformExpos in Hull last month was extremely valuable in helping the team understand what gamers are a looking for and expect from a game like Solarix. Everyone who played the game came away with a positive experience and helped highlight some of the areas we were unsure about by playing the game in different ways. Again, thanks to everyone who took time to visit us at the booth.
As far as game development goes in the past month, our developers have been knuckling down on fixing bugs based on feedback from our testing group and we’re pleased to say that we are in the final round of code related bug fixing.
Optimisation in today’s PC game space is more important than ever so we’ve been spending time looking at optimisation and making sure that we can reach as many PC gamers as possible when the game launches next year. This year has proved that no matter what size of developer you are, gamers expect solid performance and we hope that we can deliver on that.
We realise that with more games than ever to choose from, not all of today’s PC gamers are familiar with the stealth genre so based on feedback we’ve added more tutorial content to ease players into the concept but at the same time keep the game challenging for veterans of the stealth genre.
Feedback from testers has been vital to helping us get to the stage we are and every piece of feedback has been carefully considered and in some cases been tested in internal builds. Thanks to that we feel Solarix has reached a very important milestone in its development and we think the game is almost ready and we are looking to move it into a beta phase at the start of 2015.
We want to say a huge thanks to everyone who has been following the game this year and we hope you have a fantastic holiday season. We’ll continue to tweak, test and fix any issues we find over the next few weeks and we’re looking forward to 2015 when we’ll finally be able to get the game into the hands of more testers and then launch.
Before I forget, don’t forget to sign-up for the newsletter and follow us on Steam, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit. As an indie developer we need you to help spread the word about Solarix.
Merry Christmas to all and we'll see you in 2015.
- Pulsetense Games
Hands-on impressions of Solarix from PlatformExpos in video
The feedback we received from gamers at the event was amazing; we saw people playing the game in ways we never thought would be possible. It was such a great experience for the team to see the different ways gamers interacted with the game.
After watching the video be sure to leave your comments on our page here too as your comments are invaluable to us as we continue to improve the game over the next few months.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEJ_EY6hoRQ&list=UUgXPXjhDASFtbLBo9FZB3og
Solarix playable at Platform Expo's 2014
If you want to attend the show, tickets can be purchased from the link below and hopefully we’ll see you there.
http://platformexpos.com/tickets/
Community Update
During the past couple of months we have been totally focused on development and the good news is we are back on track. It's amazing how much hard work pays off. I'd like to personally thank all the team for their efforts over the last few months, Solarix looks and plays better than ever.
Not only have we been focusing on the game's development but we also recognize the importance of community and not only fans of Solarix but the stealth genre, so on reading this, we have launched a new website for Solarix and Pulsetense Games.
Your feedback on game features is very important to the team, so we have also launched a new forum where you can chat with other community members and the developer as development progresses. If you questions for the team do not be afraid to ask we will always be honest with you.
What we would like you guys to do now is visit www.pulsetense.com and sign up for the forums and follow our social media channels so you can start interacting with each other about Solarix. We have made it a simple process to join the discussions by adding social media sign-ins for comments but we encourage you to create a forum account and really get involved.
With the new website you are now able to comment on anything art, blogs, new posts, screenshots, videos... anything. The same goes for the forum nothing is off limits, we only ask you respect each other. We have done all this as your feedback is vital to us as we come into this important time of the games development.
Thanks once again for all your support and we hope to see you all on the website.
- Pulsetense Games Team
P.S - We hope to have more exciting news to share with you in the coming week(s) about development.