Firstly, we owe you a galaxy-sized thank you for joining us on this interstellar adventure. It's been quite a journey since our humble beginning in 2019 with a mere spark of an idea. Who knew that spark would ignite the creation of the galaxy's greatest Interstellar Culinary Action-Adventure Game. Try to say that 5 times fast with a Sweat Potato in your mouth đźŤ
Rewinding back to 2019, we started with nothing but a wild idea about a person waking up on an abandoned spaceship. And somehow that turned out to be a chef. Fast forward to 2021, and we have this incredible community supporting us and our vision. Thanks to you, our dream began to take flight at warp speed. Now, here we are in 2024, amazed by how far we've come together.
đź‘ľ Squishing Bugs on the Culinary Frontier of Space Chef
As we navigate through the cosmos of game development, we're thrilled to say that all the major features of Space Chef are nearly complete! But, as with any grand space expedition, there are obstacles - in our case, about 4298 bugs. Ok, there aren't that many bugs, but it's still a decent amount that we need to squash.
Picture this: one minute you're squishing a bug that took a mere 5 minutes to fix, feeling like a Galactic Bug Warrior. The next minute, you're wrestling with a code-beast that's determined to play hide and seek for 5 days straight. It's like cooking a complex dish, where adding a pinch of salt somehow turns the soup into jelly.
In the wacky world of game development, every fix is a new adventure. It's a bit like whack-a-mole, but with keyboards and a lot more caffeine. One moment everything's running smoother than a Graffle on a hoverboard, and the next, you're watching a beautifully rendered Beefle do the cha-cha instead of walking, sliding around like it's on ice. Ah, the unexpected joys of game development!
We're hard at work squashing these bugs and going over each and every small and big part of the game to ensure your experience is out of this world. While we might not be at the finish line just yet, we're closer than ever, with our thrusters set to 'polish and perfect' mode.
We've also finally been starting to play the game from the start, to make sure that everything from tutorials to progression is logical and isn't confusing. This will be improved in several steps after playtesting, that we will start when most major issues have been fixed.
🌌 What’s New in the Nebula?
Tasty Tweaks to Cooking Minigames: Sharpen your knives and get your flipping skills ready! We’ve made the cooking minigames more engaging and skill-based. Precision cutting for top-notch quality and timely burger flipping on the grill are now key to culinary perfection.
A well grilled and seasoned Ratoid is actually a lot tastier than some "food critics" seem to think.
What do you mean "skill based"? This knife is dull, isn't it?
NPC Dialogs and Quest Enhancements: We've expanded the universe of Space Chef with a bunch of new dialogues and quests. Alongside these additions, we've introduced several intriguing NPCs scattered across the galaxy. Your mission? Find these characters and tantalize their taste buds with your culinary creations! Succeed, and you'll unlock essential tools that will aid in your deeper exploration of the planets, to find even juicier ingredients.
Nebula’s Lost Decor: Ever wondered about the galaxy’s abundance of abandoned restaurants? Well, now you can scavenge through these cosmic ghost kitchens for unique decorations and furniture!
Home Base Upgrades: Your home base has received a major makeover! Easier customization, size adjustments, and even doors to keep nosy aliens out. Your personal space is now truly yours. You can also have your bed in the middle of the station. We promise we won't judge.
🌟 Time for a New Year!
At the end of 2023, our team took a well-deserved break to recharge our rockets for an explosive 2024. We’re over the moon with excitement for what the new year holds and can’t wait to share more culinary adventures with you!
Happy New Year to our wonderful backers! May your 2024 be filled with joy, adventure, and, of course, delicious intergalactic cuisine.
Want to keep up-to-date on the latest cosmic cuisine? 🍲
Then don’t forget to mosey on over to our Discord to shoot the breeze with us and follow our exploits on social media at @SpaceChefGame 💬
Today’s Forecast sees Brutal Sandstorms, Toxic Gas Clouds, and a Juicy Update!
You better grab your aprons, equip your homemade gas guns, and start working up an appetite, because it’s time for another update!
In this update, we’ll be revisiting the barren deserts of Cyclonia, talking about the weather (everyone’s favorite topic), and introducing a few new mechanics that we’re sure will make your transition to an interstellar lifestyle even smoother.
Over the summer, we’ve been cooking up a storm (Quite literally. We don't recommend bringing an umbrella). Here’s the cosmic scoop on what we’ve achieved in the past two months.
Of Maps, Monsters, and Meteor Craters
Cyclonia has gone through a lot of changes and innovations since our original Kickstarter demo, which we’re very excited to share with you!
The full planet map has now been implemented, but will be shrouded in a fog of war. Or should we say a fog of please-explore? (Nailed it).
Every step you take, every move you make…will be tracked by unknown cosmic forces and result in a Location Discovered pop-up. Every time you find a new location, you’ll earn precious XP! That XP will automatically be sprinkled onto your Exploration skill, so you’ll be a well-seasoned space-traveler in no time.
But all of this exploration would be nothing without strange and horrifying alien creatures to meet with (and possibly make meat out of)!
From sentient cacti to two-headed snakes, Cyclonia is now rich with life. All of the local wildlife has now been added to the planet, so you’ll never be short of creatures to study, hunt, and run away from.
Each creature has its own unique behaviors, with some being nocturnal and some being diurnal. That’s a very fancy way of saying that some come out at night and others come out during the day. Don’t even ask us what crepuscular means.
We’ve also added a feature where special and legendary creatures will only spawn once you’ve reached a certain level, so you’ll have to up your game if you want to take down big game.
Alongside the biodiversity, we wanted to really spice up the terrain on Cyclonia, so we’ve dotted meteor craters, hot springs, natural bridges, and spaceship wrecks to give you that added sense of life-endangerment.
It’ll also allow you to climb to higher parts of the map, where you’ll find the Hornagle and their notoriously delicious eggs. We’ve heard they make an omelet worth dying for (which we’re sure will make for a comforting final thought when the Hornagle mother is eviscerating you).
From Gas Planets to Windy Planets, a History of Far Out Flatulence
Remember when we made that joke earlier about “literally” cooking up a storm?
It’s finally time for the punchline!
From calm skies to raging sandstorms, we’ve introduced a weather system to Cyclonia. After all, everyone knows that the real key to developing a chef’s delicate palette is to constantly have a mouth full of sand. Certain areas of the map will also feature strong winds, which will challenge your navigational skills (and leave you wondering what kind of diet the locals have adopted to produce such an…explosive breeze).
Not in Your Element
You might think that rigid and dogmatic Health & Safety laws wouldn’t apply in the vast expanse of space.
And you’d be wrong!
Introducing our new elemental warning system. These handy symbols are designed to let you know key things about your current environment, such as when you’re overheating or when you’ve found yourself in a space station that has no oxygen. In retrospect, we realize that last one might be somewhat redundant, since by the time you’ve seen the no oxygen warning you’d already have, you know, suffocated…
Whenever the player enters an area with elemental hazards, the warning symbol will start to fill up. If you leave it for too long, it will begin flashing in a way that’s totally not stressful or anxiety inducing. Once the symbol is full, the player will start losing health and stamina. The only way to combat this is to either leave the area, which will result in the symbol slowly disappearing, or through the medium of…
Fashion!
Who needs to worry about subzero temperatures when you’ve got a nice coat?
Over time, you’ll be able to unlock elemental wearables, such as the Explorer’s Hat that will shield you from the blazing Cyclonian heat. This won’t remove the danger entirely, but will help you to withstand these elemental hazards for longer. If your budget doesn’t extend to the season’s latest trends, there will also be perishable items you can use to help with your weather woes. For example, eating Frostberries will cool you down (and have the added bonus of giving you perpetual brain freeze so you’ll have no energy left to think about how overheated you are).
If you’re fashion-less and Frostberry-less, however, there’s no need to panic. You’ll still be able to use food items to restore any health that you’ve lost as a result of elemental hazards. That being said, the last thing you want to do is end up munching all of the ingredients you risked your life to harvest!
Introducing (Un)Civil Ships
We’ve made a few tweaks to the various spaceships you can find (for a small fee) throughout the universe, so they all handle slightly differently.
But what about the space-faring public?
You’ll now encounter civilian ships as you navigate through the vacuum of space. Just in case the ship design and engine exhaust doesn’t immediately give it away, you’ll be able to tell which direction they’re going in based on the trails behind them, so you can easily move out of their way (or stalk them, we won’t judge).
If you happen to get in their way, there’s a chance they will honk at you, and they may even make a witty comment as they drive by. If you crash into them, they will certainly have something to say about it, so all the more incentive to collide with your neighbors and see what hilarious commentary they will make as they are engulfed in the fiery wreckage of their beloved spaceship.
Also, as you become more famous, the chances increase that people will actually say something really nice to you.
Don’t Just Pass Gas, Harvest It!
When you’re not busy crashing into the locals of Rusty Town, you’ll probably want to harvest the vast array of delights that space has to offer.
That’s why we’ve added some handy tools, so you can extend mankind’s desire to aggressively sap vital and limited resources into the final frontier!
The drill has been updated, so you can harvest precious rocks and minerals from a total of nine different asteroid types with ease, if you got the right drill that is. We’ve also added the gas skimmer, which will sap various types of gas straight from the atmosphere and into your inventory. It’s a tool that is sure to come in handy, whether you’re traveling through a gas cloud or simply dealing with the fallout of a bean binge.
But why should you want to be all gassed up?
Because gas is a very valuable resource! For example, carbon dioxide will add the fizz to your soft drinks, while propane can be used to fuel your grill. Or guns, but we don't recommend that. Unless you're a very violent person.
Please Don’t Bite the Hand that Feeds
Are you one of those people who could spend hours feeding the ducks at their local park?
Then we’ve got just the mechanic for you!
Except the park is a dangerous otherworldly planet, the food requires hours of strenuous labor to harvest, and the ducks are colossal extraterrestrial creatures with teeth the size of your head.
So why should you be risking your life to give these alien beasts a snack?
While they’re distracted, you’ll be able to harvest valuable ingredients from them, such as the turthats shown on the back of the Turtosaurus (shown above) or the deliciously vague substance known only as “cream.”
Warp-Speed Deliveries: Unlock the Power of The Ring Gates
When you’ve just received an order from the Inner Zone but you’re all the way out in the Far Zone, how are you ever going to make the delivery in 8 minutes or less?
With the help of portals, of course!
These portals will start off disabled, but will be activated as part of a key NPC quest. Once you’ve discovered all 4 portals, you’ll be able to navigate across the galaxy with ease!
Made to Order
To encourage players to serve a wide variety of delicacies, rather than just the same recipes over and over, we’ve added a special order mechanic!
These special orders will be unlocked once you reach a certain level, so you won’t be challenged too early on in your culinary journey. But what makes these orders so special?
The tricky thing is that the special order is always something that you don't have on your menu, you’ll get an extra whole 5 minutes of time, which should allow you to hunt down the new ingredients, cook up the new recipe, and deliver to the hungry customer. Sounds easy right? If you rise to the challenge, you’ll receive twice the reputation and double the amount of money as you would get from a normal order. That’s double the reward, double the fun, and double the increase in blood pressure!
Keep Your Tongue on the Trends
You know what’s so hot right now?
No, no you don’t. But you will, with the help of your handy radio!
Once you get past a certain level, you’ll also unlock tips for all the trendiest treats. Every week, you’ll be informed by a random NPC via radio about that week’s trending food item. Much like Special Orders, if you accept and fulfill orders for that week’s trending recipe, you’ll receive double reputation and double the money. Now you’ll be able to carry on the grand corporate tradition of exploiting customers’ fear-of-missing-out in exchange for cold, hard cash.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this latest update, but there’s still plenty more to come.
Stay tuned on your space radio for our next transmission. In the meantime, we’d like to once again thank all of our backers for their ongoing support and we hope you’ll forgive us for making so many fart-based jokes in this update. We promise we’ll hold them in next time!
Want to keep up-to-date on the latest cosmic cuisine? 🍲
Then don’t forget to mosey on over to our Discord to shoot the breeze with us and follow our exploits on social media at @SpaceChefGame 💬
Space Chef Chosen for the Selected Indie Games 80 Showcase
Guess who’s going to be crash-landing in Tokyo 🛸
We’re excited to announce that Space Chef has been selected by Tokyo Game Show to feature in their Selected Indie Games 80 Showcase!
Out of thousands of applicants, Tokyo Game Show chose just 80 indie games to feature both in the online showcase tomorrow and the physical event in September. Against extraterrestrial odds, Space Chef has made the cut đź‘˝
Tune into the Tokyo Game Show YouTube channel on Tuesday 29th August at 18:00 JST (10AM BST, 5AM EST, 2AM PDT) to see Space Chef featured!
As part of the showcase, you can vote for Space Chef to be a finalist of SOWN2023 based on your opinion of its “sense of wonder.” The voting lasts until Tuesday September 12th and you can vote by following the link here.
Want to keep up-to-date on the latest cosmic cuisine? 🍲
Then don’t forget to mosey on over to our Discord to shoot the breeze with us and follow our exploits on social media at @SpaceChefGame 💬
A Closer Look at Our Nice, Naughty, and Nebulous NPCs
Our NPCs come in all shapes and sizes, from the nice and the nebulous to the naughty and the nefarious. But how will you interact with them?
In our latest update, we’ll be showcasing new ways to interact with our NPCs, both human and alien. Brace yourselves for an update that’s going to be…
Communication can be hard at the best of times, but it’s a lot harder when you have 3 mouths or 12 arms. That’s why we’ve introduced a totally foolproof way of communicating with intelligent life that you might encounter on your intergalactic adventures.
As we all know, the hallmark of any intelligent species is the ability to communicate solely through the use of emojis.
Interactions with alien species will be done using these symbols, so communicating with them is like a simple puzzle. Except puzzles don’t usually end with you being chased out of a village by angry locals wielding spears and flaming machetes.
As your relationships with these alien species grow, you’ll unlock new symbols to communicate with and new quests that will test your interspecies diplomacy skills.
Making NPCs into Non-Stop Problem Characters
Do you feel underworked?
We sure hope you do, because we’ve implemented our NPCs Quest System, so NPCs can ask you for a whole host of complicated favors. What do you get in return for completing these quests?
A token amount of gratitude (and key items that will assist you on your cosmic journeys, but we know you’re not in it for the rewards, right?).
By completing quests for NPCs, you’ll also improve your relationship with them and perhaps open up the possibility for romance to blossom. As the old saying goes, the way to any person’s heart is through the completion of various tasks.
And with that, our transmission is over!
We hope you enjoyed reading this update as much as we enjoyed writing it (and laughing at our own jokes). Thank you so much for your ongoing support and we can’t wait to share more with you soon.
Want to keep up-to-date on the latest cosmic cuisine? 🍲
Then don’t forget to mosey on over to our Discord to shoot the breeze with us and follow our exploits on social media at @SpaceChefGame 💬
We’re thrilled to announce that Space Chef has been selected to feature in Future of Play Direct 🎮
As part of the showcase, we’ll be serving up a brand new trailer and new gameplay footage. Tune in live tomorrow from 8:00 PT (11:00 ET, 16:00 BST) on the Twitch Gaming channel to watch Future of Play Direct and get a first look at our new trailer 👀
If you want to let us know your thoughts on the showcase or you’re not able to join us live, then don’t forget to join our Discord and follow us on social media too, where we'll be sharing our new trailer 💬
Win a Space Chef Apron in Our Cooking Competition!
Enter now and you’ll be in for a chance to win one of three custom Space Chef aprons 🍳
All you need to do to enter is head to our Discord and share your craziest home recipes with us in the “contests” channel.
The recipe has to be originally created by you (or your family/friends) and you’ll need to post a photo of the finished product, along with the story behind how it was created. You’re welcome to share the recipe itself in the channel too, although we understand if you want to keep it a secret 🤫
The deadline to submit your entry is Tuesday May 23rd and the 3 lucky winners will be announced on Tuesday May 30th.
Want to know how you can get the lowdown on the latest galactic delicacies?
Then don’t forget to mosey on over to our Discord to shoot the breeze with us and follow our exploits on social media at @SpaceChefGame 💬
New NPCs, Explorable Areas, and Recipes Await in Our Latest Update
From new NPCs to spooky abandoned restaurants, we’ve got a big ol’ serving of new updates that we can’t wait for you to see! There’s a lot more behind-the-scenes that we weren’t able to include in this update, but we’ve selected the tastiest morsels for you to sink your teeth into.
Grab your knives and sporks, take a seat, and let’s tuck in!
With all of those asteroids to dodge and treacherous gas clouds to avoid, space feels like a dangerous and hostile place. So we thought, how can we make it seem a bit friendlier?
By adding space pirates, of course!
After all, what could warm you up better in the cold and unforgiving vacuum of space than a jolly old firefight with a group of hungry space pirates?
You’ll now meet bands of space pirates roaming around the cosmic sea in search of defenseless ships to plunder, so make sure you’ve got a few weapon attachments (or a knack for quick piloting and sharp turns!)
We’ve also added other NPCs out in space that are significantly less likely to steal your booty. At the moment, we can’t seem to stop them from flying into the sun and turning themselves into crispy metal bacon, but we’re hard at work putting in waypoints to protect all future space NPCs in our care.
RIP Stands For Restaurants in Pieces
As you’re exploring the galaxy, you may stumble across some abandoned restaurants that shared the same mysterious fate as the one belonging to your grandma. What happened to them? Where are their owners? And, most importantly, what’s in it for you?
You’ll find all sorts of tasty treats inside these culinary crypts, including new recipes, new blueprints for items, inspiration for your home decor, and perhaps even some clues as to who might be behind these nefarious disappearances.
You Sunk My Battleship!
Alongside abandoned restaurants, we’ve also added a sunken spaceship on the planet Bluegoonia that might hide a deep sea-cret. Just remember to take your diving suit with you if you want to take a look at it, or you might end up sleeping with the mutant space fishes!
Introducing Cyclonia 2.0
Our planet Cyclonia was looking a little tired, so we’ve given it a makeover!
Cyclonia is now made up of various different biomes, including vast deserts and barren rock terrain. When you make your first visit, your spaceship will land in Area 1 marked on the map below. But how do you make it to the other areas?
We’ll keep that a secret for now, but you’ll need to unlock new tools to reach them. We promise we’ll make it worth your while, as different areas will have new ingredients and creatures. Expanding your map means expanding your recipe book (or possibly dying in a brand new and exciting way!)
Building Homes for NPCs
Don’t worry, we aren’t about to start our own charity!
We just wanted to treat our NPCs right and give them a comfortable place to lay down their heads at night after a long day of work. Can you guess which of our NPCs lives in this home with the luxurious Bontha-skin rug?
When you’re not out on the hunt for fresh new flavors, you’ll get to visit the homes of all of your favorite NPCs, with one exception: Officer Hoffman. After all, the best (and only) cop in the galaxy never has time to sleep! So we’ve begun building this cozy police station, where you can find him hard at work night and day.
Keeping Our NPCs on Track
Some of our public spaces didn’t feel quite as lively as we would have liked, so we’ve added a way for these scenes to become populated with NPCs over time. Now, when you want to take a peaceful stroll in the park, you won’t have a moment alone with your thoughts. How relaxing.
As you can see in the GIF below, we’ve added various tracks that our NPCs will follow and waypoints where they’ll perform certain actions, with each scene having a limit on how many NPCs can enter and exit at any given time. We’re fairly confident none of them will achieve sentience and realize their lives are being dictated by an inscrutable dev deity. Maybe don’t look them in the eyes when they walk past you though, just to be safe.
Express Yourself
While you should always aim to provide service with a smile, sometimes even the greatest chef can feel worn down, hungry, or overcome with murderous rage. That’s why we’ve added new player animations to make movement look more natural and to make facial expressions more diverse!
Your chef will now look sad and tired when they’re feeling exhausted and may even let out a few yawns if they feel like you’re not paying enough attention.
Putting the Model in Model Citizen
We’re getting all of our NPCs catwalk ready with stylish new outfits and character models to fit their size, shape, and personality. We’ve also adapted the way our basic character model works so various body parts can be scaled to fit different body types, such as children like Jenny, or longer pieces of clothing, such as Gloria’s dress.
Hungry for Knowledge?
We’ve updated our Gastropedia to make it look more authentic while still making it easy to use. Each of the tabs will lead to a different section, such as Creatures or Recipes, so you can keep track of everything you’ve discovered on your space adventure!
If you’re thinking there are a lot of food stains on those pages, you probably don’t want to see the state of our bookcases…
Meat’s Back on the Menu, Boys!
In our last update, we introduced the planets of Crystalia and Bluegoonia. With new planets comes new creatures and with new creatures comes new… gastronomic opportunities. We’ll let you fill in the blanks on that one.
The Creature Feature
We’re employing fresh young talent to help us with development. In fact, our latest creature was designed by the daughter of lead developer Niclas. We want to get our kids all fired up about game design from a young age. Plus think of all the time and money we’ll save!
Want to know how you can join our intergalactic posse of space chefs?
Then don’t forget to mosey on over to our Discord to shoot the breeze with us and follow our exploits on social media at @SpaceChefGame 💬
Starting the New Year with a Big Bang
For us, 2022 passed by faster than a Graffle on rollerskates!
We’ve made some great progress since the last update, including adding two visitable planets, three settlements, NPCs, interiors, and a whole bunch of interplanetary space to explore. Armed with the feedback from our wonderful Alpha Backers, we and the QA team have been busy as a bunch of Beefles in nesting season, fixing bugs and rebalancing mechanics to make the game better.
Aside from our latest alpha test, our focus has been the Outer Zone. We’ve added a lot of content and three new planets: the frozen Crystalia, waterworld Bluegoonia, and the far less inviting gas giant Nucleon, which is full of new gas sources for curious and courageous chefs to collect.
Despite the cold, Crystalia is teeming with new creatures and new ingredients for you to harvest. Just make sure to wrap up warm and keep an eye out for the gigantic snowbeast that’s rumored to make the planet its home…
We’ve also started work on the water planet of Bluegoonia. Currently, we're having to make do without a dive suit, but we’re planning to fix that and we hope we'll be able to swim around soon.
Finally, we’ve expanded Cyclonia and made it possible for any intrepid chef to wander the scorching desert in their quest for new ingredients. Beware: you won't be the only one on the hunt in this desolate place…
All that Glimmers
Back in space, why not visit Glimmerrock, the oldest mining settlement in the Outer Zone? The sturdy miners here have interstellar-class appetites and surprisingly discerning palettes.
And if you need to improve your slow-faring space scooter, make sure to visit the Glimmerrock Shipyard!
Shooting for Stars
Alongside three new cooking stations - the Stove, the Oven and the Slow Cooker - we’ve also added a quality rating to the dishes you'll be cooking. As you can see in the picture, all food now has a star rating. The quality of food will impact how much payment you’ll receive and what the customers think about your food. And even better (or possibly worse), food will spoil if you wait too long to use it!
There's No Space Like Home
You'll now be able to decorate your base however you like!
Want to remove that hole in the wall? Put it in another wall for some reason?
All your wildest furnishing fantasies are now possible with the new decoration mode.
As if space wasn't treacherous enough, we've now finished work on some space hazards, like the aptly-named Voss Toxic Cloud. We also added Space Ticks, Space Jellyfishes, and moving asteroids, some of which will have valuable assets for you to discover, mine, dodge, and crash into as they whizz around the galaxy.
Too Many Cooks...?
Never!
The cold, uncompromising vacuum of space is much more fun to explore when you’ve got a buddy. Last but not least, you'll be able to enjoy Space Chef with a friend thanks to local split screen multiplayer. Split your chores, support each other on expeditions, or just push your friend’s ship into the sun in the spirit of friendly competition!
Thanks for reading our update to the very end and coming along this mini cosmic journey with us 🌌
We hope you've had a very happy holiday and wish you all the culinary success you desire in 2023!
Want to know how you can join our intergalactic posse of space chefs?
Then don’t forget to mosey on over to our Discord to shoot the breeze with us and follow our exploits on social media at @SpaceChefGame 💬
