STARDROP - Happy Holidays !!! (End Of Year Update)
Hi Everyone
Man what a year this has been. So much has happened I can't even remember all of it. Okay so, first things first. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I've been laying low for a bit this month, recharging my spirit for the last hurrah.
In this update I'll go over some important topics. I found out about an issue not even ten minutes ago and am busy working on an update. I also have set a date for the game's final release. Here goes!
STARDROP - Sequence Breaking Issue
I can't say this is a bug because it's more or less out of my own stupidity. I have no clue how long this problem is in the game and how or when it sneaked itself in here. My guess it's because of me testing stuff out and then I forgot about it.
The Issue: Anyone is able to skip an entire chunk of the game when they enter and explore Delta Labs for the first time. There's a door near the security office that is supposed to be closed until you reach chapter 4. This is the door that leads to the elevator which in turn leads to Delta Labs.
I forgot to connect a boolean to a branch node inside the level blueprint and its currently set to ALWAYS be true. This means the door will always open. Obviously this is a really big problem because the game is meant to have a tight narrative and people being able to skip so much of it is not something I am happy about.
So anyone who has just Bought the game, or has not yet played through chapter 3 and/or 4, please wait a little bit so I can release an update. My apologies for this really not-so-smart mistake and it should be fixed very soon. (Edit: A new update has been released and should be fixed)
STARDROP - Leaving Early Access
STARDROP will leave Early Access on February 1st. While I could go on with working on this game forever I just cannot stay in Early Access for much longer. The game (excusing the current issue I mentioned above) is incredibly polished and completely playable. I am also working on ironing out other smaller details and doing what I can to further polish existing content.
I need STARDROP to be fully released for my own mental sanctuary. I hope that everyone who's been here for a while understands that even when the game's released, I will continue to work on it where it makes sense and if any issues do pop up, I'll do my best to fix them.
I also am planning some future DLC and I have at least two stories in mind that I think would be pretty interesting. This does depend on how successful the game is overall and I am planning other smaller projects as well. This will add some variety in my life as a developer, which I really would like to have at this point but STARDROP is also something I really love to write stories for. But the most important factor is simply releasing the game and hoping others will also enjoy it for what it is.
Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year
I hope everyone has had a good time this year and I also hope that 2018 will be one hell of a good year for all of us. I would also like to thank so many of you who've taken the time to show support, notifying me about bugs or other issues and for taking the time to write a review. Positive and negative, I value the fact that I am able to gain a broader aspect of how the game is being received on your end.
So yeah, that wraps up this update and as you might have guessed I have added a bit of Christmas flavor to some of the levels in the game in the form of decorations. Most notable is Aryn and John's ship and Aryn's apartment. I just couldn't resist adding it in. The Christmas content will return every year just like the Halloween content automatically. I may add an option to turn that off in the future but for now I hope you'll like it.
As always, please take care and I'll see you again next year.
Joure & Team V
STARDROP - Souvenirs Update
Today will mark the release of a new feature, an improvement on an existing feature and Aryn's apartment complete re-make !!! All of these tie together and below I will explain why and how.
Inspection System Refined
The inspection feature has been tweaked to make rotating objects a lot more natural. Objects can now be rotated properly along the Z and X axis, meaning you'll be able to take a proper look at them and not rotate in an odd manner.
While a significant improvement, it's not the most interesting of today's updates.
Souvenirs (Collectibles)
The inspection system has been under-utilized when I implemented it. After I realized just how much I added a bunch of documents across the game and I also increased the number of objects you could inspect but it still didn't feel it added as much to the game as I wanted.
So I have tweaked the inspection system which now allows Aryn (the player) to collect certain objects as souvenirs. You might find a figurine of one of those androids, or a miniaturized version of one of the ships in the game.
You can inspect these items as usual but a notification sound effectwill play and the HUD will display that you are able to collect it. Once you do, that item can then be viewed in Aryn's apartment.
I've added a whole bunch of objects and I am sure to add some more before the full release. This should spice up the exploration aspect and offer more rewards for doing so on top of the narrative background expositions.
Currently there are 22 items that can be collected but I plan to raise that number to around 25 or more. I have not yet fully test all the collectibles yet, though I have tested the majority of them and I will keep checking and will refine any issues.
Aryn's New Apartment
I'll admit, I never could find a sweet-spot for how I designed Aryn's apartment. It underwent numerous lighting changes and redefined the existing apartment many times and while I felt they were improvements I never felt satisfied enough.
So I did what I've done before and re-created her apartment from scratch. This time I really do feel so much better about it. It feels homey, less sci-fi which always felt a bit forced and more like a real place.
I took this opportunity to design it with the new souvenirs feature in mind. I also added the ability to revisit Aryn's apartment after you finished the main game. You'll be able to view all the collected souvenirs as they are proudly displayed around her apartment.
Lastly
I hope you guys will enjoy the new feature as well as the new re-made apartment. I also fixed a few bugs regarding the chapter selection and I had to release a hot-fix because I forgot to implement the new android override mechanics correctly in some of the existing levels, which should now all be fixed.
I slightly increased the zoom level when you use the DataPad too. Thank you all for reporting bugs and stuff like that. I will now continue to finish polishing the game and continue listening to you guys as well.
Now go and bring back some awesome swag out there in space. ;)
Joure & Team V
STARDROP - Final Chapter Released + More
Hey Everyone.
Today is a very important personal milestone. The base narrative is finished and the game can be experienced from start to finish. Now, before I go onto the meat of this news update, I have to stress the fact that while the story is pretty much done, development is not. Not just yet at least.
IMPORTANT: German localization is not yet implemented and will be added in a few days.
There's a lot that I want to say in this post, since it's the second most important update till date. I don't finish a game's narrative every day, surely not when it's been in development for so long. But, there's a bit more that I want to talk about, so, I will now go into the details of this update. Hold on to your butts.
Chapter 4 - Released
A little over three years ago I set out to create a game. I had a basic story-line in my head and an idea of what I wanted the game to be, I set out and started prototyping. From that initial premise STARDROP was born.
Today, anyone who bought the game in Early Access will now finally be able to finish the main story! It's kind of a scary thing for me to conclude a narrative that I have been working on for so long, hoping it will do justice to everyone who has been with the game's development for so long.
I have done my very best to keep the ending true to what I set out and what I envisioned. I do believe that its true to what STARDROP has been about in its core. I can only hope that you guys will enjoy it as well.
Echoes
Echoes is back. For those who have been around for quite some time already know about Echoes. It's one of the SRO side missions that becomes available when completing the game. It used to be part of the demo and also of the main game but it was simply outdated and had some bugs. I have done my best to bring it back.
I am not completely finished yet, a few dialog overlaps happen so I'll need to tidy all that up some more. But the overall experience is there. I might also tweak some more visuals here and there as well and try to optimize it a bit more where able.
New Trailer
I also wanted to showcase the new trailer I made. It's based heavily o nthe old one but with all new and current footage. I think it's pretty solid I hope you'll like it. :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuATMY1BDS4
Smaller Fixes And Tweaks
I have also yet again fixed a few minor issues. A prominent one was that you could keep running forever if you would hit shift and walk at the start of a level. Acceleration now ramps up and down smoothly as was intended.
For Echoes I tweaked how the player collides with other objects in zero gravity, which was always really odd. Things seem to be fine now. On top of that I have lowered some of the Zero-G sound effects so they're far less intrusive.
I also fixed most issues where the subtitles would disappear. I think there's only one instance left of this happening and I also have to fix some remaining overlapping subtitles, mostly in Echoes.
I tweaked / fixed the Android remote control mechanics. I feel this bit is a bit underused and I'm planning to do more with this but I can't say more about how and where. But the system now works as I intended it.
Steam Is Changing
I usually end with some last words but today I wanted to have a bit of a talk about what's been going on the past few months right here on Steam. I feel that not saying anything would be unfair and I am not really one to keep things quiet when there's stuff to be said.
Steam as a platform for indies has always been something I have been grateful for. Steam's underlying mechanics are robust and very powerful. Updating games on steam is awesome and my general experience with the support from the Valve guys has always been solid.
However, I am pretty sure everyone by now kind of knows that the Steam of 2018 is not the Steam I started development of STARDROP with in 2015. When I launched STARDROP in Early Access on June 2017, things looked bright. I've done a lot on my end to try and promote the game outside of Steam and we even won something.
Recently it seems Valve has tweaked the way the store algorithm decides when/how/what to show on the storefront and it's been a slaughter for not just myself but a lot of other indie devs the past few months, sales wise. None of us are sure what entirely has changed, nor how, nor why. We don't know if these changes and the results of them are desired by Valve or not. What I myself can tell is that Early Access visibility has decreased a lot.
What this means in general is that I don't have the time to sit in Early Access that much longer. I am in a way forced to release the game as soon as possible. Luckily STARDROP has always been in a pretty solid state in general and has never had too many game breaking bugs. I will now go into the polishing phase of the game's development. I will do my best to polish out the most annoying bugs. I will do my best to add in whatever smaller details I have planned.
What I don't know yet is how much of the extra stuff I wanted to add will actually be implemented on release. There are things that will be added prior or after release but I am unsure how much extra I can do on top of that. I always wanted to make a bunch of side missions, and I still do, but I have to look towards the future as well. This game has always been a bit of a niche, simply because this game is not a gameplay centric experience. While the game means a ton to me, I will have to make sure that whatever I do next is able to reach a broader audience.
Looking back at the game's narrative and things like that, I believe there are some really cool opportunities to do something with what I've done in STARDROP on a narrative level and translate that into a more action oriented project.
I will be taking a few steps back with this release and listen to the feedback. I'm going to play around with a new project I started a few days earlier. I will then go right back into finishing up STARDROP as best I can and prepare for its full release.
I can only hope that I have been able to entertain you guys well enough and that you may understand where I'm coming from. Whatever happens my goal still is to release a quality product. I might just not be able to do it to the extend that I would liked. Whatever happens, I am happy I at least made it to the ending, I still am planning to add a few more levels to the main ship to explore optionally with some narrative elements to further deepen the lore.
I'm sorry for this massive Wall-O-Text but I had to share my thoughts and plans.
The Future
So, yeah. As I mentioned before I will now go into polishing the rest of the game. I surely have not rushed production, not skimmed any of the overall quality, it does feel that it's time for me to move on once I feel the game is at a proper level of quality.
I also don't think I will make another game like this any time soon. As much as I loved making it, the sad truth is, for me at least, that games with actual mechanics and more action oriented overall do better. I also don't like to just make the same stuff over and over so there's a very good chance my next game will have more traditional gameplay.
That said, I also LOVE telling stories so I will probably find some way to marry the two. Does this means I will never make a game like STARDROP? Or maybe a sequel? Well, never say never. My time spent with the voice actors and the other team members have been amazing. I will remain in contact with pretty much most of them and if I can ever muster up a proper budget I will most certainly revisit the universe, one way or another.
I also still want to make some more side missions. I'm not sure how many, or how often, but it's a nice way to explore new ideas and new stories.
Thank You
To each and every one of you that plunged into this Early Access title, never sure what to expect, if the game would ever be finished, and all the other uncertainties a title in development may bring, I am so incredibly thankful to have been allowed to make this game.
I'm proud of the Voice Actors, proud of Adam, the composer and I'm also very proud of our QA team who've done all they can to make sure bugs are caught before release or put onto the bug list.
For now I will take a tiny break before I finish the game.
Thank you all!!!
Joure & Team V
STARDROP - Halloween Update
Hi everyone!
So, I wanted to do something fun this year for Halloween. I know it's a bit odd to have seasonal holiday events in a single-player game but I couldn't help it. I like this kind of stuff. So, I had some assets lying around that I used for Play with Gilbert (My other game) and figured I'd reuse some of them for Halloween. I also included a bunch of other stuff in this update, including story related ones, so read on!
It's Halloween In STARDROP!
I made sure that the Halloween stuff is only visible in areas of the game that don't take place within the main story. I won't spoil where exactly but Aryn's own spaceship is one area. The Halloween content will be available every year from Oct 21 until Oct 31. It's an automated feature so I won't have to fiddle with files or updates or anything.
New Scenes
I also added new scenes to the cargo bay aboard the SD-01 explaining in more detail how the network overload system works and just adding more purpose to that section of the game.
Chapter 4 Slightly Expanded
I also added one very important new scene in the game, extending Chapter 4 just a little bit. It's not much but it is the actual ending I wanted to include but I had to rewrite and further polish that part. I also felt this was a nice little gesture during Halloween.
Feed Me Meow!
People have been asking me about if they could interact with the kitten in the game. While not directly being able to interact with it. (Which is probably out of my scope) you're now able to feed him. Yeah, It's a he and his name is Rascal. :) There's also a new achievement added as well.
There You Go
I hope you guys like this update, however small it is. I'm still working on the final chapter, still doing my best to fix smaller bugs before polishing the game before full release.
Again, thank you for all the kind words and I'll see you guys soon in the next update. :)
Joure & Team V
STARDROP - German Localization Added & More
Hello Everyone
As I'm working towards the completion of the main story portion of the game (Chapter 4: Part Two) me and the team have started to bring back some localization features. A community member has even stepped up and has helped us translate the game to German.
But there's more to talk about which I will do right here in this post. Let's go!
Community Localization Files + Guide Available
A number of people have offered to help translate the game into a different language and I decided that now is a good time to start localizing the game in an umber of languages.
We will cover Russian and Dutch internally and have received help from a community member to translate the game to German. And now anyone who wants to help can easily do so. I've written up a Community Localization Guide for anyone who wants to help. Links to the files, and other important info, guidelines, etc are all available in the guide which you can find in the link below:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1516876834
Current Limitations: The game has graphical assets that are currently not set up to be translated into our pipeline. I am going to look into how I can set up a possible way of translating these. There are also a number of other objects in the game that are not set up yet. Luckily these should not impact anything of great importance regarding the game's narrative. Translating these will be attempted while we're in the polishing phase.
German Localization Now Available
Thanks to our community member Markus and our own QA team member Mondrian, we are now able to roll out German localization for STARDROP. So a huge thanks to them! We are internally working on Russian localization and hopefully we'll be able to announce other languages in the future soon!
Content Creators Spotlight
I also wanted to put a spotlight on some content creators out there that have played the game. I watch almost every let's play out there and always attempt to pop into streams. I had a blast watching them and I wanted to share some of them down below.
Insipid Comments: This guy is one of my personal favorites. It took him quite some time to get through the game but I had so much fun joining him on his journey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jppnqTzqiuA&index=18&list=PLBiiBHdmdjanmTxU9Av4Ail8bFSi7TXqs
Mystic's Library: I approached Mystic myself after I found out about her and I'm glad I did. She has a lot of funny vocal outbursts and her reactions are so much fun to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v20n-mkNLA
Rhexah: Another really funny content creator. His video is full of hilarious reactions and observations. I'm always thankful when someone is this enthusiastic about the game and yet another reason to give it my all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f83U1SHB9ig
I will do more Content Creator spotlights in the future because I think they deserve the attention. There are more funny videos out there and I like to share these with you guys.
One Whole New Achievement
That's right I added one new achievement which you can unlock at the very start of the game.
On top of that I also attempted to fix another achievement (The Plot Thickens) which some people have reported as not working so that one should be working now, I hope.
Screenshots
I don't want to reveal too much about the new levels but I'm very happy with were their heading. I just wanted to show some of them off here without any context. I know it's a big tease but it'll be worth the wait!
Final Words
So, as always that's it for now. I'm not entirely sure when the next update will be, because I am very focused on finishing the next real content release and it requires my attention.
I wanted to also once again thank the community for all their support.So, please take care and I'll see you guys in the next update!
Joure & Team V
STARDROP - Trading Cards Are Go!
Trading Cards Added
A small update while I'm working on Chapter 4 - Part Two. Most of you probably have noticed by now that trading cards finally have been added. I did my best to make the cards and the rewards varied and fun.
Pretty much all of the images have been created specially for the cards, this includes backgrounds and card images and obviously the emoticons and the badges.
I hope you'll have fun with them.
Furthermore
A number of changes and fixes have been released as well and I also extended the cargo level on the SD-01, adding in security cameras and two androids that you'll need to bypass. I think this adds a bit more tension and makes the area have a bigger presence within the game.
For now that's it. I will have more to say very soon but for now, take care and enjoy the updates!
Joure & Team V
STARDROP - Achievements Unlocked
Hi Everyone
A small update here but one that I think you guys will like, so let's get to it!
Achievements
Well, it took some time but I finally added in the first set of achievements! This first set is pretty much me testing out the waters. I also did not want to make them insanely difficult but I also wanted those who do find secret areas to be rewarded for them beyond finding said secret areas and getting some extra back story info.
I am also still contemplating what kinds of achievements I would like to add in the future, so here's your chance to share ideas! I also would like to point out that the Chapter 4 completion achievement is not yet, er, achievable for obvious reasons.
Chapter 4: Part Two Update
I don't want to spoil anything but I have been making some solid progress on chapter 4. I'm still full on blocking out some of the areas but I am really stoked getting them done. I think the story portion of the last part will be really interesting and hopefully I can pull off what I have in my head.
New Option: Disable Helmet
I also sneaked in a new option after a number of people asked for it. It wasn't too easy but also not too hard either. So for those who want to play the game without the helmet being visible, now you can!
The HUD itself will obviously stay visible but other than that it's all good.
Final Words
So yeah, a small update but I hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless while I work my way towards the ending. I also want to mention that once the ending is out, I still have more planned for a hidden SRO mission that ties directly into the main campaign.
So there will be more areas to explore at some point BEFORE you finish the main story. This content will be created after Chapter 4 Part Two is out, while the game is being polished. So this will be available when the game leaves Early Access. (I can't say for sure the actual side mission will be available, but it will be in production!)
That's it for now take care!
Joure & Team V
STARDROP - Content Update August
Another Content Update
Hi there, fellow operatives! I'm fairly certain a few of you guys have noticed the updates coming in from Steam and I wanted to address them in this new update.
Most of these are cosmetic. I went through pretty much every level and have populated them with more, smaller props to add more detail to these areas as well as making them feel lived in. I won't point them all out but I'll show a few that I believe to illustrate what I'm talking about best.
Performance Update
An important topic I want to discus before going over the visual aspects is that I been able to optimize the game in an important factor. The game runs smooth on medium settings but now it will run smooth on high end epic as well.
On higher settings performance dips would occur when you would turn on the flash light for instance, or at certain areas where there's a lot of bright lights. This has been tweaked to a great extend and I am now able to run the game on max settings with a consistent 60 FPS. It'll dip down here and there to 50 but overall it seems to have greatly improved performance.
Please let me know if you guys experience the same increase in performance, so I know I did my job!
New Plant Life
I always felt that the plants found in the game were not the quality I liked them to be but I couldn't find any proper replacements, until now. While I won't replace every single plant on board the STARDROP, I have replaced them where I think it counts.
Now, these new plants are replacing the old "alien" plants that I used previously and I think they look really cool. As with every asset pack I use, I modify them to suit what I need. Luckily I didn't have to go to any crazy lengths for these ones, but I did have to alter some textures and I believe it paid off.
You'll have to find out for yourself exactly where they can be found but that's the fun of having a game in Early Access. Finding the new cool stuff. They're not easy to miss either, so there's that.
More Props
As I mentioned I have populated areas with new and altered props. I have gone over some of the older, existing models and materials and customized them further. For instance the shelves on board the SD-01 were so empty as well as a bunch of areas on board the STARDROP itself.
While I'm not done with every level in the game at least for now it just makes things much more alive and fleshed out. Consider this a mini-polish.
New Airlock (SD-01)
I also completely remade the airlock of the SD-01. The old one was simply too outdated and I felt I could do better.
I won't show too much here, you'll just have to see it for yourself.
New "Wait" System
So, yeah, I implemented a new system that deals with certain scenes playing in places that players could skip accidentally. I know some of the scenes in the game tend to be a bit long-ish and some people would change level or walk into another area triggering another scene by accident.
I blame myself for that because I chose to keep everything in-game. While I don't regret this decision, it's a very tough one to implement in a natural way. I've thought a lot about how to deal with this and I think I found a solution that, while slightly immersion breaking, it does its job and people should not be able to skip stuff anymore.
This feature is only used in places where dialog is important enough for me to use it. I myself choose when and where this system kicks in so it's not automated. I don't want to annoy you guys every time someone says something.
Sometimes it locks an elevator button, while other times it locks and/or closes a door when a scene is playing out. After it's done, everything goes back to normal and you may continue on your journey.
Final Words
This is the end of this update. I hope you guys like the new changes and I'm making proper progress on chapter 4 as well. I'll keep polishing old stuff here and there as I move forward and will make sure to post another update when it's relevant.
For now take care and thank you all for the massive support!
Joure & Team V
STARDROP - Chapter One Overhaul + New Demo
Chapter One Overhaul Released
Originally I planned to overhaul the first chapter when the game went into the polishing phase but it just felt right to do it before that happened. It has been nagging at me for quite some time that the older levels just weren't up to the quality standards of the rest of the game. Chapter 3 is where I truly felt like I was coming into what I wanted STARDROP to be and while chapter 2 is not below that standard, it needs work. Chapter 1, while still barely holding up did not feel right anymore and I simply decided that enough was enough.
So what can you expect from this overhaul? Well, every level from the original first chapter has been completely re-made from scratch. I kept a few designs choices that I liked and I also tried to retain some of the aesthetics but I mostly used new and higher quality assets while keeping as much of the original levels in tact.
STARDOCKS has changed a lot too. I wanted to try and keep the oval architecture style but I just didn't have the proper assets to re-create that. However, much of the layout is still there and ultimately I do believe the new changes are for the better.
This overhaul also gave me a good reason to re-think a few layouts and most importantly, I was able to create a much tighter narrative flow. The game's tutorial section has been revamped and is much more streamlined yet also a lot shorter. I believe the main game mechanics are easier to pick up and are better explained. I also properly introduce the object inspection feature.
The tutorial section flows immediately into the main story. A number of dialogues had to be rewritten to make sense, which again gave mean opportunity to iron out some of the old dialog that didn't make much sense.
This is something I want to continue once I hit the polish phase. There are other dialogues in the game that would benefit from it now that the story is much better laid out.
I wanted to address the fact that I also recreated the SD-01 Cargo Bay. While nothing drastic has changed there gameplay wise, it felt disconnected from the rest of the SD-01 design. There's still some work to be done with it but for now it'll do.
I have play tested the new levels quite a lot but if anyone finds any bugs, please report them so I can take a look and fix them.
New STARDROP Demo Releassed
The demo, as you might have guessed, has been updated as well. I have been thinking a lot about what to do with the old demo, which was starting to be really outdated and I feel that the new demo represents the game a whole lot better. So let's get into what has changed.
I removed the SRO side missions. While they were a fun little extra, they should only be accessible once the main story is resolved. I also want to polish them some more as they feel too outdated to be left in there.
Obviously chapter one's overhauled levels will be replacing the old ones in the demo.But, there's another problem I faced. The new version of chapter one is significantly shorter than the old one. So by removing the side missions and adding in the "new" chapter one it would mean even less content and that didn't sit with me.
I then remembered something long lost to the world of gaming. "Shareware". In the spirit of that I decided to add chapter two to the demo as well. Give players a proper chunk of narrative and gameplay to get a really good taste of what the game is like in its current state.
While there's a bunch of stuff I want to address in chapter two before release I do feel that it still holds up well enough to get people invested. So I hope that I made the right decision by doing so.
The only real risk I feel there might be with this move is that the main game might feel shorter because of this. Now I do believe that once the game is truly completed, it will make up for that. I have planned a proper optional side story when you're nearing the ending. But as I said, this is in spirit of the older shareware releases of days gone by.
Very much like how the SD-01 opens up at the end of that chapter which then lends to a very small optional engine room section, I want to do something similar with the STARDROP. Only this time, there will be a meatier chunk of story involved that will add some more depth to the overall narrative but I will leave that for another day.
Final Words
As always I would like to part with some final words. Besides redoing these level I have also been making progress regarding new content. Chapter 4 part two is coming along and I am now at a one heck of an important part of the story. I can't wait to get it all done but as always, I need time to do it right.
I would also like to mention that I am not sure if older savegames will still work with all the changes I've made. If you experience some issues you might have to restart whatever chapter you're on from the chapter selection menu. It's an annoying part of being an Early Access game and I have yet to get confirmation that savegames actually don't work as intended but I wanted to make sure just in case.
I really hope you guys like the new content but if you've been waiting for a reason to replay the game I would say, yeah sure it's a good enough reason but I would probably suggest to wait until after polishing is over to really get the most out of replaying it.
So, yeah, that's it for now. Thank you all for supporting and helping me out. Take care and let me know what you guys think of the new stuff. :)
Take care and have fun!
Joure & Team V
STARDROP - Times Are Changing
Changes
A lot of what I believe makes a game better is iteration. One of the scary things of being in Early Access, for me, is wondering how people like what you done so far but maybe even more so, when you go back and change things.
Suddenly what was familiar is not there anymore. You might have really grown fond of a certain area in a game and you find that it's gone... As I look back at some of the earlier parts of the game I wish I've done things differently. I wish I had the assets I have now or that I had the knowledge I have today. But I'm not going to let that deter me from going back and re-create some of those earlier levels.
MCCV-2 Redesign - First Look
Today I want to show you guys the new version of Aryn and John's ship, the MCCV-2. Mainly the new interior. I went for a more industrial look. I think the old design had this going on but in a much lesser capacity. Lighting has been another issue as well, it just didn't feel right before, compared to as it is right now.
One of the most important changes besides the visual changes is how the game's narrative will flow from here on out. I've done away with the entire wall panel puzzle. The engine room / cargo bay is gone. (At least for now, I'm not sure if I'll bring it back yet.)
It doesn't offer much in terms of story progression as it just feels like filler. And while this section was supposed to be a small tutorial it was simply too lengthy. I am currently rewriting all of the scenes but don't worry, most of the dialog will be kept in tact. Some of the jokes will return but in context with how the new narrative will flow.
This means that this section of the story will be a lot shorter. I don't care about milking game time at all because to me what's important is the actual story itself and it just felt too long for the actual main story events to start unfolding. I hope this change will address that issue and make playing the game a lot more fun.
I am also going to remove the secondary scanner function as it feels worthless. I've been trying to figure out a use for it in the game but whatever I came up with didn't feel fun at all, so it'll be gone once the new levels are out.
I'm not sure when it'll be released but I don't think it'll be that long. Some users have been kind enough to report some bugs in the new chapter and these will be fixed soon too. Now with all that said, I'll go over some of the new sections of the redesigned interiors.
Aryn's Room
Aryn's old room design, and John's for that matter,has been bothering me for a very long time, simply because it felt too narrow. Too small. I also grew tired of the assets I used there. At the time I just didn't have the wide variety I have at my disposal now, so it's been nagging at me steadily and with the release of chapter 4 part one I felt that it was time to go back and just overhaul the entire MCCV-2.
As you can see it's much more spacious. I also think the new visual look resembles an actual room much more than the old one. I also been able to add more props to it and place objects much more effectively with a lot more sense to their placements.
The Galley
The Galley was a bit of a challenge. I wanted to retain the feel of the old one but the assets I used were simply not the same quality of assets I've been using ever since chapter two.
I also wanted to create a more spacious room and I decided to also add windows. I feel there's still room for improvement here, and I plan to see what else I can add to it but for now, it serves its purpose I think.
Hallways + Kitchen
The new hallways, I believe, look so much more interesting. Lots more details and the overall layout of the ship has been designed to "flow" a lot better. I know I keep using the word "flow" a lot but it really best describes the biggest drive behind all these changes.
I also added a kitchen area, which I also believe can do with a little more work. There's not much to do here but it just adds to the overall feel of the new interior. Assets in this regard are tough because I don't have anything that really looks very Sci-Fi but I think it works well enough.
APD Suit Station
The APD Suit Station is now located on this deck. Again making the flow of the narrative much tighter. I think it also looks a whole lot better too.
Bridge + Cockpit
A lot of work went into designing the new bridge. As before, it was important for me to keep the old 'feel" of the area in tact as much as possible while doing away with things that simply didn't make much sense.
I removed the non-functional computer terminal. It never had a purpose so that was a no-brainer. On top of that I felt the old "Hologram Table" was done in a way that made it look like a hack-job, which it was.
As you can see, the new version looks A LOT more like an actual Hologram. Besides the table I also upgraded the actual visuals and effects of the hologram itself. There's no real purpose to it but I always liked having it so I brought it back.
The save station is still there as well. So don't worry about that.
The cockpit was also in need of a proper update. I think the new one looks the part so much better. John has a lot more small devices and stuff like that for him to play around with. While it's all aesthetic it adds to the feel of what a cockpit should look like, I think.
Lastly, I also made sure the window is a lot larger now. Making it much easier to view the SD-01 as John and Aryn check it out.
Back Side
The back side of the ship has undergone an upgrade as well. There's an actual purpose to it but you'll have to figure out what that is once the new levels are released. John's room has been always accessible but I don't think many people figured out how to unlock his door. The new design of the ship, and other information that is being presented, should make this so much easier.
Not Done
I'm not done of course. The Airlock needs to be redesigned as well. Deck 2 will be a whole lot smaller, which should also help optimizing that part of the game. Once I'm done I'll make sure to show that off as well and hopefully be able to release it along the same time, or very shortly after.
I hope this post was interesting and I can't wait to finish and release it. There are still other areas I want to take a good look at. Finix Operations office is another area I feel can be greatly improved but not sure how to go about it yet but I'll wait for that when I get into the polish phase.
There'll be a lot of things that needs attention. The Cargo Bay on board the SD-01 can be improved. I need to address some of the scenes in there as well that needs to be rewritten, etc.
So till then I wish you all a very good day and keep an eye out for when the new update goes live.
