STARDROP Wins Best 3D Graphics At Intel's Level Up Contest
I'm trying to think of something fun or witty to say, maybe express my gratitude but I'm failing to come up with something to say. I've been a Level Designer for around ten years now and winning this was so unexpected. It's a very odd feeling to be recognized by peers when your self-taught. A very fuzzy feeling, one I'm trying to find ways to share with you guys.
Now that I've added Game Design to my repertoire I hope I can live up to that aspect as well. I've spent countless hours not just in designing the mechanics but also in presentation, visuals. lighting, etc and I'm just happy it got recognized. Of course I wouldn't be here without my tiny team of amazing people for their support suggestions and everything else and the community that's been slowly gathering here on Steam and keeps growing. It's all amazing.
I'm simply just very honored and it's surely a milestone in the game's development.!!!
STARDROP - Free OST Sample
I thought about a way to celebrate this so I've decided to share with you all a free sample of the OST. In the future I plan to release the full OST on the storefront when the game is out but as a thank you to everyone you can download the main theme and one other track completely for free for your listening pleasure.
Adam Halpin is our composer and just as with the voice actors I am so incredibly happy to be able to work alongside him. He's got so much talent and I hope STARDROP can be a platform to further his career!
Aryn Rozelle plays Aryn Vance (Yes I named the main character after her). She decided that with the release of chapter three she'll be doing a full play-through in the coming days.
Starting on Monday 28th, 7:30 PM PST:
https://www.twitch.tv/toumiko
She's been an avid Overwatch player but she really wants to push her channel and will be streaming other games in the future. So besides STARDROP expect her to be covering lots of other games. If you enjoy watching Twitch Streamers then surely give her a chance.
She's an amazing person and I think she can be a very fun host, she just needs an audience. Aryn is currently in the process of setting up a proper streaming schedule and I will be helping her get her channel up to snuff regarding visual presentation.
Final Words
I know there's not much regarding any actual updates, so forgive me. I am working on small fixes, looking into streamlining the keybinding system and trying to get Retron One fixed. I should have an update out not too long from now.
Take care !!!
Joure & Team V
STARDROP Update August 23rd, 2017
Another Day, Another Update
Hi everyone. Today I'm releasing a simple update that fixes a bad dialog trigger, fixes some bad values set when playing chapter two through the chapter selection menu, optimizing the flashlight so it's not as taxing as it used to be and the first iteration of a keybinding system.
I'l go into some more detail down below!
STARDRDOP Chapter 3
For those who are new or have missed it. Chapter 3 has been released which added new features and improved on existing ones. Read all about it here:
STARDROP Update August 20th, 2017
STARDROP 2 Year Anniversary Sale
The sale is still ongoing until August 31st. You can read all about it in the previous update that I linked above but I wanted to highlight it once again.
Crash Bug Fixed
Also worth noting one more time is that our old crash bug has been fixed. You no longer crash when using the elevator to head back to Deck 1.
Updates and fixes
As I mentioned there's a number of fixes in this update and an additional new keybinding feature. I'll sum them all up here for your convenience.
Fixed the chapter Select Save System when playing chapter two.
Fixed/Added gamepad support when Looking around while controlling an Android.
Fixed a missing word in Meryl's audio log.
Fixed the wrong sentence being displayed on the subtitle during a scene at the engineering section.
Fixed a dialog being triggered too early on Deck 2.
Flashlight optimization.
Added the first iteration of a Keybinding system.
Keybinding System - First Iteration
I finally managed to implement a keybinding system. However it's not there just yet. While technically it works fine it can be a bit confusing. Actions aren't sorted properly yet, they jumble up when you load up the menu differently each time.
Axis mapping with this system can be confusing which I will attempt to improve asap. And there's also no default option if you mess up. I've uploaded a default INI file if you do, just in case:
STARDROP Default INI File
All I've done so far is taken Rama's Keybinding System and changed it so that it works for STARDROP. I will further continue to tweak it but I just wanted to get something out in the meantime.
Flash Light Optimized
The flashlight has been given some attention and it should be a whole lot better to use now. I am thinking of adding an option to turn off shadows at some point to further allow people to tweak performance.
GameGrin Previewed STARDROP (Twice)
I love the guys at GameGrin. I've conversed with one of the editors a few times and they're incredibly passionate when it comes to games and I was surprised they covered STARDROP a few times and they just written up a 2nd preview, I'm honored.
A very honest and accurate look IMO to the game. I love how they're not biased or anything and they seem to get exactly what I am trying to achieve with the game.
I'm going to continue and work on more fixes and tweaks etc before starting on the next chapter. A lot of community members have shared their thoughts and reported issues so I'll be lookign into these while also getting the keybinding system fleshed out and also attempting to get translations working again and hopefully have Retron One be playable.
Thanks everyone, once again, for the continued support.
Take care !!!
Joure & Team V
STARDROP Update August 20th, 2017
Overview
This update will be rather lengthy as I want to get into a number of topics but first: Chapter 3 is finally out! Now that that's out of the way, it's time for celebrations! STARDROP has been in development for 2 years now. OMG! And it seems that STARDROP is quite well received during this years Level Up Game Developers Contest!
Continue reading for more details on everything.
Two Year Development Anniversary
Two years of hard work has lead to what you are currently playing. To celebrate this I have put the game on sale for two weeks. Releasing chapter 3 was very important to me in order to make this occasion something slightly more special.
As a solo dev working on STARDROP it's been an amazing experience. I've met a lot of encouraging people along the way from so many different walks of life, one of the most interesting times of my life so far.
My Personal Background Story
It's been a very tough two year production to be truthful. Hardly any budget to work with and what I did have, had to be spent wisely.
Two years ago I was still working for Monochrome. I have been the lead Level Designer for Contagion for over three years but I was gradually downgraded from my role for increasingly odd reasons. I could see the writing on the wall and decided to do something for myself just to see if I could make a game by myself and as you all can guess, this was the basis for STARDROP.
Shortly after I started STARDROP I got sacked from Monochrome for the aforementioned weird and odd reasons. In general the quality of my work was being brought into question and I still don't understand why to this day I prefer to believe that it was just an excuse but I don't want to go into it any further.
Loosing my job and halting my career, one I have been working incredibly hard for, lead to me having to give up my home. I have been working on STARDROP from a small room where I live with my wife and daughter ever since then. I believe in the game and I have fought and will keep fighting for it. I believe the story I'm trying to tell is important enough.
I've always wanted to tell my own stories and I had a general idea of the kind of game I wanted to make. A rich story driven experience but I hadn't yet figured out which genre or setting.
Then, one night, I was playing Alien Isolation and it hit me. I wanted to play a Sci-Fi game without all the shooting or the constant fear of being hunted. I loved Alien Isolation, it ranks very high on my personal favs list but for my game I didn't need some evil corporation, I didn't want a hostile alien. I didn't want any sort of conflict that you see in so many Sci-Fi games.
Above: This is where it all began. When I'm too tired my daughter takes over.
My personal opinion is that there's so much more to Science Fiction then what we're always being given. You don't always need a gun, or a weapon to create tension. So I set upon myself the challenge of creating a story, characters and a general gameplay philosophy and started work on prototyping STARDROP.
I don't know how I got so lucky to find the voice actors I'm working with at the moment but by god am I grateful. These actors are so incredibly invested into my story and they're able to turn my crappy yet sincere dialog into something presentable.
Aryn Rozelle is just overall amazing and a very fun person. Robert Ducat as John is an old friend of mine I worked with a long time ago. He basically reprized his role as I reinvented his old character. Jordan Potch is being introduced in chapter 3 and I'm sure you all will love his performance as much as I do. (get it? I-do?... NVM) I love the dynamics between all these characters and without these actors I could NEVER hoped to be able to get this far.
Then there's Katabelle as Archer and Makenzie as Meryl. THey're both also incredibly talented. And lastly being introduced in chapter 3 is a crew member of the STARDROP called Jonathan Endee who is actually voiced by one of our Kickstarter backers. That was an incredible awesome surprise to the extent that I want to work with him for real on a future game.
I also have been granted the amazing talents of Adam Halpin who has been killing the musical side of the game. I used to work with him ten years ago and I am so glad I decided to contact him and ask if he was interested.
On top of that I have three really hard working and dedicated play testers. Sensi has been with me for the longest time. He was the first and still is the most dedicated and STARDROP would not be this polished without him. Dmitry and Mondrian also are of immense value as they all keep an eye out on the internet and here on the forums. Always keeping me in the loop if anything's up.
And lastly I have one environmental artist, Ildar, working with me. While his time is scarce his dedication is there. His quality is consistent and he really loves being part of the development process. I'm very glad he's around to add in the small little details that the game needs.
Two years of hard work and I am here, today, to finally release chapter 3. I hope you guys will enjoy it and I have a lot more planned and cannot wait to share the full story when it's all done.
So, thank you all for your support so far. It means the world to me and I hope that with the conclusion of STARDROP later down the road I am able to continue making games once it's finished and hopefully tell other stories in the future. Whatever they may be.
Chapter 3 Released
That's right. After finding a number of issues I decided to roll back the public release of chapter 3 to fix the most glaring errors. While there still might be a number of issues in chapter 3, there shouldn't be anything game breaking. I forgot to finish a few subtitles which I will finish up asap and I wil need to fix the translations system too which has been giving me a hard time.
The chapter builds greatly upon the previous one and it all ends on a pretty neat cliffhanger. As the story currently progresses I think I can finish the game up in two more chapters. However, the next two chapters should be longer. I can't say how much longer for certain though. As you might know I don't like to stretch the game's playtime just because.
If you measure a game's length by its playtime then I believe you're not taking its quality into the equation. To me said quality is far more important and while I do my best to make the game as long as possible it has to make sense. Progression has to flow properly and that to me is far more important then adding 2 more hours of just roaming an empty lifeless ship.
So, please let us know if you enjoyed the new chapter and remember: if you have any suggestions, problems or anything, leave a message and I'll read it.
Now with all that said, let's get into what this new chapter offers.
New Features
With the release of Chapter 3 comes a number of new features and mechanics. I won't go into every one of them as I want to keep some stuff a surprise, I will showcase most of them below.
Chapter Selection Menu
I've finally managed to get a proper Chapter Selection Menu implemented into the game. The way it works is very simple. You unlock the current chapter you're in.
Unlike most chapter selection systems where you have to finish a chapter to unlock it, in STARDROP you unlock the chapter the moment you're starting it. The reason for this is because I don't see a reason why it should be unlocked AFTER you completed it.
Second, with this system you'll be able to simply select whichever new chapter I will release in the future. This way you guys won't have to deal with save-games and all that.
Third, because I am planning achievements to be implemented as well at some point, anyone can select whichever chapter they need in order to try and get a possible missed achievement. DataPad (Audio) logs will not be overridden. This also applies when you start a new game.
Collectable Audio Logs
On top of regular text logs you are now able to find audio logs as well. These logs work exactly the same as text-logs. They get saved and you can scroll through past logs just the same.
These logs enable to create an even richer background story regarding the crew of the STARDROP. It's a feature I wanted to get into the game for a long time and I'm very excited to have it implemented and working.
Some audio-logs tell a small story regarding a crew member which may tie into the overall story arch. Each new entry will offer some more information as to what's going on.
There are a number of audio-logs already present in chapter 3. The plan is to have achievements attached to some of them if you're able to find a complete set.
Information Kiosks
Another new element to further immerse players into the universe of STARDROP are these Information Kiosks.
You will find these around the ship and they are multi-purposed in functionality. These kiosks may simply offer up information regarding which area you're in and what other areas you may possibly access from where you are.
They also can function as simple advertisements as seen in the picture above. These adverts may also offer a small insight into interesting areas you should possibly go visit. Or they're just adding to the immersion extending the world-building.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz3hJrrMHT4&feature=youtu.be
Finally, some of these kiosks may have an actual video advertisement. These videos may also help expand the background story and are mostly related to the STARDROP and its crew and just simply adding more background story.
Control An Android
While it's nothing truly ground-breaking, it is a fun little addition to the gameplay. It also provides a new way to create puzzles for me for you to solve.
I have a number of ideas as to how I want to expand on this feature in the future but I didn't want to overdo it the first time. I like to add variety to the game and will always attempt to keep things fresh, even if I reuse an older feature or mechanic.
Improved Features
I have looked at some of the existing features and mechanics and have tried to improve upon them. Aryns stamina has been increased as I mentioned in the former update as well as reduced power drain for the flashlight and scanner functions.
The Zero Gravity movement system, while not yet perfected, is a significant step forward and feels much more fluid. It also now shows how fast you're going on your HUD.
Updated Inspection System
While the inspection system was around in chapter One and Two I didn't utilize it as much as I should have and I knew it.
Chapter 3 attempts to make this system much more viable. Inspecting objects will result in new information or having Aryn share her thoughts on whatever she's looking at. These now also include Easter Eggs and there's two new ones in Chapter 3.
Besides that, I have attempted to also create a few new objects that are much more tied to the game world compared to before.
While there's still a bit more room for improvement I do believe that this is a solid step in the right direction and am certainly going to continue using the system as I am now going forward.
Postponed Features
I don't like to hold off on things but in this case there's one feature that I will have to take my time for to get it working right.
Retron One
Retron One was to debut in Chapter 3's initial release but due to having to switch to the latest engine something's off in the render camera and I need some time to figure out what it is.
I will keep working on it and it will become available once I get it sorted. I can't give a time frame yet, but I think about a week or two would be a decent estimate.
STARDROP is A Level Up Game Developer Contest Finalist
Earlier this week I received an email and I was kind of blown away. STARDROP is a finalist of the Level Up Game Developer Contest held by Intel.
Obviously I did not expect this and while we're still just a finalist, to me this has been an incredible boost in confidence. Regardless if STARDROP wins anything or not. To me personally it's quite an achievement that the game is being recognized.
I'm quite excited but have learned to never get my hopes up. I will be watching of course and it would be amazing if we'd win. I don't know which category we're in so everything will be a big surprise.
Final Words
As always I will leave you with my final words, which in this case is. I hope you'll have fun. I will get translations working asap and after finishing a few more small issues I will finally start work on adding in a keybinding system.
It's truly long overdue but I will do my best to get a proper system into the game. I have a few new ideas as to how to achieve it, so wish me luck. :)
I will now leave you with a few more images of some of the new areas in chapter 3 as I am very happy with how everything is turning out so far.
I hope this post was informative and as always, if you have any questions, concerns or just want to say hi, then feel free to do so in the forums.
Joure & Team V
STARDROP - Chapter 3 Released
EDIT: Because of some issues that popped up I've put chapter 3 on the publicdev branch. This means that anyone can still play chapter 3, you just need to select the correct branch like this:
As mentioned I will fix these issues asap and chapter 3 will be set to default in no time. Thanks for reporting the issues guys!
Hi everyone, it's finally out!
I've been working on the latest chapter without hardly any down time and it's been fun but incredibly demanding. I will be gone for a day or so to take a wee bit of down time and spend some time with my family. I'll be back on the 17th and will start cramming out fixes and attending to questions, etc.
It took a bit longer to get to this point due to the engine upgrade and it I haven't had the chance to completely deal with some of the new quirks that came with it.
Translations still aren't working yet, Retron One, which was to be debuted in this update, while still in the game, is not rendering the player's weapon properly. (I Just have been informed that there's an annoying little glitch where a door near the end is missing, this will be fixed ASAP)
For those who want to pick up where they left off you can download the savegame here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vfo9qd8ebalbxud/SD_SaveGameData.sav?dl=0
(You can change file here C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\STARDROP\Saved\SaveGames)
In this new chapter there's more environmental details to uncover. There are some new gameplay additions and most importantly, start exploring the STARDROP itself.
One important aspect is that the STARDROP ship model, for now, is still a placeholder. It needs more time and attention to get it done and I want it done right.
Other visual oddities have also crept up. Nothing major, nor game-breaking but still not what I wanted. However I have put myself on a deadline and I have to keep it.
Oh, and I hope you'll like the easter eggs :)
So, the full chapter IS playable. The entire narrative is in it. I still want to add some more details into the chapter but that will come in time.
I won't go too long into everything in this post. I have more coming in the next few days. For now, I will keep tabs on new bug reports and will fix the issues currently present and will polish content some more.
I do hope that you'll have fun and expect a more detailed post very soon. For now I hope it was worth the wait.
Joure & Team V
STARDROP Update August 12th, 2017
STARDROP has just been updated. Both the demo and the main game received an important update that fixes a particular crash bug that's been plaguing the game right from the release into Early Access up until, well, a moment ago.
I will go over the changes briefly as well as talking a bit about the upcoming content update, which includes chapter 3. and I'll go over some of the noteworthy changes, tweaks and fixes.
The crash bug is fixed and the game has been updated today running on the latest Unreal 4 engine version.. Less then a day before release we started to receive reports of a bug that would crash the game. Assuming it was just a very minor issue it did worry me but was confident that it wouldn't a such a big issue.
After all the game has been in production for a year and a half by that time and we've never experienced it. Non of my PT's had any issues so it couldn't have been a big issue right?
Wrong. With new driver updates from Nvidia it became clear that this was a bigger issue then expected. My PT's started to be affected and couldn't even play the full game. I saw a streamer crash, gotten more reports and also a few negative review because of it.
The root of the issue seems to be a Direct X issue regarding Nvidia GPU's. The Maxwell cards have been identified to be affected. Not only was STARDROP affected, reports from triple A titles have surfaced, such as Street Fighter V.
I was starting to get really worried and had no control over it. It's an engine related bug that was simply out of my control. As a result I halted the game's marketing push as I can't stand behind a game that had a fair chance of crashing on certain people's hardware.
But we can all rejoice and celebrate the fix. Now, I cannot determine if this is a fix for everyone, but so far it seems that's indeed the case.
I've spent the last two days fixing some minor issues that comes with a new engine version update. Some things break or work differently.
The object scanner was broken, which I fixed. The translation system is also not working and I still need to figure out why that is and other small issues where I had to step in and make sure these were corrected.
So there might be a chance I've overlooked something and will continue to fix whatever I can. As always the focus has been on the game being playable in general and I've managed to fix several issues from before the engine upgrade that could potentially break the game.
Fixes, tweaks and new content
A lot has changed since the last public update. Most of the new changes will be more noticeable when chapter 3 hits next week.
Stamina has been increased significantly.
Power drain on the flashlight and object scanner has been decreased.
The object interaction system has been overhauled. It's much more intuitive then before and you can use the WASD keys to rotate an object as well as with the mouse.
The Zero-G movement system has been improved greatly. While it's not yet perfect, players should notice a huge difference in fluidity and ease of navigating Aryn in general.
Several bugs that would stop the player from being able to advance have been fixed
The MCCV-2 (Aryn's ship) has been given a make-over in terms of lighting and overal aesthetic.
The "Beavertooth" Easter egg is now properly implemented, but you'll have to find out for yourself what that means.
More optimization has been done under the hood in a number of existing levels.
Chapter 3 Coming Very Soon
Chapter 3 is on the horizon. I plan to be able to release it next week. I cannot set this in stone just yet, it's not fully finished but I expect to be able to make this happen. I am looking at August, 17.
I don't want to go into much detail yet, I need to keep something to write about but I do believe that in many ways it's a big update and probably the most important one so far.
I have been listening to a lot of feedback including my own thoughts and I have attempted to make the STARDROP itself a much more interactive place. I have put a lot of effort into adding more smaller details in the surroundings.This means a lot more unique objects to look at and inspect.
I've added info kiosks which are multi-purposed. and I updated the info screens that will provide small details or clues while playing. Because the STARDROP is a much, much bigger ship then the SD-01 I had to adjust the level design.
The overall idea is that in the end, you should still be able to navigate pretty much the entire ship, however, the initial gameplay is a tad more linear while keeping the open exploration aspect intact.
You still have the option to unlock doors to optional side areas, find logs that offer more background story an just being able to wander around, not knowing exactly what to do at times.
The goal, as always, is delivering a fun and engaging story and I believe that with the new chapter, that's exactly what the game will be able to deliver.
For now this is it. I will post another announcement once chapter 3 goes LIVE.
Thank you all for your support,
Joure & Team V
STARDROP - Small Update August 10th, 2017
Hi everyone.
So I just wanted to make a very small update.
Unreal Engine 4.17 is out and today we've been able to succesfully test the latest build internally and so far we can confirm that yes, the crash bug seems to be gone.
However, with each new engine upgrade things can break. We're going through the game and the PT's are busy reporting the issues that have sneaked into the current engine version.
I will go over them in the next couple of days and hopefully fix them all. Once that's done I will send out an update asap.
I hope I can get chapter 3 done in time but to me what's important is sending out an update so that the game doesn't crash anymore.
There's a lot of things that have been tweaked/fixed and added. The stamina has been greatly increased. The flashlight and scanner power drain has been reduced.
The object inspection system has been improved and will be a lot more useful in the new chapter where you'll be able to read documents and we even have a few easter eggs you can pick up and look at.
I just wanted to let you guys know I am still hard at work as ever.
Sorry if it's not a very detailed post but I had to put out the news about the crash fix.
And we will have something to celebrate as well which I want to announce when the new content update will be released. So stay tuned :)
For those who played and enjoyed Doom 3:
STARDROP - Update July, 22nd
Hi everyone
My apologies for not putting out any updates recently. I've just been so busy working on the new content. Lot's of changes have been made under the hood as well attempting to further optimize the game.
So what should I talk about first?
Crash-Bug Fixed?
Epic has released the latest unreal engine preview. In it they have claimed to have fixed the crash bug a number of you guys have been experiencing.
I am currently in the progress of upgrading the game to 4.17 preview in order to test it out internally and determine if it is indeed fixed or not.
This means that I have to wait for the official full release of 4.17 before I can roll out an update for STARDROP. But I hope that by god they have fixed it and that this crash bug will become a thing of the past very soon.
The moment that I can confirm that it's indeed fixed and the offical version is released I will put out an update regardless of any new content. It's so incredibly important to me to deal with as many bugs as possible and this one right here was on the top of the list.
So please remain a little bit more patient, It hurts me just as much as it hurts you guys, trust me.
STARDROP Public Dev-Branch Release
Today will mark the first official public developers branch release of STARDROP. This means that I will upload a work-in-progress version of the game with new content and updated game mechanics.
NOTICE: Don't play the public developers build if you don't want to play incomplete portions of the game. You might encounter things that might hint or straight out spoil parts of the narrative.
You will also have to start a new game in order to create a new save file. I will make sure to provie a new save file when the offical update is out that starts just before the new chapter begins.
The idea behind this is that those who want to get a taste of what's to come in the official content update.
In this release I will include the first new levels of chapter 3. Two of these levels are fully finished regarding scenes and gameplay mechanics. It's still not 100% finished nor polished it is pretty representative of what to expect.
The other remaining levels (5 of them in total) are still unfinished and lack any story elements.
This release also includes the first public version of a small mini-game I have been working on called RETRON ONE. More about that later.
How to get access to the public dev-build:
1: In your games tab locate STARDROP and right-click on it to open up the context menu. Select "Properties"
2: After that click on the "BETAS" tab and select "Publicdev".
Steam will now download the Public Developers version of STARDROP.
RETRON ONE
Let's start with RETRON ONE. I've always wanted to have some sort of mini-game built right into STARDROP and last week I took the plunge.
RETRON ONE is a basic arena style single player mini-game. You start off with a basic laser rifle and as you get more kills you will gradually increase the difficulty but also will be rewarded with upgrades to your weapons and unlocking an armor upgrade and even a new weapon.
The ultimate goal for RETRON ONE is simply to entertain you guys. A number of these arcade cabinets will be placed throughout the ship with each cabinet offering a different arena. Each arena will come with it's own high scores (Mine and other team members) for you to beat.
RETRON ONE is not yet finished of course and there's still a number of things I need to add. More information needs to be conveyed to the player and I wil tend to that asap. The main idea is to hopefully gather some feedback to see if you guys like it or not.
NOTICE: If you don't want to play any of the new story elements but you do want to try out RETRON ONE then just watch the first part of the video where I show you how to open up the test level.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SZCdNbchPs
Zero G Improvements
The entire Zero Gravity movement system has been overhauled and I think you guys will enjoy the new movement system. There are no more hard stops, when you change velocity it will curve nicely and everything feels much more smooth.
I will take advantage of this and make sure itll be used in the game on a few occasions, mixing up land based exloration with zero gravity thrown into the mix.
Collectible Audio Logs
I've also upgraded the datapad log collection system. Instead of just text I am now able to add in audio logs and will make good use of this new feature. This means for instance that you might need to collect a full set of logs regarding a particular crew member in order to get the full back story which is a neat way for me to add more depth and give a bigger incentive regarding exploration.
I also hope to tie these into achievements when you collect all logs regarding a certain individual.
Chapter 3
Of course the most work has gone into working on levels and new content for chapter 3. I'm very happy with where it's going and I'm able to add some nice little environmental details within to make the ship a more believable place and giving it more sense of it having its own history with its crew.
I am super stoked to finish the new chapter as soon as possible and share it with you all. I'm very certain that the new narrative elements will only further the main story and keep you guys invested.
Some big important questions will be answered yet other new questions will take their place. The biggest question of all remains unanswered untill the end of course: Just what happened and what in gods name is going on?
Final Words
I would like to thank everyone for their support. I've never worked so hard for anything in my life and I can only hope that it will be enough in the end.
I am working very hard to finish up the new full chapter but as always I need the time to make it all come together. It's not easy and there's so much involved in pacing story elements but I'm getting there. A ton of heavy lifting has already been done behind the scenes regarding mechanics and new additions.
Just hold on for a bit longer.
A new announcement will be made as soon as I have something to share. Again thank you for sticking with me, I'll do my best to make this a game to remember....
Lastly, if you enjoyed the game so far, please consider leaving a review.
Joure & Team V
STARDROP - Update June, 19th
Additional Update June, 20th
Two new options have been added today under "Video Options", namely:
New Video Options:
Bloom Intensity: You're now able to control the intensity of bloom. Setting it to 0 turns bloom off.
Lens Flare Intensity: You are now also able to set the Lens Flare Intensity. The Bloom Intesnity also influences the Lens Flare Intensity
NOTE: When you set Post Process to low or Medium, Bloom and Lens Flares will be turned off.
STARDROP Localization Update
In a game developer's perfect world everyone would speak the same language.
We understand how frustrating it can be to want to play a game but you don't understand the language well enough to fully enjoy it.
While we currently do not have the funding to translate (localize) the game officially, we have started translations internally within the team. Today we update the game, adding French translations.
Localization includes:
Subtitles
Emails
Text Logs
Signs and wall panels
Localization does not (yet) include:
User Interface
Menu / options / Settings translations
Graphical Assets
Localization Status:
Dutch = W.I.P.
French = Fully Translated.
German = W.I.P.
Russian = W.I.P.
Interface localization such as UI elements, options/menu/settings and graphical assets will be done eventually but the most important aspect for us was that the game and its narrative can be enjoyed first and foremost.
Doing our own internal localization means that it might not be perfect yet it should be good enough to follow the story. The team has utilized their own knowledge of their native language to try and bring that foreign language into the game. Right now we have finished the French portion of the localization. Dutch is to follow very soon and we should have Russian and German out not too long afterwards.
So please keep in mind that the localization is done by us internally and we're not specialized in this field. I will keep the status of the localized languages updated.
On top of all that I went through a lot of the text. While it's still not perfect I attempted to fix grammar issues and spelling errors. I hope that this will make it a tad more bearable to read through and eventually this will be properly corrected once we're nearing the final stages of development.
If you spot any errors or believe you can greatly improve upon the existing localization then feel free to contact the team over at stardropgame@gmail.com and send us a request or you can create a thread over at our Localization Forum:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/552880/discussions/9/
Updates & Fixes
Besides the language update I also have been able to sneak in a few updates in this new build.
New video option: Bloom Scale. Default set to 0, low multiplies it to 8, medium to 16 and high to 32. Lowering these settings can help improve performance.
Completely overhauled the Objective System. Text will now dynamically change even if looking at the DataPad. Much easier for us to implement new objectives.
Added new language options under Game Options beneath the subtitles. Currently only French narrative localization is fully implemented. (Dutch, German and Russian will follow as soon as possible).
Grammar and Spelling errors have been addressed but is not yet perfected and will be updated when we spot any.
Fixed the sprint stamina abuse bug. This fix also makes going into a sprint much more fluid.
Aryns crouch ability has been added back into the game. It's still in an experimental work in progress stage, but it works in general as intended.
Improved signs visibility. The ingame signs have been given a bit of an overhaul. They should be much easier to spot and better to read. I also added a nice Sci-Fi effect to them.
CHAPTER 3
So this leaves me to focus on the actual new content. While we will continue to update existing localization and working towards adding new languages, work regarding the new content update has already resumed.
More Video Options are planned and hopefully be able to toggle bloom on or off, or the ability to define the intensity but I can't promise yet if or when this will be done.
Again I can't say exactly when the content update will go live but I'm doing my best to push it out as soon as possible.
I also wanted to share this internal developers test footage. It's basically a lighting test to see how the character model looks like under various lighting conditions and thought it looked really cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YappvjZnpsA
Thank you all for the massive support, it's been incredible so far!
Joure & Team V
STARDROP - Update June, 7th
Another Day, Another Update
Hi everyone, today STARDROP has been updated once again. More bug fixes have been made and we also added a new track. The old prelude intro song has been replaced today with our own. Only a handful of tracks remain in the game that are not yet replaced, which we will in time.
Hotfix
I shipped the new update with a bug that would prevent players from using the elevator on Deck B. This should be fixed now. My apologies!
STARDROP Retro Poster
Before I list all the bug fixes, I wanted to share poster a I made a while back which I updated today for fun. It's an old retro themed STARDROP movie poster. You can grab the full sized version here.
Updates & Bug Fixes
The latest update went live just now. I was able to fix a number of gameplay related bugs, a bug that would prevent players from progressing the game and a number of visual errors as well.
New
New prelude intro song by Adam Halpin.
Fixed
Fixed a control panel at the end of the engine room which would not register the players input sometimes which would stop the player from progressing.
Fixed the stamina mechanic not working on "FAST" mode.
Fixed a stamina bug. Holding down the sprint key while not moving will no longer drain your stamina.
Can no longer use DataPad when zoomed in, this would cause issues with the FOV.
Reduced glare on tables on board the SD-01.
Fixed a number of mesh alignments that had gaps in between on board the SD-01.
Fixed that one door panel that was mirrored on the STARDROCKS.
Next Update?
I'm not sure when the next update will come out, I'm concentrating more on the new narrative content update but will keep an eye out for bug reports as well.
More stuff to come soon though. :)
Joure & Team V
STARDROP - Update June, 4th
Dear STARDROP Community
It's been 3 days now since we launched into Early Access. I wanted to first thank everyone for their amazing support and incredibly useful feedback. I'm still looking through all the bug reports. The PT's are trying to reproduce what they can so I can go in and try to fix it.
Rare But Critical Bug Found
Just prior to launching STARDROP into Early Access a critical bug was reported. One that was a desktop crash and one that has never been reported in the almost three years I've been working on the game.
As it turns out it's an engine crash and not our fault. It only happens on a few rare occasions as far as we know, most likely depending on the hardware. Seems to be video cards or video card drivers. Unfortunately we still have don't have a fix for it and it's in the hands of Epic to properly fix it.
We do offer a work around fo the bug for those who are experiencing it so they can at least continue the game. It seems that the game is stable and does not crash again.
I won't go into the whole thing here, we've created a forum thread prior to launch to make sure people were informed and wanted to bring it up here again just to be sure.
With that out of the way, I wanted to announce that I am on the verge of continuing the narrative of the main game. I have already created several new levels prior to Early Access and cannot wait to work with the VA's on the new scripts.
I'll be working towards the first narrative content update which will obviously take place on board the STARDROP which should be quite an important update no doubt.
Without spoiling too much I wanted to share a screenshot of one of the interior parts of the new chapter:
New Updates & Bug Fixes
I have released a new update for the game which fixes a number of bugs, tweaks and a new feature that I think some of you will be very happy with.
New
A new experimental option has been added under "GAME OPTIONS" called: WALK SPEED with two options; "NORMAL" and "FAST".
Some people stated they would prefer increasing Aryn's walking speed and now with this option they can choose so. The walk speed itself will be considerably faster, the running speed is not scaled up as drastically.
However, because of the new walk speed the androids will be scaled accordingly so they walk faster in general as well.
Not only that but they can hear Aryn from further away so players will need to be extra careful and make sure to use the sneak function to remain undetected.
As a minor side effect, the stamina mechanic itself as well as the stamina HUD bar seems to be disabled when using fast mode, this will be fixed in a later update and other possible bugs or side effects that may occur when using this new feature.
We will continue to monitor and listen to feedback for possible future tweaks.
Tweaked
Fixed scrollbars on various interfaces not showing up. I haven't been able to fix the scrollbars themselves (As mentioned, they broke during an earlier UE4 engine updrade).
I have made sure that the scrollbars are at least properly visible.
They work fine on the DataPad, but on the computer interfaces you need to click below or above the actual scrollbar for it to "scroll".
Tweaked the screens on various interfaces to reduce glare issues making the text unreadable due to bloom. I might tweak them some more in the future but at as it stands right now, it's a great improvement.
Fixed
Fixed a camera glitch where the player camera would end up in a weird angle/position if the datapad key command was pressed in quick consessions.
Androids would stop moving when they heard the player and the player is hiding in a spot the androids cannot reach, This has been fixed and the androids sould now default back to their normal routine.
Fixed android heads turning and looking at the player when they're not supposed to notice them.
Fixed a collision problem with a door panel on the Odyssey side mission which would keep the player from interacting with it.
Disabled the door panel on oddysee for a door that will never open. This is to avoid confusing players thinking they can interact with it.
Fixed the engine room puzzle on board the SD-01. The generators down at the engine room will now turn off properly again. Indicating that the proper conditions required for solving the puzzle regarding the time limit not being met are now properly visualized to the player.
Liked The Game? (Or Not) Leave Us A Review
Reviews for Early Access games are crucial, Obviously we'd rather have just positive reviews but I prefer honest reviews over anything else. That said if you played the game then it would mean a lot if you would be so kind to leave a review.
Not just for the score of the game, but also to be able to read more opionions about the game and experiences from players which is always invaluable.
Onto The Next Update
I will obviously continue to attempt to fix bugs and sort out other issues but I will also start work on the next chapter. I cannot yet determine when it will be released but as mentioned earlier, it will be an important one.
So that's it for now. Thank you all for your support and we hope you had a blast playing the game. We cannot wait to share what will be coming next.
