Welcome starchasers! It’s a new year! A new you! A new us! New gods, built to burn down the old ones and establish a new pantheon inside their corpses! We like to do yearly recaps at this point, to summarize everything that’s happened in the past 2023s. So… what is done?
The answer: Everything. The game is content complete. Both campaigns (multiplayer and singleplayer), every quest, system, station, dungeon, boss, random mission, party member, flyable ship. There’s several hundreds hours of play here. As our testers can attest to, the game is absolutely MASSIVE.
Last year saw some of our most important changes ever. In addition to pumping out the majority of the content, we signed on with a publisher, started uploading our first steam builds, got quite a lot of coverage, and acquired a secondary orange cat.
The publisher’s probably the biggest one there. Our publisher, Camlann Games, will be spinning all the plates that my decaying and bruised body simply can’t spin anymore. That includes promotional work, community management, translations, ports, and the eventual subsumption of the continent into our lunar-based hivemind. Typical stuff. They even filmed a fancy new trailer for us, check it out!
So with all this in mind, you’re probably asking “what’s left?” or more appropriately you’re probably asking “where the hell is my quirky space game you train-eating bastard?”. The answer: It’s coming. And sooner than you might think. We’re now in the polishing and completion stage, which brings with it a LOT of testing, which itself takes time.
Still, two major blockers remain: The first is station detailing. This is going at a breakneck pace, in no small part because we have multiple level designers out there turning stations into stations with things on them.
The second is finishing up multiplayer. Again, this is going at a breakneck pace but testing can often be slow. If anyone ever tells you developing a multiplayer game is easy, they’re right. If anyone ever tells you that testing a multiplayer game and making a stable multiplayer game is easy, they’re wrong and you shouldn’t be speaking to them.
With that in mind, our release on Steam will be considered Early Access. The game you will be getting will be content complete and utterly massive, but at the end of the day this is a very small studio taking on a game as large as my ego. An early access release will allow us to better incorporate feedback on systems and tweak the game to make it as good as possible. There will not however, be less trains. There will be more trains if you ask for less trains.
As part of that release, Underspace’s demo will officially be coming to Steam quite soon! This brings with it a whole host of advantages, not the least of which is a much smaller download size and an easier way for us to push patches.
And that’s our yearly recap! We’ll return to your regularly scheduled weekly updates now.
Weekly Underspace Devlog #15: Last Devlog of 2023!
Happy Holidays, Starchasers!
Crazy that it's already the end of 2023 -- even crazier that Underspace will come to Steam Early Access next year! It's been such a long time coming and I can't wait until you all get your hands on my blood, sweat, and tears in game form.
Pretend that sounded less weird... here's a cat open as a distraction.
They're even more excited than I am... perhaps.
This week's featured content creator is Alfenwylm. While they definitely enjoyed their time and had some great feedback, I wanted to say quickly that a lot of said feedback has already been addressed. For example, the "emptiness of space" is not so empty now, with plenty of props and items being added into space stations and the like, for example. But either way, great video and I'm grateful for it :)
As always, I'd like to state that, if you have any interest whatsoever in trying out Underspace, check out download our latest demo and give it a spin. You should also totally join the Underspace Discord. You joining would end 2023 on the right note, surely.
Now that you've all joined the Discord and have tried the demo, here's what I did two weeks ago:
+ Added script commands for detecting if the player is looking at something or not. + Added more stuff for the campaign. + Added new monsters. + Worked on new campaign missions. + Added pattern spawning to some attack blocks. + Worked on advertisement stuff. + Added new controls for skyboxes. + Added new controls for death trackers to turn off large fighter logic. + Large fighters can have override targets that they target regardless of state. + Added new projectile types. + Went back and added some closure effects to lanes. + Added new faction types for big battles. + Added new boss scripts + Added new boss effects.
And here's what I did last week:
+ Scripted more bosses. + Added new interiors. + Added new tutorials. + Added new conversations. + Added effects when entering thruster. + Fixed issues brought on by old thruster code. + Added a random sound player for on-station announcements. + Added alternate routes for players choosing to go more evil and do stuff. + Detailed more interiors. + Added new textures for interactables. + Added Ijuni tradesmen to Vauldric. + Finished the next draft of the main campaign. + Added new ambience noises. + Added flak to various big battles. + Fixed some issues with said big battle. + Added tech for bloodstains. + Began refining some sidequests. + Started adding tech for ships to spawn as undocks from stations.
As always, thank you all for supporting Underspace. It's incredible seeing everyone's comments, videos, and posts. If you haven't already, please help support us and give the Underspace socials a follow:
Thanks for checking out this week's devlog -- stay tuned for more Underspace updates!
Weekly Underspace Devlog #14: Fixes and Modeling Before The Year Is Out!
Salutations, starchasers!
The end of the year is upon us, which is... really weird. Pretty crazy to think that Underspace is going to finally launch in Early Access next year, just right around the corner. No pressure, right?
The cats, of course, feel no such pressure, as they have no concept of game development nor deadlines.
This week's content creator spotlight is Megxx Gaming Channel. The video is in German so if that's a language you understand, you're in luck! If not, it's all good -- it's pretty clear to see that they understood what Underspace is about and had a good handle for the game. Had a lot of fun watching this one and really appreciate them making a great video.
Yet again, I am here to remind you that, if you have any interest whatsoever in trying out Underspace, check out download our latest demo and give it a go. You should also definitely join the Underspace Discord. There are Underspace updates and cat photos abound. Aplenty, even.
Now that you've all joined the Discord and have tried the demo, take a look at what I've done this week:
+ Added more interiors. + Added more specific controls for audio synchronization. + Added some new furniture for captain’s seats and such. + Added new character icons. + Added controllers for phase states. + Added more scaling abilities to mission functions. + Modeled out more planetside stuff. + Production and consumption times and effects of both are shown in the UI now. + Ported and UV’d new interiors. + Storms affect dynamic economy consumption/production times now. + Scanning stuff now stays at the edge of the screen. + Fixed respawn issues. + Fixed UVs on monitors. + Fixed some small save issues.
As always, thank you all for supporting Underspace. It's incredible seeing everyone's comments, videos, and posts. If you haven't already, please help support us and give the Underspace socials a follow:
Thanks for checking out this week's devlog -- stay tuned for more Underspace updates!
Weekly Underspace Devlog #13: Interiorzzzzzzz
Season's Greetings, Starchasers!
'tis the season for... well, the holidays, I guess. Although this time of year is always busy with festivities, I'm able to work when/where I want on Underspace. Which is awesome. But more cooking during this time of year means more food tax for the kitties.
Which means more cat tax for you all, I suppose. Enjoy them enjoying the smells of Italian food.
This week's content creator spotlight features Bumpy McSquigums, who gave Underspace a great first look. They really love Freespace and Freespace 2 but noted that Underspace gives more mission diversity than those games (i.e., more than just combat missions). One thing I'd like to point out is that they mention the control scheme is "a little weird" -- if you feel similarly, you can remap controls to suit your comfort. Anyway, enjoy their video!
I am once again reminding you that, if you're interested in trying out Underspace for yourself, check out download our latest demo and give it a go. You should also totally join the Underspace Discord. Because I said so.
Now that you've all joined the Discord and have tried the demo, take a look at what I've done this week:
+ Modeled out campaign and quest interiors. + Modeled out some ambient exterior models. + Wrote out more ambient dialogue for the main campaign characters.
I know it looks a bit light but it was a LOT of detailed work dedicated to major tasks. So it was, in fact, not that light at all.
At any rate, thank you all for supporting Underspace; it means so much to me to see everyone's comments, videos, and posts. If you haven't already, please help support us and give the Underspace socials a follow:
Thanks for checking out this week's devlog -- stay tuned for more Underspace updates!
Weekly Underspace Devlog #12: Campaigns, Missiles, and Buffed-Out Space Trains!
Happy December, Starchasers!
So I know I missed last week's devlog. I can explain, but I choose not to. Here's a cat photo instead.
The cats have taken over the office, cementing the fact that it's their house and I just live here.
This week's YouTube video is by The Indie Buffet. He makes some great observations and -- towards the end of the video during the first undersnake fight -- encounters a situation explained by the top comment. It's worth putting here for posterity, but basically you can't fire your weapons when you've got your highengines on since you're shunting power to said weapons to... power up said highengines. Worth mentioning since this isn't the first time I've seen this (may have to communicate this better down the line, we'll see). Anyway, video:
Once again, if you're interested in trying out Underspace for yourself, download our latest demo and give it a go. You should also definitely join the Underspace Discord. Then you can come play with us. Forever and ever. And ever. (and ever).
Thank you for joining the Underspace Discord (this is the honor system, I'm assuming you've done it and won't verify because I trust you), here's what I did two weeks ago...
+ Worked more on the main campaign. + Detailed campaign exteriors. + Added new commands to destroy storms via campaign scripts. + Added new loadouts for main campaign ships. + Added way for large ship targets to prioritize targets over one another. + Added new projectile types and fixed some issues with capital ships. + Fixed collider issues with beam weapons. + Added tech for fading in/fading out warp sequences. + Added tech for station lighting. + Added tech for station cubemap overrides. + Station doors can now have requirements for opening.
...and here's what I did last week:
+ Added some instant procs on campaign stuff. + Adjusted some aspects of the main campaign. + Worked more on polishing campaign missions. + Added tech to show if a boss is invincible or not. + Added the ability for capships to shut off their attacking completely and easily. + Added new missile types. + Added the ability to let missiles spin. + Added tech to override NPC saving tech. + Fixed issue where highengine wouldn’t knock out drones. + Detailed new interiors. + Worked more on interiors. + Fixed some mislabeled lanelines. + Buffed the space train. + Created some basic character animations. + Fixed issue where webbing couldn’t be picked up. + Redid effects for underspatial rifts. + Redid some textures on underspatial hazards. + Fixed save issues.
Thank you all for supporting Underspace, I can't tell you how much it means to see everyone's comments, videos, and posts. If you haven't already, please help support us and give the Underspace socials a follow:
Thanks for checking out this week's devlog -- stay tuned for more Underspace updates!
Weekly Underspace Devlog #11: Pet a cat! Necessary!
Happy Saturday's Eve, Starchasers!
I was thinking about what would happen if I didn't start this devlog with a cat open. Like, sure, it's tradition, but is it necessary? Anyway I thought about it for like 2 more seconds and came to the conclusion that yes, yes it is necessary. Cats are always necessary.
Not sure what Mimi's doing but it was definitely necessary.
This week's YouTube video is brought to you by Fhiach. Although Underspace has been updated a few times since this video released, the gameplay is still as smooth as ever. He also customized one of his ships towards the end of the video and ngl it's pretty sick.
As I've mentioned many times before, if you're interested in trying out Underspace for yourself, download our latest demo and give it a go. You should also totally join the Underspace Discord while you're at it, because that would make me happy. Don't worry, I'll wait.
Now that you've all joined the Underspace Discord (thanks!), here's what I did last week:
+ Added more stuff to help fix mid-mission saves. + Fixed some camera weirdness in cutscenes. + Added more detailing to campaign stuff. + Fixed doublejumping issue. + Fixed some station issues. + Fixed several UI readout issues. + Fixed issues where some equipment buffs weren’t being added due to new skill system. + Added deposit-all stuff. + Fixed several issues with the trading UI. + Readjusted positions of holograms and such during cutscenes. + Fixed some lighting issues on stations. + Redetailed several interiors. + Added new book models. + Fixed pathfinding issues. + Fixed issue where planets would shrink due to pathfinding. + Fixed a ton of issues related to save permanence. + Fixed campaign issues relating to docking on jumpgates. + Remade monitor shaders + Pet a cat (necessary) + Added more cutscenes to places. + Fixed issues relating to loading campaign saves. + Game saves now display just the filename, not the full path. + Fixed loading errors relating to the new scene system. + Fixed sunshafts not applying when loading a new save. + Added better overriding settings for creating faction based fighter squad spawns. + Added new effects for monitor screens. + Added new directional particles for lanelines. + Fixed issues with in-game memory scenes having the wrong effects. + Added more uniforms for various factions.
Thank you all for supporting Underspace, I can't tell you how much it means to see everyone's comments, videos, and posts. If you haven't already, please help support us and give the Underspace socials a follow:
Sorry about the cheesy title, Starchasers. I've been staring at the screen for far too long trying to come up with something better, but I cannot. I'm sure there's some law with some random last name that will apply once I click "publish" and I'll think of a better title; until then, enjoy the cheese.
Even the cats are judging me for this one.
This week's Underspace playthrough is from ryanad 2000, who has been a long-time supporter of the game. This is someone who knows what they're doing when they play, so if you've been curious about seeing a more experienced player in action then this is one to watch.
As always, if you're interested in trying out Underspace for yourself, you're more than welcome to give our latest demo a test drive. You should also totally join the Underspace Discord, because that's where I currently exist. All the time. In fact, all I know is code, pet my cats, video games, eat hot chip and talk to players on Discord.
I am sure all of you reading this joined the Underspace Discord (thank you!), so let's move onto what I did this week:
+ Added more cinematic cutscenes. + Added more cinematic camera controls. + Fixed some flickering in the opening cutscene. + Added more tutorials. + Fixed issue where tutorials would repeat. + Fixed issues where tutorial quests wouldn’t complete. + Added branching choices in some of the tutorial missions. + Fixed some missing warps on Rikenrend. + Added popups to NPC stuff. + Fixed duplicated NPCs in places. + Restored some missing map functionality. + Fixed bounds on big ancient gates. + Added bottoms to space tentacles. + Fixed issue where battleships targeted the wrong stuff. + Game audio now pauses voices. + Fixed some issues with subtitle popups.
One note -- I post a lot of Underspace videos to the Underspace Discord and to my personal Twitter (which gets retweeted on the Underspace Twitter) so if you want to see video updates as they come, definitely join/give those a follow. Steam only likes YouTube video embeds, and uploading very short videos to YouTube seems silly. So... yeah. Go there. Thanks.
Thank you all for supporting Underspace, I can't tell you how much it means to see everyone's comments, videos, and posts. If you haven't already, please help support us and give the Underspace socials a follow:
The beginning of the month means finishing old tasks and setting new goals. The beginning of this month in particular means it's the void boy's birthday.
Mimi gifted him some kisses :3
This week we'd like to feature Down To Earth Astronomy's Underspace video. Apparently he's shutting down his channel next month so definitely give the video a watch before that happens. It's really well done so it's a shame that this might be the only Underspace video he makes, but I know I speak for us all when I say we wish him the best in his future endeavors.
As always, if you're interested in trying out Underspace for yourself, you're more than welcome to give our latest demo a go. You're also invited to join the Underspace Discord. Like, I'm personally inviting you. All of you. Bring caffeine.
Now that we're all settled in the Underspace Discord, let's move onto what I did this month:
+ Added more volatile settings to cargo. + Added cargo expansions to places. + Added an indicator for autosave. + Rebalanced NPC hardpoints for destruction. + Deaddrops can be fighters. + Assassin targets can now override legendary spawns. + Added some more mission results and events. + Comms can call mission code. + Added more missions. + Finished adding all random missions.
One exciting thing to note is that I'm starting to transition into the polishing stages now that the mission work is more or less completed. November will see updates along those lines, so stay tuned for more of that.
Once again, thank you all for supporting Underspace, It's really cool to see your videos, tweets, comments, and posts about Underspace. Want to yell at us if you haven't already? Please give the Underspace socials a follow:
Thanks for checking out this week's devlog -- stay tuned for more Underspace updates!
Weekly Underspace Devlog #8: New Demo with New Monster Boss Battle!
Hello starchasers!
Halloween will soon be upon us, which means another month has come and gone. The years really do start coming and they simply do not stop coming, do they?
Please enjoy this festively appropriate cat picture.
As is tradition, here is another Underspace video -- this time from The Escapist's new show, Yahtzee Unscripted. Yahtzee Croshaw (of Zero Punctuation fame) found Underspace and decided to give the demo a go (in addition to Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Thief Simulator 2). It was streamed live and starts around the 1:20:00 timestamp (you might spot us in the comment section starting right from the beginning, though).
Although there were some hiccups, it was a good stream and provided some really valuable feedback that is reflected in the most recent update (due to said hiccups). And because I want you guys to know how awesome these updates are, I've made a new demo for you including said updates. So you can test out the updates. And then update me. On Discord.
If the link doesn't work (I suspect Steam doesn't like linking out to itch), please look for pastaspace on itch,io to find the latest demo.
NEW CONTENT & FEATURES
First drafts of random faction missions for all factions in the demo! Stop runaway trains, clear ancient minefields, commit corporate espionage, and more!
First detailing passes on many station bars and taverns
Starchasing chapters! You can now join and rank up with these syndicate-style folk, who offer rewards for completing challenges and activities in game.
Voiced HUD effects. Meet MOIRA, the Union’s personal in-game assistant, who will inform you of hazards, actions, and more.
New game options, including options to enable MOIRA, override her with a custom assistant, have music play on lanelines, and more.
New details for trains on Planet Vauldric.
CHANGES & BUGFIXES
Your ship will naturally move out of the way of other ships on lanelines, and ships won’t spawn behind you when exiting said lanelines. I’ve had my fill of laughing as people get rearended by a space hauler.
Waypoint markers on lanelines now correctly show which way you are meant to enter a laneline to follow a path.
Enemy chasing has been removed as a default mechanic. The keybind still exists, but players would get confused.
Keybinds can now be remapped on certain categories without having to worry about unbinding other keys.
Shift, alt, ctrl, and other keys can be used as keybinds now.
Missions now give more detailed objectives in the objective UI window.
Players can now intimidate service ships during assassination missions.
Added new opening graphics to the title screen.
Storms will not start surging and changing until after the into is over.
Changed several default volume settings and sounds to be less loud.
Battleship Caladan now has laser turrets. Have fun.
Improved several aspects of the opening cutscene a bit.
Shipdealers now show pictures of the ships you can buy.
Fixed issue where asteroids would stop working.
Fixed issue where lightning in nebulas would have weird graphical artifacts.
You can now use the quick equipment menu to fire all your missiles at once. Rejoice!
Fixed softlocks occurring from various random missions.
Fixed issue where players couldn’t open menus after the intro was over.
Fixed issues where NPCs without missiles could use missiles, or NPCs with missiles would use missiles too much.
Fixed several flickering cityscape models.
Fixed issue where spacetrains would spawn with the wrong amount of health.
Fixed several internal softlocks.
KNOWN ISSUES
Voice acting is currently unimplemented, unbalanced, or placeholder for several quests and dialogue lines.
Interior detailing on many rooms are not in.
Joystick and controller support vestigial and more or less not implemented and having a controller plugged in can introduce weirdness.
Trading in ships may have a UI mismatch between ammunition counts on a ship and the actual ammunition.
Great? Great. Here's what I did this month (note, I'm going to try writing the changelogs like this, tell me what you think):
+ Added the ability to fire all missiles via the equipment menu. + Added more missions. + Fixed some scaling issues on trains. + Rebalanced some game audio stuff. + Fixed some sound and light issues with trains on stations. + Adjusted various aspects on interior textures. + Fixed issues where asteroids wouldn’t work properly. + Fixed issues when removing items. + Improved opening cutscene a bit. + Cinematic controls now disable full controls on first person characters + Debugged lots of missions. + Service ships can now be intimidated. + Fixed some lighting issues. + Restored hardpoint damage mechanics and buffed hardpoint health on NPCs. + Added new tutorial quests and tutorials to the tutorial. + Added new tutorial snake boss (optional). + Added new indicators showing when the demo adds. + Added new on-station conversations.
Again, thank you all for your continued support, It's really cool to see your videos, tweets, comments, and posts about Underspace. Want to shout at us if you haven't already? Please give the Underspace socials a follow:
Thanks for checking out this week's devlog -- stay tuned for more Underspace updates!
Weekly Underspace Devlog #7: Missions, missions, and more missions!
S T A R C H A S E R S
Cat.
You know the drill by now. Special guest Mimi's lil fang.
Continuing with last week's trend of sharing an Underspace video by a content creator, I'll be showcasing Young Sliver's playthrough. He was definitely very excited to play Underspace so that was some fun energy. Give him a watch and subscribe if you feel like; also, if you have other content creators you think should be featured, comment below and we'll spotlight them.
Missions, mostly. Like, mostly missions. I reorganized mission code to make it easier, and quests can now call mission code (and vice versa -- missions can call quest code). I've also added scaling settings and new functions (not to mention new scaling functions, which are a separate thing, promise) for missions. Additionally, icons and scripting have been added to tons of missions, and mission descriptions now properly reflected in UI.
Speaking of UI -- I've added a UI assistant, UI alerts are now quieter and make use of the volume slider, and I've fixed issue where UI voice overrides wouldn’t work. Oh, I've also added a small option to enable music when in highways or not.
Some smaller things include flickering model fixes, noise reduction in the intro, and storms no longer grow until the intro is over. I've also added in-game credits and -- be aware -- cargo can now expire. So be sure to sell your stuff before it's too late.
As I've said many times before, I want to thank you all for your continued support, It's really cool to see your videos, tweets, comments, and posts about Underspace. Want to shout at us if you haven't already? Please give the Underspace socials a follow:
