State of the Game - Planning a Heist (Patreon)

Merry December all, it's time again for another game update! As noted before, my primary focus for this release was story development, although I did have a few distractions. As patrons know, I had to put up a hotfix release earlier as a change I made had broken savegame backwards compatibility, and there is one additional fix in this release that should fully fix that for even older savegames. I also got myself a new toy in the Unity Store Black Friday sale, which I'll get to in a bit. I'll also note up top here that the public release has been updated to v0.3.0, find it at the itch.io page here, or at newgrounds here!

But first, story development! I'm now advancing into the 'average citizens' plotline for the Harians, and while it hasn't gotten very far in the week or so I had to spend on it, I have had the opportunity to play around a bit more with storyline branches and player options. In case you were wondering if the combat encounters from the tutorial would actually come up again, they are indeed, and while the storyline isn't quite there yet you will find the option to choose either a ground-based or a space-based approach towards your next objective. There is also another player choice tossed in there that may influence some of the storyline flavor going forward.

Artwise, a number of things have been added in for this release. First off, Harians now have non-DTF uniforms to wear for when you're interacting with GPU citizens. While GPU outfits won't be as dynamic as the uniforms, it certainly beats everyone dressing like a member of your crew for some reason. Second, I've tossed in a few more generated backgrounds for various locations, utilizing the Scene CG functionality that already exists. Just to add a little more context for the places you may find yourself in during these Voyages. And finally, something that was neat for me to play with although it admittedly doesn't add a great deal to the overall game - the system maps now have dynamic features! Up til now I've been using static 2d images I acquired in an RPG asset set, and while they were suitable enough for now, I was a bit concerned that I'd end up having to re-use quite a few of them by time we actually make all of the maps that are planned for the game. With the new Unity tool I've picked up however, I can now produce and tweak location objects as I go - and on top of that, they can now be animated and even use dynamic lighting and shadows. So far I've only updated the stars and gas giants to the new assets, but I may at some point go back and do the rocky worlds and asteroids as well, and as we go forward I'll be using it for all new maps. The effect is subtle, but if you'd like to take a look without downloading the update I've posted videos here and here.

So, what's up next? While there are still a few functionality items on my to-do list I could work on, I believe I'll be remaining focused on storyline development for most of the month. I haven't had as much time to get the story going as I would like, and the remaining items on the list are relatively non-urgent. It is my intention to switch over to working on the Seeders in the New Year, as the game is largely designed around the idea of hopping back and forth between different systems, and once we actually have a second system to hop over to, a list of new features can then be opened up - I can then start enforcing the 'heat' system, after which I can then start reliably handling resource management, after which I can implement the upgrade store including new ships, as well as crew promotions. But before all that I do want to get a little further with the Harians, so that will be the rest of 2022. Also, while I know the early parts of plotlines always have that 'building up' phase, this is still an adult game, and I would like to get in at least one more 'romance' scene at some point this month.

I'll see about getting the next art pack up sometime this weekend, and the next release is currently aimed for the 16th. Til then, enjoy the latest updates, and thanks for your support!

v0.4.0 Change Log

Game Functions:

• Portrait functionality updates to support civilian outfits.
• Yet more scene flow/progress flag updates, to support 'hub scene' selections sending players to different scenes based on story flags.

Scene Content:

• Two-part 'Sports Arena' scene added to kick off the 'Harian citizens' plotline.
• Stub scene added for when you visit the sports arenas with no current activities to perform.
• Stub scene added for when you visit the Blindside Bar with no current activities to perform.
• Defense Platform scene added for 'Harian citizens' plotline.
• Two story-based duty assignments added for 'Harian citizens' plotline.

Art Content:

• Harian 'civilian' outfit portrait sets added.
• Backgrounds added to Defense Platform, Victorious and Blindside Bar scenes.
• Dynamic Suns and Gas Giants added to system map screens.

Codex Entries:

• None

Bug Fixes:

• Corrected issue in input field change in v0.3.1 which would cause the save overwrite confirmation to appear when it shouldn't. Added keypad enter to Save Name/Cheat Code submit keys.
• Corrected issue with savegame compatibility from v0.2.0 or older.

Known Issues:

• None