Exciting times (Patreon)

Hi! Over the last couple weeks I added a new enemy and prepared another one called the Jester (which is going to be one of my favorites). I spent the majority of the time polishing and fixing the game up, then filming the trailer. In case you haven't seen it, the trailer is out with the release date, October 23. It's a milestone that signifies that the game is finally "finished." It's surreal to see the game in this state, cause making an online multiplayer game like this was a pipe dream a year ago. (By the way, you will probably get to play it sooner than October 23.)

The first small (actual) playtest

For the first time I gave the game to a friend group, friends of a friend, who knew nothing about it and knew nothing about me. It was like sending your kid off to school alone for the first time. None of the problems I expected to arise actually came up: getting lost in the outside levels (well maybe a little), forgetting about the scan ability, or not being able to figure out the game's main objective. The objective of the game actually appeared more straight-forward to them than it has felt to me, and they used all the tools and abilities given to them. The only problem is that the game might actually be too easy.

It's hard to judge though, because they might have also gotten a severe case of beginner's luck. They didn't encounter a single enemy through their hour and a half of playtime. There is a beauty to this completely unpredictable randomness, but I may have to add limits to it. It could also be that they were more cautious than I expected a group of 4 players to be and the game is not forcing them to take risks enough.

Still, overall, this small test showed that the game is more ready than I thought. That's good, but it may also mean that I'm a bit ahead of schedule. I have an extra week or so to think about the game's biggest problems, which are a lack of content (easy to fix) and a lack of depth (harder to fix). A point I'm looking at right now is how to give more agency to the role of the player who hangs back in "mission control" and uses the computer. Some breakthroughs are being made in that, just over the last couple days. Actual upgrades can now be purchased for the ship, which give more power to the player at home base. The role of this player still isn't as exciting as in Duskers, but it's getting there.

As a bonus, here's a concept art for an enemy which has become one of our favorites. The concept art is so different from how it turned out that it's not even a spoiler in the slightest. I have found that concept art's real purpose is to help me figure out what I don't want an enemy to look like. The process of modelling it is where I tend to make some snap judgements and completely change it.