[Gamedev] Space Duty - Steam Release

edited in Projects
Space Duty is a sci-fi story set on a space station, you have to survive by taking care of your basic needs in order to get through the story. You take a role of a drafted recruit that has been stationed there and your goal is to get off the station.



http://store.steampowered.com/app/813360/Space_Duty/

Comments

  • Hey critic, it looks really good. Are you using Unity?
  • Thanks, yes, I'm using Unity and I can tell that it's a huge upgrade from XNA, there is just so much that is integrated in Unity that it makes creating a game much simpler. No need to worry about things like camera classes, custom shaders, lighting, shadowing, particle effects, animation, materials...
  • I really like the looks of this project @critic! Will be following this one!
  • Thanks, @BenJets, I've been snooping around your profile and site, you guys do some pretty nice work...
  • @critic I also come from XNA! Used to love it but yeah it was more of a 3D engine than game engine like Unity.
    Even though I've got crazy XP in Unity I'm only working in UE4 now :P

    Can we get a web build or exe to give it a play?
  • Sure, here is the web-build, I don't consider it in playable state yet. The AI does its work pretty well, but there might be some bugs, so be gentle.
  • Excellent will give it a try.
  • I'm pleasantly surprised. The subtle little detail on some of the models and epic plants.
    The AI looks great, I stalked them a bit, very nice.

    Good luck with your game.
  • Thanks @critic - cool of you to say!
  • OP has been updated with the latest development video.
  • are you using unity's navmesh for the ai?
  • edited
    No, I have my custom implementation it includes AI and Quest systems.

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    I updated the OP with the latest development video, forgot to do it after the update.
    Thanked by 1konman
  • Nice.
    Two things from me.
    My scroll wheel on mouse seems to work inverted.
    Maybe limit the camera zoom. Meaning I can go thru the floor.
  • edited
    Scroll wheel zoom direction feels natural to me, some games have it inverted, I can probably put an option in the menu somewhere to have it user adjustable. As for the minimum zoom distance, I think my camera script already has a variable for that, will just need to adjust it or move the camera target a few units above the floor.

    Thanks for trying it out.
  • Bump for a new update, linked the latest development video in the OP.
  • edited
    @critic This looks very promising. It reminds me a lot of the Rimworld/Prison Architect style.

    I see you also come from an XNA background? Did you ever explore MonoGame?

    In your video you mention story telling possibly up next... I'd be interested to see what tech route you decide to take.
    I am currently exploring Twine parsing and also very excited about Parley by Celestial Games for doing story/quest elements. I'm patiently waiting for them to update Parley to support newer Unity version so I can test it on another prototype I have been working on recently.

    Please keep us updated.
    Thanks :)
  • edited
    Yes, spent a few years on XNA, decided to ditch it when MS decided to stop supporting it. Unity makes things so much easier though, the only reason I can see for switching to MonoGame would be to upgrade the games made in XNA.

    As for the quest system, I'm pretty happy with my custom one, it's basic, but it can provide everything needed for a story/quest progression. The work that needs to be done on the story is mostly the writing and there is some coding on story specific rewards/scripted events that need to be triggered.
  • edited
    Bump for another development update video.

    Another week has gone by, this week focused mainly on the story, as such more than 60 dialogue options were added. A few bugs were fixed and some more AI optimization was done. The story was split ~3 times into slightly different branches as discussed in the last update, a few more objects were converted to quest givers and some of those objects are on the supply ship. Next week I will continue to focus on the story and the needed supporting code.

    I have decided to start using Trello for recording the tasks worked on each week, below is a link to the board of what was done for this update if you wish to have a look.
    https://trello.com/b/TTkDgcCD
  • edited
    Yet another development update bump, latest video is in the OP.

    The week was spent mostly working on the story and adding features that support it. I added music playback, some more assets and tweaked a few things based on feedback received. Around 30 new dialogue options were added and some minor bugs were fixed. Primary focus is still the story and will continue to be so during the next week.

    Trello board below.
    https://trello.com/b/RmfaHI0U
  • Bump.

    Well this is a significant one, the game is finished. It's been about 20 weeks of work over the last 2 years and I'm pretty happy with the result. There were a few minor issues that the people that have tired the game have raised, I fixed most of them and now it's time to get the project ready for Greenlight.

    Latest development video is in the OP and the Trello board is below.
    https://trello.com/b/qXh9CBpc
    Thanked by 1Bensonance
  • edited
    Bump for Greenlight!

    Game is now on Steam Greenlight, please cast a vote and support this little project.
  • I don't think it would matter much that it's using programmer art (for now?), if there were other things in the trailer that were entertaining or enlightening. As it is, it seems like a poor trailer to me: if the game's supposed to be "quirky", show me! If trying to escape is interesting, show me! As a consumer, I'm not buying text; I'm buying into gameplay and a fantasy.

    I haven't played your game, so this may not at all be what you're going for, but maybe the trailer could be a "day in the life" of one of the recruits on the space station, showing some of the creative things you could do (in several short 2-second clips, to show the volume of options) and perhaps culminating in an over-the-top (and perhaps satisfyingly bloody) death. Something like this could reveal the style of the game's narrative (why is it "quirky"?), show the game's AI (especially if things happen that are unexpected and pleasantly surprising).

    Granted, it looks like quite a lot of games get pushed through Greenlight these days despite not looking very good, but ultimately this is a pitch for getting people to give you money. Practising doing this right can only help you when you're trying to sell a product on Steam.
    Thanked by 1critic
  • edited
    Nice feedback, as you can see I'm horrible at marketing, just look at this thread, it's basically me talking to myself for the past year :/

    /edit
    I removed the 'programmer art' reference, thanks.
  • Bump.

    Space Duty got Greenlit, hooray!
  • @critic That's awesome! Congratulations. Good luck in polishing it and getting it ready for release day :)
    Thanked by 1critic
  • edited
    Well, it's a year later and life really has a way to throw curve balls at us...

    Good news is that Space Duty has been approved for release on Steam.
    http://store.steampowered.com/app/813360/Space_Duty/
    Thanked by 2Asriele konman
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