STASIS
http://www.stasisgame.com/
“Daddy, please help us…”
Disoriented, drowsy and in pain, John Maracheck opens his eyes. There is nothing to greet him but the static of a nearby monitor and a cold steel floor. Thick, green liquid covers the floor and then his body, leading to trail to a nearby, steaming stasis-pod. He slowly gets to his feet, trying to take in his surroundings. Where is his wife? His daughter? What the hell is going on…?
Stasis is an adventure game that puts you in control of John Maracheck, a man searching for his family in a seemingly abandoned research facility. Going back to classic adventure game mechanics, you are required to solve puzzles and use objects around you to progress and to find Maracheck’s family.
Graphically, Stasis is fairly unique in the adventure game genre, opting for highly detailed isometric graphics, as opposed to the more classic ‘side on’ views of other adventure games. Richly detailed rooms and fluid animations create an immersive environment for the player to explore, with danger lurking in every shadow.
The stasis-plug suit gives you direct access to an Emergency Medical Kit. This is a piece of equipment that has the ability to break down any object of a certain weight and size into its base elements and store it for future use. While normally used to store small medical supplies, Maracheck uses it as an easy way to keep and transport object he has found. Objects can be stored, accessed, combined and brought back into the ‘real’ world at any moment.
At its core, Stasis is a story about an ordinary man in an extraordinary situation.
Trapped in a place where humanity’s horrors come out to play, how far would you go to protect your family?
--------------------------------------------
Hey guys,
My name is Chris Bischoff, and I am the developer behind STASIS. Ive been working on it for around 2 and a half years, doing everything from the artwork to the music.
The game has been featured on TIGSource, Rock Paper Shotgun, and Kotaku, and the outpouring of support has been astounding.
Its a very good time to be an Adventure Gamer!
You can find out more at www.stasisgame.com , aswell as the development blog at www.stasisgame.com/blog. I am also on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/StasisGame
STASIS TEASER TRAILER:
STASIS GAMEPLAY VIDEO:
I would love to hear your guys opinions on the game. ;)
-Chris
“Daddy, please help us…”
Disoriented, drowsy and in pain, John Maracheck opens his eyes. There is nothing to greet him but the static of a nearby monitor and a cold steel floor. Thick, green liquid covers the floor and then his body, leading to trail to a nearby, steaming stasis-pod. He slowly gets to his feet, trying to take in his surroundings. Where is his wife? His daughter? What the hell is going on…?
Stasis is an adventure game that puts you in control of John Maracheck, a man searching for his family in a seemingly abandoned research facility. Going back to classic adventure game mechanics, you are required to solve puzzles and use objects around you to progress and to find Maracheck’s family.
Graphically, Stasis is fairly unique in the adventure game genre, opting for highly detailed isometric graphics, as opposed to the more classic ‘side on’ views of other adventure games. Richly detailed rooms and fluid animations create an immersive environment for the player to explore, with danger lurking in every shadow.
The stasis-plug suit gives you direct access to an Emergency Medical Kit. This is a piece of equipment that has the ability to break down any object of a certain weight and size into its base elements and store it for future use. While normally used to store small medical supplies, Maracheck uses it as an easy way to keep and transport object he has found. Objects can be stored, accessed, combined and brought back into the ‘real’ world at any moment.
At its core, Stasis is a story about an ordinary man in an extraordinary situation.
Trapped in a place where humanity’s horrors come out to play, how far would you go to protect your family?
--------------------------------------------
Hey guys,
My name is Chris Bischoff, and I am the developer behind STASIS. Ive been working on it for around 2 and a half years, doing everything from the artwork to the music.
The game has been featured on TIGSource, Rock Paper Shotgun, and Kotaku, and the outpouring of support has been astounding.
Its a very good time to be an Adventure Gamer!
You can find out more at www.stasisgame.com , aswell as the development blog at www.stasisgame.com/blog. I am also on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/StasisGame
STASIS TEASER TRAILER:
STASIS GAMEPLAY VIDEO:
I would love to hear your guys opinions on the game. ;)
-Chris
Comments
Wow the environment harkens back to the classic stuff like Crusader: No Remorse and Syndicate, but obviously WAY more detailed. Also I love the way you theme the crazy inventory system of adventure games (heck, all games). Adventure game you say? I'M SO IN :D
Looking forward to playable code!! :D
And when's the release looking to be? How far till completion do you *think* you are? :D
The gameplay looks like it's gonna be great, and I love a good mystery! Combined with those visuals I'm sure this will be a hit. Those sort of radial environments remind me a lot of the morgue in Planescape: Torment :D
Is there any possibility of a playable demo at some stage, or did I miss it on your site?
Currently I would estimate the game at between 60 - 70% complete.
I'm glad you like the radial rooms! They are surprisingly difficult to plan, because the isometric angle really doesn't like curves! You would be surprised at how much cheating goes on to get those things to work visually!
There isn't a playable demo...yet. But there will be one. :)
And as you've suggested, I'm sure it's quite a technical challenge to get some of those angles and renders suited for the gameplay.
Anyways, looking forward to the demo.
You say you've been working on this for over two years. From a developer perspective, I'm curious as to how you're actually working on this project? Is it a part time thing, or do you have a savings you use to fund yourself? What keeps you going etc...
BlackShips, BroForce is just looking all kinds of bad-ass. Its a really good time to be a developer in SA!
Manikin, the problems also come in trying to make sure that you can see whats going on at all times, but still keeping the world feeling 'real'. Limiting the fact that you only have 2 walls to actually detail, but needing to make sure a room feels 'complete' is quite a challenge!
TheFuntastic, STASIS has excursively been an after hours and weekends project. I own a 3D illustration company called BURN, so almost all of my working hours is spent doing architectural illustration - so Stasis is my release from all of that.
I do have a plan to take off a few months to complete the game in the near future-but its quite a challenge to organise it. Savings wise, its not a problem - the issue is mainly that the company is very reliant on me being here all the time...so to try to work around that is nigh impossible...but where there is a will, there is a way!
The eventual idea is to go into full time gave development, with me already planning my next project (which is something heavily Fallout inspired). But nothing is concrete until Stasis is out!
I'm put in mind of the Infinity Engine games.
It looks very pretty indeed! ^_^
If I may ask, what engine are you using (if any)?
Gotta say that the stuff thats been released has been in development for a while, and the later screens that Im currently working on are MUCH more detailed and in general even more awesome(r). I've actually had to go back and revisit all these released areas and add another layer of detail over them.
Thaumaturge,
Thanks man. :D Im using Visioniare ( http://www.visionaire-studio.net/cms/adventure-game-engine.html ). Its an very cool, very artist friendly engine.
Any word as to release dates? *nudge nudge nudge*
(Now I really am wondering where I saw this game previously -- it was on a community somewhere, I seem to think, but since I don't believe that I've used Visionaire it probably wasn't anything related to that... Ah well. ^^; )
Yeah-its an awesome engine, and the nice thing is that there is a ton of development still happening on it. 3D character support, IOS exports, etc.
Nah, just kidding XD Just amazed at how one man's production is on par with Obsidian's output :)
I did some really early lookdev with the guys at InXile for Wasteland (actually working with Koy, the main art director, and Brian Fargo was a bit surreal).
I really love what they are doing over there with PE, and Torment. The normal map stuff with lighting, and their shader tricks to get water flowing and flickering fire are just all kinds of badass!
The nice thing about the game being very linear is that its 'easy' to calculate how much time is needed to complete the game...its just a case of finding that time while running a company, and hoping for a semblance of a social life!
I'll just leave this epic guide of epicness here then.
Whenever you do start that Kickstarter, Chris, good luck with it. ^_^
LINK TO THE KICKSTARTER UPDATE
I'm at the four month mark of full time development on Stasis!
The majority of the Alpha bug fixes and new systems have been done and dusted, and so I have been able to move onto entire new and exciting Stasis environments.
The medical suites are stark and white with a vastly different aesthetic, compared to the rusty, industrial grime you've seen so far. It's refreshing to work on a new experience point with an unfamiliar tile set. I've also now created the medical puzzle that was alluded to in the last update.
.......
"The skeletal remains lie clustered together around the room, as if they died in a stampede, or clutching each other. Somehow the bones hold no scraps of flesh."
We've received some new writing from Christopher Dare and it is excellent! I can already see how the extra depth of this writing will echo through the environments, and really draw a player in.
I'm now moving onto the Hydroponics Bay... wish me luck :)
AND SOME MORE ART!
-Chris