So the Steam Greenlight campaign is officially over not 6 days after it started, surprised? We certainly are and I touch upon about that rapid success in this blog entry here. Now I'd like to think it was my rousing speech that brought us all shoulder to shoulder but I fear the real reason is just sheer desperation at the lack of 3D space-based RTS's nowadays. We should give ourselves some credit, but Shallow Space in it's current incarnation is just a prototype, although much of the core will make it into the final game the graphics I'm just playing at.
You see 4 months ago I didn't even know what Unity was, a testament to the application itself because it is just extraordinary. I'd toyed with games design my entire life but I don't know whether my OOP skillz have reached a point of enlightenment or the tools of the trade are keener than they used to be but a little bit of knowledge goes a long way nowadays. Now, I know how to manipulate objects in 3D space, my maths is pretty good and I can bury my head in the code to concoct this fancy no problem. But one thing that you just can't take a short-cut on is the graphics.
Even still Unity could allow me to blunder my way through that if need be, although you've seen my attempts so far and be honest with me now it's all looking a bit 2004 (no longer true!) What we really need is someone who knows the trade and in walks Alexander. Now Alex has been helping me for quite a while now, we help each other in fact keeping true to the indiedev spirit but Alex has an ace up his sleeve in that he has done a fair amount of work on a certain popular space-based MMO.
You see he knows the tricks of the trade, he is currently designing planets for Shallow Space with breathtaking levels of detail (keep your eye's peeled for a preview) he talks of graphical trickery that just flies over my head, the man is a genius. So I'm proud to welcome him onboard and with that we are starting to establish protocols within the team - we have a content sharing portal (currently stuffed with bug reports) and shortly after I address the legalities and the finances start to trickle in the real work will begin.
So we've been testing internally now and the bugs are being uncovered thick and fast, in the videos it all looks pretty solid, but I was playing the game, the creator. The funny thing about testing your own creation is that you tend to play around the bugs instinctively, Alex is a stickler for the details it seems and over the last few days alone he has buried me in additionals. This whole games creation business isn't easy I have to say.
John's timeline is looking smart, I've never met a more thorough writer in all my life, it's just as well really because an established storyline should serve to fend off some of these 'experts' that have been emailing me, picking apart my concept. Enry continues to write more and more music, his tracks getting more complex - I look forward to the days we can buy him new kit and in general the entire project is a symphony now of polarised worker ants proudly building the nest.
So you can read more on how the mechanics of the game are progressing in this blog article, forgive the fact this article is sparse on in-game detail, the video below shows the shiny - but the news above is exciting indeed and In truth we weren't expecting the Greenlight Campaign to be such a flash in the pan affair. It has given us much to think about especially now the stakes are suddenly much much higher than they were before. Oh Joy.
James
I want to be able to purchase an alpha copy. I'm dying to pay you for access to this.
Getting there mate, latest builds are as smooth as a whistle now, just have to sort out a few business issues and we'll be ready to receive funds.
We're honoured that you stand ready to part with your hard earned cash. You've made my day for sure. Cheers!
Please let us give you money!!
Soooooon :)