Void Crew News

[h2]Hello Ectypes![/h2]

Daniel here, Creative Director on Void Crew. Today, I'd like to give you another peek behind the curtains, and share some thoughts on new things coming to Void Crew.

First of all, I can start by revealing that there will be some bigger news coming your way in the near future, but for now you'll have to live with my ramblings!


As our friendly neighborhood game devs - Ghost Ship - wrote some time ago, an Early Access game (like Void Crew) is a constantly evolving beast (well, not in those words, but you know ...). We'll gladly piggy back on their wisdom: Not every feature of the game is made at once.

Interestingly, this makes it both harder (predicting players wishes and the future in general), and easier (able to adapt to feedback as we move forward). Some changes make the game easier for players, others, more difficult.

One thing we have learned is that it becomes very easy to focus on new things, always trying to listen and move forward. In doing so, we also left some systems not as finished/polished as we'd like. Being a small team doesn't help this either. As we zero in rounding off the base-experience of the game, you'll see us showing off more sneak peeks with an emphasis on finalizing existing systems: things that haven't really grown to their full potential, or just plainly are clearly incomplete ... for example our Perk Tree which has "not implemented" perks scattered throughout.

We like the Perk Tree as a rank-up incentive - so we're sprucing it up with new Class Ability boosts and Superior variants!



Another example is the Fabricator and related unlocks. We've had a plan for quite a while, and it feels great to finally get to where we wanted it to go. The Fabricator felt over-simplified in how it would contribute to the progression inside a run. The static list of items that can be fabricated was not very interesting, but neither was the variant where unlock just power-crept into it as you ranked up. With the next update, it can now be upgraded several times, allowing for more options and unlocks. And by popular demand, upgrading it also adds an auto-recycle feature for those lazy Ectypes... like myself :P



The way the Fabricator works in the next update should also address some of the complaints around the inability to Fabricate "non-default" systems and modules. We're not reintroducing direct Rank Unlocks of systems, but we ARE expanding the fabrication potential of the Fabricator during your runs. Perks that unlock Fabrication options are also still in play, but we moved some of the "must-haves" out of the Perk Trees and replaced them with more specialized stuff.

Another topic is the biome specific signature enemies. As the name probably reveals, it was always our plan that the HOLLOW Frostmorph found in the Temperance system, would get some biome siblings. So in the upcoming update you'll be able to encounter the area-denial HOLLOW Firemorph and the power-draining HOLLOW Energymorph (for Vigilance and Bravery respectively).



... So are we just fixing things now? Oh no. We can't help ourselves. We are also adding something new ... but what exactly I'll leave up to you to speculate on. But here's a hint:





There are more news and sneak peeks on our discord, so if you'd like to see more and be the first to get those previews, don't hesitate to join!

Until the next rambling ...

// Daniel, Creative Director
Hutlihut Games

Hello Ectypes!

Here comes Dev Stream #14 Highlights!
The session was soooo co-op chaos fun and action packed!

[h2]Q&A - Community questions[/h2]
We answered lots of questions from the chat, both on Update 5 feedback and how we are addressing, aaaand what other stuff we are cooking for the next exciting Update.

We've compiled a Highlights video, summing up answers to much of the feedback and questions.

Go waaaaatch... if you are curious about…

• Will we get a save system for Endless?
• Are we going to get some bigger guns, with bigger EXPLOSIONS?
• Will there be modules that are taking up more space, like a bigger gun which takes more slots?
  
• What about the missing perks and perk loadouts?
• Sneak peek: Fabrication improvements - Blueprints!
• Things that we started developing, but ended up scrapping for whatever reason
  
• Will there be more unlocks (eg. new Relic unlocked when you reach level 10, that wasn't available before)?
  
• More ideas (cloaking device, warp drive, EMP)
  

...listen in on Javier (Game Engineer, Partner), Daniel (CG Artist) and Tomasz (Sound Designer) give their answers and perspectives!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

If you want to hear all the answers - we've also updated the video description of the full VOD:
Dev Stream #14 - With Chapters >>

Make sure to check out the video!


If you prefer to read the answers, below we've added a written version of answers from the Highlights video.

[h3]Will we get a save system for Endless?
[/h3]
[Javier - Game Engineer, Partner]:
It is a very frequently requested in the community, but we currently don't envision the game needing it - in, allow me to say, final vision of the game.

What we would prefer is that you go into a run with your friends, and you play for some time, and regardless how much time you will play, you will feel rewarded for it.

Saving is something that, even though we would be interested in exploring and experimenting with in the future, it doesn't currently fall within our plans, mainly because we don't need it to achieve that part of the vision, which is our core vision (making each run feel rewarding, no matter the length).

We can see how it could be cool for other things - like having a session that you can continue another day with your friends - but it is not what we are currently trying to polish in the game.

It's not a definite "No" for the future, but it is not being developed, and in the plans, at the moment.


[h3]Are we going to get some bigger guns, with bigger EXPLOSIONS?
[/h3]
[Javier]:
It's of course something that we are very passionate about.
Something that we have in our internal notes, that we would like to get to eventually, is for example a coop-requiring weapon, where (at least in multiplayer groups) you'd need multiple sources of activation needed to be activated simultaneously, and then you would create a huge blast.

However, that is currently not in our developement pipeline, for the same reasons as before - we are working on very cool stuff that we are, as you can see, sharing and dropping slowly, and we will share more very soon.
It's just something that will come in future content drops, whenever we get the time allocated into it.


[h3]Will there be modules that are taking up more space, like a bigger gun which takes more slots?
[/h3]
[Javier]:
There are places in the ship, where between two module slots, there's another, unused one in the middle.
At one point we actually had 2x1 modules working in the game, and it was a part of our pipeline to develop them.

It's very interesting when you have to commit two slots, to get one result. It can lead to very interesting design decisions and we are more than open to making that come back in the future, definitely more than open.

So yes, we will get that. I can't get you the exact estimation as to when, but you can expect that to come some time in the future.


[h3]What about the missing perks and perk loadouts?
[/h3]
[Javier]:
In the Gene Tree there are still some Coming Soon! Perks and Superior Class Abilities.

In the next Update we are bringing those into the game. We are finalizing the Perks and Superior Class Abilities, like for example that Grappling Hook that will allow you to reel items towards you, instead of you pulling towards them.

It's extremely cool, and there's a sneak peek in our Discord and our Twitter, which you can go and check out.


[h3]Sneak peek: Fabrication improvements - Blueprints!
[/h3]
[Javier]:
Next Update we're bringing one of the biggest improvements to the fabrication - Blueprints!

When you recycle something in the Fabricator, you will be able to unlock its blueprint, and then you will be able to fabricate it, from that point on (within that run).

So for example the Epic, Large Ammo crate that we have gotten before, we could have recycled that one in the Fabricator, and now we would be able to fabricate Tier 3 bullet crates, which is very cool.

You will be also able to upgrade Fabricator to get access to more stuff.


[h3]What are some things that you started developing for Void Crew, but ended up scrapping for whatever reason?
[/h3]
[Tomasz, Sound Designer]
I think the Relics were a thing in the very early stages of the game, but the gameplay around them didn't fit so much to the game.
Now (with Roguelite), the idea made much more sense and they came back.
Of course we had to adapt them to current gameplay, make new visuals and sounds, but the general idea was there already for a long time.

[Javier]
I didn't know that actually! Nice to know!
But yeah, that happens a lot in game development, that things get scrapped.

I think the biggest example in Void Crew history has to be the Tactical Map.
Next to the pilot seat, we used to have a terminal, that you could interact with, and it would be lika a 2D-topdown version of the map, of the sector.

It would allow one of the roles in the game that no longer exist, which is the Tactical Officer, to play almost pretty much entirely different version of the game, that was more focused on that map.

For example, target locking happened from that map, scanning too.
There was a bunch of mechanics that were build around that role, that now they have made their way into the game in other various ways, but the entire Terminal and the Map, were completely scrapped.

(You'll find more details on the Tactical Officer and other ideas that evolved into something else, in the talk presented by our Creative Director, Daniel Windfeld, during Nordic GameJam 2024)

The way that we develop, and that most studios around the world develop, is by trial and error, by testing. You think something is super fun, and you try it out and it turns out not being as fun, and vice versa.
Playtesting is a core value of game development in general, and Hutlihut Games and Void Crew in particular.

We run a lot of playtests with players, people here in the office, on-line, our experimental group - it's very important for us and we really believe in it!


[h3]Will there be more unlocks (eg. new Relic unlocked when you reach level 10, that was not available before)?
[/h3]
[Javier]:
That is currently not the plan, and there's a simple reason for it.
We like, that as part of the Roguelike nature of the game, even when you've just started playing, you can get access to all the cool stuff.

That's why the things that we are unlocking based on the ranks are the perks, which are more to make you feel more powerful even since the beginning, as well as the Ship loadouts, which achieve kind of the same.
You are more powerful in the beginning of the run, but even a new player can become as powerful as you would be with all your Ship loadouts.

We want to make sure that the game is fun without having to first invest 30 hours into it, before it becomes very fun.

With that being said, it is possible that we will introduce other things into the level unlocks. Things that don't necessarily make the game less fun or make you have less content when you start, but perhaps some other systems.

We will see about that, currently nothing planned in that regards for the next Update.


[h3]More ideas: Cloaking device - temporarily invisible, Warp Drive - jumping few kilometers ahead, Cargo Hull Expansion, EMP - disable nearby ships for a short duration. Any new modules like that?
[/h3]

[Javier]:
We are very interested in that of course!
Adding things like AoE damage, missiles, and so on, we will see...

That's content that we dream we'll one day be able to put into the game.

As long as you guys are supporting us, we will be able to continue updating the game throughout Early Access and after launch, with free updates, expansions and so on, and be able to bring a lot of content into the game with that.


Highlights of the Major Update:

• Challenging Boss Fights
  
• Powerful Relics
  
• Blaming Emotes (sooo much fun...)
  
• Solo improvements
  
• QoL bugfixes and more...
  

And of course, join our Discord to interact with the community and with the team, see some sneak peeks, and more!


[h2]Metem preserve you![/h2]

May you be blessed with Sacred Relics and exciting Bosses.
Hutlihut Games Crew

Attention Ectypes!

Come watch us today at 15:00 CET | 9:00 ET | 6:00 PT!

Apart from fighting the Bosses and searching for the Relics...
... we're going to answer some Community Questions!

[h3]If you have questions to Devs, join the chat, and feel free to ask![/h3]

This time the Ectype bodies will be occupied by:
- Javier Casado de Amezúa (Game Engineer, Partner)
- Daniel Eckmann (CG Artist)
- Tomasz Kulisz (Sound Designer)

[h3]We will be simulcasting to Steam and Youtube.
[/h3]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1063420/Void_Crew/

📍 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBWjYX2mRBs


Highlights of the Major Update:

• Challenging Boss Fights
  
• Powerful Relics
  
• Blaming Emotes (sooo much fun...)
  
• Solo improvements
  
• QoL bugfixes and more...
  

[h2]Metem Preserve You![/h2]
Hutlihut Games Crew

Hello Ectypes!

Here comes Dev Stream Highlights - Major Update.
The session was soooo co-op chaos fun and action packed - playing with Special Guest: YouTube Creator - CAPTAIN JACK !

[h2]Q&A - Community questions[/h2]
We answered lots of questions from the chat, both on Update 5 feedback and how we are addressing, aaaand what other stuff we are cooking for the next exciting Update.

We've compiled a Highlights video, summing up answers to much of the feedback and questions.

Go waaaaatch... if you are curious about…

• Endless Mode and shorter runs, how are we addressing ?
  
• Rewarding players who leave the session before it ends
  
• Alloy Auto-recycling
  
• Solo Improvements
• Ship System Upgrader no longer requiring a perk to be crafted
  
• Improvements to the Grappling Hook - ...carryables
  
• Fabricator Tiers and Crafting Improvements
• 8-player ships and mods
  

...listen in on Laurids (Lead Game Designer, Partner) and Javier (Game Engineer, Partner) give their answers and perspectives!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

If you want to hear all the answers - we've also updated the video description of the full VOD:
Dev Stream #13 - With Chapters >>

Make sure to check out the video !


If you prefer to read the answerw, below we'we added a written version of answers from the stream.

[h3]Endless Mode and shorter runs, how are we addressing ?
[/h3]
Before Update 5, we considered a lot internally. We were aware that moving to only-endless could feel annoying for some players, for good reason.

...further, we have discovered unintended shortcomings in the implementation, that we are working on implementing. These changes we believe will improve the experience, especially for those liking to play shorter runs.

[Laurids - Lead Game Designer]: The short story... we agree the game is not as rewarding as it was prior to the short runs being changed. Because we wanted to set the milestones that you need to achieve in the Pilgrimage, around actually beating the Bosses and getting through more than just the initial set of objectives.

But... for the next update, we're revisiting how we hand out rewards, to make sure that you will also be rewarded for playing shorter sessions.

Overall - We are committed to the endless runs, as that was the vision for the game from the beginning. It was what we wanted to do with the game.

We were trying out objectives early on,
...but we fully recognized that players would like to just be able to play for 30 minutes and feel like they came away with something which is both ranking up and XP - also actually getting that dopamine rush of opening a few boxes and seeing if anything good was in there.

[h3]Rewarding players who leave the session before it ends
[/h3]
[Laurids - Lead Game Designer]: It is actually not intended that the objectives don't pay out the rewards at the moment of completion.

The current way objectives work is that if you're there when the objective completes, that doesn't super matter. It's only if you're there at the end of the session.

So we're moving that point back.
Meaning, if you're there, when the objective completes, you get the reward for doing so.

It'll still be presented on the tally screen, but the tally screen, it's just a tally of stuff that you've managed to achieve during the run.

We agree - There's no reason that you should be cut out of getting your rewards because you had to leave early. So when you see it pop up, you're going to get it.

NB!
The only thing that you're missing out on, of course, is that we still have some completion bonuses.
And if you're not there when the run completes, you're not going to get the bonus.

But I mean, people probably gonna blow up anyways, in which case the bonus would have been forfeit.

Spoiler Altert
[Javier]: And spoiler alert, we will bring more rewards, early on in the run.
So, actually having completed two objectives will actually feel very rewarding.

[h3]Alloy Auto-recycling
[/h3]
Another new thing we are bringing in the next update: Auto-recycling in Fabricator

[Laurids - Lead Game Designer]: Yes. I mean, this was such a good idea from the modding community. Players are already doing this through mods.

But, in next Update we are adding upgrade steps to the Fabricator, which will give you access to better stuff without increasing the cost.

If you paid the upfront cost of upgrading the Fabricator, of course.
This also makes the Fabricator faster and adds the Auto-Recycle function for Alloys.

[h3]Solo Improvements
[/h3]
[Javier]: We just looted an Auto-Turret (B.R.A.I.N.), but an energy variant!
This is new for Update 5, and one of the new Solo improvements/ or Duo improvements.
...the one you can see is released in the game right now. It deals energy damage so that you can better deal with the shields.

Besides this, we also added the powerful Solo-only BRAIN-buffing Relic.

... in addition, we have many other things cooking on Solo improvements for the next Update:

• Improving Solo balancing,
  
• improve one of the biggest annoyances for Solo (Ship Maintenance) - and indirectly buff it, by giving you the option to craft any weapon... including more BRAIN Turrets!
  

As we are a small indie Studio, it is hard to do everything we want to do.
But... we want to do more for Solo (although still being co-op first). We want to make the game fun and playable also for solo. ...more specifics to follow...later...

[h3]Ship System Upgrader no longer requiring a perk to be crafted
[/h3]
[Javier]: In the current update, Engineers get access to a Perk allowing to buy the Upgrades.
With the next Update, we are moving that out of the Perks, to make every class be able to do it without having to invest perk points.

We believe this will make the game better to play

• when you are in the early levels
  
• and also to make it better to play Solo
  

...more specifics on next Update later.

[h3]Improvements to the Grappling Hook - ...carryables
[/h3]
[Javier]: For the next Update, we’re working on a Supreme Cersion of the Grappling Hook - the one that you unlock as a last Perk in the Perk tree.

It will be able to pull Carriables (items) to you. I can tell you already...it's so fun. I made the prorotype :)

...buuuut we’re not going to allow pulling another players - because it would be too prone to griefing, so we’ll be not doing that. It’d also be a bit awkward and the physics would probably not like it.

… but we will be doing that with items. We will post sneak peek soon on our Discord.

[h3]Fabricator Tiers and Crafting Improvements
[/h3]
[Javier]: Laurids, now you having to craft Mark I Bullet Crates
[Laurids]: Yeah and I hate it so much! Haha...

[Javier]: In the next update, when we have the Fabricator Tiers, you will be able for sure to craft better ones, right?

[Laurids]: Stuff like the weapon mods, which will be available to everyone, and also the Bullet Crates and the Power Cells will UP in tier, as you upgrade the Fabricator.

So without the cost increasing, you’ll be able to make the better versions of these.
It was always a little bit awkward in the existing design, but it feels much better now with the upgradeable Fabricator.

[h3]8-player ships and mods
[/h3]
[Javier]: We dont have plans on allowing more players than 4 in the game. We are a small Indie Studio, and we have to prioritize and pick our battles.

But... something I want to talk about this, is modding in Void Crew!

We have a great modding Community, that does some really cool stuff. Shoutout to our modders !

For that reason, In Update 5 we introduced guidelines to make it better for both modders and those players wanting to play without mods.

Our modding community has responded well to that them, something we really appreciate.
Now they are working on completely adapted all the mods to those new guidelines.

One of the mods is actually playing 8-players!
So...it is actually possible to play 8-players in Void Crew, if you use mods, which again - is now officially supported.

Highlights of the Major Update:

• Challenging Boss Fights
  
• Powerful Relics
  
• Blaming Emotes (sooo much fun...)
  
• Solo improvements
  
• QoL bugfixes and more...
  

And of course, join our Discord to interact with the community and with the team, see some sneak peeks, and more!


[h2]Metem preserve you![/h2]

May you be blessed with Sacred Relics and exciting Bosses.
Hutlihut Games Crew

Hello ectypes!

Come watch us today at 16:00 CET | 10:00 ET | 7:00 PT

Our Major Update is out - Bosses & Relics. Devs playing today gonna be fun !
...rolling drums... Today with Special Guest: CAPTAIN JACK (YouTube Creator).

Playing with Captain Jack is Laurids Binderup (Lead Game Designer, Partner) and Javier Casado de Amezúa (Game Engineer, Partner)... Leeeeeet's get'em Bosses!

[h3]Answering Community Questions [/h3]
If you have questions to Devs, join the chat. We are ready to answer Community questions.

[h3]We will be simulcasting to Steam, Youtube, Twitch.
[/h3]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1063420/Void_Crew/

📍 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHevcFIu5yQ

📍 TWITCH: https://www.twitch.tv/hutlihutgames


Highlights of the Update:

• Challenging Boss Fights
  
• Powerful Relics
  
• Blaming Emotes (sooo much fun...)
  
• Solo improvements
  
• QoL bugfixes and more...
  

[h2]Metem preserve you![/h2]

May you be blessed with Sacred Relics and exciting Bosses.
Hutlihut Games Crew