Underspace News

Welcome to November, starchasers! Normally I’d preface this with lots of words about turkey and people freaking out because there’s a friday where you can buy overpriced TVs for a dollar less, but I’d rather get straight to the big announcements!



If you missed it, demo 1.9 is now out! It’s our first demo in quite some time, and has a lot of new features, particularly relating to piracy and world interactions. Furthermore, it begins to scale back the file size and scope bloat that was plaguing our demos, taking things down to a much more reasonable size.



While our official demo releases are still going to be fairly spaced out, as we’re now getting closer to release, we’ll be offering more immediate releases for testers. The basic summary is this: we’ll be soon accepting applicants on our official Discord (and sending out instructions to our higher tier backers). Accepted applicants will receive more frequent builds (about once every month) of the full game for testing and feedback.

And that’s the long and short of it! For now, onto progress! As always, this is just a paraphrasing of the main article, which you can read here.



Star systems are more than just quests, stations, and vignettes. They have lots of little details in them to really bring the entire sector to life. This month was spent doing just that: detailing systems all the more. To start, we’ve added shipwrecks to every star system. Not those huge derelict capitalships mind you, but the smaller freighters and fighters.



They all have placement, names, and descriptions now, and can be scanned and looted for all sorts of treasures.

We also reworked startrawlers, those mobile garbage collectors you might have seen around the demo systems. They’re now much more efficient, there’s a lot more of them, and they have new effects and textures. With them now in a finalized state, I’ve placed them around the galaxy.





Ships can also be found in shipyards, where you’d expect to find ships.



I’ve reworked advertising billboards a bunch too. They read much better out in space, and can have requirements attached to them. Think wanted posters of your character, or a mad AI taking over all advertising and tracking you down.





This is just the first bits of system detailing, and things like more asteroid miners, more billboards, and more Things are soon to follow in the months to come.


There’s lot of work done on a variety of things this month, but none big enough to be in their own category. To start, UIs on things like stations and star system name readouts can be overridden completely, allowing for custom names and a greater degree of uniqueness in individual areas.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The navmap UI’s been reworked to be a bit more optimized and efficient too. In general we’ll be reworking things to be more efficient in the UI to prevent slowdowns.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Party members are getting more dialogue, and properly will fight your hated enemies for you too.



Finally, in terms of new content we’ve added instant-travel, instant-damage, high energy mining lasers. They’re fairly rare, and perfect for many situations. Provided you can find them, of course.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Shields have also been redone! They’re shader based now, and have special animations, and are far more performant across the board.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


And here’s this months new assets being made. I’ve mostly been working on bosses, both hidden ambient ones, backer-based bosses, and ones you’ll encounter out in the storm.



That’s all for this month, as always, check back next time for more progress, more system detailing, and so on. You can always check out our Twitter and Discord for more moment-to-moment progress, and updates on closed alpha and beta tests!

It’s October! That month where the Spirit Halloweens finally finish their years long gestation and pulsate into proper and temporary storefronts. But you know what’s REALLY scary?
Prions?
Yeah I suppose they’re pretty terrifying. But I meant space. Space is so terrifying, who knows what you’re going to find out in space. Like giant space squids, ancient cosmic lodestones, the ghosts of all those balloons you let drift out of the atmosphere as a child.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Luckily, we’ve made lots of progress on space, so even if it’s horrific, it’s at least a little closer to release. Check it out! And as always this is just a paraphrasing of the main article, which you can read here. And as always, check out our demo and our Discord!



The biggest news this month? The first draft of the main campaign’s script is complete! It’s 4 acts with 16 missions, full of twists, turns, and thrilling moments.


Dialogue in the draft is subject to change, but those moments and setpieces aren’t, which means I’m able to fully start building everything out. Here’s a little preview of what’s to come.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

You’ll find out when the game releases just what the heck’s actually going on there.



Lots of work on quests and quest technology (fun stuff for modders) is now up and working. Scanned items can activate script code, line connectors can be dragged around and tethered by the player, and activators can warp the player wherever. All useful for a variety of situations.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

I also redid a lot of background technology to let the player be cloned as an NPC. After all, you never know when you’ll be fighting your evil twin.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


I also went back over some vignettes and optimized them a bit more.


And finally, because sometimes these things can only be looted or encountered once, I expanded the game’s persistence system to be able to be used on pretty much anything.




A lot of UI stuff got overhauled this month, as a lot of UI stuff wasn’t in the best shape it could be.


For example, you could equip vanity items, but actually buying them was another matter. I refactored a bunch of merchant and item code, allowing you to visit clothiers and outfitters and buy all sorts of things for yourself.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


I’ve also dived back into multiplayer UIs, they’re still a work in progress on a lot of aspects now, but you can once again group, trade, whisper, and do all that multiplayer stuff you like to do with other players. I’m working on additional functionality as well, like being able to host public groups that you can join, or additional server settings.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


There’ll be more on this as time goes on of course.


Finally, we’ve got lots of assets to show. We’ve got some SQUID. Official squid. Very fresh.


And I’ve also learned to rig and use substance painter to help with the nonorganic assets. Some of which have even been made. For example, there’s a few campaign models here, as well as the Ballden eyes, which have be rigged to animate and deform like proper glowing eyeballs.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



That’s all for this month, a lot of my focus over the next few weeks is going to be a deep dive in fixing some problems in the game (while also prepping it for mods), check back next to see how that spectacularly fails!

Welcome starchasers! I’ve got good news, bad news, and news! So the bad news is that this month’s progress was… less than it could have been. I had a lot of pressing and wonderfully warm obligations to fulfill, which doesn’t mean progress wasn’t done, just like I said, less than it could have been.

The good news? The end is in sight. The bad news (again?). The end is still pretty far off. Effectively, we know every remaining task that has to be done now, but that task list is still pretty gargantuan. Could we release the game now in its current state and have a pretty swell space game? For sure. Are we going to go the extra ten miles instead? You know it bro.

And finally, another sad tidbit, but our next demo (demo 1.9) will have to be delayed. The game’s gotten large enough now that uploading has become a problem and Unity (which can’t support resource files bigger than 4gb when packed, for some reason) is introducing texture errors into current builds. Fixing this will take a few days, though it doesn’t stop other bits of
progress.

Phew! That’s a lot to take in, so let’s move on to everything that was done this month, eh? As always, this is a paraphrasing of the main article, which you can read here. Be sure to check out our demo and join our Discord for more moment-to-moment updates!


I’ve been writing up many of the game’s sidequests, and we’re close to about 50% done for their first draft. There’s still more to go, and many of course simply aren’t implemented, but have a preview of what you can expect.


Quests require bits of tech and can always be improved of course. I noticed a lot of them revolved arounding activating objects in your inventory, so I added a quickslot to let you quickly activate objects that are able to be activated.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

I also redid events a bit, and added assassins that get sent after you, should you manage to make the wrong kinds of people mad.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

I also added proximity script triggers. Which are overengineered to heck and back. But these objects, when you go near them, can charge up, play effects, and when finished, execute scripts. There’s situations where these are really fun (for example a quest where you use them to download data into a computer-virus-shooting-gun to take some computers offline).
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


Storms are beginning to get in a final state. Hazards for them are still a WIP, but each region now has its own unique storm type, with lots of pretty weathery colors.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


I’ve also created some more exterior effects for storms. Any nebula that has a storm going on will flash and spark from the outside. Good for realizing where you should be going at a glance!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


You’ll recall that the galaxy is littered with enormous derelicts and starship corpses. It’s been my vision since this game was in its infancy that these derelicts are filled with all manner of traps and hazards. This month, I started off by giving all of them names and backstories.


I also recoded their many mimics to be able to attack in packs, and if one wakes up, be careful! They can wake up their nearby friends as well.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


Battleship wrecks might accidentally dump out their unexploded missiles and mines. Be careful, unexploded doesn’t mean inactive!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

And everyone knows some errant laser and power conduits might create hazardous beams that the player will very much want to avoid. I’ve refactored these to work much better and be more accurate.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

And what dead cruiser would be complete without lovely pockets of deadly radiation? Hope your ship is lead-lined (it isn’t).
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

All these hazards and more can be detected with scanner upgrades, which now point out various traps and secrets, with stronger ones even able to detect hateful intent in cargo containers.


Placement of these hazards is still ongoing, but they’re very versatile and can be used in a lot of situations. Particularly those proximity explosives. Modders should have a lot of fun with them.


Last month I promised a space mountain. And I keep my promises. Mostly.


I’ve also added a space mirror. It’s said to show your true desires, but model trains are still overpriced when I look at it, so that’s probably just a myth.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

I had to code up some custom shader tech to get the parallax effects working on it, so if you’re a Unity developer, you’re free to try it out!

We also modeled out a few bosses. Ever wanted to get trapped in a televised ancient alien arena gameshow and have to be forced to fight your way out? Wow, me too!


And finally this thing. What is it? Well you’ll find out, eventually.


And that’s all for this month! I’m hoping next month to get you some concrete stuff involving the main campaign, along with sidequests, of course.

Happy continued summer Starchasers! Heat stroke is no laughing matter, so make sure you stay cool this morning. It’s very cold in the loveless vacuum of space I hear, so that may be an option.
Fun fact, while working on all this a tornado tried to destroy everything. It seems rather appropriate, or perhaps eerily prophetic, that a game about space storms would have a storm come to prevent its inevitable release and success. Or maybe it’s just nature and stuff, who knows. Either way, god hasn’t been able to kill me in the thousands of years I’ve been alive, he’s not gonna succeed now! Onto progress!
As always this is just a paraphrasing of the main article, which you can read here. You can also check out our demo and join our Discord for more moment to moment updates!



Piracy was the major focus of this month’s progress. But, it’s hard to roleplay a highwayman if there are no NPCs spawning on highways. We fixed that, and improved piracy so that you can disrupt and threaten NPCs for loot and money.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Making piracy work meant going back over dialogue mechanics. NPC ships can get really mad if you decide to screw around with them, and NPCs will give full directions if you’re friendly with them. NPCs also construct backstories as to why they’re doing the job they’re doing.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


But piracy carries consequences. Commit enough bad… law… things, and the military might send a battleship after you if one is available.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

And of course, what’s a good pirate without proper destruction states and animations on larger starships?

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


We also spent the month reworking a few implemented, but lacking, bosses. The Hellmouth Prince for example, got his attacks reworked.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Meanwhile, the Haywire Hulk had fully implemented animations, attacks, and summons. He’s a lot of fun, probably my favorite boss so far.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

A few boss weapons were neglected in the past, but have been fully implemented now. From beacons that call in bosses to do fly-by attacks, to a void that grapples and tethers nearby enemies.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

A few other bosses got minor scripting implementation, but we’re not QUITE ready to reveal them just yet.



A lot of the game’s various sidequests are written up now, but implementation lags behind a bit. The major one implemented this month was a small early game questline where you’re able to get drinks with your lawyer (and only friend), Karbelle.


The game now has a fast travel system in the form of ride-sharing, where you can hitch rides on trains and transports at certain stations, for a fee.


Guns also have restricted firing angles now. Lining up your targets is much more important than before.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

And there can now be restrictions when trying to undock from a station.


I also added a few UI improvements too. Storms now recolor (if the option is enabled) your UI when you enter them, while the station UI gained a few new little animations to help it pop some more.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]




With all those new scrap models available, we went back over some scrap-related vignettes and redid them to have those aforementioned models, upping their fidelity by quite a bit.


That’s all for this month! It’ll mostly be writing and questwork for next month’s progress, but I’ll see if I can’t give you a space mountain or two as well.

Happy summer starchasers! Enjoy the insane humidity, the endless bugs, and the blistering heat, because in two weeks it’ll go back to snowing. At least, if you’re in Wisconsin it will.
Anyway, this month was spent mostly on vignettes, which, good news, turns out are a LOT further along than I thought they were.



Considering that’s a huge slice of the game’s content right there, that also means the entire game is a lot further along than I thought it was. Does that mean a release date is in sight?
Well… no. Vignettes are merely one portion of the game’s content, which includes quests and bosses. And those are in a much… less complete state.

Anyway, onto progress! As always this is a paraphrasing of the main article, which you can read here. And also as always, you can join our Discord to keep up with more moment-to-moment updates, and check out our demo to get an idea of what’s in store.



As mentioned, we found that a great number of points of interest were already implemented, and this month was spent writing up and implementing many of the few that were STILL remaining. Great fields of rainbow crystals, ancient graveyards of mining rigs and windmills long past, even a field of legally distinct plastic building bricks. The size of moons.



Not only that, every point of interest that can be scanned can now, in fact, be scanned, and we’ve written up the lore and flavor text for all of them. You can see this flavor text by selling you scanned data to any data center, which has had some UI improvements, with new animations and graphics.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


These aren’t all the points of interest of course, bosses and wrecks and still to come. But they’re a HUGE chunk of it. Exploration is finally a viable source of income!



Good games run at good framerates. Therefore, being a good game, we’ve got to run at a good framerate. I went back over main regional systems, which usually have the highest concentration of *stuff* and optimized all those structures, asteroid bits, windmills, etc. In some places, particularly heavy traffic areas, we saw around almost a 20 FPS increase. Not bad, honestly.


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

More optimization work will be on the way of course, this is more a preparation for the eventual release.



And there’s the host of bugfixes and little tweaks that represent my sleepless sense of perfectionism. Most of that stuff was related to UI stuff. Components and equipment misreporting, or not reporting, stats, and map icons needing a visibility rework.



And of course the usual level of bugfixes and such. A lot of these were, as always, reported by users and testers in our community, so a big thanks there.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



As for assets, we’ve lots of things coming. Do you like giant space squid? No? Too bad. Do you like alien ruins that are REDONE alien ruins? Yes? Well that’s good then. We’ve also got new bottles and new materials and textures for various places and… things.



That’s all for this month! If you check back next time, we’ll have more to do with lots of new mechanics, piracy, maybe even a new demo release!