Techtonica News

World-building in games is tough! Establishing a sense of visual, aural, artistic, and narrative consistency can really help make a game feel alive, a world fleshed out, and accomplishments more rewarding.

As you can probably tell based on past updates about Techtonica, we’re working hard to establish that sense of “life” in our game.



Our team recently achieved another notch on the belt of world-building in Techtonica… we got the Assemblers to animate the construction of the thing they were actually assembling.



[h3]Assemblers, ASSEMBLE!!![/h3]

I promise that’s the one and only comic book joke in this post.

Obviously, a factory automation game like Techtonica aims to deliver a rewarding feeling of accomplishment after players devise solutions to massive logistical undertakings. That rewarding feeling can come from a nice audio cue, an unlocked mechanic or machine, or even a juicy animation.

Here, we wanted to reward players for their work by showing their intermediates come together in a rush of molten metal and lasers on the pedestal of the Assembler. Here’s a GIF to show you how it looks.



That’s right, the iron components that the Assembler was set to construct are what players will see appear on the plater during construction.

The animation syncs up with the crafting time the item requires, too. That means complicated stuff like memory cores takes a while to assemble, and animation time matches that assembly time. For simpler recipes, like iron frames, the craft time is much, much faster, so we only run the animation once every three times the intermediate is complete.

I’ll admit, I’ve stared at this for too long a few times already during our internal play sessions.

[h3]Finding the right animation[/h3]

Assemblers are a super important machine in Techtonica. They represent the core of automation, and they are required to make specific items. We knew we wanted them to look and feel really hefty.

Part of that heft comes from the animation. The Assemblers chug, and a group of them looks like a series of pistons on an engine block. Unless they magically all drop at once like they did for me while grabbing the GIF below.



The chugging animation was built to look satisfying from far away, and the big motions really work.

But, that granular, detailed animation we were after? We knew we wanted it to deliver a satisfying vibe, and that’s how we iterated through these designs and animation efforts.

We actually have a timelapse of the assembler animation, at least an earlier iteration, coming together in dev.



Oh, also... This might be some of my favorite concept work done during the animation discussion process. Can you tell that it wasn’t done by one of our artists?



If you want to chat with the devs about the intricacies of world-building and minor touches in Techtonica, then you should join our Discord! Come hang out with like-minded factory automation folks.

Until next time, Groundbreakers!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1457320/Techtonica/

A few weeks back, we offered a look at Butterfly Cove, PT VICTOR, and a little of what our studio goes through when we name an area in a game for internal reference.

Today, we’ll show and explain a little of the process of iterating on a space in Techtonica's map in response to new flora, expanding art, and winding terrain. What’s west of Butterfly Cove? Western Butterfly Cove, clearly.



[h3]A change based on plant life diversity[/h3]

Butterfly Cove is a large, open cavern with a waterfall, pooled river, and massive Waterglass Monarchs. That look was set to continue throughout the full Terminal VICTOR space when we started designing the level.

We changed our minds, though, with the introduction of a new plant. Meet the Shiverthorn.



The Kindlevine, if you’re not familiar, is the orange plant found all over the River Biome in the demo (and what will launch with Early Access). The Shiverthorn packs some different materials, and it's found initially in Western Butterfly Cove.

As the plant was introduced, our artists and level designers decided to reign in the space around it, bring the ceilings down, and introduce a new feel to the Western Butterfly Cove. Now? It’s tighter, more intimate, and evocatively cold, much like the Shiverthorn that inspired the change.

[h3]Bending the environment to a fresh mentality[/h3]

Nothing really highlights the differences between Butterfly Cove and Western Butterfly Cove quite like a brief fly-through of each. Here they are labeled in a single GIF.



[h3]Hello, iterative level design[/h3]

This process of slowly reworking and reshaping a space in a game is iterative level design, and it’s a pretty common practice in game dev. That iterative process can seem slow but brings vast, sweeping changes over time.

The introductions of the Shiverthorn, water plants, ivy, facilities (more on these later in February), stalagmites, and stalactites turned what was once a repeat of a nearby space into something completely different.



If you like these types of dives into the nuance of Techtonica’s design, you should join our Discord to chat with our team. Ask questions, get answers. It's where we hang out.

Techtonica releases into Early Access this year. Thanks for reading, Groundbreakers!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1457320/Techtonica/

Greetings, Groundbreakers.

We’ve been looking forward to sharing this update with you for the last few months. Mass transport systems are pretty awesome in factory automation games, and we’re excited to finally showcase our take on the mechanic with Techtonica’s Monorail System.



Read on to learn more about how the Monorail System works, see how you can ride it, and explore some of the concept and design work that brought it to life.

Let’s ride.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Please keep your hands and feet clear[/h3]

The Monorail System is a collection of buildable machines, components, and equipment that serves as Techtonica’s mass transit system for cargo (and, occasionally, Groundbreakers). It consists of Monorail Depots, Poles, Haulers, and the Railrunner.



Groundbreakers place two Monorail Depots some distance apart on powered Powerfloors with Accumulators. They connect those depots with tracks built by placing Monorail Poles. Then, it’s all about loading, packing, and shipping.

The Monorail Depots also feature ports to ensure this mass transit serves its purpose in furthering that sweet, sweet automation process.

[h3]Hauling items over cavernous distances[/h3]

The Monorail System is meant to come in handy when you need to get lots of products or materials across vast distances in Calyx.



We love those wild and large buses, too, but they are expensive and rather painstaking to build.

Instead, the Monorail System is put in place by much simpler means. Sure, the Depots are more expensive than Conveyor Belts, but they’re loads easier to afford, manage, and deploy when you consider the scale required to reach factory outposts.

[h3]More on the Railrunner… soon[/h3]

We mentioned the Railrunner above and even showed a brief glimpse of it in the video, but we’ll have loads more to share regarding how it works in the future.

For now, we have a GIF that we genuinely enjoyed snagging.



[h3]Sketches and graybox animations of early Monorail concepts[/h3]

Whenever we show off a new big feature, mechanic, or machine, we try to include some of our concept work.

We had plenty to choose from for the Monorail System.



First, this early sketch of the Monorail Depot reveals some interesting development tidbits. We knew we wanted ports to ensure automation, and we also knew we wanted to make sure players could see the Haulers–which we called crates back when this was drawn–as they load, but we weren’t quite sure what the transition would look like.

Obviously, we solved that, but here’s an early mock-up of the animation process for the Haulers as they were loaded and shipped.



What we wound up with isn’t too far off from what you see in the GIF above.



Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to update my avatar for our Discord.



Techtonica’s releasing into Early Access this year. Thanks for reading, Groundbreakers!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1457320/Techtonica/

The M.O.L.E. doesn’t just dig. No, this upgradeable black hole gun will do lots more as Techtonica’s development continues.

Today, we’re unveiling a M.O.L.E. feature that will be live with our Early Access launch this year. This is Flatten Mode.



A quick note: Much of what you see with Flatten Mode in today’s post will likely change or get tightened up as development progresses. Don’t consider this final!

[h3]Right, what’s the M.O.L.E.?[/h3]

M.O.L.E. stands for Material, Obliteration, Leveling, and Excavation. We kicked lots of names around before landing on this one, but we think it’s a fun representation of one of the things at the heart of Techtonica–underground terrain manipulation.

Once unlocked, built, and fired, the M.O.L.E. shapes the Calyxian terrain by focusing black hole energy into a single point. Gears crank and churn as Groundbreakers fire the M.O.L.E. at cavern walls to clear obstructions and open fresh factory floors.

We love the M.O.L.E.. It’s crunchy, alien, destructive, and industrial. It feels and sounds good.



In the demo and Alpha, the M.O.L.E. clears a 5x5x5 section of voxels. That’s its default firing mode. Today, we’re unveiling something new.

[h3]Say hello to Flatten Mode[/h3]

Groundbreakers that crave industrial organization and clean factory layouts may want nice, flat cavern floors. Once unlocked and upgraded, the M.O.L.E. makes quick work of varied terrain by turning it into a consistently smooth surface.

It’s also super, super satisfying in motion. The Calyxian rock that surrounds the target rushes in place as the black hole forms and collapses into a flat surface, and it feels fantastic when done en masse.

Have a look!



[h3]Wait… it flattens up?[/h3]

Yes! If the GIF above didn’t make the M.O.L.E.’s flattening functionality clear, we’re using the black hole gun to bring terrain to the same level as the Groundbreaker who fires it.

The elevation in Techtonica changes, with some caves offering gradual slopes and others featuring sheer cliffs. You may want to reshape those spaces to suit the needs of your factory layouts better.

With the M.O.L.E.’s Flatten Mode, you stand at the level you wish to flatten, and the terrain will level up to meet you where you are.



We made quick work of this small space near Production Terminal VICTOR, for instance, to add a mini Kindlevine harvesting farm. Check the before above and the after below.



It’s super easy to use the M.O.L.E. to turn unfriendly building terrain into something more hospitable. With Flatten Mode, you can get really creative about layering factory floors with the terrain.

[h3]You ever design a black hole before?[/h3]

We knew, effectively, how we wanted the M.O.L.E.’s Flatten Mode to work for a while before it came time to implement it. We weren’t sure, however, how it should look.

During the concept and design phase for Flatten Mode, we started kicking around five-ish unique ideas on how the M.O.L.E. should visually level space before landing on the hybrid final design. Four of those (informally referred to as the Seismic Target, Rock Blast, Energy Hammer, and Lightning Pillar) were sketched and considered.



Once we landed on the more seismic rock blast approach, we worked up the stages of M.O.L.E. Flatten as the gun warms up and fires.



From there, we landed on the M.O.L.E. Flatten Mode design you’ll see in Techtonica once we launch into Early Access this year.

Thanks for reading, Groundbreakers! If you have any questions or thoughts, sound off in the comments or join our Discord!

We’ll see you next week with something new and special.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1457320/Techtonica/

The first few moments of a game matter, don’t they?

What are you doing? How does it feel? What sounds do you hear? How’s the view?

In the Techtonica demo, there’s this moment when you break out of the buried facility and make your way into a small, open floor in front of a big machine. This whole place was temporary, a proof of concept space put together specifically for the alpha and demo that we knew we’d eventually change.

Here’s a screenshot of that moment in the demo to jog your memory.



That big machine at the front of the dark cave? That’s Production Terminal LIMA, or PT LIMA for short. Production Terminals are a big portion of Techtonica. They’re where you feed materials to earn upgrade levels on your Tech Tree, and they serve as outposts pushing you further into the cavernous world of Calyx.

We teased PT VICTOR in our last post, and we’re excited to take a much closer look at PT LIMA today. Here it is.



Massive change, right?

In this week’s update, we’ll explore the brand-new Production Terminal LIMA space and what makes LIMA (and all PTs, for that matter) special.

Let’s dig in…

[h3]Emerging to a beautiful moment[/h3]

As for that moment when you leave the buried facility… Here’s what it looks like with the new Production Terminal LIMA and its surroundings.



The smoke above the terminal, its hulking scale, the way we guide players to the panel with lighting and plant placement, it’s all done to give players a really nice feeling when they see LIMA for the first time. I love it, personally.

My favorite part is the label on the front of the PT, “LIMA.” They’ll all bear their names with a similar mark, making distinction among players much easier.

[h3]Making a Production Terminal focused on production[/h3]

PTs have ports. These ports accept materials on Conveyor Belts delivered via Inserters, and they facilitate the automation of PT upgrades when demands get really, really large later in Techtonica.

The ports are essential to a positive player experience, especially for Groundbreakers who expect pure automation. Why carry things and dump them when machines can do it for you?

Production Terminal LIMA and VICTOR only featured three ports in the demo. Each PT will feature different counts in the Early Access version of Techtonica. PT LIMA features six ports…



…and PT VICTOR features lots, lots more.



The counts of ports on later PTs will change in conjunction with the scale of industry required for repairs or upgrades. Interestingly, changing port counts required a modular approach to Production Terminal design, as you’ll see throughout the caverns of Calyx.

[h3]Finding inspiration in ruins and brutalist design[/h3]

Production Terminals are massive relative to the other machines. They had to be modular to allow for various combinations, unique footprints, and silhouettes based on design and narrative needs. They also needed visual consistency regardless of scale, footprint, or location.

We wanted Production Terminals to be like lost industrial temples–mysterious structures full of latent energy waiting to be tapped.



For inspiration and reference, the art team looked at the cantilevered structures of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, the imposing silhouettes of Brutalism, and the exotic aspect of ancient ziggurats.



[h3]From inspiration to concept and modeling[/h3]

After landing on an inspired look and feel, there’s lots of work to bring things like Production Terminals into Techtonica. That includes experimenting with gray box shapes and playing with scale.

Here’s some work done way back during the summer of 2022 while we were still in the concept and design phase for the Production Terminals.



Finally, here’s a paintover for what is now PT VICTOR and Butterfly Cove.



And here’s a recent screenshot of the same space in the development version of Techtonica.



Thanks for reading, Groundbreakers!

Wishlist Techtonica, and we’ll see you in next week’s update focused on the M.O.L.E.’s upcoming flatten mode.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1457320/Techtonica/