Artificial Extinction 2 News

WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN!?

Let's just dive right in. I don't want to spoil too much, but I owe you guys for sticking with me this whole time.

This footage is 100% in-game showcasing the real time Free Camera control, First Person Shooter and the Battle Camera mode that showcases the ongoing action!

I've put together some game footage of the Test Range as well as a brief intro to the game mechanics. AE2 expands on the concept of a hybrid First Person Shooter & Tower Defence by adding Real Time Strategy mechanics. Check it out:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
There's an entire Tech Tree and Resource System I don't show in the footage but I'll share that in a future update.

The community is keeping me on track and helping make critical decisions in the game theory. To succeed in AE2, you're going to need good strategy as well as brute force.

Good games are a balance of challenge and fun. My goal is to make AE2 a blast!

First, I would like to apologize for the silence. I'm sorry. Being a solo dev is a tough path. After 2 years of full time work, I burnt myself out. I started to lose faith in my game. I felt that I wasn't going to be able to reach my goal of what I was trying to build. I didn't want to even look at my game any more. I quit.

I carried along with life and family. 18 months went by. It came to a point where I had to decide my presence on Steam. I finally logged back into Discord to apologize to the community, expecting a negative reception, I received nothing but encouragement and understanding.



I decided to play the game with a fresh set of eyes, and I enjoyed it. I've been looking for some good games on Steam lately and bought a handful of titles. I thought they were all boring and not challenging, they sucked. I don't want to follow a narrow path shooting everything. I want tough battles that require smart planning to win and I want AAA looking action.

New Testers on Discord I shared the current build with liked the game. My concept is solid. Plan from above, fight on the ground. Build to gather resources, setup your defenses, adapt to the battlefield and get in the fight!



So, I have decided that I want to keep developing the game. It's current build has all the levels and story complete. But there's a lot of bug squashing, polishing, testing, user experience, menu functionality and optimization work. It's a heavy game for most computers to run at the moment.

Thank you for your patience and I appreciate everyone who has the game on their Wishlist, that's extremely encouraging.
[h2]I'm back to work![/h2]

I believe it's possible for one person to make a great game. It's been a dream of mine for a long time and that's my mission!

This video focuses on Free Camera mode and Time Dilation. Why restrict the camera to isometric view when I have such AAA characters and environments? Now you can take full control of the camera and look at the battlefield from any position you want.

Time Dilation allows you to slow down time to your advantage when the fight isn't going your way. Use the extra time to make changes to your strategy or work on your equipment.

I've made a video of a recent attempt of a tough level, hope you check it out!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Check out the Alpha Version under development showcasing a cinematic mode. Toggle in and out of this mode any time to get a better view of the action.

In this video, I narrate some of the features and explain some unique concepts of AE2. Toggle between Top-Down and First Person Shooter in real-time. Strategize and build from above and join the fight on the ground!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

After 1 year of work, the current build has the basics implemented and is playable. It's been a long road to get to this point and there's still a long way to go but it's a big milestone to celebrate!

We've added 'Power Towers' which provide energy to all your equipment. The player must build equipment within the power range of the Towers for them to work. Here's how they look in the game now:





The concept was a suggestion from the community and it adds a lot to the feeling of progression, expansion and enjoyment of the game.

Early testing has also already added another cool feature. Building equipment is done from a 'top-down' point of view which is really efficient but one hurdle is knowing the Turrets 'line-of-sight' when you're placing it. The terrain isn't always flat and it's possible to place the Turret with an obstructed view. The solution is to add a 'view-port' overlay that shows the Turrets 'pov' as it's being placed.



To help the community become more involved with the features of the game, I've created a Trello board that allows players to vote on features, see what I'm working on and what's left to be done. I'll do my best to keep it updated. Check it out here: https://trello.com/b/9SOPwuDB/artificial-extinction-2



Replayability is a priority so the game is being designed to include features such as different game modes, maps, biomes, challenges and a player customizable level.

Please join us on Discord, get involved in active development and help me bring this concept to it's fullest potential: https://discord.gg/p62Afqr

[h2]Cheers![/h2]