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THE SIGNAL: Stranded on Sirenis News

Feb 3 Livestream & Steam Sale!

We have been busy developing The Signal but are taking a moment to participate in some special events! While the game is still very much in development and many many months away from Early Access, we’re happy to get folks excited about what we’re working on and hopefully jump onto your wishlist.



The Games From Quebec Steam sale is happening from Jan 29th-Feb 5th and features tons of games made here, in our home province of Quebec, Canada. It’s a great way to get folks talking about our game – so thank you to the organizers at Indie Asylum here in Montreal for curating the event. Obviously The Signal isn't yet on sale, but make sure to wishlist us to stay up to date.

During this sale, an official selection of 15 titles are featured during the Loto-Quebec DemoNights livestream! That’s right – catch one of Goose Byte’s game designers Kim Osborne live on Twitch this Saturday, Feb 3 starting at 8PM EST. We’ll be one of five games in the action-adventure category to be featured during Saturday's stream, so be sure to tune in to Loto-Quebec's channel on Twitch! Other devs at Goose Byte will be lurking in the chat to answer questions or just to say hello. We look forward to hanging with you and talking OWSC (open world survival crafting)!



DemoNights is graciously hosted by Loto-Quebec and organized by La Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec. Learn more about all the rad games participating in DemoNights here.

New Year, New Discord Role for You!

Hello Explorers! We've been quiet lately but rest assured: we are hard at work putting together exciting things for our collective futures. To thank you (and your friends) for coming along on this journey we have made some minor updates to our Discord server by adding limited time access to a new role of Original Explorers. You're part of our community now, and so deserve some special treatment.

We have some *pretty cool* announcements coming in the new year and we want to make sure you, the Original Explorers, get to benefit from the news first. BUT it's not too late to be an OG: join our Discord on or before January 8th, 2024 to receive the Original Explorer role. So invite your friends! Spread the word! Share this server link: https://discord.gg/UzRMYj5zHx

Here's to further safe and happy explorations in 2024!

The Visual Style of The Signal

One of the unique things about The Signal is that it puts themes of environmental awareness at the forefront of its design. Creating balance and living in harmony with this strange alien planet are key to this game. As both an outdoor enthusiast and Art Director, Audran Guerard’s distinct perspective to world building guides the look of The Signal.

Audran brings a lot of experience on some visually stunning games (Google it!). We asked him how his career or past work has informed what we’re doing with The Signal and if he has been able to explore anything new or differently on this game.

Art is a never ending quest, and the more you know the more you see how little you knew and that there is so much more to explore. Each title behind me made me a better artist. I’ve worked on various art-style, from cartoon, stylistic to hyper realistic. Up until now, my previous titles were established franchises with strong guidelines to follow before. So for me it's the first time I'm really allowed to explore freely and create something new.

The Signal is bringing together two spheres of my life that were not connected before: the outdoors and art in video games. I can refer to my own experience spent outdoors and filter that through my video games lens. I get to work on two of my life passions at the same time. That’s pretty exciting!




What were some of the inspirations when visualising the different biomes?

The first biome [we’ve been working on] is a mix of The Taiga & Boreal Forest because I'm well accustomed to them. Our first biome is very rich with multiple ecosystems and is essentially an expression of Northern Quebec but with an alien twist.



Was this first biome that we see in the reveal trailer therefore inspired by landscapes in Quebec and Canada?

Yes, and I think it's a cornerstone of the experience. I’m trying to bring the most authentic outdoor experience I can [into this world], therefore it has to be grounded on something I know and feel and remember vividly.

Creating art is always about selection. What you leave out of the picture is equally as important as what you put in. That said, not everything [in real life] is important, not every detail matters. My experience of the outdoors helps me quickly curate the essential elements that evoke the feeling of being outdoors and in nature.


So, Explorers, are you ready to eventually get into some serious SNOWY content (just in time for winter here in North America?) Join our Discord and let us know! Stay tuned for Part 2 of this interview where Audran talks about creating the vision for The Signal's wildlife and creatures. - Goose Byte

Crafting in The Signal

So we’re making a crafting game? YUP! We asked Goose Byte game designer Alexandre “Breeze” Brisebois to break down some the “making of” a whole new crafting system from scratch:

“One of the challenges which has come up while working on our crafting system is the idea of crafting in context. Traditional crafting – where a player builds a thing inside the world – has a lot of natural feedback: when I’m building a house or an outpost I can see the area I’m building in and build around obstacles. If I need to build a bridge I know when I’ve hit the other side because I can see it. But by moving some of the crafting into an external space (i.e. into a Workshop) it can be easy to make mistakes in the details you would see naturally in the world.

Our approach attempts to alleviate repetition in crafting by letting players create reusable drafts, but it’s natural (and desirable for a game) that every problem doesn’t have the exact same solution. Balancing crafting around eliminating repetition in the broad strokes and helping players focus on the details that need to be changed is a fun design challenge, both for the UX of the workshop and build modes, and how we're building the environment you’ll be exploring.

We’ve been hard at work on UX improvements for the Workshop and Build modes lately and the work has been paying off. As we improved the UX we saw different members of the team not only produce different kinds of drafts, but watching them use the workshop… It's like seeing inside their thought process.

Watching new members of the team try the crafting for the first time, or seeing what kind of habits the old hands have developed has been very affirming because it’s showcasing a lot of variety. Even in the early stages it’s clear that our crafting system lends itself to individual expression and I can’t wait to see what kinds of drafts players will share once they get their hands on the system.”


What do you think? Who did it better?

What are some of your favourite crafting systems in games? Join our Discord and let us know!
- Goose Byte

Starting our journey with the REVEAL TRAILER

One of the biggest challenges for any studio, solo devs or indie teams, is sharing your work to the public. It’s the most vulnerable part of any creative process, in fact. This is why we are so proud to finally bring you on the first step of this expedition, with a REVEAL TRAILER!

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Have you seen it yet? We really tried to cram a lot into this reveal – how do you put all those ideas into 100 seconds?

We know what we want to make, and we know how we intend to get there. It’s never a straight path. It weaves through dark forests and dangerous swampland (maybe mirroring our in-game progression?). It’s as triumphant as making it to the peak of a tall mountain, and as devastating as accidentally dropping your phone into a bottomless pit. The path isn’t safe or obvious. There are a lot of smaller problems to face along the way.

Like the expression says: the journey is its own reward. While we are far from the end of that journey, it feels great to be here, starting our ascent. We have all our gear and supplies and have finally made it to the first base camp, ever eager to take that next step.

Anyway, we’re making a game that we want to play. So far, it’s satisfying, intriguing and fun and we’ve only just gotten started. We’ll make it to the top, and we’re hoping you’ll join us along the way.

- Goose Byte