December Development Update: Crystalline Caverns and the Outpost Shop
This month, we're taking a look at one of the early environments you'll encounter, as well as how the Outpost Shop works and how you can increase its selection of items.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Before we start, here's the soundtrack for the area again.
The Crystalline Caverns are an environment that you'll go through shortly after you start the game. While you'll only visit them briefly, in order to close a small rift, you'll come back to them through a different entrance to go through their main portion. The two sections connect eventually, and can act as a good shortcut.
There's a continuous line of platforms attached to these chains. You can use them to travel vertically through this area.
That said, they can occasionally present a platforming challenge. In general, this region features lots of moving machinery and levers you'll have to find to move forward.
The caves are filled with a valuable mineral, but whoever dug these out didn't seem particularly interested in them for some reason. The colonists living in the outpost have started gathering some of the minerals. That is, until most of them disappeared because of the rifts.
The area ends with a boss battle that you'll fight while riding a hoverbike. Up until recently, the placeholder art I drew had you riding a minecart, but the bike idea was thrown out and stuck. Hoverbikes are cool.
Over the course of your adventure you'll find money and items by defeating enemies. Money can be spent at the item shop and other places. Want more options? Sell items to the shop and they'll be able to sell you more of them. Not every item can be purchased, but most can.
A core idea of Star Rift Saga is that upgrading everything. Just like you can upgrade the outpost itself by rescuing colonists, you can upgrade the supplies at the shop by selling items. The yellow and wiggling items indicate that they can be added to the shop's inventory by selling them. Add enough items to the shop and you'll even get special rewards.
Crystalline Caverns
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Before we start, here's the soundtrack for the area again.
The Crystalline Caverns are an environment that you'll go through shortly after you start the game. While you'll only visit them briefly, in order to close a small rift, you'll come back to them through a different entrance to go through their main portion. The two sections connect eventually, and can act as a good shortcut.
There's a continuous line of platforms attached to these chains. You can use them to travel vertically through this area.
That said, they can occasionally present a platforming challenge. In general, this region features lots of moving machinery and levers you'll have to find to move forward.
The caves are filled with a valuable mineral, but whoever dug these out didn't seem particularly interested in them for some reason. The colonists living in the outpost have started gathering some of the minerals. That is, until most of them disappeared because of the rifts.
The area ends with a boss battle that you'll fight while riding a hoverbike. Up until recently, the placeholder art I drew had you riding a minecart, but the bike idea was thrown out and stuck. Hoverbikes are cool.
The Item Shop
Over the course of your adventure you'll find money and items by defeating enemies. Money can be spent at the item shop and other places. Want more options? Sell items to the shop and they'll be able to sell you more of them. Not every item can be purchased, but most can.
A core idea of Star Rift Saga is that upgrading everything. Just like you can upgrade the outpost itself by rescuing colonists, you can upgrade the supplies at the shop by selling items. The yellow and wiggling items indicate that they can be added to the shop's inventory by selling them. Add enough items to the shop and you'll even get special rewards.