Shallow Space a 3D RTS

A huge week as we ramp up publicity as we continue work on the Open-world Overhaul. We take a glimpse at just how we're going to do it, the problems we'll face and some new images in the post 'Open-world Overhaul Zones and UI.'

"A ‘zone’ in short is a tactical play area, pretty much the same as a map in the current Shallow Space alpha. But why zones? Well there are inherent technical issues making a true open world space game..."



Two new ships are born into the MFC faction. The Heavy Cruiser 'Heretic' and it's sister ship the Medium Cruiser 'Hexen' have descriptive blurb and 3D turntables ready for perusal over on the blog Commander.

"These generation 4 ships are designed to be the multifunction foot soldiers of any unit and have a versatile internal and external configuration allowing them to be used in a variety of combat and civilian roles."



The first part of John Harpers new short story 'Paradijs Lost' has also arrived, tracking the exploits of Eve Walters in the Pleiadas System, which incidentally is the first core planetary system we'll be modelling in the revised alpha.

She arrived in a hurry, seemingly on the run, but who from? and just what is her crime? Find out more after the link!

"Eve flicked through her billfold. Her cards could be traced. Did she have any Pleiades cash? Her mind was a jumble, adrenaline and fear crushing any cogent thought that dared rise to the surface. She put some bills on the bar. They were PLC currency. Too much though, dammit. She pulled a twenty back. The ‘keeps hand enveloped the cash and slid back under the bar, the cash gone with it, then he moved to the rack of empty jugs. Perfect change, obviously."

 

The latest from project Overhaul as we present to you the third and juiciest update so far. As well as the latest developments there are a number of GIFs showing off zone switching, and procedural generated landscapes; really, it's a must see! Check it out.

"But we need to keep the maps fresh. One thing we learned from the current alpha is that isolated clusters of rocks and gas do little to create a juicy landscape (so to speak.) So we’re now using fractal algorithms to forge interesting shapes and obstacles in the new arenas, and have other tricks up our sleeve to ensure the landscape remains fresh and challenging."



The action hots up as Eve makes a break to leave Eden, but with the might of the Pleiades authority against her – will she make it? Not without help that’s for sure… This is Part 2 of the latest Shallow Space lore-building tale ‘Paradijs Lost.'

"Eve froze in shock, unable to move or scream, just watch as the pink mist settled and the headless cadaver collapsed at her feet.

The second policemen had already started moving, diving down while he pulled a pistol from under his coat. He fired a shot, the report echoing off the obsidian, the flash blinding Eve’s night vision. A sickening double thud then silence. Eve stared, waiting for her night vision to return. The second agent was lying down. The prone position for a steady aim. But why wasn’t he firing?"

 

Hey there! Been a while - we have some interesting developments to share.

The first is a video showing off some of the changes to Shallow Space with the UI, zones system and ship movement which now use PhysX. Also, it's our 50th video as we continue the voyage - checkout the channel page, we've been recording since day 1!

We have the new 'Open-world Overhaul' blog article (#5) including ramblings about where we are with the update and what we're eluding too. It's nice little round-up of the recent events as we continue to remould the game making the most of the procedurally generated glory we've stumbled upon.

"The game also now has a rudimentary AI that will simulate such tasks as auto-attacking, mining and trading (soon to be extended with patrolling etc.) and it’s all driven by a background concurrency simulator dubbed ‘Cerebrus’..."

We'll also talk about the zones system and beyond and look at how we might tackle the complicated beast of the zone map. Check it!



Also, part 3 of the latest installment of lore; 'Paradijs Lost' is now also available Commander!

'The flames outside burned away and Jack’s body relaxed. He gave the engines a little more boost and the kick of the prime mover transmitted through Eve’s seat. She saw a mountain range in the distance, sharp cliffs and buttes coming into focus as they closed in. A sinking feeling filled her.“That’s our destination, isn’t it?" '

 

Over to the game, some talk regarding recent developments with an extended video awaits you in the ‘Overhaul Progress Update’ blog post.

"Swinging development chat back round to combat, we needed a decision to make as to how exactly we would display damage. When polled over on the forums, the majority of people wanted to see rolling damage counters which kinda fits with the finding and fitting of better weapons and support modules you’ll come across on your travels."

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Secrets are finally uncovered as the tale ‘Paradijs Lost’ is brought to a cataclysmic end, but what will become of Eve and Jack…

“She remembered the first time her father had taken her to a Map. She’d wondered why it was called that. A map, she thought, showed someone how to get from Point A to Point B, much the same as the Imperiums ‘Jump Safe’ network guide traffic to areas of interest around planets. A jumpgate merely transported someone from Point A to Point B a lot faster than NTL (Near To Light) drives.”

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Development resumes and we all get a little closer to a taste of what’s to come as the todo list shrinks.

But just what is taking so long? and will development continue at this pace? Find out in the latest article with more preview images over in 'Sleeping Beast.'

"So now the development experience is very different. Rather than hand designed maps one-by-one, we instead give the game instruction to create an unlimited number of unique maps itself and rather than perfecting the behaviour of ships that will follow the same path each time, we instead give the ships a limited level of awareness and allow them to collectively make decisions based on their tasks and surroundings."

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Looks amazing in my opinion, how big is the team working on it? How long did it take to make?

 

Hey thanks, team of around 10 - mostly contractors, one guy doing the coding and game design though. Glad you like!

 

We’re running at fever pitch here as development pauses while we start fine tuning for the First Playable Beta. A whole host of particle effects and shaders have been tweaked and added just for the sheer glory of it with a dramatic musical score thrown in for good measure.

But don’t take our word for it, check out the latest preview video ‘Galore!’

Nobody is more excited than we - now a mere are days away from releasing the First Playable of the new Shallow Space!

In the preview you’ll get to roam around a 30 Zone area, complete sample quests, fit modules, play with inventory – but the main idea of it is to test things like the controls in these early days as we roll in content and fixes, thick and fast.

Learn more about it, along with some excitable developer rant in ‘Cry Havoc!’

 

We're back in full swing as public updates resume for PC, Mac and Linux - this time featuring work on the shiny new Open-world Overhaul.



The updates are flying out of the door as the alpha gains more functionality every week. The latest update, UPDATE 5 adds a whole host of intricate combat mechanics such as Subsystem and Engine targeting. Read On!



The previous update, UPDATE 4 adds 'Quick Battle Mode' with the ability to dive in and construct large fleet battles with 25+ different ships. Read On!

Not to mention that you can preview first hand the breathing play-area that is being constructed as your very own galactic sandpit as the single player campaign.



Well it might have been the end of Eve Walters, but her legacy had far reaching implications across shallow space. We explore that legacy in a series of snippets from faction press outlets in an epilogue of the Paradijs Lost short story. Read On!