May Development Update

I recently picked up Tyann Sylvester’s book on game design and I can confirm it is indeed a gem. My perspective on game development has completely changed. And for the best too. Oddly enough, game design shares a lot of similarities with economics, which is what I studied in college. Decision making, events, incentives, scarcity, etc. It's all econ.

Ok now the fun stuff. Here’s what's new. Starting off with the heavy hitters:

I have added a high score table which has been really fun to have in game. I find that stats are a powerful way to tell stories. Imagine playing a few rounds and then going back to look at all of your detailed stats. Enemies killed, Damage Taken, Distance Traveled, etc. You can almost relive those runs as you reminisce in your glory, (or if it was a bad run pain I guess).

I've additionally added (well sort of removed) an extremely fun mechanic which I want to continue exploring. I've combined Fuel and Health into one stat bar. I call this new metric energy and I think it has great potential and has certainly elevated gameplay. The implications of this change are massive. And I like how it is playing out.

A few minor additions:

• When you pick up items there are now item notifications. A useful visual to help provide players with important information.

• When your energy gets low, the screen will flash red. This way you won't be caught off guard by running out of energy.

• There is now collision damage in the game. If you fly into an asteroid or some debris at high speeds you will take damage.

• There is a directional dash. Double tapping WSAD will give you a burst of speed in that direction.

Oh, and here is a cool still from the game's opening cutscene:

I'd like to get another demo version out here soon as there have been a ton of new features added since V1. Also if you made it this far I highly recommend signing up for the newsletter so you don't miss out on any updates.

-Charles Dill