BLOG ENTRY 44 - 1.4.2024

DEV STATUS

New Year, New Goals. With the prototype played as a Demo we are now at the point were there are 2 versions of the game that we will have to work on. The prototype demo which will be our selling point in our attempt to get funds to produce the game to the highest quality we can. And the other the Pre-Alpha which will be optimized with the lessons we learned from our participation in the GAMACON EXPO 2023.

GAMACON 2023

Ol’ Reliable and Mk3 Rifle Demo Gameplay 2023

The Prototype Demo was a success. We went to GAMACON 2023 in Mexicali and had a bunch of people test it. I cannot overstate how happy I am that the prototype went super well with everyone, players and devs alike found the fun in the demo. Our weekend at the convention was non-stop showing off the demo, granted we only had one booth but still. We attempted to keep track of how many people played and due to the high demand of people playing the demo we just couldn’t even get a counter set up in between.

The art made by our talented artist Lele for the promotional poster was so well recieved that people asked us for the poster. Had we printed out more or had a better booth setup it would have been interesting to give them away if they completed the demo. Maybe for the next big expo we need to make.

DEMO POST-MORTEM

We did a post-mortem analysis of what happened with the demo and we came out with a bunch of good lessons that we can use to improve the game. We also found out how players reacted to the game itself, what they liked, what they didn’t. It was also very gratifying to watch people attempt the Meta-challenges that we set up at the booth.

There was a player that did all the challenges including a speedrun, finishing the demo in a little over a minute, 1:07 to be exact. People attempted to break it and it being a prototype, of course they did, but now we know how to prevent it from breaking. Also people really liked the loot chests. ^_^

NEXT STEPS.

As mentioned earlier we will be working on 2 projects, one being the Prototype Demo which is our proof of concept. We have found the fun, now we need to polish it. As this will be our means of attempting to get funds, be it with grants, publishers or general audience, This demo is our way of proving that we have a solid game in our hands, that can be something really great if we’re given the chance to attempt it.

The Pre-Alpha would be more about streamlining code and hand pick what assets we will be using in the construction of the game, as well as establish the visual identity of the game itself. The demo is close but it’s not the final.FINAL so we need to at the very least find ways to reach that visual art style we’re going for with the game, while still working budgetless. It would also be about setting up the master blueprints in a more organized way, set up base code to be multiplayer friendly. I’ve been advised that it’s best to begin a project with that in mind and since we did not, we’ve been figuring out HOW we’re going to implement friendly multiplayer as this is a PVE game. We’ve seen some really good implementations over the past year that has really made us question what’s the way we would want to have our players share the experience. We’ve got some ideas but they need testing.

TIME TO HUSTLE

While I will attempt to do these more often as there is a posiblity that we might get funded through patreon, I will have to make it a habit of regularly updating. That’s a thing you do on pateron right? I’ve got a lot of research to do into the business side of stuff, but we’ll figure that out once we fix all the bugs.

So for now we will fix the issues the demo has and polish it to a nice sheen. once that is done I will begin work on the pre-alpha, as it will be the base for the shippable game. I want to make sure I clear all the problems that arise from the start and include all the feedback recieved from the demo.

It seems like a lot of work but it’s the best path for us to follow in order to have a solid basis. We’ve already found the fun, We need to make sure we don’t ruin it by adding too many things and overscoping. So It’s a matter of elevating the core gameplay so it feels much more engaging and compelling. We’re building a story after all.

Here’s to working on Solid Ground.

Working Hard

Daniel “Freaky” Aguilar
Game Director
Plasmapunk Studios

Finally on Solid Ground...