Sol-Ark [Work In Progress] Our new article - How (and Why) to Write a GDD

[AlexMartial]

Name: Sol-Ark

 

 

Genre: «Sol-Ark» - is an indie-project focusing on 2D space faring real-time strategy/sim (RTS) with some Rogue-like and Sandbox elements. It’s an old-school hand-made flash project

 

 

Short description: Sol-Ark is a 2D Space RTS with sandbox and rogue-like components. Expect gameplay mechanics designed with player choice in mind and an immense universe to make those decisions in.

 

Missions and storylines drift from seriously somber to hilariously violent with every new area explored, and random events punctuate these encounters to create a dynamic experience that’s part procedural generation, part astrotechnic action puzzle battle-scarred deep space handcrafted indie celestial celebration

 

 

 

A few of Sol-Ark's Features:

 

Crew morale system

One of the most interesting mechanics we've introduced is a morale system for NPCs, consisting of varying degrees of four moods. These moods affect how any given NPC will perform a task. Ask a happy NPC to switch out a reactor core and they might do it in half the time, whistling all the while. Ask a depressed NPC to do the same task and they may open the airlock and jettison themselves, and other crew members into the unforgiving void of space.

 

Random events

The game will feature dozens of events ranging in class and severity. You'll encounter pirates, miners, derelict stations and celestial phenomenon that will alter your crew's mood, send you on quests, and engage you with ambushes, full frontal assaults and other intergalactic shenanigans. Expect naturally occurring lasers to sever your ship, and be wary of the allure and intrigue of alien-infested cargo adrift in space.

 

Sandbox Style Construction

You'll be building your ship from frame, to floor, to wall and ceiling. You can shape and build the ship to your own liking and compartmentalize its systems however you see fit. Do you want your ship to look like a massive triangle of death, surrounded by torpedo turrets, lasers and cannons? Go for it. Want your ship to be shaped like a massive cat head? Please give it a shot, and send us some screenshots.

 

Last video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVSlHZZXUNE

 

Approximate release date: middle/end of 2016

 

Technology: ActionScript 3.0 with AGAL, API - FlashDevelop. 

 

Platform: Multisystem

 

Language: English, Russian

 

Inspirations for developers: “Faster than Light” (FTL), “Dwarf Fortress” (DF), “Ancient Domains Of Mystery” (ADOM) and “Laser Squad” (LS) projects.

 

Project's beginning: May, 2014

 

Status of project: pre-alpha version, preparation for Steam Greenlight campaign

 

Sol-Ark's official website

 

Press-kit

 

Official blog (devlogs)

 

Page on Steam Community

 

Page on IndieDB

 

Pages in social networks:

 

Facebook

 

Twitter

 

Instagram

 

Music: The game has its own OST (examples here). Composer - Eugene Guliugin.

 

Team:

 

Main core of the team

Alex Sayenko (Ukraine) - game-designer, producer

Justin Hellstrom (USA) - second game-designer, writer/scenarist

Dmitrii Demenkov (Ukraine) - lead programmer

Eugene Guliugin (Russia) - composer, sound-designer

Eugene Usmanov (Russia) - lead 2D artist, concept-artist

Olga Petrovskaya (Ukraine) - web-designer

 

These guys helped us in their free time

Tomas Seniunas (Lithuania) - second programmer

Luke Bourne (UK) - third programmer

Alexander Horiakov (Ukraine) - community-manager

 

More info about the project you can find on the Sol-Ark's website and on the Sol-Ark's blog with devlogs.

 

Special thanks (indie helps indie):

 

1. HASTE project's team for their assistance and consultations.

2. Indie Games Developer group on LinkedIn and its creator - Julian Ross for his mentorship

3. EmpiresInRuins project and its team leader - Emiliano Pastorelli

4. UMOGA platform for team searching and its creator Maxime Lutin

Edited May 7, 2015 by AlexMartial

[AlexMartial]

Hello, everyone!

I'm updating this thread with GIF, which demonstrates different map levels in the Sol-Ark by this time.

 

 

The first map level - is micromanagement. On this level you are responsible for indirect NPCs management and their life support.

The second map level - is a local space. On this level space battles and interaction with space objects, like an asteroid, take place. Also, this is the place where random events, like gamma-burst or space maser, appears.

The third map level - is a star system. This map level is used for navigation and traveling.

In the future there will be the fourth map level - arm of galaxy for interstellar travelling.

[AlexMartial]

Hello, everyone! I'm updating the thread with a regular news from our blog with devlogs. 

Take a look at new screenshots and gif files, as well as full description of work, which has been performed over the last week.

 

 

 

Check our IndieDB page and official website to know more.

[AlexMartial]

Hello, everyone! We are starting to publish a series of articles about main gameplay features of Sol-Ark (there are 17 of them) on IndieDB website.

 

Here is the first article in that list - indirect crew management.

 

 

In Sol-Ark you command the ship’s Virtual Intelligence System which gives commands to the crew. You will appoint the specialization of NPCs, highlight problems and issues, and set their task priorities.

 

An Engineer will be less accurate (and brave) in battle than a Soldier, and if you send a Medic instead of a Biologist to investigate a new species of alien plant, well, don’t be surprised if they return without a head, or are infested with an unidentified parasite.

 

 

At the helm of the Sol-Ark’s V.I. System you will designate the location for tasks to be performed and relay the commands directly to the crew. Highlight areas to undergo construction, select wall types, solar arrays and other subsystems to be crafted and installed by (hopefully) responsible and trained Engineers and workers.

 

To know more - check our page on IndieDB website.

 

Follow us on Sol-Ark's official website to receive the latest news.

[Thrik]

Hey,

 

I appreciate that you want to spread the word about your project, but please don't just use MapCore as an advertisement/promotional tool. You're welcome to discuss your game if you're an active member of the community in other peoples' topics too, but we get a lot of these drive-by promo posts and can't allow them all.

 

I'm happy to leave this thread open for now in case other people wish to comment seeing as you're publishing development-related articles, but further bumps by yourself will necessitate closing the thread.

[AlexMartial]

Hey, Ryan! I understand. Everything is OK - I'll change our activity here. Thank you for critic!

[AlexMartial]

Hello, everyone! We are publishing the seventh article from a series about main Sol-Ark's features - Skeletal animation for sprites

 

 

This week Sol-Ark is showing off its skeletal animation engine. This is how we create sprites, by hand, that will populate our game world and carry out the player’s will and commands.

 

 

Each sprite can be made of more than 20 layers, some of which you may see exploded and bloody in the game after a meteorite impact or enemy assault.

 

 

These layers are individually rotated and placed to create the individual frames of an animation cycle, which consist of around 25 frames. It is a lot of work, but it gives us precise control over each sprite’s movement, piece by piece, a bit like Legos.

 

Read full article on Sol-Ark's IndieDB page

 

Join us on our website to know more

[AlexMartial]

How (and Why) to Write a Great Game Design Document

Hello, guys

 

I want to share with you my last article about necessity of GDD creation, common mistakes with that and some tips (from our experience) how we can avoid them. 

Every indie developer or team has asked themselves how best to manage the development process. Is it obligatory to use detailed documentation, such as the legendary game design document (GDD)? What are the most common mistakes, and how can they be avoided? 

For those who have searched for answers to these questions, I want to share our team's experience of creating our GDD.

http://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/articles/how-and-why-to-write-a-great-game-design-document--cms-23545