Hello everyone. It’s been a while since we posted on this blog, so I felt like we should do a little re-introduction about our studio and the project we’re working on.
For the past several years, we’ve been working on a role-playing video game called “Stepsons of the Universe”. It is a game, in which you explore a strange anachronistic sci-fi world, where humanity has split itself into communities, each mirroring a specific part of the real-world history.
You begin your journey in a rural area, where tribes of people live as if the Neolithic period has never ended. You’ll have to find a way to survive in these harsh conditions, as well as take part in local conflicts. As you venture further into the world, your surroundings change, almost as if you’re going forward in time. You’ll find places that are stuck in the Medieval era, or in a Renaissance era, or maybe a series of settlements engaged in a miniature version of the Cold War (though, do keep in mind that the specific historical eras, that are going to be featured in the game, are not currently set in stone).
A mock-up image using in-game assets of how the game is potentially going to look. Not the final product
As you progress, you’ll learn new skills, acquire new equipment, and complete various main and side quests. Along the way, you’ll have to interact with an AI named SHTURO and share information with it, as you both attempt to find out what happened to humankind in this universe and how to stop an incoming world-ending cataclysmic event.
Our ultimate goal is to create a unique role-playing experience with an engrossing narrative, a fast-paced dynamic combat system, as well a distinct visual style. We want to make a game inspired by the classics that we grew up with, such as the original Fallout, Rogue, Chrono Trigger, Ultima IV, and many others.
Players will be able to craft their own character, with a certain set of skills and stats, each of which will affect their future play style and unlock certain branches of the storyline, some of which are only available to characters with specific stats.
The game will feature a turn-based tactical combat, inspired by the likes of Jupiter Hell and All walls must fall. Both the player and the NPCs make their turns at the same time, so when a player takes a shot from a gun the enemy does so as well, and bullets, projectiles and other types of attack all take time either determined by a specific animation, or a speed of projectile. So as the enemy shoots at you, you have a chance to dodge or take cover, as the bullet takes time to reach its target. It’s a much faster, more aggressive style of combat than the ones we usually see in turn-based RPGs, where in crowded battles you can spend a lot of time just waiting for all enemies to take their turns.
What’s unique about our combat system is that the players will have a choice to either take a combat action, or a speaking action. Instead of swinging away at the enemy or shooting from a bow or a gun, you can try talking to them mid-battle, persuading them to stop fighting, betray their comrades, or maybe intimidate them into surrender. This action will also take time, so you’ll have to choose between fighting and talking. Not all battles can be resolved with words though, so be careful. This particular aspect is inspired by tabletop role-playing games, where there is always an option to talk as a secondary action during your turn. This part of role-playing experience has been historically very overlooked when it comes to translating tabletop rules into the medium of video games.
A few words about our team
As of now, we’re a small and humble bunch. We call our team “Spooky Action at A Distance”, or SaaaD for short, which is a cheeky reference to the fact that most of us live quite far from each other and have never met in person.
I’ll start with myself. My name is Snorri, and I’m the narrative lead on the game. I’m the one writing the story, and the dialogue, I design and plan all the quests, and, as of recently, I am also making animations for the game (gotta use that Animator’s degree for something). Before coming onto this project, I’ve been mostly writing TV Shows and feature films. My short film, “Hyperion: a scholar’s tale” has also been featured in an International animation festival Animator in Poznan.
Next up is @HughHoyland, who is the project founder as well as the lead programmer. “Stepsons of the Universe” is an old dream project of his that he originally started with some of his friends. He has brought me onboard in 2021 and we’ve been working ever since.
The art of our game has been so far mostly done by the talented arthur_vista (you can find more of their work here). They make our sci-fi nonsense look extremely pretty and appealing to the eye. We are extremely lucky to have them.
There is also Maria, a Senior Researcher in Ukrainian Centre of Marine Ecology. Decided to switch her career to software development and is now making great progress in Rust, because marine research in Ukraine will be hazardous until the total demining of the Black Sea.
It’s about now that I should also point out that all members of our team are from Ukraine, and most of us are still living there despite the 2022 invasion. We’re making good progress on the game, but as you might understand, working while under constant threat of bombing raids, blackouts, and other hazards is quite tough. We have already lost at least one member of our team to this war, and we can’t know for sure what will happen to us next. So while we’re committed to finishing this thing, there will most certainly be setbacks and maybe even bigger problems. Please, be patient with us.
As of now, we have a functional game prototype, over 250 pages of written dialogue and quest descriptions, and some very nice pixel-art character models and assets.
I’m hoping to give you more updates in the future, and starting from now I will try to write more development updates on this page.