Drone Commander
patreon
What to Expect (short blog)
🕑 Added 2024-06-20 14:11:39 +0000 UTCTLDR: Demo on track for next month. Second demo the month after.
PLEASE if you have time, do me a solid, have a look at the questions at the end, and let me know your thoughts.
Personal blurb
Guys, it's been quite the journey for me.
When I first took this project on, I knew the coding side of things would generally be a piece of cake (apart from some pesky RTS math that's mostly been the case).
This is because I consider myself to be a strong dev, I already have most of the custom tools I need built on previous gamedev projects. So things are looking good!
But as you can imagine, life gets in the way. A lot has happened, originally I had the demo scheduled for the beginning of this month, but being hit with the flu twice, house flood, production outages at my work and general discontentment there, things moved to the right. Also there is the whole being a new dad (he is now 8 months ) it takes a ton of time! BUT...and it's a big butt ;)
Fear not! I've managed to make key breakthroughs in RTS, character ART (all finished now) and code (runs a lot faster and easier).
So here is my aspirational updated timelines (but first a flavour of what i'm aiming for).
Vibes
1. A return to traditional gaming.
2. No uglification of characters.
3. Easy to pick up, hard to put down.
4. Lots of choices, but no FOMO. I want you to feel fulfilled after the first playthrough. But if you have time, you can see a lot more through different paths, but the ultimate fate of life in the galaxy will be the same, just you'll experience different flavours and vantage points.
5. Pro-Aliens Pro-Humanity but with nuance. No Avatar style self loathing, but it won't be full on Mary Poppins either. All races will have good and bad factions - and you will have your own faction.
6. Community, after the game is done, i'll still build on the story either via books, merch or a sequel if demand is high enough.
Timelines
Demo 1 (mid-end of July)
What to expect? First three chapters, abduction, wandering around the ship, meeting key characters and your first couple of battles.
This will have long plot intro sequences which sets the foundation for all the plot. You'll get a chance to get in Fel, Kira and others good books early on. And will be faced with challenges and tough decisions.
I'm hoping to give you 4 to 9 hours of gameplay.
Beta testers highly desirable, i'll need plot proofers, game testers and more.
Demo 2 (Mid-end August)
This is pretty huge, you'll get to find out what happens to Earth and be part of the aftermath too - I can't spoil whats going to happen but suffice to say were talking Asimov, Liu Cixin and Ian Banks level of epic scifi.
You'll move on to meet your second race, the Mirilexians, help them in their evacuations and working together to figure out how to stop or at least divert the drone fleet.
Expect a lot of RTS here, and character development as your choices on and off the battlefield impact your relationships.
Demo 3 (Unknown - aspirational mid september)
Here I will showcase the last two gamemodes, which will then complete the final look at what the game will be like.
Effectivley you are going to play a multidimensional saga, where the main thread that ties everything together is the visual novel. You chose your path and how much you want to go into RTS, Explorer, Minigames and....the other 2 huge gamemodes.
At this point, i'll want to have three VN modes fully fleshed out:
Monogamy
Harem mode
Lone wolf
You will be either swung into a passionate multi-partner dynamics or deep smitten with your chosen partner, where your relationship ebs, flows and grows. Alternatively, if you go Lone wolf, it will be more about friendship dynamics, trust and your choices (struggles) between altruism and self-preservation
Final Release (unknown - aspiration, Christmas)
The end game will have at least 9 different systems to explore and characters to meet (you already know of the Mirilexians, Drakhans, Vionites, Foxes, Wolves etc)
Plot wise, there will be enough content equivalent to 2 SciFi novels or say a 1 and a half FF7 games.
2 months before things close in, i'll begin working on NSFW expansion and throwing lots of polls at you guys.
This is where i need to focus hard on marketing, word of mouth and localisation.
Last thoughts/Questions
What do you think will make the game succeed?
Please tell me what do you think of the above (if you have time)
What do you think will make the game fail?
What do YOU personally want to see more of?
Finally, the hard question - are you happy with the content/direction so far?
Comments
Mr. Shy Guy
What do you think will make the game succeed? - It might run contrary to some of the other comments, but my emphasis is on the fusion of VN with RTS. I love the idea of planning a grand strategy with the choices I make in diplomacy, factions, allies, and enemies affecting the RTS side of things. Make the right friends, a battle gets easy, make the wrong enemies, a battle gets much harder. Stuff like that. Plus, I love the deep lore and history. I'm a massive lore hound and will read anything and everything (much to the annoyance of my friends in multiplayer games). I look forward to playing through multiple times to get everything. Please tell me what do you think of the above (if you have time) - It seems good so far. While I appreciate the Christmas release target, I caution against trying to meet that date to the detriment of the game. If you need more time, take it. What do you think will make the game fail? - Too much emphasis on NSFW romance. I like hot sexy babes as much as any other average guy, but porn games are a dime a dozen and often shallow, which might set a false expectation of this game. What do YOU personally want to see more of? - Grand strategy, diplomacy, RTS, and exploration.
Mr Adam McMurchie
Buddy i'm glad you said it - scope creep is a well known killer of devs. My plan is this: on the 3 month run I get, complete all the core features as far as I can (Visual Novel, RTS and all the plot interactions for the main two path choices). (A bit of detailed info - sorry if its too long, feel free to skim!) After that, if there is time i'm going to add extra stuff. Fortunately for the characters, my plan is to have 100 in total max. With about 30 main, 30 less critical and 40 less fleshed out side characters. Because i've already built the visual novel engine, its kind of easy for me to do lots of video showcases just now (the only think stopping the demo is the RTS - that guy just takes time to get the engine. all pieced together). Like if the game was only a visual novel, i'd be done 3 months ago 🤣 Here is the thing (thats good to know) - once RTS engine is done..then basically to do the full MVP (minimum viable product) is just a matter of plot writing. I build every game engine in a way that I never need to code specifics again, I just give it a template file and boom thats a level done. Btw, thank you so much for your response it legit means a lot (fully honest- because the more i hear from people, the more it helps me reflect on what matters). But do please keep letting me know after the demo if you think scope creep is getting out of hand! It will help reign me in!
Mr Adam McMurchie
this is great intel! Any idea of what kind of social interactions with characters you'd really like or think is cool?
Kagutsuchi
> What do you think will make the game succeed? Decent space adventure with lots of good adult content > Please tell me what do you think of the above (if you have time) I think it sounds very promising > What do you think will make the game fail? Feature creep. Lots of unfinished content and no clear direction or goal. > What do YOU personally want to see more of I want to see more sexy outfits > Finally, the hard question - are you happy with the content/direction so far? I'm very happy about the content, but I am a little worried about feature creep since you are showing off so many characters when the first demo isn't even ready
Ashani
Those are some ambitious timeframe goals! Regarding questions themselves: What do you think will make the game succeed? Thing which lured me in - hot girls and interactions with them 💪 Please tell me what do you think of the above (if you have time) Don't understand what is meant of 'the above' What do you think will make the game fail? Without actual gameplay feel its tough to say - usual suspects are bugs, bad gameplay, bad story, unavoidable fetish content, etc. What do YOU personally want to see more of? More outfits, enf content, more social interaction vids with characters Finally, the hard question - are you happy with the content/direction so far? Difficult to say without testing demo, but so far it looks intriguing
Mr Adam McMurchie
Thank you buddy! Honestly, if I sell to say 100 people - i'll deem this a success 🤣
Mr Adam McMurchie
This is solid advice, totally agree and thankyou! I think a big way to help iron out the game to be smooth sailing is frequent demos (they should come more freely after the first) and beta testers. I'm pouring my passion and heart into this game, good news is come July I get 3 months of freed up time, so the game will develop rapidly then. I'm looking forward to seeing peoples reactions and comments on the first demo!
Greynightsaber
I agree with 👇🏼this guy but by the snippets of game I’ve seen, it’s really good. You clearly have the passion and story down, the art work it really amazing (top tear for a story game). The thing I’d be concerned about is marketing it, I’m lost to this, idk how to reach people to advertise it. If you can figure that out it will be top tier successful.
Unknowmlord177
I think if you stay true to the Vibes you stated the game will succeed. If anything make the game bleeed passion. You’ll definitely need to make sure each part of the game is smooth sailing in terms of gameplay alot of games release where there are major problems. I would need to play a demo to say much about the direction but the art is really good so far and the story hooks have me interested.
