Design Diary 03: player's progression

Progressing by gaining experience is the RPG basics
In TG there are 3 main ways to progress and gain Xps.
You can gain Xps through:
getting more kills
gaining more wealth by trading ,harvesting and finishing missions
gaining Reputation Points : missions grant scores that tells the game the kind of character you are: Rogue, Law keeper ,Happy trigger, Explorer, Mercenary, Scavenger, Pirate...

Those XPS will then be used to open new missions to you  and reflect your gaming style.

Lets say for instance that you chased a lot of  pirates recently, but didnt followed missions to much because you like to play it your way. just having fun in a nice spot you`ve just found. It will to a certain point attract the attention of certain companies that will need independent agents like Bounty Hunters to take down for good all piracy activity in this particular sector...that may suits your exact needs!
Following support missions could lead you to a military campaign, harassing harvesters could lead you to piracy life, all the same way.

In TG you can just play the way you like, there is a role for any king of gamer.
And that's just one of the aspects of gameplay TG will have to offer to you!

Reputation Points will  be used to unlock objectives accordingly to your way of playing.But in the same time, Reputation Points will be  used by the game to categorise your standings and npcs, depending of their standings will behave accordingly.

Basicaly, shooting down the same number of pirates in one solar system or another could turn you into a hero or a problem to be taken care of. 

You'll have to pay attention to the historic/races/allegiances/policy  of the sectors you'll visit if you want to survive.
Of course there will be some ways to wipe the slate clean, you don't want to end up like poor captain Solo, running away from all the bounty hunters from half a galaxy? Or maybe if you have a fast ship...

Dev_video: Spaceclouds!

A first attempt with different colors and moods for the nebulae backgrounds.
 Note that we added some slight bloom effects too, and that our pilot is getting better at switching from one orbit to another ;) Again this is early an prototype and we will post more videos as it goes! 
the spaceground is just one of the layers that will be added to the visuals to give a more stylistic and imersive look to the game. We are working on this with production in mind of course, and in the end we think to be able to achieve great visual variety without too much production crazyness. We have also an idea or two that will allow us to exploit this system, we will talk about it later!

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE >>>> SPACECLOUDS!

Devblog_Eluwans!

And here comes our first ( temporary/wip ) visual for one of the characters you'll meet in TG.
This guy is an Eluwan.
Eluwans are a peacefull very smart type of aliens. You will usually find them working in the scientist and exploration branch. They make good navigators too. Some say that they have a spiritual side and that their motivations to help find the Tannhauser Gates may not be driven by pure scientist curiosity only. 

dev_blog depth space video

Having a top bottom display doesn't mean the game will be flat.. 
We are using a 3D engine and will use a layered technique to enhance the immersion feel, 
and provide hints of story telling as well.

Here's a sneak peek of a first rough of our multi layered space.
Does sound promising for a first early test doesn't it?

DEPTH SPACE VIDEO

Design Diary 02: Spaceships, Story and Roles

In TG, You are pretty much free to do whatever you want.
It is not about you saving the universe it is about you having fun in a place that has rules, story and meaning.
A good game needs a good story, we are aware of that. But games recently tends to mimic movies more and more. I miss the games that had meaning AND freedom of experience. I dont like to be told what to do at each and every step of my adventure.
In TG there will be no constrained story telling with characters telling you what to do. Yes there will be key characters, but making them allies or foes will be up to you and the goals you set to yourself.Capturing a famous pirate could become the key to access a higher standard in a solar system, or he could become a new recruit and a great asset to your crew.
The whole universe is yours to explore.
The world of TG is about the search for the derelicts of the Tannhauser gates.The reason people are looking for them are multiple.You get to choose a starting race and the backstory that comes with it. .This will set things in motion: some races will be your ally, others will become your enemy. With your choice will come also a new starting location, new advantages and disadvantages. This gives you also the possibility to explore the game from different angles.

For now on we aim at three playable starting races and see where we go from here.

Spaceships play a center role in the game.
They come in different classes and roles.

The missions made available to you  will be depending on the spaceship you fly.
If you are looking for action, the light fighters will give you access to fast pacing missions, from intercepting pirates, protecting  borders or recon.
 Heavy fighter will allow you to do escort missions, but will also allow you to go on bounty hunter roles.
 The frigate class opens to even more roles from small cargo to support or rescue missions, and its very versatile fitting allows players to adapt it to whatever need.
There are further more specific ship classes like the Explorer, Cargo and Harvester for even more specific missions.

But there's more! with bigger ships comes... bigger crew.
Heavy Fighters needs a 2 men crew ,  Frigates 3 men an Cruisers 5.
You can recruit new crew members or leave them in any starbase you board in.

They all come with stats so you better watch out who you put where as there are many key roles available that will greatly change the stats of your ship.
The crew roles are: Captain/Scientist/Mechanic/Gunner and Pilot.
Umans have average skills, and can do pretty much everything while other races have more specific knowledge in one of the crew roles.
Knowing where to find  them and get the level of reputation needed to hire the bests will be part of the game experience.
aaannnnd... that would be it for today's Diary!

devblog: dancing with asteroids.

This video shows our first attempt at the lock-on system.Simply click on an object and the free flight switches to locked flight. Depending on the spaceship's parameters it is possible to keep on following a target even at high speeds. enjoy!

Dancing with asteroids

devblog_fighters!

Here is a sneak peek of one of the spaceship class: the light fighter.
A one pilot only class ship, specialized in dogfights.
A good entry class for small missions within a solar system.

Design Diary 01: The Tannhauser Gates universe

Tannhauser Gates is a Sci Fi RPG Top Bottom Space Shooter ( SFRPGTBSS ) It is  directly inspired by the old space flight simulators game genre like Starflight or Elite, but lets simply call it "TG" for now on.
The Tittle is obviously inspired by  famous Roy Batty  death quote in the end of Blade Runner. ( sorry for the ones spoiled here ;) the quote is: "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion; I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain."
That quote really made us wonder for years what those famous battles would actually look like, and what the Tannhauser Gate was.
 In TG, one of the gates have been found. Ancient relic of a long lost civilisation, scattered in the galaxy. what was their use? are there other artefacts? no one knows.
The gates dont play a center role right now in the game anyways, but there is certainly mystery in TG.
 A whole galaxy to explore.
Umans are the closest thing you'll find  to our earthling standards. And there are many other races: the Brutos, Eluwans, Wargans, Slogs and Xerrs. That's for the known "civilised" races,we'll present them in details to you later. By civilised of course we mean: "able to fly ships and shoot at you" for starters.
But there is more!
Space is a big, cold and scary a place. Spaceships won't be only deadly thing you'll encounter up there.

Will you dare enter the world of TG?

devblog_first video

and here's our first video!
this is a early test of flight stage one: the free flight.
the bars on the top are here to help us test different ship configuration ; velocity, mass, rotation speed.
we are integrating already new ways of flying such as lock on objects and orbit, more to come soon!

where it all begun

This is the first draft for the game. Something that came up two years ago, an idea of a space game shooter with a little more depth , elements of roleplay, and mechanics to achieve a great game experience without relying on heavy budgets. Games like Elite and Starflight showed us the way long time ago.
Of course the game structure has quite evolved since this first rough, but it is fun to be able to see where it all begun.

DEVBLOG_01

As you can guess , Tannhauser gates will be about ships.

• you'll get to fly ships

• you'll get to customize ships

• Ships in TG comes in different sizes and SPECIALISATION

But we'll talk about it later.. and here comes our first pict!