BLACKLODGEGAMES'S PROFILE

author=NTC3
Having you considered adding an actual storyline to it that goes beyond an excuse plot, or something? Kill them all open-worlds pop up in Steam and such every other year and disappear just as quickly, because without storyline they're inherently forgettable, especially if there's no multiplayer to back them up.

Great feedback, thank you. I agree that a mindless kill-them-all open world doesn't sound appealing and when I am done I hope this game is viewed as something different than that. The tl;dr is yes, I am working on adding more story content. The novel version of that is:

Regarding the story, there is actually a strong narrative planned from day 1. However, in the current build (Alpha 4.1) much of the written story is not actually present in the game. That's because the storyline isn't told through cutscenes, it's told through the environment & gameplay itself.


Here's what I mean. In the current build, there's a cutscene (you can watch it in the video above) where you get your bounty, set a course for the planet, and crash into the planet. That is all going to be replaced with a playable version of those events, allowing you to be a part of those events, have some limited control, and to learn more about Arcana Kira herself by examining her ship before, during, and after the initial events of the game.

Inside your ship, I will be adding more and more computer terminals. Those terminals will contain lore from the game's universe (all my games share the same timeline/universe, you can read more about Arcana Kira's world here: http://blacklodgegames.com/daath-galaxy.html ) Information about her past, about her ship, about her suit, about her weapons, those things will all be there for the player to explore and learn from the environment itself. This makes the narrative more naturally integrated and optional, so those who just want to blow stuff up can, but those who want to learn more about the world they are in and who their character is, can do that as well. Pulling it off convincingly will be hard though, I have no illusion about that.

I intend to flesh out the main villain through his audio "Research Logs" as he was a scientist that eventually defected for some unknown (but later explained) reason. As you progress through the game you run across more and more of his research logs as you try and track him down. Through these logs I intend to paint the villain as a victim of forces outside of his control, hopefully making the task of killing him more emotionally weighted by the end of the game.

However, I must caution that the storyline is and always was hampered by my budget. I wrote a story out at the beginning with a $0 budget in mind, so I made human characters a rarity in order to minimize voice actor costs. Every aspect of this game was planned around a $0 budget and with production pipelines constructed to make this game actually a realistic and attainable project. Expect a story heavy RPG with the next game after Arcana Kira, the already Greenlit Daath Galaxy. That's the game I want to make people cry with the story, but I really need a budget to pull off the voice acting, so until I can afford that Daath Galaxy is delayed.

author=nhubi
Well this looks spectacular and it's obvious that a lot of work has gene into the world building. I personal dislike voice acted games so I doubt this will be something I'll play but I just wanted to drop a line to wish you well.

Thanks for the compliment and for the honesty! Luckily, you can turn off the voice acting in the settings, launcher, or the daathgalaxy.ini file! Dialog is mostly dynamic based off of your character's moral history, and actions for or against that NPC or their factions. It's not your typical RPG Maker game with NPCs who say 1 thing forever. These characters act a bit more like a real person, and almost all of them are mortal, attackable, and can be pick-pocketed.

For example, if an NPC gets annoyed with you and asks you to leave them alone, if you continue to bother them, some of them may leave the room, others may get angry, and still others will outright attack you. Basically each NPC has 10 different dialogs that express the same concept but in different words and emotional states. This means you won't be hearing the same characters say the same thing too much, which is something that has always broke immersion for me in other games.

I do hope my response alleviates some of your concerns, but rest assured, I am super picky about the voice actors that I am paying out of my own pocket. If they're not perfect or close to it, they're fired! Years of my life won't be ruined by crappy voice acting, but so far I've been blessed with some amazingly talented individuals.

I'll have a video trailer ready hopefully around August 1st! Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to comment on my game, for your honesty, and for the well wishes! It is all much appreciated!