Greetings, vagabond!
Concepts and illustrations have been drawn, props have been modeled, code has been written and a game has been designed. Development has progressed and that can only mean one thing… it’s time for another Atmosfar development blog. To be exact, it’s time for the second Atmosfar dev blog and another status update on the development we’ve done since the first edition. If you read that one, awesome, if not; now’s the time! The first dev blog rendered an overview of what Atmosfar is to become and provides a good fundamental rendition of the game at it’s core and regardless of if you’re a returning vagabond or if you’re new to Atmosfar, we’d like to just briefly thank you for being here, reading up on what we’ve working on and hopefully also sticking around for the future ahead.
In today’s edition we’ll take a look at the current state of our development efforts and what exactly we’re doing and after that we’ll expand a bit on the Cargo Wasp, the Cloud Cruiser construction systems and some brief world-building in regards to the intricacies of the floating islands of planet Tycos.
Enough! Let’s take off into the Atmosfar…
The Atmosfar development journey began, after a brief few weeks of initial game design, with the swift development of a pre-alpha prototype. During this initial stage of development, our ambition with the prototype was to create a very early version of the game that served as a decisive tool for validating the fundamental technologies required to bring Atmosfar to life. The prototype enabled us to create and assess the absolute core mechanics and systems of Atmosfar, ensuring that we possessed the necessary capabilities to deliver on the game’s ambitious vision. It was a crucial phase that allowed us to gain confidence in our ability to create a game that embodies the essence of Atmosfar and it also allowed us to learn a number of early lessons that specifically relates to developing and architecturing games using Unreal and networking, something that is quite different compared to developing single player games with Unity. One of our top development priorities with Atmosfar is ensuring that the code base plate is extremely robust, decoupled and free of early or fundamental technical debt, something that is worth spending extra time on now as it’ll ensure that we throughout the rest of the development can focus on new feature development rather than dealing with our own legacy; a perspective on lessons learned we bring with us from the development of Airport CEO.
With the completed development of the pre-alpha prototype we’ve since then spent an intensive month of core systems refactoring. We’ve expanded on our already modular, component based architecture and did a lot of clean-up of… uh… “creative solutions”, overhauled the application infrastructure, i.e. how the game is started, paused, quit and so forth and finally performed an extensive amount of networking validation. We also overhauled some core system principles such as transitioning the Wasp’s flying dynamics to be fully physics based (… but more on that later!).
With the refactoring completed we have now fully transitioned out of the prototype stage and have moved on to a very exciting phase of crafting a minimum viable product, an MVP, for Atmosfar. This important progression marks a significant milestone in the development journey and represents a shift in perspective as we expand our focus beyond technical validation to embrace the comprehensive testing of our core systems within the full game loop. It serves as a tangible representation of the game's core mechanics and features and will provide us with a dynamic platform to evaluate and refine the overall gameplay experience.
While the pre-alpha prototype primarily emphasized technical feasibility, the MVP offers a more holistic perspective. It allows us to immerse ourselves in the entirety of the game experience, providing opportunities to test and fine-tune the short, medium and long game loops that define Atmosfar. By doing so, we can meticulously evaluate how these loops interact, ensuring a seamless and captivating progression for players. Developing the MVP enables us to delve deeper into the intricacies of Atmosfar's gameplay mechanics. We can assess the balance between challenge and reward, evaluate progression systems, and ensure the cohesion and engagement of the overall experience. It allows us to refine and enhance the core systems that form the backbone of the game, optimizing them to deliver an immersive and captivating adventure already from the start.
The development of the MVP has progressed very well over the past few weeks with finalized implementation of such core systems as crafting and researching, and while its results is not that visually interesting and thus perhaps something that isn’t the most fun to share in a dev blog, it will serve as the backbone on which we’ll showcase everything else going forward.
A major aspect of Atmosfar in terms of both development effort but also playable content is the Cloud Cruiser, a large and slow moving airship and mobile airbase which we briefly touched upon in the last dev blog. The CC is architectured and built by PACE, the organization colonizing planet Tycos, and its design is mainly made up of parts intended for small cargo ships brought on the mother ship as part of the colonization plan. However, as PACE discovered that planet Tycos did not have any sea but instead vast amounts of open air the CC was built to provide the same capabilities as a cargo ship but of course in the air rather than on the sea. The CC is powered by an onboard compact nuclear reactor offering both propulsion and electricity generation. As a captain of a CC, it is very important that you manage the operation of the reactor so that its output is enough to sustain your operations. This means managing the core’s fuel supply through rod insertion, the core’s temperature and it’s electricity output, all while finding a balance between not great and not terrible. Since planet Tycos is extremely rich in hydrogen, the CC’s lift is provided by structural balloons filled with hydrogen.
The CC is comprised of several different core sections such as for example the helm from which the CC is piloted, the nuclear reactor which powers its operations, the hangar in which Wasps are stored and the cargo lift through which large airlifted cargo items can be hoisted via Cargo Wasp. The CC can inside its sections be extensively base built including everything from specific technology modules such as a hydrogen fuel refinery module, to furniture and decorations. There are also a lot of other aspects to the CC that we have not touched upon yet but today we’d like to briefly discuss its construction, namely how exactly the CC is put together.
Through the game design of Atmosfar we’ve considered a number of different alternatives for how the player interacts with and is impacted by the CC, ranging from a spline-based construction system to simply no construction at all and essentially just an empty shell which has a heavily customizable exterior. As part of the MVP we are currently experimenting with a modular, section based CC construction system. In this approach, the width of the CC is fixed while its length and height is not as long as a design doesn’t becomes excessive as some physical limitations will of course have to be enforced. Sections can have different appearances and functions and in certain instances only be connected to specific sides of other sections, such as the top atrium section which cannot have any other section placed on top of it. Of course, some sections are absolutely required to be part of the CC such as the aforementioned helm, engine and hangar to name a few but the position of these can largely be altered across your CC’s layout. There’s also a number of cosmetic pieces that do not serve any immediate internal base building purpose but can instead offer other properties such as hull integrity, aerodynamic or lift centered improvements instead.
Below are a number of different CC layout examples built using the latest iteration of the CC construction system. This is a very early look at this system and the examples are comprised solely of block-out graphics, meaning essentially test building blocks.
Inside these sections there is then as mentioned ample opportunity to make the space your own, to have it truly support the type of expeditions you want to execute. Below are some very early interior CC shots of a hangar section with Wasp pads and two hydrogen fuel refineries.
As you can see this is quite an interesting, and very early, example of how just a few simple building blocks can offer a variety of different experiences.
Please note that this is a system we’re very much experimenting with and that details surrounding it certainly are subject to change. The development of the Cloud Cruiser is a major part of the game's development itself and we’ll be sure to keep you up to date as we traverse and explore this exciting yet challenging part of the Atmosfar!
If you’ve follow the development of Atmosfar you’ve definitely seen the Utility Wasp zipping around the sky, especially in the small reveal trailer we put together a few months back. Well, development since then has progressed significantly and we’re now ready to reveal the second Wasp class: The Cargo Wasp!
The Cargo Wasp is a fairly large and slow Wasp which is purpose-built to carry cargo. It has a large trunk slot behind its pilot cabin that acts as a large inventory with a lot of capacity for carrying items. In excess of its inventory the Cargo Wasp also has a unique ability of airlifting very large pieces of scrap using its hoist magnet.
The hoist magnet is attached in the center of the Cargo Wasp’s large rotor providing its main center of lift. The hoist can be stowed and unstowed and its cable can be extended and retracted. Attached to the end of the hoist’s cable is a powerful electromagnet that can be activated and deactivated, enabling the airlifting of various large items. A very common use of the Cargo Wasp is airlifting pieces of scrap that are too large for on-site dismantling to the Cloud Cruiser. Each CC is fitted with a large industrial cargo lift that processes these items which can later be dismantled using a large material processor module.
In the early days of PACE’s colony settlement plan, the Cargo Wasp was developed to perform heavy duty lifting tasks as it turned out that the Utility Wasp’s design was unable to remain stable in air while carrying large loads. The carrying of large loads was necessary to move crude construction materials between islands and also to operate the Cloud Cruisers efficiently as on and offloading materials via ramps usually required extensive numbers of manpower. Unfortunately, the Cargo Wasps are notoriously hard to maintain and cannibalization of parts are often the only solution to keep them running. The large rotor is especially complicated and cumbersome to both operate and repair.
Just like any Wasp in Atmosfar, its various parts can be upgraded and its exterior extensively customized. As part of our post-prototype refactoring efforts we also decided to fully transition the aerodynamic handling of the Wasps to be solely physics based. This means that we use no less than 81 different variables to simulate and articulate a Wasps movement which will allows us to significantly differentiate the Wasps characteristics between them, making the Cargo Wasp feel heavy as a truck and the Fighter Wasp agile as a hawk.
We’ve put together a short video clip of the Cargo Wasp in action over on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube Shorts. Check it out!
Atmosfar takes place on planet Tycos, a world composed of mesmerizing floating islands suspended high up in the atmosphere. These floating islands do not only serve as the primary environment for vagabonds to explore but also play a crucial role in shaping the overall gameplay experience. One of the foremost challenges we encountered when approaching the initial level design of such an aerial and vertical environment, even already for the prototype, was ensuring that these islands remain interesting and engaging throughout the game. As vagabonds navigate their way across the floating landscapes, it is essential that they encounter a variety of captivating sights, challenges, and discoveries.
The above illustration provides an example, not-to-scale, overview of how the planet’s islands are interconnected with each-other, and essentially how the world is comprised. Islands exists in clusters and are perfect for being explored by Wasp but when transitioning between clusters you’ll ideally dock that Wasp in the Cloud Cruiser and continue by mobile airship. Clusters exists in layers and planet Tycos has three layers, the higher up the island is located the more cold and barren its biome is and the harsher the wind and weather is.
We aim to strike a delicate balance between the islands' sense of freedom and exploration while providing structured paths and points of interest. It is vital to design the surrounding areas in a way that seamlessly integrate with the floating islands, enhancing the overall immersion and believability of the game world. To achieve these goals, we’ve embarked on a meticulous handcrafting process that begin with the illustrations and concepts of varying detail you see in this dev blog section. We’ve already dedicated an extensive amount of production hours to shaping the first islands, taking into account their unique characteristics, resources, and potential gameplay scenarios. We aim to create a sense of wonder and discovery with carefully placed landmarks, intricate environmental details, and hidden secrets. Of course, to reduce production load we will also utilize a lot of procedural techniques when it comes to island terrain composition and vegetation but at its core each island will serve a gameplay purpose that goes beyond random procedurality.
Across the islands you’ll often find small outposts and points of interests. In the above illustration you can see a small PACE supply depot outpost, commonly used by the first settlers as a point of refueling and resting during their travels across planet Tycos. These outposts can either contain resources, story beats or both as well as occasional vehicle facilities with Wasp pads where you can perform Wasp part upgrades and customization if your Cloud Cruisers is unaccessible.
Another thing to consider when developing the islands is the nature of verticality of floating islands, something that presents both a unique challenge and opportunity. Designing meaningful vertical progression while ensuring a smooth and intuitive player experience requires careful attention to detail and a good dose of thinking beyond typical flat terrain level design. By leveraging various gameplay mechanics, such as Wasp traversing and cleverly designed pathways, we aim to provide players with a sense of exhilaration and agency as they navigate the floating islands and uncover their secrets.
As we forge ahead, we are excited to share more updates on the development of Atmosfar and the intricacies of our world-building process. The above concepts really only show an early stab at the development on this front, so do stay tuned for future blog posts where we will continue to delve into the progress on planet Tyco’s world building!
Phew… that’s it for this time! Over the coming summer weeks we’ll transition into a bit of a low power mode as we take a bit of a vacation but rest assured that we’ll be back in full production soon. We’ll also be heading to Gamescom this year, meeting business associates and anyone interested in talking Atmosfar! We're extremely excited about heading into full production of Atmosfar come this autumn and we can't wait to share what we have planned with you down the road. Take care and we'll see eachother soon again!
Keep the blue side up.
// Apog Labs
