Lacuna Passage - Devlog #25 - GDC Mega Update

Regretfully, it has been almost two months since our last official update. Well today I am remedying that with a really exciting post about my upcoming trip to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco (actually I'm writing this from the airport on my way there). The team can’t wait to show our work to all the conference attendees, but I wanted to share with you first all the work we have done to prepare for this trip.

We have created a demo that we are calling Lacuna Passage Prologue which will serve as a sneak peek of what players will expect to see in the final game. It has story elements that tie into where the game will start, but the gameplay is more of a linear tutorial to introduce important concepts in a short time span for demonstration purposes. This Prologue content may or may not be incorporated into the final game. It depends a lot on the feedback we receive while at GDC and if we think it is valuable to the experience we want to create. Since a lot may change in the coming months we are not planning to distribute this content to backers prior to release, but we have created a video play through for you all to watch and added a bunch of new screenshots.

Lacuna Passage is an exploration and survival game set on Mars. This game is still in development. The content seen in this video was created specifically for demonstration at GDC 2014. For more information visit our website www.randomseedgames.com

We would love to hear what you think of the direction we are taking. If anyone is interested we might do a more in-depth run down of how we built this demo in a future devlog. This is a great opportunity for us to get even more people excited about Lacuna Passage who may never have heard of us before. Feel free to share the video or screenshots with your friends and family.

If anyone will be attending GDC and would like to play a live demonstration of the Prologue content you can email me at <contact [at] randomseedgames.com>. I will also be wearing bright red Lacuna Passage tshirts all week, so if you see me just flag me down!

Wish us luck!
Tyler Owen
Project Lead

Lacuna Passage - Devlog #11 - In-Game Photography

Our first video devlog! This week we talk about some adjustments to the atmospheric effects to make them a little more realistic and our new photography system. www.randomseedgames.com

Our first video devlog! This week we talk about some adjustments to the atmospheric effects to make them a little more realistic and our new photography system.

Lacuna Passage - Devlog #10 - Pre-Alpha Gameplay Teaser

Demonstrating some very early gameplay for the Mars exploration and survival game, Lacuna Passage. The time of day has been sped up to show the full day cycle. Find out more about the game on our website www.randomseedgames.com.

​What’s that? In-game footage you say? Yes! We have released our first pre-alpha gameplay footage.

I had considered doing some commentary over the video to explain some of what is going on, but I didn’t want to talk over the awesome music. So instead I will try to break down some of the new stuff here.

The biggest addition to the game in the last couple weeks has been the datapad. This is one of the tools that will be an invaluable resource for you as you explore and document the planet’s surface. We are trying to keep all the HUD and UI elements as immersive as possible, so nearly all the game’s menu screens will be contained within the physical datapad.

Audio playback is one of the datapad’s many functions (some others I’m sure you can gleen from the other menu items). In this video we hear an audio log from a previous crew member who discusses a drilling site where he accidentally left behind some tools. Despite his intentions he never did return to collect them as we find out later in the video (hmm, what happened to him?). Luckily he gives us the exact coordinates of the drilling site. In the final game you will have the option to input these coordinates as a custom marker on your compass, but for the purposes of this example the compass marker is automatically displayed.

On our way to the site we come across a decent sized dust devil which makes for some cool moments with the dynamic soundtrack. Moving on, we trek across the lowest point in the valley, eventually making our way to the drilling site. The music builds as we reach our destination and indeed we find the wayward tools. At several points you will notice a blue outline around the tools. This is an optional feature to help some players find key objects and locations. It can be turned on and off at any time just as is demonstrated in the video.

Finally we look upon the setting sun. We have sped up the passing of time just to show the full range of lighting effects. In the game time will pass quickly, but not quite this quickly. One real-world second will equal about 1 in-game minute. And as you might expect, Mars can be a foreboding place in the dark of night.

Thanks for watching our first gameplay video. We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.