Welcome to our regular dev diary session, our third one this month. Instead of diving into the production details of a specific aspect of the game, we’d like to give you a general update on what we’re currently working on and highlight some key areas of focus.
In the last entry, we talked broadly about lighting in Hell Galaxy. We’ll revisit this topic in the future, but for now, we want to take this opportunity to share some of the changes we’ve been working on to rethink the lighting in certain parts of our beloved Galaxy of Neterun.
Specifically, we’ve been rebalancing the lighting in a particularly mysterious region of the galaxy, an area where we want to enhance the sense of mystery and make you feel truly lost in a completely hostile environment.
Our goal with this lighting rework is to reinforce the feeling of emptiness that raiders experience when exiled to Neterun. We wanted the raiders to be fierce but also disoriented. Their journey through the Neterun colonies is a metaphorical descent into an increasingly uncertain, perilous, and alien abyss, where dangers lurk around every corner and familiar landmarks grow fewer and farther between. We’re using lighting to emphasize that sense of emptiness, a raider lost in the vacuum of space.
At the same time, we’re experimenting with a system that provides small clues in the most inaccessible areas, just enough so that you’re not completely alone.
On the topic of level navigation, in addition to these reference points, we’re also working on ways to make the ship’s radar more useful for navigation. There will be a tutorial on how to use it effectively, along with some small adjustments to ensure it helps you locate key points within each level.
Lastly, we’re fine-tuning the balance of enemy encounters, adjusting the type, difficulty, and number of enemies in certain areas to keep fights challenging without becoming frustrating.
That’s all for now. As always, we appreciate your support and hope you’ll stay with us for future updates. See you in the next dev diary.
Farewell, raiders!
