KickStarter BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION - isometric post-apocalyptic adventure from STASIS developer

[DeepOcean]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...n-isometric-post-apocalyptic-ad/posts/1809195

Jesus, this is better than porn for some eye candy masturbation.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...n-isometric-post-apocalyptic-ad/posts/1873204

PRODUCTION UPDATE 1

The last two months have flown by rapidly, but we're excited as ever to bring you an update on the development progress of Beautiful Desolation.

We've increased our library of photo-scanned 3D objects (when time permits), and are planning a road trip that will entail the further scanning interesting objects and items to include in our desolate African landscapes.

One of the criticisms received is that our character models don’t match up (quality wise) to the background scenes. We have taken this to heart and I've honed my low poly modeling skills to produced awesome looking denizens to populate our world. I learnt many tricks and techniques from working with InXile and the pre-production work for Wasteland 3.

The animation rigs in Desolation are much more complicated (and pretty) than those of CAYNE, with cloth dynamics, moving hair, and specific ‘action points’ on the models, which allow for very cool game-play opportunities. I can’t wait to show you some of the animal creations, but I need to save something for our next update!

We're trying to create a balance of technology with the sensibilities of a post apocalyptic African world. Creating a game that is clearly post apocalyptic - with a dose of fantasy and the tribalpunk aesthetic - is something that hasn’t been done often, so we're pushing into new territory daily.

IS IT DONE YET?!

Nic is working on the vertical slice of Desolation. Essentially, this is a small playable area of the game that encompasses all of the enhancements and gameplay features that we want to include in the larger world. Once we're satisfied that the vertical slice prototype is working we can extrapolate that over the rest of the game.

Perhaps one of the most daunting aspects of a game like Beautiful Desolation is the story itself. Setting a story in an existing world can be a challenge, but creating a world at the same time as telling a story is a huge task! We have a specific vision for Desolation - and we now have the freedom to see which ideas work and which don't. The canvas is wide and there are no real limitations for us to constrain your creativity - this can be both exciting and terrifying.

No matter how much technology we have access to or how pretty we make the game - it all hangs on our story, so we're taking the time to get this right!

I'm happy (read: relieved!) that we've completed the first draft outline - a bare skeleton to hang the flesh and bones of our world on. We also have a ‘world document’ detailing the history of the world, which gets updated simultaneously to the story document. Sounds cool, right? But obviously takes up those extra resources.

But we definitely think it's crucial to create believable characters who've shared experiences in the world, much like history's explorers.

It will also provide our writers with points of reference for the characters and aid them in creating the individual histories of our NPCs.

While we're busy, keep on adventuring!

Chris & Nic
BE SURE TO LIKE OUR FACEBOOK PAGE (AND SHARE IT!):

https://www.facebook.com/desolationadventure

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER:

https://twitter.com/stasisgame

 

[Grotesque]

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...n-isometric-post-apocalyptic-ad/posts/1900328

“If you don't know where you are going any road can take you there”

Hello Backers!

THE MAP
One of the major inspirations in our game design was bringing back the excitement that we felt when exploring the original Fallout's map. Our map is a core feature of BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION and provides a tangible link to all of the interesting areas that you're able to explore in this post apocalyptic world.

Mark has commandeered an ancient weather satellite that provides an aerial view of his current location. Shifting clouds of deadly gasses cover the earth making areas inaccessible but frustratingly visible.

Geography and history will entwine to reflect in the environments and their march through time. Working on the histories of the different areas and how they've grown out of this ruined world, is both exciting and challenging. We're building a tome of writing for each and every area.

The map will also feature varied biomes that in turn allow for awesome design possibilities.

A GAME FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
Our father is now assisting us with the immense amount of 3D modelling required to build the DESOLATION scenes. He has 40 years of architectural knowledge and this will bring a practical grounding to the locations.

The first area he is building for us is Greenpoint.

GREENPOINT
In the heart of the Meadowland, an idyllic grassland, Greenpoint sits like a dark pustule. A slave compound has been built in the center of a crumbling sports stadium...

We're currently focusing on the shanty town that has sprung up around Greenpoint.

Keep on adventuring!

Chris & Nic

BE SURE TO LIKE OUR FACEBOOK PAGE (AND SHARE IT!): https://www.facebook.com/desolationadventure

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER:
https://twitter.com/stasisgame

 

[HoboForEternity]

damn you are fast. i literally just got hte update mail

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...n-isometric-post-apocalyptic-ad/posts/1929429

JULY 2017 UPDATE

A MOVING WORLD
We're exited to reveal that BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION will feature our largest environment art yet. In STASIS the backgrounds were 1280 x 720. We further increased the resolution of CAYNE to 1920 x 1080.
DESOLATION will feature 7680×4320 scrolling backgrounds. Our hero won't be locked into a small area and can now explore the beautiful landscape, unhindered.

SHOWCASE
An example of the larger scrolling environments can be seen in Witherberg.

Fully Zoomed Out

The frontier town of Witherberg is a well known meeting place in the post-apocalyptic Savannah. Nestled on the edge of the desert, known locally as the Old Woman's Womb, this is home to hunters - that harvest the parasitical worms that infest the sandy wasteland.

This mix of diverse cultures is reflected our design that includes exotic cloth and bright colors that form the souks and market place.

The fishing village has elements inspired by the Nigerian settlement of Makoko, which is a floating fishing village in Nigeria. Wooden stilts push each structure above the ground, and hold them perilously over the edge of a huge ravine.

The wooden structures of the buildings are filled up with scraps of metal to create sturdy walls - while several structures have textile coverings to allow airflow, to make the inhabitants as comfortable as possible while being protected from the elements.

Animated Cloth

Thanks again for the support!

Take care,

Chris & Nic

 

[Daedalos]

Would brofist if I could. Peepee can't get any mo' erect. A.K.A, I'm fucking the screen, but nothing is happening.

 

[Pyke]

Ya gotta see it at glorious 8k... :D

 

[Cyberarmy]

8k is not enough we demand 16K!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kev Inkline]

This mix of diverse cultures

Codex triggered confirmed.

 

[Pyke]

8k is not enough we demand 16K!!!!!!!!!!!

Im barely holding together at 8K! Working this large is pretty awesome tho. The detail we are getting in the images is pretty insane - but its really hard to do animations at this size and not have things completely fall apart.
But oooooooooooh is it pretty.

 

[Pyke]

This mix of diverse cultures

Codex triggered confirmed.

"Will there be romance?"

 

[evdk]

This mix of diverse cultures

Codex triggered confirmed.

"Will there be romance?"

Not paying for this unless you can fuck the robodog.

 

[HoboForEternity]

How long did that monster took to render?

 

[Pyke]

How long did that monster took to render?

Its broken down into 16 HD images and then recombined in After Effects. Each image can be between 15 minutes to an hour - ballpark I bank on about 6 - 8 hours for everything.
But then there are the animated areas which each have to be separately rendered as well - and that can take a good few hours to separate out.

There are also several layers that make up each scene - occlusion layers, fog, foreground layers, shadows etc - so each scene may have to be rendered 3 or 4 times with each of these different pieces turned on and off.

I usually work on 2 or 3 big scenes at a time - so while one is rendering out I can make changes and updates to another, then put it into the queue and work on the next one, and then cycle back to the first if Nic needs any specific changes made.

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

Out of curiosity, do you render it on your machine(s) or do you use some cloud rendering farm (if there is such a thing)?

 

[Pyke]

We have 3 older computers to render on. They are leftover PC's from our old business and they just chug away at rendering.
My main development computer is a laptop (DELL XPS15), and the render machines are semi older spec computers.

Cloud rendering is there - but it can be pretty expensive and its unnecessary for us because time isnt a big problem. If something is gonna take a day or two to render, I have more then enough other stuff to do while it chugs away!

 

[Pyke]

Makin' sure our Backer rewards are secured!

 

[HoboForEternity]

So does it really take less time to render partially and stitch it together than render teh full 8k image?

 

[Pyke]

If it were just a straight render it would probably be a bit faster, but if it gets broken down into smaller chunks then I can add in more detail per chunk. In between frames it purges the memory before moving onto the next frame - so if I was rendering 1 huge image it may have 1000 objects in it before it falls over. By breaking it down into smaller images I can have each image have 1000 objects in it.
Time isn't an issue - memory is. If the computer cant handle something it just freezes - so breaking it down into smaller pieces ensures you can add in a LOT more detail.

It also helps to break the images down because I can check them as they are rendering to make sure there are no issues - and then if there are issues I can get away with replacing 1 or 2 HD images instead of needing to re-render the entire 8K image.

After Effects also deals way better with lots of smaller files instead of 1 massive file, because its literally built to work with frames of an animation. I can do post processing work to 16 files in AE in real time - whereas doing post processing to a single 8K image makes everything grind to a halt.

There are some limitations to doing it this way. I cant generate ZDepth information for the whole scene, so things like fog and blur have to all be faked. It also means that every scene MUST go through After Effects before I can put it in the engine. Its not a big time sink - but it as an extra step in the process. There can also sometimes be lines that have to be painted out where the joins are slightly out. But the benefits by far outweigh the pitfalls.

 

[lightbane]

Dammit, I guess I can't delay updating my PC anymore, seeing these pics.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...n-isometric-post-apocalyptic-ad/posts/1954317

AUGUST 2017 UPDATE

Hey guys!

Last month we announced that we were going to depart from the static screens found in STASIS and CAYNE - rather producing large, scrollable areas to explore.

This African world that we’re creating needs to reflect a thriving eco-system of flora and fauna, with a tumultuous environment that requires movement and life.

To begin this journey, we’ve created a low memory footprint animation technique that will allow us to bring the desired movement to (otherwise static) backgrounds.

Using 3D trees and plants didn’t look right for the effect we’re striving for; we wanted a smoother integration into the background pictures.

We’ve now chosen to use 2-dimensional images with a warp mesh to facilitate this motion.

This process involves creating a flat mesh in 3D StudioMax. Bones and various warping mesh techniques are used to build a moving image.

These are then imported into the game engine. By slightly angling these meshes, Mark can realistically walk through long grass. It gives the grand illusion of being 3-dimensional when in fact it is a flat pre-rendered image.

We’re adamant about putting the beautiful into Beautiful Desolation!

Chris & Nic

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...n-isometric-post-apocalyptic-ad/posts/1982354

September Update

Exploring Africa
What is the allure of a project like BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION? It’s that we’re creating an undiscovered world for players to explore!

With our game inspiration in our own backyard, we have a unique opportunity to visit and engage with the very environments we’re looking to construct. So, recently Nic and I packed a bag (and our camera equipment) and headed to a mountainous area - surrounded by beautiful farmlands and rivers - to record, photograph and photoscan.

During these few days, we took thousands of photos - capturing everything from construction equipment and barrels to the aftermath of smaller rock falls and large muddy puddles caused by recent rains. We aren't using large equipment to do our scans (picture me with a camera and hiking shoes), so we can reach fairly inaccessible places to capture interesting environments.

Not only did we capture photographic elements, but also the sounds surrounding us at different times of the day – this way we can hopefully bring you a natural and believable slice of the world. Birdsong, the sounds of wind and water, walking down gravel paths, the frogs that come out at night - all of these layers of sounds will be brought together.

Going out into nature also helps us capture the essence of an area - and hopefully that will translate into unique places to explore in our African DESOLATION.

The Interface
Apart our trek to the veld, we are at the early design phase of interface implementation. Interface design is extremely important and plays an important part in setting the tone of this world.

With STASIS, we were inspired by the diegetic UI design of Dead Space - something which felt right at home in a horror game. From John’s Quantum Storage Device to the computer PDAs - everything in the game’s interface was designed to keep you inside The Groomlake and form part of the scene.

BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION will see a skeuomorphic interface inspired by the real-world designs of the 70s and 80s and the interface design of Fallout. Wooden panelling, chrome inlays and vacuum-formed plastic have replaced the harsh metal and blood-stained wires of STASIS. However, the idea remains to always keep the player grounded in the game world and sprinkle in some classic game nostalgia to boot.

Take care,

Chris

TWITTER: @StasisGame

 

[toro]

Except the green button that's one beautiful UI ... and they didn't need 2 years to get it right like Wasteland 2.

 

[Pyke]

The green is just the active colour (mouse pointer wasn't captured in the image cos we are still working on it!) - when its not active its gold/yellow.