Hey Backers!
Its been 24 hours since the Kickstarter went live, and it has certainly been a roller coaster of a day! Thanks to you amazing people,
we are almost 20% of the way there!
I want to say thank you AGAIN to everyone who has provided feedback on the
Alpha Demo of the game. I have bookmarked every email, and gone through all of your suggestions. I feel that
STASIS will undoubtedly be a better game for it!
While have tried to answer as many questions about
STASIS as possible, sometimes the best way to find out more about the game (instead of actually playing it...), is to read a few of the interviews I have done recently.
Snippit from RPGCodex.com
RPG Codex: To begin this interview, please introduce STASIS to our readers. What is the game about, what kind of world is it set in, and what is the gameplay like?
Chris Bischoff: STASIS is a 2D Isometric Adventure Game, set in abandoned research ship in a decaying orbit around Neptune. STASIS is borne out of a love for Science Fiction horror, drawing heavily from worlds like Alien, Sunshine, and Event Horizon. But at its heart, its a classic Adventure Game. Finding items, combining them in various ways, and using them to solve puzzles to move through the world.
What is your background (both professional and as a gamer) and how did you get into video game development? When and why did you decide to make a game like STASIS?
Professionally I am an architectural artist, running a company called BURN, with my brother.
I have always been interested in game development, from making my own boardgames as a kid, to trying to create clones of my favourite games! If you were involved in the Star Control community a few years back, you may remember a game called Outworld, and later changed to AlienME, which was a game heavily inspired by the mechanics of Star Control 2.
Graphically, I have always loved 2D isometric games. There is something just magical about a highly detailed 2D world that I feel just can't be matched by 3D real-time engines. Working on a project like this would be a dream for me as an artist - but living a continent away from any large game development studios meant that I had to go at it myself!
STASIS started off as a side project during my December break, and slowly evolved into what it is today. It really is a story of 'accidental development'. I never intentionally set out to create this story, but as it grew and grew I fell in love with the project and the world.
What sci-fi books and video games inspired the game's concept? And since you have an account at the RPG Codex, are there any pen-and-paper or computer RPGs among the inspirations?
The RAMA series had a big influence on me when I was younger. I loved the idea of exploring a truly alien world, which is why my stand out games tended to be focused on that concept. When I started development on STASIS, I read quite a few books that focused on the themes of the story. Greg Bears 'Hull Zero Three', Michael Crichtons 'Sphere' (still, in my opinion, one of the best opening acts to a SciFi story ever written), and even Orson Scott Cards novelization of The Abyss.
I've been a massive lover of Science Fiction ever since I saw Star Wars at the tender age of 4, so to pick any specific influence is very difficult! STASIS is the amalgamation of all of those experiences.
As far as RPG's go, their biggest influence on me has been less thematic, and more visual. Fallout was the first CRPG that truly captured my imagination from a visual standpoint. The entire world is so beautifully crafted in that game, I would spend hours and days just walking around, hunting down new areas. From there, I moved onto the rest of the Infinity Engine games. Icewind Dale is one of my favourites graphically!
Crusader No Remorse was also a huge influence on me as an artist. I remember playing the game, and taking screenshots of it frame by frame to 'rip' the explosions and characters and use them in my games.
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READ THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE!
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And another one with
IndieStatik's Chris Priestman.
While John may be alone for the majority of the game’s events, he is in contact with another survivor called Teah. It’s through the stories that these two characters share that Chris hopes players will be able to invest emotionally in the gut-wrenching situation when those you love the most are lost inside a hostile and demeaning place.
“Throughout the game, you are in contact with another survivor, and through your shared experiences, you hear stories of her family, and she hears of yours. There is a story about how John’s daughter, Rebecca, came into the world, and her special relationship to her mother, that is very central to the family dynamic. It is my hope that players will connect with this story and the parallels of Teah’s tale and will grow with John through his journey to find his wife and daughter and reunite his family.”
Given John’s plight is one that’s wrought with several different intense emotions, it struck me that it may be difficult to extract the empathy and shock from the player that Chris wants to achieve with STASIS using an isometric, third-person view. It grants him some advantages, such as being able to zoom out of a scene to create a sense of isolation, but compare the isometric view to the first-person perspective, which has the player step into the shoes of the character on a more literal level, and there’s certainly a distance created that may prove my feeling right.
“It’s extremely difficult!” Chris exclaims when I bring this up. “Especially when you add in the extra limitations that I have in going ‘pure 2D,’ so no dynamic lighting or shadows. There are times when I would have killed to be able to just give John a torch and turn the lights out! But there is something magical about a highly detailed 2D isometric world. You tend to fill in the details yourself and flesh out things that aren’t necessarily there. Unlike a first-person viewpoint, where you are given everything, going with a pulled out point of view almost forces you to use your imagination.”
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READ THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE!
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And a reminder to everyone, even if you cant contribute to the Kickstarter Campaign, please vote on
GREENLIGHT, and
spread the word!
And a small gift for you guys...in honour of one of the influences of STASIS, I created this piece of fan art. To all you backers, thanks for helping keep 2D isometric alive!
STASIS: No Remorse
