Space Wreck - post-apocalyptic space RPG inspired by Fallout

[Kamaz]

You can highlight nearby interactive spots by holding SHIFT. The radius depends on your PERCEPTION.

 

[wishbonetail]

Jesus, I knew this site was Fallout fanatics, but unironically suggesting that someone should copy Fallout's look as if it wasn't ugly as sin.....

Thank you for saying it. Original Fallout had an absolutely atrocious color palette that made the game look like dried up dogshit, and had really shitty building designs in a ton of places. So many settlements you visit are laid out before you like this

Spoiler

Wow that tent looks great, too bad it's surrounded by a bunch of fucking buildings that all look the same and make me want to slam my fist through the monitor.

Contrast this with the entrance to the Cathedral which looks great

Spoiler

and the vaults all look fine since they're underground, but honest to god the rest of the game just kills me with these roofs and building designs.

Putting aside the art, the games themselves have terrible combat and just aren't very fun to plate. This forum is filled with a bunch of NMA rejects that fellatiate FO 1 & 2 every chance they get despite being utterly mediocre games that have been far surpassed by other titles.

That being said, Space Wreck looks great love seeing all the progress!

agris

Of course buildings would look schematic if you use "ant farm view". It's a town, how should it look like? What colors do you want in radioactive wasteland? Fallout looks as realistic today as it was back then. Just don't use extreme zoom outs, it's not a tactics game for cuck's sake.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

 

[ItsChon]

Of course buildings would look schematic if you use "ant farm view". It's a town, how should it look like?

Honestly, looking back at some of the screenshots and rebooting up the game has made me realize that the building design itself isn't the problem, although it would have been nice if they'd varied things up a bit more, it's the roofs. I have a feeling the game would look a ton better if the roofs weren't on the buildings. Take this picture of the Cathedral for example.

I'm willing to major all the towns would probably look much nicer if the roofs were mostly not shown like when you enter a building. Really this is a minor point though, as Fallout's main problem is the color palette. I actually think Fallout has pretty good artwork, but the palette just kills it for me.

What colors do you want in radioactive wasteland?

Just because you're in a desert doesn't mean everything has to consist of various shades of brown and grey. The inside oif the cathedral looks great for example because of the color contrast that you see between the grey of the outside with the jet black inside, along with the red/yellow banners, the stained glass, the purple of some members robes. It's the little things, and the game could have used much more of these small elements throughout the wasteland and various settlements to make the game look less drab.

EDIT: And to make it clear, even though I do hate the color palette, I'm sure I could've adjusted if it wasn't for the fact that combat was so atrocious that I couldn't even bring myself to play the game long enough to adjust to my critiques and actually enjoy the pretty good artwork.

 

[V_K]

Of course buildings would look schematic if you use "ant farm view".

The Space Wreck screenshot that started this discussion has roughly the same zoom level.

It's a town, how should it look like? What colors do you want in radioactive wasteland?

Oh, I don't know, maybe like this?

Or

Fallout looks as realistic today as it was back then.

The question of whether it's realistic or not is irrelevant. Even if it is (and it's not), it doesn't make it the perfect template everyone should copy - especially not in a game that has a completely different setting and completely different aesthetics.

 

[Alienman]

Prefer the subdued colors. Works much better for the apocalyptic atmosphere in Fallout I think.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Oh, I don't know, maybe like this?

Where's that from?

 

[V_K]

Oh, I don't know, maybe like this?

Where's that from?

Beautiful Desolation.

 

[JarlFrank]

By the way, Space Wreck looked different a few years ago. Here is the same location in two different art styles:

Space Wreck (online), 2017

Space Wreck: Definitive Edition, 2020

Any chance you'll make the original web version available again after the full release?

That would be merely for historical preservation purposes. I really care about preservation.

 

[Trithne]

Downloaded the new demo you put on itch.io, and the first thing that hits me now is the scroll speed is unbearably slow. I don't recall it being this bad before.

I had to stop playing it, because trying to scroll my map at the rate of 5 pixels a minute was too much.

 

[Kamaz]

Downloaded the new demo you put on itch.io, and the first thing that hits me now is the scroll speed is unbearably slow. I don't recall it being this bad before.

I had to stop playing it, because trying to scroll my map at the rate of 5 pixels a minute was too much.

Ah, shit. Well, that's what the soft launch is for. Thanks, will tune it up!

 

[Kamaz]

Any chance you'll make the original web version available again after the full release?

That would be merely for historical preservation purposes. I really care about preservation.

Hypothetically the web version is somewhere in the git history, technically I could check out code at a certain date. But... umm, not sure how what to do with it.

 

[ItsChon]

Kamaz Any chance we can get some more information on the combat in the game? I know combat is completely avoidable, but just how viable/big of an impact will combat have? Where in the spectrum does it fall between something like a Disco Elysium and an Underrail.

Also, will armor only have a damage threshold or will there be a percent resistance factor as well against damage that exceeds the threshold?

 

[Modron]

There is a demo available on steam if you haven't tried it Chon.

 

[ItsChon]

There is a demo available on steam if you haven't tried it Chon.

I always avoid demos because I don't want to ruin the main game for myself by playing an incomplete product.

 

[Black Angel]

I'm not a graphics whore, but I don't think I could play something again with ZX Spectrum 128k graphics. I do not remember those times and that machine fondly.

That's exactly what a graphic whore would say

Jesus, I knew this site was Fallout fanatics, but unironically suggesting that someone should copy Fallout's look as if it wasn't ugly as sin.....

I didn't know you're this much of a filthy graphic whore

Original Fallout had an absolutely atrocious color palette that made the game look like dried up dogshit, and had really shitty building designs in a ton of places. So many settlements you visit are laid out before you like this

Spoiler

Wow that tent looks great, too bad it's surrounded by a bunch of fucking buildings that all look the same and make me want to slam my fist through the monitor.

This is why you don't play them all zoomed out like that, and applies these steps suggested by agris (for Fallout 2, Fallout 1 maybe if you play Fallout et tu, or install a couple of patches by yourself)

Honestly, looking back at some of the screenshots and rebooting up the game has made me realize that the building design itself isn't the problem, although it would have been nice if they'd varied things up a bit more, it's the roofs. I have a feeling the game would look a ton better if the roofs weren't on the buildings. Take this picture of the Cathedral for example.

I'm willing to major all the towns would probably look much nicer if the roofs were mostly not shown like when you enter a building. Really this is a minor point though, as Fallout's main problem is the color palette. I actually think Fallout has pretty good artwork, but the palette just kills it for me.

You know, I never really get all these complains about color palette; I get it if there's some kind of filter that makes literally everything looks the exact same color, like the puke filter of Fallout 3 or the piss filter of New Vegas. But Fallout 1&2 has zero filters, and they look varied enough for the themes they're going for.

The Space Wreck screenshot that started this discussion has roughly the same zoom level.

I don't know about you, but as ItsChon puts it, it's not the artstyle per se, but Fallout's color palette. If you have the same mindset, then the color palette of Space Wreck is fine, no? Unlike Fallout, Space Wreck still looks fine even all zoomed out like that.

But yeah, I actually disagree having to use Fallout's looks for Space Wreck. SW looks fine and fancy already, in all of its own artstyle and palette and all that jazz. Only filthy graphic whores would ever complain about Space Wreck being made the way it is.

Oh, I don't know, maybe like this?

Or

The color palette looks roughly the same as Fallout, though? The only differences here are obviously the artstyle, and the use of lightings and shadings.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Didn't Pyke make one picture that was his take on Fallout?

 

[luj1]

The color palette looks roughly the same as Fallout, though? The only differences here are obviously the artstyle, and the use of lightings and shadings.

yes he is a retard, its mostly post processing

 

[Harthwain]

The color palette looks roughly the same as Fallout, though? The only differences here are obviously the artstyle, and the use of lightings and shadings.

I think he likes brighter colors.

 

[Black Angel]

The color palette looks roughly the same as Fallout, though? The only differences here are obviously the artstyle, and the use of lightings and shadings.

I think he likes brighter colors.

Uh oh

 

[Kamaz]

Kamaz Any chance we can get some more information on the combat in the game? I know combat is completely avoidable, but just how viable/big of an impact will combat have? Where in the spectrum does it fall between something like a Disco Elysium and an Underrail.

If you choose to engage in combat - and, mind you, you can kill every single NPC without restrictions - then it's somewhat similar mechanic to original Fallouts.

You've got yourself action points 4-9 and actions that cost AP. Actions include various attack types for melee, ranged, unarmed; there's free grid based movement, inventory access.

Attack success depends on your weapon skill, PERCEPTION for range, FOCUS for crits. By default you don't evade attacks, so hit/miss depends only in attackers skill. But, if you explicitly choose to be ready for an attack from certain character or just leave spare AP, you roll evasion that gives you a chance to actively avoid attack even if it was precise. If you choose COUNTER action, you immediately retaliate on successful evasion for free, even if it's not your turn.

Another nuance is positioning - ranged weapons deal significantly more damage in point blank range. So you probably don't want to be close to an enemy at the end of your turn. There's a KICK action which shoves enemy across the room (or into space) on account of zero-G environment. That's useful if you want to keep the distance.

Also, shooting works like this - IF you haven't moved this turn, you can do a STEADY SHOT - with +1 precision bonus (it's significant, 20%). If you have moved, you can do only QUICK SHOT for half the damage but also half the AP cost.

And there are more mechanics like this. The idea is that combat is just a tool - same as dialogs, stealth, exploring, hacking, lockpicking, crafting. You can avoid any of these tools, not only combat - e.g. You can play the game without talking as well.

Oh and, combat is unfair. There's no auto heal, painkillers are scarce and you can die in couple of hits. There is no level scaling - enemies in the first location are the same strength as in the end game (depends on type, of course). Point is - because combat is optional, I don't care about difficulty.

Also, will armor only have a damage threshold or will there be a percent resistance factor as well against damage that exceeds the threshold?

Basic DT, I presume - damage to you is reduced by certain value.

 

[JarlFrank]

Oh and, combat is unfair. There's no auto heal, painkillers are scarce and you can die in couple of hits. There is no level scaling - enemies in the first location are the same strength as in the end game (depends on type, of course). Point is - because combat is optional, I don't care about difficulty.

 

[ItsChon]

-snip-

Sounds fantastic. Might I also ask, do you have an estimate for how long the game will be?

This is why you don't play them all zoomed out like that, and applies these steps suggested by agris (for Fallout 2, Fallout 1 maybe if you play Fallout et tu, or install a couple of patches by yourself)

You know, I never really get all these complains about color palette; I get it if there's some kind of filter that makes literally everything looks the exact same color, like the puke filter of Fallout 3 or the piss filter of New Vegas. But Fallout 1&2 has zero filters, and they look varied enough for the themes they're going for.

Tell you what, I've never played this game using the steps suggested by Agris that you linked, and tbh, all the screenshots of the game look way better than I remember. I'm going to redownload the game and see what's up. Either my opinion will have changed, or I'll be able to explain to you my exact problems to you with my own screenshots to back up my points properly.

The color palette looks roughly the same as Fallout, though? The only differences here are obviously the artstyle, and the use of lightings and shadings.

Just assuming here, but I think the screenshots he posted weren't regarding the art style but instead directed at wishbone's comments regarding how a town should look architecture wise.

 

[agris]

Tell you what, I've never played this game using the steps suggested by Agris that you linked, and tbh, all the screenshots of the game look way better than I remember. I'm going to redownload the game and see what's up. Either my opinion will have changed, or I'll be able to explain to you my exact problems to you with my own screenshots to back up my points properly.

Good on you for at least being willing to think of this differently. Presentation (resolution) really does make a huge difference, it's why I went to the trouble of documenting how to play those games and advocate for isometric games with 2D art to have resolution-independent presentation of game world and UI element sizing. The original fallouts were never meant to be viewed as ant colonies, same with the infinity engine games, and you lose a really compelling aspect of the experience if you play then in modern HD resolution.

 

[Black Angel]

Just assuming here, but I think the screenshots he posted weren't regarding the art style but instead directed at wishbone's comments regarding how a town should look architecture wise.

That's fair. I haven't played Beautiful Desolation yet (also got Stasis on my backlog as well), but the way I see it, it seems Beautiful Desolation doesn't takes place in Post-Nuclear America, while Fallout does. And even ignoring that fact (if my assumption was true), this is the one time where "technical limitation" holds true, to some extent. I have no idea regarding the financial and management situation from the folks at The Brotherhood, but we all know how the story went with Tim Cain and the folks at Interplay. So it wasn't just "technical limitation", there's a lot more restriction and issues surrounding Fallout's development at the time.

And yet what came out is still a giant that shook the world of cRPGs, and left its mark that hasn't yet faded, despite being drowned by the ever expanding gaming industry.