Super Starbase - Devlog 1

First off, I would like to say hello to itch.io! 

My name is JamSnack and I am happy to start sharing periodic game updates for my game Super Starbase. This game is a big passion project of mine and exists just due to the fact that I love video games. I am using it to explore lots of my favorite game genres and mechanics. I want to start sharing my work with other people more often, so I am going to start posting content updates here and writing about them. 

About Development

I have been working on Super Starbase for a little bit over a year. Most weeks I only have time to develop on the weekend, so I spend most of my time notebooking ideas and trying to work things out in my head. As such, I have a LOT of stuff planned for this game and recognize that it is an incredibly ambitious project. I am not expecting myself to complete everything I have imagined for this project - for me it is more about the journey involved in moving toward my ideal vision that is important to me, and I believe that journeys should be taken in the company of other people.

My goal for this game is entirely just to express myself. Game development is an art form for me, at least for Starbase, and I think having a goal of selling this game is pretty reductive. I don't think I could actually ask people to pay for this project and also expect them to enjoy themselves with it at the same time, so moving forward I will try to keep this project as free as I can. This opens the logistical issue of finances. Making games takes a lot of time and a lot of money. I am resolved to handle finances on my own so if you happen to become a fan of the project then please do not worry about its future. Development will take a long time but I am happy to do it alongside a community. If something comes up that threatens the future of this project I am sure there will be a way to solve it.

About the Game

I'm calling it version 0.2.0!!

Super Starbase can be loosely defined as a 2D Action-Adventure-Sandbox game with Base-Building and RPG mechanics. Basically, I'm just combining a bunch of stuff that I like! Some of my obvious inspirations hail from the survival-sandbox genre: Terraria, Minecraft, and 7 Days to Die. Some of my less obvious inspirations are Trove, Tower Climb, Realm of the Mad God, and Super Mario Galaxy.  Now,  due to the massive list of inspirations and game mechanics I am aiming to combine, it is possible to be concerned about the identity of my game, but I believe in the game's structure to be able to house all of my ideas in a beneficial way, and I hope that a little spark of that idea is visible in the currently released demo.  I also have nothing against spending as long as it takes to figure it out. The game is a sandbox, so technically at any point I could call it done, but I currently have the goal of establishing and resolving a narrative that synergizes with my goal of making the world of Starbase feel mysterious and fun to explore. We are going to see this plan start to play itself out in the coming months, so stay tuned if you are interested!

The game world will be separated into Regions ( think of these as the different worlds! ). Right now I am focused on developing the Grasslands region - home to magic, mystery, and a hidden malice which festers below... A region will be defined by its mechanics and will be completed upon solving its mysteries and progressing the narrative. For the Grasslands, I think this will occur via a boss fight. We will have to see if that actually comes to fruition though. Now, regions are also separated into different Biomes. The Grasslands is currently made up of the Surface, Caverns, and a mystery location which needs to be reworked before my next update! I have 5 regions in my mind right now which I am certain will be apart of my final game, but there is a TON of possibility for more, and the game is structured such that tacking on one or two bonus Regions will be a piece of cake.

Showcase #1

Welcome to the Starterbase Showcase!

This is an event that I held for my small group of initial play testers - the Loungeware Gang! I invited everybody to share screenshots of their starter bases so that I could get a feel for what my players are thinking about at the start of the game. Here they are!

Orphillius - "Fort CoolBase"

Baku - "What's gonna happen o-o"

Space - "i made a furnace"

Katsaii - "overall i like the game, it's quite a bit easy though"

Zik - " accidentally summoned the fog (oops)"

Professor Zandy - "uhh guys"

Mashmerlow - "World's first death!"

If you want to be apart of the next community showcase then join our discord server: https://discord.gg/J5DCGsqTRd !!

Final Section

Welp, that's all for now! Here's to hoping that this journey is going to be long and fun, and I hope to be back soon with another build and another devlog!

Thanks for reading!

- JamSnack