Hi everyone, development is continuing at a rapid pace on Xenosis, and I will soon have a new video of the progress made to share with you. We have made significant changes to the characters, enemies, AI, lighting, overall mood and performance. The game is shaping up to be everything we had hoped for, and I cannot wait to share that with you (here's a little teaser)



Today though, I just wanted to let you know that the questionnaire for the Crew and Boss tier backers will be going out shortly to the email address that you registered with on Fig. This questionnaire is designed to give us enough information to start developing your character in game, so please look out for the email, and instructions on how to complete it will be given.

In the next update, I will be sharing more details on the updates made to the game, but if you have any questions in the meantime, please comment, or join the discord channel.

Kind Regards,

James Stone.
Game Designer & Developer

Hi everyone, before we move on, please let me extend my sincere thanks to our Fig backers for supporting our campaign. The level of engagement and the positive feedback we have received along the way has been higher than we could ever have hoped for. To see so many people excited to play our game is a truly humbling experience, so thank you all for your generosity.

Now that the campaign has been funded, development is underway. In order to ensure success, I am taking a phased approach to the development of the game using my background as an IT project manager to structure the full development cycle, along with our major areas of focus (each being a milestone).



At the moment, its pretty high level, but this will get far more detailed over the coming month as we dig deep into each area and system. As an example, here are the areas of focus we are looking into, along with our initial proposed dates.

Of course, these dates are subject to change, but this is the current plan we are working towards, and assuming all goes well with no major issues, that should be attainable.

We are now already into the first phase of planning. Rose and I are working to refine the story and map it into the layout of the ship. This stage is probably the most crucial of the entire development process, as this dictates how the game will ultimately play. We are physically mapping out every area in the ship, and then overlaying on top of that the players journey, taking into account the following:

Major plot points
Side quests
Secrets
Collectables, schematics and crafting components
Bosses, sub bosses and scripted events
Puzzles and areas of interest

This will allow us to ensure that your journey through the ship is paced in a logical and meaningful way, giving you clear direction on what you should be doing, but enough freedom to enjoy exploring and discovering.

One of the major design challenges is to ensure that we minimise unnecessary backtracking. I believe that all games should never make the player endlessly track through empty areas that you have already cleared for no reason other than to falsely extend the game. Good level design should be able to offer a well paced experience by itself.

Alexey is now hard at work designing the enemies for the engineering section. All the enemies we had in the prototype were placeholder spider/bug things and were there purely as a test, and to ensure that we didn't use the actual enemies for two reasons (we want to show them when they are complete, and to avoid spoilers). Alexey sent over the first draft and they are truly creepy, and the animations are looking highly realistic even at this early stage. Designing enemies for top down games is a challenge, as conveying motion and detail when you have no 3D perspective is very difficult, but Alexey's talent in this area is shining through. I cannot wait to showcase them to you when we have them animated and setup with AI in game.

On the audio side, Alex is now working on creating the sound effects for the new enemies. Alex has a hard task of creating sounds that really draw you in and immerse you in the dark, creepy corridors of the Carpathian. We want you to hear things that make you think twice about going down that corridor, or hearing noises behind doors and wondering if you are prepared to open it, not knowing what lies behind. Audio design is key to making this game really stand out, so its an area that we are putting a huge amount of time and detail into. Expect more on this in future updates.

Moving forward, updates on our DevLog on GameJolt and the Fig campaign page will be made when we have hit some form of milestone, or have important news to pass on. If you would like to be directly involved with us as we develop, I will be posting lots of smaller updates on a regular basis in our Discord Channel so please drop in and say hi :) We welcome feedback, ideas, concerns... anything! So please do join and get involved :)

As a final note, those of you who backed on Fig at a tier that gave you a copy of our local multiplayer game Jump Gunners I will be sending you a steam key once the campaign funds have all been received and finalised with Fig, and I expect that to be in a few weeks. I am also very excited that after such great reception at GDC and EGX this year with Microsoft, Jump Gunners is releasing on Xbox One this month! Not only is this a huge a milestone for the studio as our first console release, but also that I know exactly what to build in from the ground up to fully support the console integration of Xenosis.

So, thanks again for your ongoing support, if you have any questions or comments, please just reach out :)

Kind Regards,

James Stone
Game Designer & Developer

Hi everyone, I just want to say a big thank you to you all for your amazing support of Xenosis on Fig. We have successfully hit our first stretch goal, which means that Xenosis will be heading to Xbox One. Those of you that backed the game, will have the option to trade your steam version for an Xbox should you wish.

With just 18 hours left in the campaign, we are setting our sights on the PS4 release now... with just under $7k to go, it certainly is possible!

As we are in the final stretch, please can you share the campaign and help us spread the word, and lets see if we can hit one more stretch goal before the day is out :)

Kind Regards,

James Stone
Game Designer & Developer




Xenosis: Alien Infection is being crowdfunded on Fig, visit the campaign here: http://www.fig.co/Xenosis

Hi everyone, I know that we touched on the Story way back in update #2, but as we are reworking how the logs and story are delivered, This is a nice way of me being able to introduce you another member of the team and hear from them directly. So without further ado, I shall hand over...

Hi everyone, I’m Rosie Walker, narrative designer/writer for Xenosis: Alien Infection and I’ll be talking a little bit about Xenosis’ story for today’s update. Giving too much information about the actual plot would spoil things, so for this update I’ll instead be introducing myself and talking about some of the inspirations, themes and genres that have influenced Xenosis’ story and our plans for how we deliver it to you.

For a bit of background, I work as editor/freelance writer, writing historical and speculative fiction in my spare time. I was originally brought on board for the project back in early 2017 when James first approached me about helping flesh out the story of Xenosis and I jumped at the chance after playing one of the game’s early builds! Although I was initially only meant to create a basic narrative structure for the game, James and I could both see the potential for a much deeper story, and we have been planning and creating content for the project with these ambitions in mind ever since. My main responsibilities on the project are threefold; designing the narrative, producing the in-game written content and world-building for the game’s universe and codex.


James has already outlined some of his key influences that originally inspired Xenosis, including the Alien franchise and System Shock series. I am a fan of both, and of the sci-fi/horror/survival game genre in general.

I also have a huge interest and background in Classics; my favourite types of sci-fi stories are ones that combine Classical/mythological influence with speculative fiction, from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to the works of modern sci-fi greats like Dan Simmons and Roger Zelazny. Some of the narrative in Xenosis will take direct and indirect influence from Classical Greek mythology with the hope of capturing some of the flavour from those types of stories. Bearing this in mind, the Xenosis universe is not so far removed in time and place from our own current one, and the game’s world-building is grounded in semi-plausible reality. A particular inspiration here is the universe building created in The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey/Daniel Abraham/Ty Franck, with its factions, colonies and political maneuverings.

Rather than just creating a simplified story for the game as a side note, we want to immerse you in the story of the Carpathian and its crew, one that serves to give real context and depth to the gameplay experience.


From the start James and I wanted a lot of flexibility with how the written parts of the story are presented. There will be players who will want to explore every nook and cranny to immerse themselves with the written history of the Carpathian, it’s crew and the wider in-game universe, and there will be others who will be more interested in gameplay progress without getting bogged down with walls of text. For this reason a lot of the written story and background information will be entirely optional in in-game logs and emails – there for the player to discover if they wish but not necessary to progress the game. We have ensured that content needed for the core game (key codes, passwords, keywords etc) are automatically logged and stored for the player, as James touched on in an earlier update.

To this end, we are working hard to ensure that all aspects of the game – level design, music, enemy design etc tie together to help convey the game’s basic story and themes without relying too much on written text. The goal is to have the player’s story arc drive the gameplay experience, with the player being given all of the basic story information needed as they progress and interact with the ship’s denizens and through the game’s design. The greatest game experiences are ones that fully immerse the player through the use of various delivery mechanics, and story for us is one of those.

For example, as part of this immersion process we are currently reworking how the terminals function in game so they operate much like a computer interface. This means that the player can access text-based logs, email communications, broadcasts etc at each terminal, which will have an owner or number of logged in users. This will allows the story hunters to really become engrossed in the events of the game, become intimately connected to the crew of the ship and will hopefully encourage exploration to uncover more secrets and lore entries.

Finally, because we have such a large amount of backstory, universe lore, characters and dialog, we are creating an in-game (and web based) codex which will allow the player to unlock entries when they discover new information . This will allow players to easily access information about the in-game universe and give us a nice clean method of being able to manage a large amount of information in a simple way.

I hope that this update has given you some idea of the directions we are taking the Xenosis story. I am incredibly excited to be part of this project and have been working closely with the team to ensure that all of the content I create remains faithful to James’ original vision for the game and integrates with all other aspects of it. Thank you so much for your continued support, if you have any comments or questions feel free to leave one below, or hop into our Discord https://discord.gg/XByEK7v

Kind Regards,

Rosie Walker
Narrative Director & Writer



Xenosis: Alien Infection is being crowdfunded on Fig, visit the campaign here: http://www.fig.co/Xenosis

Hi everyone, today we take a more in depth look into one of the most important areas of the game's design, Music and Audio. If you think about any of your most memorable gaming experiences, I am sure all of us have a game soundtrack that takes you back to remember epic moments and feelings of nostalgia. This is what we want to achieve with Xenosis: Alien Infection, and I will let Alexander take over here and talk about this in more detail.

But before I do, grab your headphones and take a listen to what we have been working on recently, this is a work in progress as Alexander and I explore different themes, instruments and emotive expressions.

https://soundcloud.com/james-stone-23/audio-breach-in-sector-5/s-piskk

Hi everyone, My name is Alexander Giacoma and I am composer and sound designer for Xenosis. Here’s a little backstory, in case you’d like to get to know a little about me and my inspirations.

Here are four random things that I love in order of interest; Sound Design, Sci-Fi (books/movies), Video Games, and Stargazing.

From a young age, I was known to toy around in various DAWs and Synths. Sound design is my passion and profession. Although I consider every genre under the sun to be an inspiration, my work has always been grounded in cinematic, ethno-classical, and electronic music. (and derived subgenres) Musical inspirations of mine span from John Williams, Thomas Bergersen, and Hanz Zimmer to Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin (Enya)... all the way to Jack Wall, Martin O'Donnell, and older electronic music legends like Kraftwerk and Alphazone. Some of my all-time favorite soundtracks and fondest gaming memories come from the Star Wars Universe, the Halo Franchise, and the beloved Mass Effect Trilogy.

The sound of Xenosis is mainly synth-based. Composers have used synthesizers as being representative of the cosmos and/or eerie and strange phenomena since the first sci-fi films hit theaters. But I believe that relationship goes far beyond a given connotation, as synthesizers are intensely mathematical and can shimmer ethereally and mysteriously like no known acoustical instrument.

One of my greatest inspirations for this project is the cosmos, an unimaginably vast mystery that we often forget about just over our heads. On clear nights in my hometown in Connecticut, I sometimes emerge from the studio cave, and set up my reflector telescope to gaze up at planets, stars, and other distant spectacles.


Original Music and Sound Effects

I know, I know, pretty obvious answer right? … (I am the composer after all!) but it really is more than that, it's more a role of creating immersion.

Without a healthy emphasis on music and FX, immersion is lost, when sound is thrown on the back burner a game becomes unconvincing. If you don't believe me, see for yourself, load up any one of your favorite titles, and mute the music and FX in various stages, does the game retain its atmosphere? How about its sense of immersion?

Because Xenosis is such a remarkably unique game, it demands unique music and sounds. Music, art, and story are often tied to rigid expectations and conventions, and so it is the job of people like myself to achieve stylistic goals while breaking free from the mold. In my experience as a composer, I’ve developed my own approach to production and my own distinctive sound. Through this, hope that I can bring something truly unique and custom-tailored to the Xenosis experience.


James and I have created a dynamic audio system that reacts directly to the players situation, able to heighten intensity or increase mood and tension when required. We do this through the use of three techniques.

Dynamic Audio Tracks
By layering our music into separate tracks, we are able to build tension to react directly to the players experience. For example, the dynamic audio system ties directly into the players alert level. If you are exploring the ship without the attention of the inhabitants, we deliver a soundscape designed to create fill the space you are in. If enemies becoming alerted to your presence, we raise the tension by adding another layer of audio. Finally, if you enter combat, another layer is added, giving life to the combat, further intensifying the atmosphere. When combat is over, the tracks fade out, back to the base soundscape.

The following are two examples of this in action.

https://soundcloud.com/james-stone-23/dynamic-audio-example-1/s-49eUI

https://soundcloud.com/james-stone-23/dynamic-audio-example-2/s-x9Npq

3D Positional Audio
We place many sounds in the game to heighten the immersion, that react correctly to the players position. You will hear lights buzzing, machines whirring and the distant scraping of flesh on metal as unknown lifeforms move around the ship. This attention to detail is what makes the game feel alive, feel imposing and is core to delivering a believable player experience.

Environmental Effects
As you walk through tight corridors, your footsteps are muted and your shots ring down the hallway. If you enter a hangar, you hear echoes all around, you shots bouncing from wall to wall and you can feel the openness of the environment. We use cutting edge audio and reverb techniques to create realistic environmental sounds to build on the layers above, and its been commented that hearing doors slam in the distance can sound so creepy for a top down game.


Thinking outside the box is a vital skill for the composer, especially when tasked with creating Sci-Fi sounds that lack any sort of semblance to known phenomena on earth. I expect that crafting the sounds and cries of the various inhabitants which have made the Carpathian their home will be no easy task. But it is certainly possible, and done right, will give the game an awesomely terrifying flavor with a bit of ingenuity.

I have been known to smack large ovens, whip ropes around, bang all sorts of things found in junkyards, anything to create unique sounds.

I will be working closely with a number of clients (talented in the art of foul noises) and traveling around industrial environments equipped with my zoom H6, in search of some of the weirdest noises that the Derelict Carpathian might make as it shifts and stirs through the lonely cosmos, and I cannot wait for you all to dive in and hear the Carpathian come to life!

I hope that gives you a good overview of what we are trying to achieve, if you do have any questions or comments, please just leave them below or come and talk to us in Discord

Kind Regards,

Alexander Giacoma
Composer & Sound Engineer



Xenosis: Alien Infection is being crowdfunded on Fig, visit the campaign here: http://www.fig.co/Xenosis

We did it! With the support of our backers and investors over on our Fig Campaign, we have surpassed our funding goal in mere days since launch and we are still blown away by the support and feedback we are getting. Sincerely, thank you all so much for your help in getting us over the line and helping to make this game a reality. The team and I have worked hard to get the game to where it is now, and to know that you all believed in what we are making is truly humbling.

We are rapidly heading towards our first stretch target of $35,000 and that means that we will be able to bring Xenosis: Alien Infection to the Xbox One if achieved. If we do manage to hit that target then you will be able to trade your steam key for an Xbox key instead should you wish. So please, spread the word, tell your friends, shout it out on social media and let’s see if we can meet another of our milestones as successfully as we hit the first!

You can also join the small (but growing) discord server and talk directly to development team and join in discussions with other Fig supporters & fans.

As a final note, if you missed the live stream on Wed, you can watch it here and see the game being played, along with my commentary: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/264645883 (starts at 9mins)

In the next update, Alex and I will be discussing Music and Audio, whilst providing some new tracks for you to listen to and go behind the scenes in our creation process.

Kind Regards,

James Stone
Game Designer & Developer

Hi all, I just wanted to let you know that as of today, the Fig campaign is now live and you can support the development of Xenosis and get really awesome unique rewards too.



Many of these rewards will not be present in the retail versions and are only available for Fig backers, and they are going fast!

http://www.fig.co/xenosis

We launched only a few hours ago, and Xenosis is already over 60% funded, which has completely blown us away! The reaction from fans, backers and investors has been nothing short of amazing, so if you have already pledged your support, then please accept a huge thank you from us all here at NerdRage Studios, you rock!

Stay tuned for regular updates on the campaign and the games development, and if you have any requests, please feel free to get in touch.

Kind Regards,

James Stone
Designer and Developer

Hi everyone, for today's update I thought it would be good to show some behind the scenes tech from the game, and show the progress over time from one of our early builds.

When designing Xenosis, I knew that I wanted to give a unique take on the top down genre and really use lighting to great affect to create atmosphere in the game. I knew how I wanted it to look in my head, it was just a case of translating that into the game engine.

Traditionally, 2D games are all created on a flat 2D plane, with the sprites "sitting" on top of the background, and that's how I originally started prototyping the game, but it looked so flat and I spent a long time writing a "fake" 2D lighting system, that could cast shadows, but it just didn't look right.

In order to get the look I wanted, I needed to leverage Unity's lighting system, and for that you need to be working in 3D. So I needed to change my approach in order to get this to work, and that meant two things.

1. Sprites all need to react to realtime lighting.
2. Sprites need to cast and receive shadows.

In order to achieve the first, that was relatively simple and just meant using normal maps to make the sprites react to light based on data contained in the normal map.



Then, in order to cast and receive shadows, I changed the game from a 2D layout and started re-constructing in 3D with hidden geometry that can react to light.





Once setup, now I could have lights react to 3D geometry, for example, a crate is simply a hidden 3D cube with a sprite on top, so you only see the cube sprite, but it casts a realistic shadow.



Now whilst this approach was good, it still felt very flat, and one of the biggest changes I made to the game that had a huge impact was to not display a 2D game using an Orthographic camera, as this projects everything as flat, regardless of how close it is to the camera, instead I swapped to a perspective camera, that allowed me to give height to the game.



Now things were starting to look good, but it still lacked a little, so then it was onto the level details and shader tech. I worked on creating details to adorn the levels with, cracks in the floor, rubble and misc items, things to give more context to the levels. I also worked to create deeper shadow areas, allow light to have more of an impact and overlayed a number of shader effects to bring grit and contrast to the game.

Now it was starting to look as I had intended, and the lighting was constantly being tweaked to get it looking just right.







Now with this tech in place, we have super juicy things like volumetric lighting, particles that react to lighting and we can use loads of dynamic lights to make it look super awesome, whilst still maintaining performance and this is something I am very proud of.

So lastly, here is quick peek of it all put together as it is now. This shows you the "flat" 2D sprites inside the game engine, without any of the lighting turned on, and this is viewed directly from above would indeed look like a traditional 2D game.



As you can see, all the in game items such as these crates and the player are flat sprites, but they are hiding the invisible 3D geometry, so lets turn the lights on to see what happens...



Now you can see how the light is reacting to the sprites, and the 3D geometry is casting realistic shadows. The custom shader tech I wrote handles the sprites receiving those shadows and reacting as if they had real texture that responds to light.

Finally, now you can see the same thing, but this time from the game view with all the shader tech enabled.



And there you have it, realistic lighting and shadowing in a top down 2D game :)

So, there's a quick look at our lighting tech, I hope you enjoyed reading and if you want more tech updates like this or behind the scenes info, let me know in the comments!


Kind Regards,

James.
Designer and Developer



Xenosis: Alien Infection is being crowdfunded on Fig, visit the campaign here: http://www.fig.co/Xenosis

As part of my series of introductory devlogs, I think it would be great to give an overview of our story, and the events leading up to start of the game. Apologies for the following text wall, but I wanted you to all see how serious we are about creating a universe for our game to be set within.

// --------------------------------------------------- //

The game takes place on the Carpathian, an interstellar starship built on 23/7/2251 EST (earth standard time). The ship was developed and built by the European space agency, alongside co-operation from the US and Chinese space agencies to terraform a mineral rich planet discovered in Epsilon Eridani. The starship, named after the Agency directors love of the Carpathian mountain range in Europe, was designed to travel with a minimal crew of engineers and scientists in order to setup the first ever large scale terraforming operation outside of our Solar System, and provide a new planet for the human race to eventually colonise. This journey was only made possible after the US space agency built and successfully tested the first interstellar jump drive in 2230. The technology allowed faster than light travel, and for the first time in humanities history, bridged the gap between our solar system and the universe.

Realising the opportunities that this gave humanity, scientists and engineers began work designing a ship that could take a crew beyond our stars, and with the advancements made in terraforming projects on Mars and Jupiter over the last 100 years, establish a colony outside of our solar system. The Carpathian took nearly 10 years to construct, needing vast supplies of rare minerals and anti matter for the ships engines. The ship was built to house a full engineering section, workshops and warehousing, laboratories for genetics, bio engineering and botany and full medical facilities. The ship could perform a planetary landing and provide a full base of operations for the 15 year terraforming project.

The ship left earth orbit on 15/01/2252 EST with the crew in deep stasis, to survive the 50 year journey to EE/LMP1 (Later to be renamed Genesis). The ship made the journey successfully and the crew made contact with Earth on 21/08/2304 EST and work began on the terraforming project. The world was united in awe of the achievement human kind had made and for a long while, there was a constant focus of attention on this crews amazing journey and the work they were undertaking.

On 07/02/2309 EST, the now known ESA (Earth Space Agency) made a public announcement that the Carpathian and its crew had been destroyed after a natural disaster on Genesis. An earthquake of cataclysmic proportions had occurred at the base site and the ship and its crew had been lost. The world was united in mourning for the loss of the pioneering heroes of the Carpathian, and the ESA had not yet spoken of plans for another journey, as the next time a crew could reach Genesis, it would be at least another 50 years. Over time, people forgot and the world moved on.

The year is now 2335, The protagonist (A salvage hunter from one of the colonies on Mars) is scanning deep space after picking up a faint ping on long range scanners. It’s unlikely any ships would be out that far, but as an opportunist, it was worth the fuel creds to make the journey. Upon arriving at the signal location, you discover the Carpathian, floating dead in deep space. A quick scan of the historical databases, shows that this ship was supposed to have been destroyed in an earthquake, so what is it doing out here? You know that the data core of the ships central AI, will be worth a fortune to the right buyer and could set you up for life. There are no life signs, no breathable air and traces of an unknown toxin in ships atmosphere. You know its worth the risk, so you put on your hazard suit and dock with the ship in Engineering, to begin the long journey to the ships data core.
// --------------------------------------------------- //



The way the story will unfold as you play will be from the various terminals, log files, emails, memos and research notes that you find along the way, with the story told from the crew's perspective. You will slowly uncover what happened on the mission, see the interaction between the various crew members and learn as the story unfolds, what eventually happened to the mission and its crew. I don't want to give away anything for obvious spoiler reasons, but suffice to say that there is enough there to please the sci-fi fan, with many sub stories and plots along the way, which form the basis of our Anthology of books to accompany the game. We are proud to say that we go beyond the normal "dangers on a ship story", but delve into the psyche of the crew and their individual goals, some of which are not all in the interests of the mission and the personal interplay during the course of events. We also look at the political powerplay of the governments involved, and weave their own influence into the story of the fated ship. The story is not centered around you, but rather the role you play in a much larger tale, and your impact in the outcome.

Story is very important to us, but I also appreciate that not everyone wants to read a ton of dialog when playing games, so I have designed it so that only the absolute minimum needed is given to the player... in fact, you can even skip all the dialog without reading it, and all the codes, passwords etc you need are auto stored in your datalog, if that's how you would prefer to play. This way, we can make the game as inclusive as possible for all players, giving each of you the experience just how you want it.

The key challenge we have is to craft the player journey to match the story reveal. It's a balancing act of not giving too much away so you can predict the story, and not giving too little so that it makes no sense. We want the players journey to match to specific story milestones, all helping to guide you along our narrative journey and draw you into our universe.

Let me know in the comments your thoughts on the story, are you a fan of deep story telling in games?

Kind Regards,

James.
Designer and Developer



Xenosis: Alien Infection is being crowdfunded on Fig, visit the campaign here: http://www.fig.co/Xenosis

In todays devlog, I wanted to answer a very simple question (*with perhaps a not so simple answer*)... "What type of game is Xenosis, and how will it play?"

At its core, the game is a survival adventure, with a focus on giving you a great story, a huge ship full of secrets and challenging combat and stealth. The game could be described as a top down metroidvania, in that the ship will open up new sections as you find the right access cards, passcodes, keys etc. Often this will give you shortcuts back to previous sections of the ship. The focus really is on exploration, but there is the ever present danger of survival. Your suit needs oxygen and power, two resources that are in limited supply and this is the element that keeps the gameplay driven, but offers that risk / reward system for exploration. Should you explore that tunnel you just opened up? You are low on power, but there could be supplies, or even better, new crafting schematics. But taking damage might also tear your suit, forcing you to repair it before you loose all your precious oxygen. Its these choices and systems that build the overall tension and atmosphere of the game.

The game features a inventory, loot and crafting system, you will need to scavenge components and find crafting schematics to use the ships crafting terminals. Need to craft ammunition? Head over to the security deck and find the munitions section.... need medical supplies? You'll have to head to the science deck and find the medical replicators. This makes crafting make more sense in the game, after all, why would you be able to craft biochemical suit upgrades in the laundry? I am a keen believer in giving the game a form of grounded reality too, so that things make sense. The engineering section looks like an engineering section and will contain things you would expect in that area, which will be totally different to the research labs for example. As a player, you can use your instincts when exploring and the game should reward you for doing so. You can find new weapons and craft upgrades for your hazard suit, weapons and your multi tool, all of which will help you survive the dangers that lurk further into the ship.


Combat in Xenosis is designed to be challenging and intense

The combat and stealth mechanics are key to the experience, enemies should feel dangerous and not just a swarm of bullet sponges. They should react to you, hunt you, work together and flee if scared. This makes the overall experience far more believable, and adds to the layer of tension and immersion that we aim to keep at all times. Stealth is fully dynamic and reacts to shadow and light. Need to make yourself hidden? Turn the lights off, break them or perhaps push an object in front of them to cast a shadow. This allows you to avoid combat entirely if you would prefer, or if you have too (you might well be out of ammo after all).

One of the things we are most proud of is the audio too. We have put a lot of work into making the audio really draw you in, using 3D positional technology and layering sounds to create atmosphere. If you stand in the engineering deck your footsteps will echo across the hangar, you will hear the low hum of machinery, the buzzing of florescent lighting and the slow deep creaking of the ships hull. The music reacts to the player too, when exploring its designed to give a low level of feeling and presence, but as the tension rises so does the music. If you are being hunted the music will let you know, if you enter combat we layer in energy to raise the tension even further. We pride ourselves on attention to detail and that's something that all players have commented on, which is awesome!

One final note on gameplay, the game will be fully playable with controllers or keyboard and mouse, whichever you prefer, but both work exceptionally well.

What gameplay elements are you most excited for? Perhaps you have ideas of your own that you would love to see in the game? Comment below, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Kind Regards,

James.
Designer and Developer



Xenosis: Alien Infection is being crowdfunded on Fig, visit the campaign here: http://www.fig.co/Xenosis