Oct 26, 2023
Altered Alma - Sam
Welcome back, dear gang!
Not long ago, we came across one of these popular timelapse videos that show the look of a place over the years. It made us think about Neo-Barcelona, and how much it has changed since its first appearance in Aeon Drive. Of course, we refer to both the artistic and game design vision. As we have evolved over the years as developers, so has the world in which Jackelyne's story unfolds — plus, it's important to remark that they’re not the same city, so each version has its peculiarities.
Leaving this detail aside, there are many interesting aspects to talk about. The first and most important is the role of the city in each adventure, as it has become a protagonist of the series in its own right.
While in Aeon Drive the city was a mere witness to the adventures of Jack, who had crashed there escaping from an interstellar war, in Altered Alma Neo-Barcelona is at the center of the action. Therefore, this time the player will walk through a world full of light and life, but also darkness and death. The same streets that saw our protagonist grow up.
This is due to the main concepts that guided the development of each game. Aeon Drive was born as a game made for fast gameplay and speedrunning. It means that players should see the most important elements of the game in the forefront to optimize their actions at every moment, so the background loses importance to dimension engine cores, enemies and obstacles. Here, Neo-Barcelona is a mere crossing point.
In contrast, the Neo-Barcelona we introduce in Altered Alma is designed to encourage and reward immersion — not just in terms of map exploration, but also by looking closely at the elements composing each room.
The more you explore and scratch, and the more attention you pay to the scenes, the closer you will get to the very essence of this city. For example, you'll soon notice how deeply rooted gang culture is in the history and politics of Neo-Barcelona, and what kind of relationship their leaders have. This knowledge is intertwined with the main plot of the game and, sometimes, the player’s choices will have a meaningful impact on this power balance. Everything contributes to making the city feel like a living organism that never stops changing.
Altered Alma's artistic style was born by mixing two very opposite ideas: the coldness of life in a cyberpunk environment and the need to preserve elements of the past, using them as a base to create something new, refined and expressive. The locations where this combination is most evident are those we have taken from the real Barcelona.
We refer to famous landmarks like the Sagrada Familia, a cathedral that inspired an entire biome in the game. But there’s more to it — from buildings and sculptures to small props like street signs and vending machines, there are many others related to catalan culture scattered all over the city.
Another aspect we cared a lot about was the artistic expression of light and shadow in the new Neo-Barcelona. It's important to understand that there's a close relationship between cyberpunk societies and nightlife. Neo-Barcelona awakens as the sun goes down, so it's during nighttime that the best and the worst of this city show up. When you build up light on top of darkness as we do, it's easier to make the brighter elements stick out. Poetic, isn't it?
Besides this, it's very important for level design as we cannot take visibility away from the platforms in favor of aesthetics. A poor approach in this regard can kill the player’s desire to see what lies beyond.
As mentioned before, you need to explore new areas in order to progress in the story of Altered Alma. You can revisit them as many times as you want, and sometimes there will be new events waiting for you. Some of them will be part of the main story, while others will be side quests. These secondary missions will also help you learn more about Neo-Barcelonian gangs, make new friends and, even, develop unexpected romances with Jack's crew members.
Each district brings new chances to get rare resources, meet key citizens and uncover the dirty secrets of those in power. Of course, there’s a certain risk in going so far… No gang will allow you to dive into their territories without permission. In fact, you might end up fighting some particularly strong enemies. But that shouldn’t be a problem for an experienced mercenary!
Speaking of the fat cats, there's one more new thing worth mentioning related to Altered Alma's Neo-Barcelona. As shown in our latest trailer, some bosses will use environmental attacks on Jackelyne. By this integration of the background into action, we aim to create spatial awareness and add more mechanics to the fight via inanimate objects.
Last but not least, here’s some stuff that our lead artist Sergio Cabanillas used as reference:
- Metrópolis (1927, Fritz Lang), film — German expressionism.
- Paul Verhoeven, movie director— Sarcasm and cruelty as narrative elements.
- Brave New World (1932, Aldous Huxley), novel — Dystopian societies, dark humor.
- 1984 (1949, George Orwell), novel — Dystopian societies.
We hope you’re up to visit Neo-Barcelona when Altered Alma is out. There's no better way to appreciate all the hard work behind its stunning visuals than giving it a chance.
With all this said, let’s move to our monthly dev update!DEVELOPMENT UPDATE: OCTOBER - Metro area is almost complete, now under testing.
- We’ve tested both an early version of the dialogue options needed for the romance system and the relationship menu.
- The team’s working on a couple specific animations for the first scenes of the game. One of Jack’s crew members is going to have a hard time...
- Our artists designed new map icons for crew members and other important characters. The most important thing is to make exploration easy for you!
- We’ve introduced new fixes in Spaceport, like for particles and new enemies.
Thanks for joining us one more time. Don’t forget to join our Discord server for further updates on the status of Altered Alma and exclusive chats with the community. Also, we’re always available on Twitter, Facebook and TikTok.
Last but not least, add the game to your wishlist if you already haven’t. This is super important for small developers like us to ensure the success of the game!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2190700/Altered_Alma/
Have a great day,
2Awesome Studio & Critical Reflex
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