Hello Gadgeteers,
We hope you all are doing great! Update 0.1.6 has been out there for a while so.... It's time for a roadmap update!
Since we released the Launcher Update, we have been working tirelessly on laying the groundwork for one of the biggest new features coming to the game: the story mode.
This update will add an optional mission-based gameplay loop to Retro Gadgets that will function as a much needed introduction to the game. We are working on new systems for jobs (think quests but in Retro Gadgets), complete with messages, funny characters, time-slots, money, components to buy, unlockables, magazines. It's a ton of work and it's going to take some time before it's ready for release. We are aiming to release the story mode during the first quarter of 2024 but nothing is set in stone.
The good news is, game updates will come while we work on the story mode. However, we have to finish building the core systems for the narrative layer before we can get back to adding features to the existing "sandbox mode".
Our plan is to have the core for the story mode ready by the end of October, and then split up and have the content-focused people in the team work on the content for the story, while the tech-people team returns to its rightful mission to provide you regular, awesome, updates for retro gadgets "classic" mode.
Why story mode? - you might ask - Was making the sandbox mode not complex enough already?
Well... Yes. But in order to be able to realize our grand vision for the game, we need more people playing the game.
While our current approach has been good enough for you bunch of beautiful and awesome nerds (we will never be thankful enough for all your love and support to the game and its community!), we really need to get the game out there to a lot more people if we want this project to thrive in the future years.
Right now there are two things we believe are keeping people away from the game:
- To have fun playing Retro Gadgets, some knowledge of coding/Lua is mandatory
- Retro Gadgets has no tutorial whatsoever and the only solution to learn how to play the game is "reading the fucking manual"
Providing an intro and a compelling narrative is also something we think has great potential not only to attract a larger audience, but also to improve the overall charm of the game by adding game-like rules, resources and systems that later could end up in the sandbox as well.
We are really proud of the launcher update, so we decided its release was the right time to commit several months to the development of an awesome story.
We are working around the clock to get a demo of the story mode ready to play at The Tokyo Game Show 2023 in late September. Retro Gadgets has been nominated for the "Selected Indie 80" portion of the exhibit so we will have our own booth there!
Can't wait to show you more of what we are building for Retro Gadgets!