Hello there inmates,
We are super happy to be part of the Steam Turn-Based RPG Fest with a -20% discount from today until October 7th! Come celebrate this amazing event with tons of game combining both turn-based mechanics and RPG aspects!
To accompany this event, here is our latest devblog where we will dig further into how we gave life to the secluded and dangerous world of an intergalactic prison and characters that shape the narrative of your sentence.
Creating an atmosphere
One of the first things we knew when we began working on Space Prison was that we wanted to give players the fantasy of being locked with quirky alien criminals. The RPG element was sort of implied in this fantasy - meeting the convicts, learning their stories, choosing who to befriend and who to fight.
So we implemented gangs as prison factions, and, within them, a relationship system where you can build relations with every inmate in the prison and a few features that support it: quest system, gifts, encounters etc... Quests are the main way of getting other convicts on your side, but you can also find other ways to do that.
Space prison is a very potent ground for making a unique RPG featuring things that are possible only in this setting. It translates flawlessly into mechanics like prison gangs, gaining convicts’ respect, challenging other inmates for their place in the hierarchy, crafting contraband items etc.
RPG mechanics: to embody and to socialize
The goal of the player character is to escape the prison and to do that they need to survive first and climb up the prison social ladder. In short - join one of the gangs and advance to the top. BUT every player has their own story and their own path through the prison.
To advance you need a certain amount of Respect from your peers. You get the Respect by completing their personal quest storylines. Therefore you choose which convicts to befriend and gain their respect and which ones to fight to advance in the gang hierarchy. And that’s on top of the gang that you choose. So to learn all the inmates and their stories you’d need to play through the game at least 4 times.
Working on the alien criminal characters was one of the most fun processes in making Space Prison. We wanted to make quirky criminals that are tough, but at the same time original and interesting. So each one is really unique with their story, their looks, the way they speak and so on. The setting is so potent in terms of what you can come up with. Here sky even isn’t a limit. So as an example, we have a space pirate with an identity crisis that’s looking for their new crew, an investigative journalist, etc...
All these characters were created by the cooperation between the narrative team, the art team and the design team. Some of their stories reference popular themes or structures like Rocky or Groundhog Day and we have a ton of pop cultural references with subtle winks at all types of geeks. Players should have a lot of fun finding references to their favorite movies, books, comics or games.
Combat as a prison-themed interaction
Designing combat was really fun. We wanted to use this notion that weapons are a contraband, so there’s scarcity of tools to fight with. Gathering resources is a first step of preparing for combat. The second one is crafting - at the beginning you craft makeshift weapons, armors and usable items, but later on when you get your hands on more high-end workbenches you craft real beauties like battle drones that become your party members and exchangeable parts for them.
We also wanted to relay this experience of prison being a closed space, so we made the combat arenas claustrophobic. We used a grid base but limited its space, so positioning in this tight space and using the environment makes it more interesting.
There are two main types of combat in the prison. A regular combat with alien creatures infesting the station and with weaker inmates. And more challenging fights with gang members. These are mini-boss fights that you need to prepare too. Each gang member has their weapons and armors they fight with along with a set of special strengths, weaknesses and statistics. To learn them you need to uncover them by getting information. This is a preparation part of the combat.
Have fun during the event and try not to stir too much fight with other inmates (yes please do). Do not hesitate to leave us a review if you have not done it already or give some suggestions and feedback on the game. We will read them with pleasure!
Stay tuned for more insights and future events to cell-ebrate!
See you behind bars!
Wooden Alien Team