Hello Survivors!
We hope you're okay! We're a biiiiit late for this month's blogpost, BUT we are still on time!
During this month, we got to do some balancing on the demo, thanks to your feedback, so thank you! And if you haven't checked the demo yet, we strongly advise you to do it (and survive up to the end of it!).
We're very happy with the progress of the game. We're now getting closer to the last stretch of the development, and even though we're very much on time, we still have a million things left to do.
Today, we want to talk about a returning (but improved!) feature from Dead in Vinland: relationships!
As you know, characters are part of the core of the experience of the "Dead in" series. For Dead in Antares, one thing that we find really exciting, narratively speaking, is the fact that all characters share the same goal at the beginning of the game: saving Earth. But at the same time, they all come from very different backgrounds, and the way they work and live together is what's very exciting for us!
So today, I will let Robin, Game Designer on Dead in Antares, talk about the relationships and the way they work in the game!
In Dead in Vinland, the relationship system was highly volatile, which was fitting with the overall feel of Vinland's gameplay ; it even led to special events between characters which could create unexpected situations, which were hit or miss depending on the player.
Something that sets Dead in Antares apart from Vinland is our general intention to further limit this kind of volatility, so we aim for something more structured and predictable.
Each relationship is represented by a gauge. Every time two characters work together, whether on an expedition, in combat, or at the camp, their relationship grows. Each time it reaches a threshold, it provides a gameplay bonus to both characters.
When certain thresholds are reached, you even gain access to exclusive dialogues between characters, which depict a moment in the daily lives of the two characters on the planet, and further develop the dynamic between the two.
In Dead in Vinland these interpersonal moments happened automatically during the night, without any player input, now you can choose to experience them whenever you want via the character sheet.
Important to note that all the characters in the camp have a relationship with each other, and there are three dialogues available per relationship, which represents a huge amount of content!
We really wanted to give all the characters a chance to shine and justify having a fixed group of survivors. The relationship system allows each pairing to exist, and from the player's perspective, we didn't want to force some of them more than others, so no matter which character you want to pair with a particular other character, there's a reward waiting for you.
Now it's up to you to discover in the game when it releases how each relationship will turn out: romance, friendship, rivalry? Wait and see.
Take care! <3