Some time ago, there was this contest started by 
For this contest, I came up with This Idea ... which I was thinking about further...
This is the first blog post about this project
Let's quickly recap what I was thinking about back then:
Setting = SciFi
Game Type = Story driven RPG
Gameplay = First person survivalGame objectives:
- Survive by gathering food and other resources
- Get the factory / colony working again (crafting system?)
- Dont get eaten by aliens (optional)
Story guided by an artificial intelligence which used to support the colonists. Story parts are told by recordings and other residues.
I want to stick to this setting, except that I do not plan any combat system.
Which does not mean that there wont be any dangers!
The Game World
As you can already see in the screenshot above, it is going to be a "Mars-like" world. Although I do not plan to have a deserted rocky planet and nothing else.
I like the idea of "Satisfactory" where the planet has many different vegetation zones.
While Satisfactory has too sharp differences I want to have smoother transitions. Which means, there wont be any jungle or grass fields (after all, it is a dead planet - more or less) but yet, some areas filled with some liquid (not neccessarily water) and various minerals are a solid option for my idea.
The idea behind this game world is to be able to run a small colony and/or industrial research facility.
The Facility
Speaking of the facility. I already have some concepts (powered by the Unreal Market Place) which perfectly fits my setting.
The plan is to get the facility running and maintain the running processes by gathering ressources and taking care of ... well ... everything.
Industrial Area
Bunker / Maintenance
Bunker / Living Quarters
Story and Gameplay
So, why are you here and how are you supposed to survive?
The basic story line is about the facility "NX 142" located on to-be-named planet.
Due to an accident, you are the last survivor of the facility.
Your first and most important task is to stabilize the most important systems and secure your viablity.
You can achieve this by using the provided resources and your skills. Some resources can be crafted, others have to be collected outside.
There will be many small stories told that will lead you a bit through the (short) history of the facility.
To not grow lonely you will be accompanied by the artificial intelligence to-be-named which supports you with (hopefully) usefull information and company.
Side note: I always liked the humor of GlaDOS from the Portal Series...
The gameplay itself is going to be pretty straight forward. First person, use your hands and tools to do stuff and place things. No rocket science here...
Speaking of rockets...
Whats the goal?
Even though I like sandbox games, I feel like the market is over saturated. And I often miss some kind of an end. I mean, at some point you want to say, yes, I made it, right?
According to my plan, your goal is not only to survive but also to be picked up at some point of the game.
This can be achieved by several actions:
- Survive long enough to be picked up
- Get the facility running to be able to call for help
- Build a device that gets you out of there
I am not sure yet which path to take. All of them seem to be appealing but yet a bit boring. On other hand, why not let it open ended and give the player the opportunity to live a life on his own planet in his own colony?
I definetly need to think that through properly...
So far, so good.
Many ideas, some need to be sharpened. Some concepts are done.
Next step is to create the basic gameplay mechanics (using Unreal Engine) and set up the first parts of the facility.
I hope I am going to be able to provide more ingame content soon. Stay tuned :)