The Settle Gliese Backstory

Settle Gliese is set in a dystopian future where most inhabitants on earth are kept in dingy apartments with nothing to do except play on their computers and watch TV all day. Some of these understandably bored individuals find themselves targeted by adverts that offer a way out. They are tempted into joining a twisted gameshow - one in which they’re transported to a terraformed planet and dropped off with no supplies, all for the entertainment of people back on earth. It’s the most ambitious and expensive reality TV show ever, organised by one of the megacorporations that controls all of the resources and factories. How will the people get on in the new planet? Will they learn to work together and form a better society than the one they left behind? Or will the desperations of a life without modern comforts drive them towards violence? And what about this shadowy megacorp? What do the people working for them think about all this? And how exactly did they manage to terraform this planet just for entertainment purposes?

We’re trying to introduce the player into this world and get them asking these questions as they play through the tutorial. One way we’re achieving this is through the size and shape of the rooms - we want small, cramped rooms connected with long tight corridors. Another vital part is of course the pixel art. This week I’ve been integrating the new pixel art into the tutorial, and I’m very pleased with the result so far.

The Dingy Apartment

You don’t want to know where the toilet is…

The apartment is very small and you can’t see anything outside it. The door looks very heavy and the player is unable to walk through it. The chair in the apartment doubles as storage, which is a smart design choice in such a tiny room. There is nothing for the player to do except start up his computer and browse aimlessly.

The Space Station

Who would’ve thought an office floating in space could be so boring?

The space station has long bare corridors and spartan offices. It is a bit tired looking, with little notes stuck up in front of some of the office doors. You can see some barrels and pipes attached to the outer hull in silhouette - clearly it was built without beauty in mind. Like in any corporation, there seems to be a hierarchy here. Some of the people you talk to go to lengths to show you they are more important than you, whereas others seem to be more friendly and less formal.

Whatever architect designed this place needs a paycut

The Shuttle

Hey, you look like someone I know…

The shuttle taking you to the planet is small and clunky looking - it is more cube shaped than the sleek rocket designs of earlier space shuttles. Here you will meet your comrades if you choose to embark somewhere new.

So, that about sums up what I’ve been working on this week - now let’s hear from our guest writer, who has been labouring under a hot Berlin sun (I let them pick their own title for their section this week…)

bloggy bit sry it’s not much, i can’t think of anything else to say cos hot

Hello from your local pixel artist! I have been busy these weeks working on some of the rarer and more far-flung flora and fauna on Gliese. The places that won’t make up the majority of arable land but will hopefully be special places to travel through and explore. I kind of don’t want to spoil these locations (and you’d want to chart biomes like “The Slimes”, “Crunchy Forest” and “Gumbo Rumblings” yourself right?) so today instead I’ll share some rejected pixel art.

Okay, who keeps putting holes in my dang fences?

Something we wanted to explore with what’s possible to make in Gliese is limitations that resources would have on what you make and how it looks. Regionally accessible dyestuffs for example could tell the story of how far you had to travel and how many friends you had to make along the way to have your fancy blue and yellow fence for example. And as you travel you can expect to run into different cultures and architecture arising from different locations. The above ideas were initial explorations of this idea but weren’t in keeping with the style we are going for so we won’t be using them.

I leave you with these gorgeous albino pines photographed by Natgeo. While you’re out there exploring Gliese keep an eye out for these arboreal ghosts

That’s all for this week folks! Check in next time when I’ll introduce you to the wonderful world of procedural world generation.