Devlog 1

Hello world,

We are Piano Virus 

This is the beginning of the development of our game, Just Space Things (Working Title). Themed around social media and its effects on mental health and isolation, this project will explore the experience of social media from the perspective of an alien. Here's the pitch!

Play as a space travel and intergalactic lifestyle influencer creating content from the comfort of their bachelor's space pad. Travel to different planets, keep up with trends, and choose what to make content about each day to gain as many followers as you can! Be careful though, trends are quick to change. If you can't keep up you'll lose followers and fall into irrelevance.

We decided that the gameplay loop would entail traveling to a planet and interacting with its trends by creating content about it.. Our player character is a lifestyle influencer, documenting their travels through the galaxy and chasing the latest trends. 

Using the TubePuter, the player can see where the latest trends are taking place. The ships automatic navigation can take them to the decided planet. While traveling, they will need to deal with random events that will impede their journey. To pass the time, the player can listen to the radio, make food (for content of course), and take care of a small plant corner. Trends on these planets can randomly shift if they don't get to the trending planet on time. The trend will then become obscure and the player will have nothing to make content about. This erratic and random shifting captures the inherent unpredictability of the internet and social media trends. The player must focus on keeping their following engaged in the competitive and fast paced world of intergalactic internet fame.

This game will not have a HUD, the UI will all come from the environment around the spaceship. The only way to see if trends have changed will be to check the TubePuter.

Engine: Godot

Modeling Software: Blockbench

Our Team:

Jack McLoughlin

Hey, My name is Jack McLoughlin and will be the project manager for this project. I have created a couple of games in this role so I believe I can keep us organized and on track. I can also contribute to most of the design fields involved with this project. outside of games I play music, workout, and I love to try new things. I am stoked to be working with this team and I hope that we can create something awesome. 

Tristian Coghlan

Hello! I’m Tristian Coghlan. I’ve been making games for 3 years with a focus on level design, which is the main role I’ll be taking on this project. Outside of working on games, I spend a lot of time playing guitar, going for hikes, taking care of my plants, and watching Adventure Time. I’m excited to hone my skills on this project and work on something vibrant with a bit of humor.

Marco Diaz Garcia

Hello everyone! My name is Marco Diaz Garcia and I’m excited to be a part of this project as the Lead Programmer. In this role, I’ll be focusing on implementing the mechanics and systems we come up with and ensuring the coding experience is smooth for everyone. A bit about myself: I have a background in computer science and art (aside from the two years of game design we’ve all got, haha). I’m passionate about sci-fi movies and video games, with a particular fixation on the game Satisfactory. In my free time, I enjoy painting on my tablet, which helps me relax. I’m looking forward to contributing to this project and collaborating with the team!

Julian

Hi, I'm Julian. I'm a third year student and I'm looking forward to getting started on this project. I will be working in the audio department for this project. Such as providing music, sound effects, and audio engineering. I've been interested in audio for a very long time. Mostly since I can remember. I was in charge for audio on my last project, which was titled Musedash and I think I did pretty well. I've also composed a few songs recreationally, and I'm proud that I made them very well with the little knowledge that I had at the time.

Vincent

Hello! I'm Vincent (but call me Vee!), a third year student and lead artist on this project. I'll be responsible for the concept, 2D art and helping out with the 3D art in our game. Who am I? A very passionate artist who's been drawing for a long time. I have experience with a lot of illustration software like Photoshop and I dabble a bit in traditional art too. I'm aiming to expand my portfolio and to keep improving on my craft. I've done concept and UI art and model sheets for game jams and I'm excited to offer my expertise to a new team this year! Nice to meet all of you and I hope we have a good time working together!

Elora

Hello everyone! My name is Elora, and I'll be the Narrative Designer on this project! I'll be focusing on writing and implementing narrative components and tying them into gameplay. I love watching cringe compilations, playing The Sims 4, and watching horror movies :P