For me, 2016 was a very exciting year.
Sector Six was released on Steam and I have become a real game developer.Not very successful, but real. That means a lot to me.I have quit school and so far it feels like the right decision.It's great to finally spend time meaningfully.I finally have seen my game flourish.After many updates and tweaks, Sector Six's mechanics finally began to work together.I have never managed to make game work this well before.I can finally say without any doubt that I made a good game.I have saw players playing my game for massive amounts of time.There are several people who spent 60+ hours playing Sector Six!After all that happened in 2016, I have become very confident to continue making games after Sector Six is finished.Now let's look at what updates I have managed to release in 2016!January 24New combat system testI have started working on new combat in the beginning of January and by the end of it, I had a prototype of the new system.March 30New combat system releaseIt took me another two months to turn combat system prototype into something that works.May 2Steam releaseSector Six got released on Steam!May 5Minor changesSeveral small changes based on Steam user feedback.May 20Mission IV, new rewards and new leaderboardsMany improvements to story mission system and mission that I am really proud of.Looking forward to making more similar missions.June 10New enemies, new abilities and combat improvementsThis update added Sustained Barrage ability and infamous dreadnoughts.August 19Massive graphical updateThis update has vastly improved the look and feel of the game! There were hundreds of smaller changes.With this update, Sector Six has entered beta!October 6Modular difficulty system, improved inventory and modified enemiesA monster update, that added a new layer of depth to Sector Six.I could write the whole page about how much this update have influenced the game!October 28Modular difficulty system improvements, new enemy and new starter spaceshipModular difficulty system was too easy, so I had to make another update to rebalance it.This update has also added apparition enemy.December 15Mission VMission V was really hard to make! But I have introduced many new things with this mission.Decisions, non-linear story mission, first real story boss, multiple armor bars mechanic and so on!2016 was the year of massive growth for me and Sector Six.After so much has been done, I believe I can finish Sector Six in 2017!In 2017, after I will finish working on controller support I'll begin working on three secure region based updates - shops, crafting system and the Router!Between those updates, I will work on new story missions and combat expansions.ShopsLocated in secured regions, they will allow players to buy and sell parts!Different regions will have different shops.For example, to get access to the generic weapon shop, you will have to secure Niss region.Crafting systemYes, you will be able to craft parts!This will be a completely new way to obtain parts! Unlike getting parts from drops, you will be able to craft exact parts you need.Want a part that is a relay, increases maximum armor and generates ether when your ship is hit?Get materials by mining asteroids, get armor carcass, relay blueprint and ether mirror by dismantling parts, secure a region with the matter fusion facility and that part is yours!The RouterThis massive portal device located in Pylon will take you to hidden regions!Every hidden region will be different.Exploring hidden regions will reward you with unique parts!New story missionsNew characters, new boss fights, new reveals, [classified], plot twists, the journey to the other Sector and more!Combat expansionsNew enemies, new abilities, new region bosses, new classes, new region missions and more!Other planned updates:AchievementsMany new achievements!Permanent death modeThe Elder Mechanism will not resurrect your ship if it will get destroyed!Hardcore permanent death modeBecause just permanent death is not hardcore enough.Your spaceships parts will be destroyed on hit.Lose all parts and game is permanently over!Resetting story missionsAfter completing the last available story mission, you will be able to do them all over again!Part setsAdd a certain amount of parts from the same part set and you will be rewarded for unique set effects.For example, 10 Lodeon's Parts will increase damage dealt based on how many secure regions there are.Graphical updateEven better backgrounds, new animations, and particle effects!2017 will be epic.Until next time!
Before graphical update
After graphical update
Modular difficulty system
Mission IV
Mission V
Epic player built spaceships
Bought the game, though I feel kinda bad that I bought it on sale, buuuuuut that's what you get for listing it on sale. Ha!
It's very good. Interface is a bit confusing in some cases, but I probably just need to get used to it. Primarily, just the bottom UI in-mission is a bit distracting and hard to parse at a glance, I've found. Have you considered horizontal meters for Ether and armor?Looking forward to getting deeper into it. Also, love the easing on the menus. Everything flies in and out at a feel-good speed. I like where the polish is, and feels like there's more places to add that touch.From cursory looks at your release notes and comments, looks like controller support is a bit of a theme. I'd tend to agree, it seems like it would lend itself well to controller support, besides the whole 9-ability-hotkey-thing. Though, you could probably map those to D-pad and D-pad + modifier.Regarding having a bunch of abilities but only so many buttons, I had a project where I planned on binding the abilities under trigger and bumper modifiers paired with XYAB. That potentially opens up at least 16 ability slots and still allows you to use XYAB for other things like interaction, attacking and jumping.
Funnily enough the project never even started. I came to a conclusion it's too much for me to bite. Not to mention I had no ideas for actual content.Dpad + abxy + triggers, those are 12 buttons that you can combine in 4096 variations! What more do you need, jeez. :P