I’ve released Mysterious Space 0.8.3! (Get it on Steam, or itch.io!)

It’s got… clooooouds; it’s got… a better settings menuuuu; it’s got… waves of enemiieees; it’s got… all kinds of things! Check out the changelog!

It’s also got a very-incomplete Russian translation, thanks to updated font-rendering code, and partial support for wider characters, including Hiragana and Katakana (the characters are in there, but aren’t always positioned correctly). I’ll be working to improve both of these things in a future release, of course!

NEXT MONTH, however, I’m going to be working on a different project. I’ve started working on a procedurally-generated life sim. A town and its inhabitants are created, and you are given free reign to… do stuff?? My initial plan was to make it a dating sim, and I’ll probably include that option of play, but I’d like to explore other possibilities as well.

I’ve begun work on giving character memories, which they associate with feelings, and the things present during those memories. This will give them the ability to form opinions about new things – including the player character – depending on how those things look, sound, act… taste?? >_>

The basis for all feelings right now is the Triangular Theory of Love, which I have used to simulate relationships before, in PsyPets. I’m not sure how well-suited is to including feelings about objects, but I think it’ll work out okay.

Other systems I wish to simulate: sleep, caffeine, alcohol… but probably not hunger, because let’s be honest: no one wants to spend time eating in a game any more than they want to spend time using the restroom!

As you may have guessed: yes, I spent some of last month starting this thing up 😛 It was not a 100% Mysterious Space month, but then, it never is: I toy with new project ideas all the time, I just don’t talk about most of them, because I quickly lose interest. This idea is sticking with me, though, so I’d like to give it a full month of its own to see how far I can take it. Maybe it becomes a game I release; maybe not.

It’s a little like using your first Alien Artifact in a game: you won’t know until you try 😛

Thanks for reading! 🙂