Announcements

Today, Space Mission: Survival version 1.6.0 was released for Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms. This version includes a bit of haptic feedback for supported controllers.

• Feedback is given when player engages thrust, and when the player is destroyed.
• The light on supported controllers (such as certain Playstation and XBox controllers) will blink when the player has an astronaut on board.
• Haptic feedback is optional, but enabled by default. You can toggle this in the Controllers page under Settings.

Version 1.5.0 of Space Mission: Survival has been released… this version improves controller code.

Version 1.4.0 of Space Mission: Survival has just been released.

If you recall my previous post on the Project Roadmap, I outlined a few things I wanted to do to prepare for an iOS (iPad) and Steam release. This release brings us one step closer.

Localization has been added. Under the Settings menu, you can now choose from English, German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and Klingon languages.

I also rewrote the UI to make it more modular. The attract modes and menus have been completely rewritten.

Going forward, the plan is still to add Leaderboards and Achievements, keyboard and controller mapping, and to release on iOS and Steam.

The “Shmup” mode is still in progress, although I have no release time for this mode. I am designing and developing this mode (as well as other modes), and will release when ready, but I am also spending some time developing a new game. If there is an increased interest in the Shmup mode, I can dedicate more time.

Space Mission: Survival has been ouf for about 5 months now, and I am still actively working on adding new features and fixing bugs. With this post, I would like to outine the future roadmap.

Here is what I am planning:

1. Rewriting / Refactoring Attract Mode

As I mentioned in a previous post about menus, they were completely redesigned to support a more modular solution. I am currently working on doing the same thing for the attract mode screens. This gives me more flexibility in the long run. This should be completed rather soon.

2. Localization of Text

My earlier mobile release of Space Mission: Survival contained a setting to choose one of 9 languages, and I want to bring that over to this version of the game. For the mobile version, I developed a plug-in to support mulitple languages. I am unsure if I will create a plug-in for this version (I am using a different game engine) or if there is an easier way.

3. Apple iPad version

Once the menus have been redesigned, and additional languages have been added, I plan on releasing a version for the iPad, and updating the PC/Mac/Linux version.

4. Achievements and Leaderboards

The iPad version will support Apple Game Center Achievements and Leaderboards. The PC/Mac/Linux version will support this via Steamworks. That’s right, I am investigating creating a Steam version of Space Mission: Survival.

5. Shmup Mode

I started working on adding an additional decade choice… “2000s”, which consists of a shoot-em-up (Shmup), or “Bullet Hell” mode that spans over multiple screens. I do have some ideas and I’ve started implementing them, and I am also looking for what you feel is a good addition to this mode. Just add your comments below.

6. Additional Features

Keyboard/Controller mapping, “All-time” stats, additional decade modes, and perhaps an AppleTV release will be included as part of normal releases.

As you see, I have a lot of features planned. While I am totally dedicated to this project, I cannot provide an estimate of time when all of these features will be available, since the releases are subject to complexity, and development is subject to motivation.

Encouragement, downloads, installs, and purchases tend to motivate me greatly. Lack of motivation slows me down. I also have 2 additional projects I am working on (one mobile game, and one multi-player PC/Mac game), and I tend to gravitate there at times when I feel I need a little break.

Anyway, I think that’s it for now… thanks!

Today, I released version 1.3.0 of Space Mission: Survival.

The menu system has been completely rewritten. I did this for the visual enhancement, and in preparation for features that will require additional menus (controller mapping, for example).

For those who want info on the technical reasons…

The original main menu and sub-menus were all one giant layout. This made adding or changing items a very tedious task.

The new menu system is more modular. Each menu “page” is a separate entity. This allows flexibility when adding new pages and adding/changing existing menu items. The menu now supports multiple layers via a breadcrumb feature.

I am thinking of starting a series of YouTube videos explaining how this game was developed, the development of new features, and how-to videos on items I have encountered. If anyone is interested, or if you are interested in specific topics, please let me know. Depending on interest, I will pick up the pace.

Hi everyone… just a brief update.

I’ve started a “2000s” mode for Space Mission: Survival. This will a twin-stick shooter mode, also known as a “shmup”. It’s in the early stages of design and development, so I am not sure when this will be release or what features it will contain.

In the meantime, I am also continuing with any bug fixes, or minor updates that will enhance the game. If you see anything that needs to be addressed, please let me know.

Currently, the game is still listed as “Name Your Price”, and that does include $0.00 so please give Space Mission: Survival a download and play. The price may change at some point, and I am considering a Steam Early Access release, but I want to get a shmup mode added before i do so.

Thanks!

Version 1.2.0 of Space Mission: Survival has just been released. This update adds the ability to run the game windowed mode, with or without a border, as well as the original full screen mode. There are also some updates and bug fixes I discovered while adding the window mode option. Let’s cover them here.

For the windowed mode option, you can now select between full screen and a variety of popular 16:9 and 16:10 resolutions up to the resolution of your monitor. You can also reposition the window to where you want, and the position and chosen resolution will be saved for future runs.

On to other improvements… I’ve improved the astronaut floating routines so that they will travel across the screen instead of potentially launching off an asteroid and exiting the screen right away. This makes it a bit more fair by giving you some extra time instead of watching them quickly die.

I noticed that the asteroids were drifting slightly after extended play, so I improved their movement. While doing so, I noticed that I was moving them in a way that is not recommended… oof! That is also fixed as well.

Finally, as I described in a previous post, I wanted to redo the menus, so I completely rewrote the UI screens to make them more modular and to improve their design.

Thanks for reading, thanks for following, and as always, I look forward to your comments and suggestions.

It’s been (almost) a week since the release of Space Mission: Survival, so it’s probably a good opportunity to review the past week, and discuss the next release.

The first several days were very exiting and there have been many visitors to this game’s page, with a good number of downloads.  I like to thank everyone for visiting, downloading, and your support.  Currently, Space Mission: Survival is sold as “Name Your Price”, and I do hope you consider contributing as it will help further development.

There are many features that I wish to add, but I believe the next release will add the option to run the game in a bordered and borderless window in multiple resolutions, as well as full screen.  To be honest, I never considered running the game in a window, but after visiting some game development forums, I see that there are many people that like this option in their games, so I am currently working on this.

I am also looking at streamlining the menu structure.  Right now, the menus are a bit overwhelming from a development perspective, and this will only get worse as new features and menu items are added.  You might not see anything different when running the game, but I want to improve this.

Thank you to everyone who has visited my itch page, my website, and my Youtube channel.  I am planning on a few videos, as well as a post-mortem, tech discussion, and perhaps the history of the development of the mobile and computer versions of this game.  My goal is to make Space Mission: Survival accurately emulate the graphics and sounds of each decade, and I look forward to your comments and suggestions as well.