Hello everyone! We’ve been working on getting our game’s cutscenes up and running so you guys, as the player, can get a bit more immersed in the narrative of The Chaser’s Voyage. We wanted these to have a little more pizazz than just a simple text box explaining what’s happening. So, here, take a look at what we have!
We really tried to make them flashy. The character names you see on the top actually scroll across the screen, which we felt added a bit of a modern sci-fi feel to them. The dialogue text animates in quickly, as if it was being typed. And the box’s border is set to match each speaker’s color scheme. Also, like most of our game, these cutscenes are fully voiced. The currently speaking character will be shown normally and the previous speaker will be darkened. We even created a little Star Wars-esque hologram effect for some extra flair. We’re really proud of how these are turning out. All that’s left for us to put in is an auto-progress option and a prompt for manually going to the next line.
As for where these cutscenes will appear? Well, there are four situations where a cutscene can take place. When you start a new game, you will get a small recap of what happened at the end of the tutorial/prologue, followed by an intense message from Kharon, the first-mate of the notorious Pirate Lady Styx. That leads into Edwin taking you to see Wolfe, who then introduces you to Tai and Nila. Don’t worry, there will be multiple options that will allow you to skip this cutscene if you want to dive straight into the action, but this cutscene sets up the general plot.
The next time you get a cutscene depends on how well you do during the game. Obviously, if you make the 1 million units back in time and send it to Lady Styx, you get a cutscene that wraps up the story and congratulates you on a job well done. If you fail however, you instead get a cutscene that triggers something we think makes our game pretty unique.
Failing to make Lady Styx’s money back in time is not a game over trigger. Instead it starts a new phase of the game. One where you no longer are bound by the 100 day time limit, but instead must make 1.5 million units while being hunted down by elite bounty hunters. Unlike the bounty hunters you will encounter during the main game, these ones aren’t after your clients, but instead are after you, and will hound you all across the sector, until they, or you, are defeated. This part of the game will emphasize your survival skills, as you have to deal with some of the hardest challenges The Chaser’s Voyage can throw at you.
If you manage to make the 1.5 million units, you are then treated to a victory cutscene that is different from the normal one.
And that is where we are so far. Of course, we always appreciate feedback either here or on our Discord. Once we get in our last couple of cutscene features we will be updating the Early Access build on Steam so you can experience them for yourself. Please follow us on Twitter if you want to keep up with the latest news on the game.
