Cut me up like a knife And I feel it, deep in my bones
For more infomation >> U.S. May Put Some Big Weapons in the South China Sea - Duration: 10:59. 
Greetings, Gatekeepers!
I'm Salireths.
Did you miss me?
I'm finally going to talk about gameplay, as I promised, a while ago.
Sorry for the delays, as usual, I've got the game to take care first!
You see - making videos takes precious time from the development, and I think it's better
we release a new alpha version sooner, than just sitting here talking about future plans
and not progressing much.
That's being said, let's talk about future plans, because it's been a while!
We have many separate systems already in place, that I'm going to mention in this video, and
some of them are almost finished.
However not everything is, so take this video as more of an insight into the design document
rather than a review of what's there already.
And while I don't have much video material to show, I will be just using graphs and sketches
to demonstrate things!
Planes of Existence is a game about many things, but the goal of all gameplay elements
can be narrowed down to progressing forward and gaining knowledge.
Every aspect of player progression is tracked in what we call, the Knowledge Tree.
You can think about it as a list of tech trees: by progressing through each node, it will
be giving access to new abilities, crafting recipes, other species to play as, customization
options, new maps and so on.
However, it's a bit unique.
To unlock nodes, they don't require any currency,
We don't have things like experience or skill points.
Instead each node is like a mini challenge, a quest of sorts, that requires players to
do something relevant to gain that knowledge.
It can require things like doing some field research, reaching a location, helping an
npc, gathering, etc.
Kinda like achievements, that actually affect gameplay.
There will be a variety of trees, categorized by the fields of study, such as various technologies
and cultures different races possess, or common knowledge like biology.
By the way, new Knowledge Trees can be easily modded in, and we will be adding new ones
as the game progresses development, adding new content players can earn.
So without any further ado, let's talk about the means of unlocking said knowledge, starting
with exploration, which is a simple, yet necessary part of any game!
We've spent a great chunk of time prototyping the movement system with a test character.
Experimenting with this and that, throwing things away.
I trashed over 150 different animations trying to make it look and feel just right
Thankfully all those animations were done in a very fast way, so it's not that much
time lost on prototyping.
And after I make a couple new final character models, I will start working on animations
that are much nicer, of course.
Walking, running, jumping, pulling up ledges, crawling, flying, sliding - movement has to
be fun and responsive, without this floaty feel and noticeable foot sliding.
The game, obviously, already has a movement system, but it's very limited, so we decided
to seriously approach this and re-do it completely, because a robust movement system enables great
freedom not only for players, but it also opens up new ways of level design!
Now, we will be able to freely create platforming elements of various kinds, ranging from jumping
puzzles, to flying challenges...
Which should be a great supplement to other exploration aspects, like finding materials
and food, digging in caves and dungeons, solving puzzles… and you know, the usual stuff,
just tailored specifically for our setting.
And if that's not enough, there is always place for minigames and zone-specific activities
where players can cooperate or compete between each other for rewards and new knowledge.
Speaking of competition, we should talk about the combat system.
Surely, on the surface that's like what every game is about, nothing new or original
here, however in every game it's a very important aspect.
Just first, let me get this out of the way: here you DON'T grind your XP on killing
other poor innocent creatures that want to just live their lives,
which is something you have to do in many other games.
In Planes of Existence, you can always be be nice and peaceful with other fellow creatures.
But… we still need a villain of some sort, you know, the basic rules of storytelling…
What we have Is not a villain though…
There is an automated system on the Planes: Fundamental elementals..
Or just simply, Fundamentals.
The name might change though...
Those things are not sentient, it's just how nature works here.
While providing necessary elements for the ecosystem (like oxygen, water, and heat),
they also tend to create natural disasters, that if their presence becomes too powerful.
That's why many creatures who live there developed weapons to deal with this threat
that is constantly encroaching on their population.
This system also gives various species incentive to keep evolving, and while the laws of natural
selection can be harsh, at least it keeps them fit and beautiful, and makes sure they
don't devolve into…
I don't know… slugs…
But more about that in the upcoming LORE posts on Patreon, and who knows, maybe even videos
someday.
I haven't posted anything about the world in a while, and I'm sorry, will try to fix
that.
What's important to say in this video, is how the combat works.
At any point you can switch to the combat mode, your character deploys their weapons
and changes their stance.
And instead of controlling the camera, mouse (or right analogue stick) controls the aiming
direction, while the camera automatically takes the appropriate angles and locks onto
enemies.
Despite that we have dragon and dinosaur races, our game is mostly focused on using ranged
weapons and dodging projectiles.
Rockets or fireballs - anything can happen.
Weapons in this world are very hi-tech and powerful, so instead of making bloody mess
all the time when they hit someone, all creatures are equipped with special shield technology,
that provides familiar to everyone health and energy bar system.
When the health, or actually, shield charge, is depleted, creatures go to a downed state.
You can revive them, or do things to them that they might be not be happy to experience,
or just even finish them off.
Finishing moves can vary: you can just politely force the downed creature to respawn, by teleporting
their body away, or perhaps, feast on their guts, however that's
not allowed if gore is disabled on the server or in the settings for local games.
The Fundamentals don't have shields, and therefore they are just destroyed when health
depletes, releasing the energy and matter, that can be be salvaged and used by players
for gaining new knowledge or crafting.
Loot is also there, because that's fun, and it would be cruel not to include it!
Which is a nice segway into our next topic - interaction with items and the world around
us.
Having energy shields and shoulder mounted lasers on dragons might not leave an impression
of a realistic game, but stay with me on this one - it's perfectly explained within the
lore of this... unusual setting.
When I said "realistic" I meant that despite advanced alien technology everyone uses there,
the world still has the laws of physics that we all know and love.
And with that mindset we've been designing some very simplified simulation of things
like temperature, ambient pressure, and some other conditions.
Why did we do that?
Well, it's just another way to solve a common problem games deal with.
Let's take a generic example, like smelting iron ore.
Nowadays every gamer knows that smelting ore will produce an ingot when put into some kind
of a furnace.
How is it done?
Simple!
The furnace has a recipe that tells: if ore item is inside, transform it into an ingot,
maybe consume some fuel along the way.
The way we decided to approach this, is a bit different.
Instead of adding some recipes into so-called "crafting stations" we just state that
iron ore, when heated to one and a half thousand degrees liquefies, and then, when cooled,
solidifies.
And the ways of changing temperature can be different:
Perhaps cooking it in a furnace indeed, or maybe you melt it by blowing a flamethrower
on it, some sort of a thermal explosion, or maybe just placing something very hot near
it.
With this approach the result is the same, yes, but means of achieving this result can
vary, allowing for some player improvisation!
It also makes items be a part of the world, rather than just dummy objects that do a few
specific scripted things.
Instead of that, items have various events defining what happens when certain conditions
are met, not just the temperature.
One more thing items could not be done in a traditional way is… food.
Which brings us to the next aspect of the gameplay, simulation of life.
The game will have it's fair share of survival elements, however unlike such games, 15 minutes
without food isn't going to just kill you.
If your character is unfortunate enough to be starving (which would take long time actually),
instead of decreasing health and slowly killing your creature, it would apply various debuffs
that make it harder to play, that is until proper nutrition is received again.
Eating is not everything of course, your creature probably doesn't have a wormhole in their
belly, so occasionally you'd need to go to toilet, in a controlled fashion of course.
Also you'll need to make sure it's not too hot or cold for your creature, every species
have their comfortable temperature thresholds.
And there is a few other things that your creature realistically needs, like air to
breathe.
Some levels pose challenges for players to overcome either by changing their creature's
anatomy, choosing another species, or developing technological tricks to get into previously
unreachable areas..
But let's go back to the food topic…
You see, different creature species have different diets, and the nutrition they receive from
the same item can vary a lot.
Hell, some creatures can even consider things as food what others don't!
What if there was a rock-eating species?
It doesn't make sense to also categorize rocks as food items for everyone else…
It also doesn't make sense to hard-code a list of edible items per species, because
new items and species can be easily modded in, making it very hard to create compatible
mods.
So to solve this problem, we'll going to give players ability to eat anything, as long
as it fits into the throat of your creature.
And then when it's inside your fella's belly, it's up to the organism to simulate
the digestion and possible effects from this food, which are also varied.
One plant can be poisonous for one herbivore, while healthy for another one.
It's a fairly complex system, and not something that's I exactly encountered before in games,
mostly because you play as a human everywhere, so developers don't even need to think about
it.
But when you have dozens of creatures from various planets, you need a robust system,
and especially if this system needs to also support content that you have no idea about,
I'm talking about community-made mods.
Of course, organical creatures are not only about processing food and making sure they're
comfortable in the environment.
Let me start with a prelude so you better understand my point of view.
In games, your only interactions with other players and npcs are limited to two, maximum
three things.
If it's a friendly NPC, you can talk to them, if it's a hostile NPC, you most likely
only can kill them.
Creatures and animals do not talk, and therefore your only possible interaction with them is
on the tip of your sword or a gun.
Maybe there is riding and taming thrown in occasionally, and yet again you tame your
creatures mostly only to help you attack other creatures.
And that's about it…
Surely most action games are murder simulators of various kinds, and that can be cool in
some cases…
But in the design of our game, first of all, I want to show the social aspects every alive
beings share.
In Planes of Existence there is no separation on animal and "sentient" creatures.
Everyone is considered equal, and despite varied brain complexity, everyone can communicate
in some form or another.
And in the worst case, everyone can fall back to the language everyone understands: the
body language.
Instead of having only one option to kill creatures that look different from you, you
can always go a peaceful route, show yourself as a friendly being, give presents, charm,
hug, scratch and lick each other - everything to build a relationship over time…
Nonetheless, if you prefer being aggressive and to attack everybody on sight, they will
remember that, even if you kill them.
Nobody can die forever in this universe, and when they get themselves a new body they most
likely won't have any warm feelings towards you.
Being nice may seem as the best way to go, but what if you need some creature's bones
as a crafting ingredient?
Just like it's usually the case in most other games.
What if you want to craft something like that to progress through some specific branch in
the Knowledge Tree?
Any part of the Knowledge Tree is optional to complete, it's always intended to give
a choice to players, who can follow their own morals and pursue their goals.
The Knowledge Tree is not about completing everything in it, it's about picking a path
of personal evolution.
There is a lot of contrasts in this world, so let's look at another extreme as opposed
from killing, love.
Relationships with npc creatures, and when roleplaying it with other players, can get
to the romantic level.
We're not another developer who would just shy away from this topic, despite that it's
bound to create some controversies…
The world of the game is located on another Plane of Existence from the disputes of human
society, it's about nature and it's beauty as it is, without sexualization or hard censorship.
Mating rituals, such as courtship displays or romantic kisses, as well as mating process
itself is a part of life of every species, thus, no matter what, we can't just not
include it in a game that tries to simulate life.
And while male and female mating would lead to, as expected, eventually creating new life,
true mutual love should not have any limits and boundaries,
thus, same-gender and interspecies relationships are also possible.
However, as with any other element of the game, such as combat or crafting, it can be
skipped completely, or disabled in the settings of private-hosted servers.
Before we move onto another topic, to make it clear for everyone, I have to say it like
that, so excuse me for my words…
This is not a pornography game!
The fact that mating is realistically animated doesn't make it a necessary gameplay feature,
and it also doesn't make it necessary for players to look how exactly that happens.
In fact, for the convenience of many players, there will be a pixelated filter covering
the sexual action if it happens.
And I'm well aware that there is another type of audience watching this video,
who wouldn't like having any visibility obstructions like that,
so in that case, pixels can be removed by a simple unofficial mod, revealing what's
under them.
Pixels will not cover the realistic nudity creatures have though, because it's not
considered sexual.
Despite if you want to see it or not, having an orifice under your creature's tail is
as important and necessary for life, as having a mouth.
One without another doesn't make sense to have.
Artists don't make mouthless creatures unless it's specifically required, right?
And this shouldn't be so different as well.
Though, if it comes to adding playable robot and plant races later on, there might be such
special requirements as they would possess a completely different anatomy.
In any case, your creature can always wear some clothing, if you're not a fan of running
around naked.
And just to warn you, not every alien culture has the concept of hiding the "sensual"
areas of their bodies, as they might just consider themselves beautiful as they are!
Clothes are usually invented to raise comfort, add utility, and protect the body.
But they are not the only inventions worth mentioning.
Every playable species are smart enough to have some kind of craft and technology, intricate
cultures, and advanced methods passing the knowledge and sharing their experience.
Aside from unlocking genetic information which adds options to customize the appearance with,
players can also learn about society of various races and also culture-specific crafting in
the Knowledge Tree.
Each species biology, culture, and technology are unique and rewarding enough to keep hunting
for the new discoveries and ultimately becoming a master of all the available knowledge!
It definitely was a lot to talk about, but I'm happy to keep all the design decisions
visible for everyone!
At this moment we're making the core systems that will serve as platforms powering all
the future content that we will be making.
They will also support any kind of user created mods.
And despite that this work isn't necessarily presentable just yet, we're having some
good progress on the base code.
We're approaching this moment when we finally can start adding juicy gameplay content and
graphical eye candy.
But please don't expect every species or every level to come out at the same time.
If you're concerned, let me assure you that the game is not overly ambitions, and is very
much possible to finish.
There is a lot of sacrificed, thrown away ideas in order to keep the systems simple
enough, and to speed up the development by having to create less and do more with it.
In fact, every feature I just talked about was derived from a much more complex idea,
be it item interaction or combat.
In the next pre-alpha you can notice how much we changed the whole weapon and aiming system
from the previous version, just to keep things simplified and fun.
Despite that we're actively working on it, It's just two of us for the most part, and
you can imagine a project like that will take some years to complete.
Thankfully, early access is not something uncommon these days, making it possible to
gradually release updates as the development goes along.
If you would like to help us achieve the goals that I outlined in great detail in this video,
I would be more than happy to talk to you!
The project could use some help of additional people, like designers, 2d or 3d artists,
animators, and programmers who are familiar with Unreal Engine 4, C++ or it's Blueprint
code, You can send me a message or notify me in
the comments just about anywhere I'm around.
Im also on twitter, @Salireths, which is also a very easy way to get in touch!
If you can spell that right that is!
And by the way, I'm happy to talk to just about anyone always ^^.
Huge thank you for all the supporters on Patreon, you guys are truly amazing!
Supporting the project on Patreon is also a great way to directly help the development
of the game, and influence it directly with your ideas and suggestions!
If you want to join to our Patreon, you can click the link right on screen or in description
down below.
There was a change in the rewards relatively recently!
And at the moment I'm collecting lists for those rewards,
also getting feedback on what customization options some of the high-tier patrons want
to have, and when time comes to the content development
- it's all going to be added into the game!
So if you're a patron, don't forget send me a message with the information on your
rewards, so I can write it down!
Because I need to know what exactly you'd like to leave for yourself and other players
to find in game.
Thank you for watching!
I'm Salireths.
And I wish you to…
Have fun exploring your Realities!
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