Hi Guys

It’s probably best if I introduce myself. My names Paul, AKA. Polygonal Illusions, and I’m a solo game dev from the UK. This project is the first of what I would call, ‘big’ development for myself as I’ve mainly just created short prototypes prior to this game. As you can also imagine, this will be my first ever dev log! So please bear with any random rambling I go on. I’m hoping to improve each dev log as I continue this journey.

The love affair

I have always been in love with the ‘retro FPS’ genre. One of my first memories was watching my friends older brother playing Doom and just thinking how unbelievably amazing (and scary) it was and that sense of fascination and wonder has stuck with me all the way through my life. StarGazer is the culmination of many years of enjoying the genre from a far but never really knowing how to make my own version (or even what that would look like). When I decided to go on the game dev journey a few years ago I never really set out to make an FPS game, it all sort of just fell into place. I feel like with the knowledge I have learnt in game development this was the perfect time to create my own love letter to the genre.

StarGazer is nowhere near a perfect game, and it’s not trying to be, everything is a learning process, and this is just another one of them. What I wanted to do with this project is to evoke a sense of simplistic nostalgia. Nostalgia for a type of game in a genre that has become somewhat over-saturated in recent years. With everyone attempting their own take on retro FPS’s and trying to re-invent it at the same time.

StarGazer is attempting to take you back to a simpler style of game, something more akin to the original Doom or Wolfenstein. Where the only thing you needed to worry about was how many enemies you can slaughter. I hope in this demo that I am on my way to succeeding with that.

Setting up a premise

There were 3 main objectives that I set out for myself when I first started up this project.

• It had to be a science fiction theme. Sci-fi is easily my favourite genre so I wanted to mirror that in my game. I also felt that the sci-fi genre gave a more lenient licence to introduce some wacky enemy types and weapons that I would find hard to implement in other genres. This is what was on the forefront of my mind when creating the enemies and weapons you see in the demo version (of which I hope to expand on for full release).
• I also wanted the game to feel claustrophobic, like in certain parts of the original Doom. I wanted dark and cramped corridors, so that when you came across an enemy it was a real battle for your life. This was the reasoning why I eventually landed on the idea of the game taking place in a space station. I could do a lot of tighter corridors (with larger areas sprinkled in) and also allowed me to create somewhat maze-like levels which is also a staple in the OG retro FPS’s from the 90’s.
• The game needed to be atmospheric. I really wanted to try and evoke a sense of immersion for the player as they traverse through the levels. This is why I have attempted to put a big emphasis on using shadows and dramatic lighting in the demo levels.

The story in StarGazer, like many FPS’s from the time I am trying to replicate is somewhat more simplified that modern FPS stories. It is used mainly as a vehicle to set up the world and for the reason why you are going through the game and slaughtering the creatures in your path. The story is told in a comic book format during the opening cutscene, but you can also read it in flipbook form HERE

The Demo

The demo is the culmination of months of trail and error, planning and then re-planning, building and then re-building to create something that I feel hits the 3 objectives specified earlier in this dev log. You play through the first 2 levels of the game (in which the final game will be 6 levels long with a boss battle at the end) and it is intended to not only show people what I have worked on for several months but also to get some crucial feedback on what works and what doesn’t. I think any solo dev will tell you that it’s very easy to get wrapped up in your own game and sometimes it’s hard to know how well balanced your game is or how well the levels flow without the outsider perspective. This demo is something of a milestone for myself, so anyone who plays my demo, please consider giving feedback, whether good or bad as it will all go towards making a better end product. Something that I can be proud of making, and that is, at the end of the day the only thing that matters.

I hope to make frequent dev logs moving forward with the next one focusing on my journey to create the third level of the game.

Thanks for reading.