Free Weekend: 4-8th Sept
[p]Cancel whatever plans you already had, and get your motley crew together to play during this FREE weekend! Or seize the opportunity and seek out some new friends in the Void :)[/p][p][/p]Update incoming 11th Sept:
New player ship!
[p]Without further ado, let's have a look at that new playable ship! We took the time to scribble down the design-thoughts that went into the creation of the Striker ship![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/43802314/80b457cd874ff515e76bbe4db864e60eb764701f.jpg"][/img][/p][p]Devs hard at work to bring you this update![/p][p][/p][p] [img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/43802314/f61381aaded974d0c8225588f127d6cda088e7f5.png"][/img][/p]Identifying new ship needs
[p]We’ve been itching to make a new ship for a while now. Why? Because nothing says Void Crew like grabbing a couple of friends (or brave-souled strangers), blasting into the void, and watching everything go horribly wrong.[/p][p][/p][p]The Destroyer? Great for a full squad.[/p][p]The Frigate? Agile alternative for a small crew.[/p][p][/p][p]But we kept asking ourselves: What’s missing from the party?[/p][p][/p][p]We bumped up the player-cap to 6-player co-op not too long ago. That’s two full trios of chaos, one squad to man the ship and the other to make bad decisions. So naturally, we thought: “Shouldn’t we build a massive new ship to match?” The kind of ship with full sub-sections. Multiple floors. A dedicated panic room.. ?[/p][p]Instead, we found something more exciting: the missing link. A ship that fits right between the Frigate and the Destroyer. A fast, furious, beautifully compact bruiser designed specifically for that 3-4 (+/-) player chaos sweet spot.[/p][p]The answer, as it turns out, was “The Striker”. Not too big. Not too small. Enough room to plan a strategy, not enough room to avoid responsibility when it backfires. And all the learnings of the previous ships.[/p][p][/p]Prototyping the Striker
[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/43802314/eba127c0d2c69b9dc4008d08cf6f6a42b01a3760.jpg"][/img][/p][p]Once we knew the Striker was the ship we wanted to make, we had two big questions:[/p][olist]Building the Striker
[p]Once the prototype passed the “this won’t crash everything” test, we knew we had something. It was scoped, approved, blessed by our lead game designer, our creative director, and our 3D artist - in a rare moment of perfect alignment, possibly caused by the alignment of the stars, caffeine, or both.[/p][p]With the greenlight in hand, we dove headfirst into the next phase: what does this thing actually look like?[/p][p]By now, we had a solid grasp of the ship’s size and purpose. We knew what systems it needed - engines, modules, rooms, and all the other delightful moving parts that make our ships tick. We’ve already got two established ships with distinct room layouts: pilot bridges, astral map zones, spawn rooms, central computers... you name it. So rather than reinvent the airlock, we cracked open Blender and got to work.[/p][p] [img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/43802314/e84f3f281c6c0bdc6d6213528cdba3a840acf611.png"][/img][/p][p][/p][p]It all starts bare-bones - rough shapes, blunt tools, and a whole lot of trial and error. We bounced back and forth, adjusting and nudging rooms, placing modules, trying to make the interior layout click just right without warping the overall silhouette we were aiming for.[/p][p]The challenge? Making all the pieces fit, spatially and stylistically, without breaking the shape language that defines the Striker. Every tweak to the inside nudges the outside, and vice versa. So we began blocking in the exterior hull with broad strokes, producing the rough outline while refining the flow and physical logic of the interior.[/p][p]Think of it like building a house from the inside out, while the outer walls are still arguing with you.[/p][p]It’s not glamorous - but it’s where the ship becomes a ship.[/p][p][/p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/43802314/a0c337ca47f95d042973ae789ef629e239b4eb60.png"][/img]
[p][/p][p]Of course, a clean 1:1 reuse of rooms was never really in the cards. The Striker’s proportions and layout demanded a bit more… persuasion. Areas like the Bridge, Astral Map, Spawn Room, and the main wing floors all had to be tweaked, reshaped, or reimagined to fit the new flow.[/p][p]We weren’t rebuilding from scratch - but we definitely had to break out the metaphorical crowbar more than once.[/p][p]Still, after enough iterations (and a few sacrificial placeholder walls), we reached a turning point: the interior started to click. Systems lined up, traversal made sense, and best of all - everything stayed within the bounds of the exterior hull we were aiming for. A snug, functional fit - like a well-packed crate of space-chaos.[/p][p]Once the interior was locked in and behaving itself, it was finally time to turn our attention outward - to start shaping the exterior into something more than just a functional shell. This was the detail pass: where broad block-outs gave way to bold shapes, signature elements, and the visual language that would push the Striker toward its final form.[/p][p][/p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/43802314/512254a08fceb28a5c97762ac8641ecfc442e13f.png"][/img]
[p][/p][p]Once the model started to feel right in Blender - inside and out - it was time for the real test: dropping it into Unity to replace our first blocky prototype version. That’s where we find out if the thing we’ve lovingly cobbled together actually feels the way it’s supposed to.. or if it turns into a haunted origami puzzle.[/p][p]Some trial. A fair amount of error. A few fixes. And suddenly, things start clicking yet again.[/p][p]That’s when we knew we were close. Final detail passes began - touch-ups on both the Interior Striker and Exterior Striker - until we landed here:[/p][p][/p]Interior:
[img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/43802314/48f520e5672a6adc15c3a0e9ae3278f339ad3ed6.png"][/img]
[p][/p]Exterior:
[img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/43802314/38ff3baa69c494728e49f53e4975506b8be4c3db.png"][/img]
[p][/p][p]With the visuals finally in place, we could breathe for about five seconds. After we got good feedback from playtesters - then it was straight into the less glamorous, but absolutely essential work: optimization and bugfixing.[/p][p]That meant diving into LODs (Level of Detail models for the uninitiated), crafting shield visuals that actually fit the unique Striker silhouette, mutator effect shapes, and setting up colliders, inside and out, so players don’t end up phasing through the walls like confused ghosts (hint: Not ideal in space).[/p][p]It’s the part of the process where everything looks done.. but your dev brain knows you’re only just starting to polish.[/p][p][/p]Final thoughts
[p]We can fairly say this ship challenges pilots in a new way, and it's massive forward arsenal opens up for new strategies. And we are not gonna hide it ... this is clearly our new favorite ship! We can't wait to get it into your hands :)[/p][p]Here are some final renders of the Striker-class ship ingame.[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/43802314/7321d0f7472b23a6cb39fa8ad24609c821d610ab.png"][/img][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/43802314/3cc187abfd89e92d5999b6258cafcd6f04783ddd.png"][/img][/p]
[img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/43802314/279ceb9c15ad7edf07fa965b9227763233324afa.png"][/img]
[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/43802314/f61381aaded974d0c8225588f127d6cda088e7f5.png"][/img]Don't hesitate to share with us your experience on our Discord! Until the next transmission…
//Hutlihut Games Crew
[img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/43802314/f61381aaded974d0c8225588f127d6cda088e7f5.png"][/img]See you in the chaos – and as always…
[img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/43802314/f3fca3cda71652b7aee363dcb0e64e197b18d814.png"][/img][/p]
