INURBIS DL-014 - OFFHAND and Sector Power
Happy New Year.
Work on the offhand consumable / power system is complete. I have a big list of things to implement that I’ll be pulling from as I continue developing the rest of gameplay, and I’ll probably be adding a Kick ability next. I’ve struggled a bit with how to lead describing the game, but it is at its core an immersive sim focused on future tech built from present mistakes and the ecology that has sprung up from within the cracks of the megastructure. Maybe “mega” isn’t the right term, though.
Currently the STIM acts as a nice wound healing + buffing combo, putting your cloneling’s physical characteristics into overdrive. I’ve also extended the LIFE and HLTH gauges to provide feedback to USERs as the cloneling’s passive processes cycle through different modes. EXRTion and HEAL systems are complete and make up the cloneling’s strain and passive recovery systems, respectively. Special care and attention is needed to recover from wounds.
Additionally, I’ve finished the skeleton of sector power system. Local TS-ENRG devices must be sought out in every sector to turn the primary power on (or off). Sectors on backup power can expect lesser biological response from spurned lifeforms, difficulty opening doors and operating machines, and more darkness. They can also expect a lower level of City Security activity by default.
Sectors with power on become much more active, and new resources become available. I’m actively working on level design for the prologue / tutorial / demo portion of the game, and having a lot of fun developing various paths from one section to the next, and hope this system adds an extra layer of emergence to the gameplay.
Above is an updated gameplay snippet of powering up the first sector in the drone maintenance tunnels. I like the alpha version of the generator sound. I made it with the Serum 2 digital synthesizer. I had a good time setting up the pitch modulation of the power transition states.
Alpha completion is getting closer and closer, which will also mark the beginning of the closed alpha playtest. I’m excited to introduce several more core systems before that, and continue to flesh out the already existing ones. I’m not ready to announce a date yet, but it’s definitely narrowing down in my head.
I also want to speak to the system requirements and general performance information to give folks some expectation on what kind of hardware will run this game. Currently, the game is being regularly tested on Steam Deck, and beyond a few unoptimized spots (distant views) I still have quite a bit of headroom to hit my minimum goal of a rock-solid 30 FPS experience on Steam Deck. Personally, I like locking to 40 fps on the deck, so I’ll be seeing if that’s attainable. Part of this expectation is from considering that INURBIS is leveraging UE’s Lumen to provide it’s raymarched light and shadow visuals. Yes, I did just want to make a game with something resembling ray tracing that can run well on portable hardware. Currently you can turn Lumen off, but it looks like hot garbage, so please don’t!
I am still considering if I want to add true controller support before or after Alpha, but I would probably open up the playtest while developing that feature so I can start to get some more direct feedback on the game. Thanks to everyone who has expressed interest, and shared kind comments, likes, etc. I can’t do this without players, and I want to play too. Without players, there’s no point.
As always I appreciate everyone’s support, and I hope everyone can find some peace in 2026.
Almost forgot, I also did the Mori podcast (I was sick and missed the previous one) today. Here’s a link to their channel. It was great chatting about Inurbis and science fiction, got some great book recommendations from them!
Have a great January and I’ll see you in February,
HHRRIISSTT
