New OTS stuff in the future
8 years ago
Brazil

Hello there! :D

I'm happy to tell you that we've decided to start working on OTS 2, and we will want feedback from the speed running community while we work on it.

Here's our first sprite concepts we made for the new Yuri (this is the first place we are posting this :D) http://i.imgur.com/eHgQxXV.gif http://i.imgur.com/GktzzyW.gif

I'll post more on my personal twitter account when we have more info (and here too!) And I must say that your support is one of the biggest reasons we want to make our next OTS game :) Thank you!

Crynthus, abbyss and 5 others like this
Denmark

Wow nice, that is great to hear. Looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with. Thank you for a very fun game.

PrettzL likes this
Michigan, USA

This is fantastic news - thank you for posting here!

I have tried to talk this game up to at least fifteen or twenty people by now. I bought it on a huge sale this summer, as part of the bundle with Polarity and Camera Obscura. I felt guilty when I saw how professional and polished all three were, so I have tried to get other people to try the games.

I think, for me, there are three primary things that made me become addicted to Out There Somewhere:

  1. It understands the difference between "complex" and "difficult." There is a time and place for both in game design. The game ramps up and integrates new mechanics at a very sensible pace, so that the challenge comes from core gaming skills, rather than remembering how to work your keyboard. In rooms that are complex, it gives you time to assess the problem so that, even if you can't figure it out, you aren't dying left and right just trying to get a moment to think.

  2. It handles very nicely. You guys nailed it when it comes to Yuri's pace of movement, jumping, etc.

  3. Its sense of style is very tasteful. There are a few NPCs that break the fourth wall and make meta-jokes - but they're out of the way, and don't totally shred the atmosphere. Everything is bound together with a sense of mystery, a little bit of quirkiness, and just a touch of that sense of isolation that made Metroid so great.

Honestly, if the sequel didn't add a single new gameplay element, and OTS 2 was just the same stuff, bigger, I'd be happy as a clam. I cannot wait to pay full price for this one. :D

Crynthus and PrettzL like this
Bretagne, France

Wow, that's really a wonderfull and really unexpected news! I'm really looking forward to it. Thank you for making a very good game. I know i picked OTS a little bit randomly without really any expectation and i turned out to be really amazed by it.

PrettzL likes this
Île-de-France, France

Wooooow !!! Awesome !!!! That is really cool !!! You have all my support guys ! :D That is a GREAT christmas present, thanks :D

PrettzL likes this

Santo and Amora, this is thrilling to say the least!

I've been excited about Skytorn since following you both on Twitter, but this takes the cake.

I have a real personal bond with OTS which is why I submitted the game to speedrun.com founding this run section.

The origins of speedrun.com/ots: http://steamcommunity.com/app/263980/discussions/0/611704531880954615/

I used to smoke around a pack and a half of cigarettes a day but quit during the end of April this year 2015 thanks to OTS.

Back when I first started running the game it was mostly just me seeing how low I could get my times down to. Once my times were around 12 minutes I decided to replace smoking a cigarette with doing a run attempt and within a week I had stopped smoking entirely and haven't bought any cigarettes since!

Thank you so much for this game it has changed my life for the better.

I'm 31 today and I started smoking when I was 14.

Bourgogne, France

Second Christmas this year ! \o/ That's some exciting news ! The biggest sprite looks really badass. :)

Do you think about implementing a level creator ? (I'm sure Natos would love it. ^^) Also, please keep the in-game timer. It's a simple thing, but probably one the things that made OTS successful in the speedrunning community.

Also, I'd like to know : did some of the strat the speedrunning community came up with inspire you for OTS2 ?

Île-de-France, France

Ooooooh Timbouton said something great ! :D A level editor would be so nice ! Ogmo is nice but not the best thing for OTS levels.

Continue this way, we are fully supporting you in 2016 !! :)

Btw, just a quick question : did you try and beat the levels I made ?

PrettzL likes this

Suggestions insofar as making SpeedRunning seamless:

After beating the game once allow for dialogues and messages that pause gameplay to be skipped entirely while still requiring the player to use the talk command on NPC's to progress past doors that require NPC dialogue.

(If cutscenes are added) After beating the game once allow for cutscenes to be disabled.

If a PC game doesn't use the mouse actively for player control in game putting in a full-screen-windowed mode as a resolution option would be indispensable for users with Multiple Monitor setups.

Allow for Demo/Replay files of a run to be recorded and saved.

Ideas for changing it up a little:

Go the Super Mario Bros. 2 route and have multiple characters selectable at start, Yuri being the standard (Like Mario), all with different jump height properties and gravity properties.

Being able to shoot 4 or 8 directions from your character.

Maintain the spirit of the original where platforming > killing all the enemies.

Michigan, USA

I like a lot of these, Prettz! Not to be argumentative, but with your suggestions for seamless running, would that mean that our default category in OTS 2 would be NG+? For me, personally, part of the allure of speedruns is the sense that a game can be taken out-of-the-box, then utterly dismantled, by anybody. Obviously I see why an OTS run without any stoppages would feel much more natural, but I would almost miss the "true Any%" nature of a run where all play-throughs are created equal.

Multi-directional shooting is such an incredible idea - but can you imagine how massive and/or difficult rooms would have to be to prevent us runners from lining up a single pixel-perfect shot to just clear the place? ;)

I agree SO SO SO much with the last point. In fact, what if not everything that harmed you was a "bad guy," and there was some reward system for keeping local fauna alive?

I actually thought of a suggestion this morning. I like the 2D shooting segment of OTS, but I wish that it was more integrated into the game than just as "bookends." I don't know how much time/budget the project has, or how small you were hoping to keep the file-size, but what if the game consisted of multiple planets each roughly the size of the first OTS? Like, you would get to the end of one planet, fight Grigori in one form, but he'd make it to a getaway ship. (Sorry, Yuri, our princess is in another castle.) Then, you'd hop in your ship, and actually have to survive the 2D shooter segments to get from planet to planet? The ship upgrades would be more meaningful that way, and then we wouldn't just be having a contest of "who can die the fastest."

PrettzL likes this

Hm, yeah I guess my idea for things being unlocked after beating the game once would mean NG+ any% IGT would be the standard run style... But you'd be starting a new file from the beginning so long as the intro -> main menu UI stayed similar.

The current NG any% IGT is flexible enough that even though likely no runs submitted so far have been blind runs (True NG any% IGT would require the game to be the players first time playing the game) that NG is the same as just starting a new file.

Another personal suggestion:

Out There Somewhere once again would be all the more interesting if the mysterious pursuit of Grigori by our 'Hero' Yuri remained somewhat mysterious like in the first game.

Even while the Stone Alien betrays Grigori it's never really implied anywhere in the game that Grigori is necessarily a villain, a few NPCs that you can talk to passively acquiesce to Yuri in his advances toward ultimately facing Grigori- almost as if they know that if they get in Yuri's way that he'll kill them and move forward- regardless, it's clear that Yuri and Grigori are at odds with each other for a reason yet explained and that they've been at it for quite some time.

And to be honest when it comes to fiction specifically I've always been unbiased in my perception of what is normal in any fictitious society. I understand that saying 'Grigori isn't necessarily implied to be a bad guy' is saying that attacking planets for supplies, enslaving locals, and being notorious are a socially accepted normality in the universe of Planet: Unknown and Mother Planet. It's not our society so it's not like it can be measured up on some moral compass whether a fictitious society is uncivilized or that their behaviors are somehow incorrect.

Their interaction is similar to Wilee E. Coyote and The Roadrunner in the sense that the pursuit seems endless and that Yuri is relentless even though Grigori is always at least 1 step ahead of him.

Maybe they were compatriots at some point in their past? Or, for all we know, family?

It's fun to be left in a state of wonder. :3

Sorry for the double post.

Another suggestion for the Out There Somewhere Sequel.

A mirror mode for the standard game would be awesome.

Brazil

Wow, thanks so much for all the comments!

Prettz: I stopped smoking 2 months ago, and your post also encouraged me to stay strong and do not start smoking again! I'm very very happy that my game helped you with this, I know how hard it is to stop smoking :)

Natos: Yes I tried them, and oh boy they are hard hahaha I can't make a momentum jump on the green beans! I just have no idea how to do it :P But you had some really good and original ideas there, if it's ok with you I would love to copy some puzzles for OTS2!

As for all the suggestions, feel free to keep em coming :D I'll consider them all when the game starts to take shape, right now I'm making the game basic system, editor and general flow. The game will definitely have way more story elements, multiple planets and it will be less linear, but I also wanna focus on making it a game for speedruns. I want it to be a long game to get 100% but you could also beat it very fast in any%.

As for the level editor, YES. The game will have a level editor integrated in the own game, you will be able to edit a level while testing it. I'm adding support for Lua script, so modding it is also a possibility.

Thanks again everyone, and sorry for the delayed and short response, I'm working a lot on Skytorn right now :) If you want, you can check it out how is it going here: http://skytorngame.com/

Crynthus, abbyss and 3 others like this
Bourgogne, France

Great news. :)

As for Skytorn, I'm keeping an eye on it since I've first seen arts of it. :P

abbyss and PrettzL like this
Île-de-France, France

Wow wow wow... ARE YOU KIDDING ME ?! You will take some on MY puzzle for OTS 2 ? ¤plays angelic music¤ Oh my god... Best day EVER !! Ahahah ! Thank you so much !! That's so awesome !!!! Senpai noticed me ! Ahahah !

More seriously, thank you so much for this compliment !! This really made my day ! And well... If I can help you on levels for OTS 2, just tell me ^.^ I would be so happy to help you !

Timbouton likes this
United States

So I made my speedrun.com account less than an hour ago, because I found this page, and I just wanted to say that an OTS 2 would be amazing. Despite being short, OTS is arguably one of my favorite games, due to basically the 3 points BeardedBusker mentioned. This is the only game I've "tried" speedrunning, probably due to the how much I like it and how short it is. But yeah, I'd totally buy an OTS 2 if it's still a thing that's happening.

PrettzL and MIDIbusker like this
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