Multivaders - The Sagan Research Outpost

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In-game history and lore

The Sagan Resarch Outpost is a research and resource station located on the surface of the moon in the Multivaders internal test prototype build (ITP). The base was created as a collaboration between the Primrose Corporation and the Russian Cosmo-Corporation (RCC). It was later abandoned by the RCC and left for the Primrose staff to inhabit and maintain.

The base was named after renowned scientist and astronomer Carl Sagan. His pictures adorn the wall of the reception and his name is featured on signs and furnishings within the building

Layout

The base consists of two wings to the north and south. The south wing hosts a docking bay and reception/terminal facility. Hallways connect this area to a storage and administrative area consisting of a waiting room and conference suite. A large, expansive outdoor area separates the two wings and contains mining equipment that extracts helium-3 from a deposit beneath the surface. A north wing is connected that mirrors the south, but contains crew quarters, training facilities, a medical area and a mess hall. A final docking bay lies at the far reaches of the colony.

  • The Sagan Research Outpost in the Nudge Locale editor
    The initial map in-editor
Design and development

The Sagan Colony began as a sketch by the talented Ian Snyder, an artist that worked on some of the initial designs for Multivaders 2. This was then taken and extended by myself, adding the outdoor area and laying out the various rooms. The map was built from modular parts using the Nudge Locale Editor, with scripted logic for the skirmish gameplay created in the Script Editor.

The Sagan Colony sketch An initial layout for the multiplayer skirmish Work in progress with rooms being laid out in the editor Adding the outside area and cargo storage warehouse Linking the rooms together and plotting the waypaths for AI The design of the reception area Mission scripting in action in the outside area An example cutscene made in the Sagan reception area

Multivaders


Part of the 'Multivaders' series. A personal video-games development project, spanning 13 years.

Who I am

I'm Blake and I like to tinker with things and make stuff. When I'm not programming or developing random systems, I'm playing with electronics, doodling bits of art, 3D modelling or sculpting and painting things or nerding out watching sci-fi or horror TV.

From 2001 I worked in the games industry, eventually specialising in tools to aid in the development of video games and their engines. In 2011 I left the industry and teamed up with a few other talented composers to utilise my knowledge to help build the company 'Spitfire Audio'.

I also periodically compose soundtracks for video-games and have worked on titles such as The Stanley Parable, Portal Knights, Lost in Random as well as a few random projects such as trailer for Terraria and Minecraft and the like. You've probably also heard my music in random TV commercials at some point.

What I'm using to make games

Nowadays I tend to utilise Unreal Engine 5. I use a mixture of (mostly) C++ (Visual Studio 2022, Rider) and Blueprints.

I work with Autodesk's 3D Studio Max to generate the art required, and Adobe Photoshop or Paintshop Pro 6 for texturing. I also dabble with Allegorithmic's Substance Designer/Painter for more realistic texturing work.

I tend to generate tools in Python, C++ or NodeJS depending on what's needed.

Audio-wise, I still use Reaper, Cool Edit Pro and FL Studio to generate sounds and music respectively.