NEBULA: Sole Survivor

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NEBULA: Sole Survivor tells the story of engineers and astronauts on a deadly moon of Jupiter called Europa. Discover new creatures and weapons as you fight off levels of The Infection, to get off of the moon that was once going to become a second Earth for human life. Learn the layout and solve puzzles as you fight your way to an escape through the underground base, CICADA, fighting off anything that comes your way. Become the survivor and experience the fear of Europa’s creatures down every turn. Join the fight!

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You play as Ivy Howlett, the last known survivor of the CICADA Base. She is a scientist and knows her way around heavy machinery, for** that was her job before the attack**. As Chief Engineer, she willl have to science - and shoot - her way out of the Europa moon. But it won’t be easy. The Infection hides in every corner, and it never rests.

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The game takes place on the icy moon of Jupiter, Europa. In a not so distant future, the United Interstellar Administration has settled a top-notch scientific research station on Europa’s surface, called CICADA Biomass and Geology Ground Base. The station’s purpose is both to study the life forms that were detected deep inside the subterranean caves of Europa, and to start laying the foundations for the first human colony within the Jupiter Sector.

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The Jupiter IV-ALPHA Project is a network of satellites orbiting the Europa moon, with the sole purpose of collecting geological and orbital data.
It all started many years ago, with the ambitious research project of the visionaire geological scientist Dr. James Rickman, who dedicated his career (and ultimately his life) for a goal that many thought was in vain. Dr. Rickman was convinced from the beginning of the existence of life under the surface of the Europa moon, and if life were indeed to be there, colonization would be a matter of just a few years.
After months of inconclusive readings from one of the Jupiter IV-ALPHA Project’s satellites, life was confirmed under Europa’s frozen crust. A manned mission was immediately set in motion and in 23 months a small group of astronauts was sent to the moon.
The first life form that the group came in contact with was a small insect-like creature, which they promptly called the Europa Cicada. The creature’s natural habitat was an icy cave complex called the Theseus Lair, located deep under the icy rock surface of the moon, close to where the CICADA Biomass and Geology Ground Base was built, a few weeks later.
Dr. Howard was Ivy’s mentor. As heir to his project, she will now need all the knowledge and resources she can gather in order to escape from the moon alive.

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  • ** Open world** sci-fi map to explore
  • Player-driven, non-linear gameplay: Explore and upgrade your own way. You are free to come and go around the CICADA Base as you wish
  • Upgrades are key: Upgrades and items may unlock other parts of the habitat
  • Realistic Artificial Intelligence: The creatures seem real enough and will hunt you down. They can hear you moving, and will cooperate with each other to attack
  • Jaw-dropping visuals. You’ve never seen such a level of detail in this genre

[CENTER]

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UPDATES:

01/29/2016 Open Beta Download:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2739873/nebula_greenlight/get_the_beta.png

02/23/2016 Aiming system experimental build:
brunogruber.com/builds/nebula_shootingtutorial.7z

Social media
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Twitter @solidmesh

Looks fantastic and very well made!

Ill be sure to check it out.

Been watching this project for a bit and can’t wait to play it.

Brasilsilsil.
Tá lindão, mano. Boa sorte !

Awesome !

Thanks guys! The open beta is coming next week for those who subscribe to the beta list on the website :smiley:

I prefered the 2D side scrolling version, that was closer to Metroid. The new top down version lacks the vertical movements like climbing or big jumps and it looks like another Alien Breed 3D game.

@Galeon Thanks for the feedback. I see your point, but wouldn’t that make the game “just another platformer”?

Alien Breed, and many others, have this kind of gameplay. However, Nebula: Sole Survivor is a lot more about exploration and crafting. It’s not as crazy as some other top down shooters.

Here’s a video showing the WIP workbench and some upgrades you can get :slight_smile:

I really dig the idea of having Crafting added to a game like this. I’m not generally very stoked about top-down games but this one actually has me excited!

I’ll be keeping my eye out for your kickstarter for sure!

@franktech, what do you mean by flexible camera views? On Nebula, the camera always follows the character’s orientation so it is intuitive to aim and shoot, but you can orbit the camera to take a good look of the scenario.

Definitely an interesting concept. There are moments on Nebula where the camera gets really close to the character, giving it an over-the-shoulder perspective, but it’s mostly on menus.

One limitation for a completely flexible camera would be the way I build the levels. There’s nothing on the ceiling. I could change that, but I don’t see much of a benefit coming from different camera styles for this game in particular.

@brunogruber

So you are doing “just another top down game” ?
Looking at the initial gameplay with 2.5D view, there is a bigger sense of height of platforms and obstacles you must climb or jumpr from, while in top down view this won’t have the same impact visually or won’t exist. why not making it a tps game ? You would keep the sense of height and a bigger view than 2.5D ?

@Galeon, thanks for the feedback. This game brings a different approach to the same theme: I’m still focusing on items and upgrades that open previously locked areas of the map, in a very metroidvania kind of way. Some of the elements you mentioned (like jumping) may be lacking, but there’s a huge list of elements that are now in the game, all thanks of the gameplay change. The game now has a really dynamic control scheme and flow. You can now move and aim as if it was an FPS game, making it easier for first timers as well (not the reason I changed, just another bonus point).

I also don’t want to sound rude or anything like that. I always try to listen to people’s feedback in order to develop a better product, but I reserve all the final game design decisions to myself. I’m very happy with the results I’m getting so far, and I’m sure a large part of the community that follows the game is as well. The views on Nebula: Sole Survivor’s trailer just jumped from 2k to 9k in 6 hours, and the feedback I’m getting from the public is a lot more positive than I could ever imagine :slight_smile:

Nice work Brunogruber. I remember seeing this back when it was a sidescroller. Good luck with your Kickstarter! =)

Beautiful sceneries in the trailer! :slight_smile: Great work with the game!

The gameplay looks great, but to me the mountains look almost exactly the same as in the LandscapeMountains Demo. Will these be changed later?

The Mountains also look to much like snowy mountains on earth. From what i know of Europa, it’s covered with a thick layer of ice with giant cracks caused by Jupiters Gravitation and there is a big chance that there’s an ocean below.
Unless they have done terraforming to melt all the ice away, the landscape shouldn’t look like this and if they have molten the ice, the whole moon would likely be covered in water.
I suggest you to take arctic landscapes for reference, rather then alpine sceneries.

As for the change from Sidescrolling to Top Down, i have to say that this is a disapointment for me.
Sure this might still become a good or very good game and find many fans, but for me who loves the Jump&Shoot style Metroidvania games and was hoping for a good new entry in that genre, it’s a big let down.
Especially since the art of the game looks pretty good and i instantly get that Alien vibe.

Maybe i’ll still check it out someday, but chances decreased drastically.

Yep, these are temporary. I’m working on the actual terrain :slight_smile:

I guess this answers kraid’s concerns regarding the terrain as well.

@kraid Thanks for the feedback. I’m sure there are plenty of other sidescroller games being made by the community, and I’m sorry this change seems disappointing to you.

Hey guys, just wanted to give you a heads up: the kickstarter page is rolling out right now :slight_smile:

Here’s the link: NEBULA: SOLE SURVIVOR – Original sci-fi action RPG by Bruno de Araújo — Kickstarter

Nebula is also on Steam Greenlight: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=613377466

And you can download the open beta in both pages!

In. Looks awesome!

Awesome, thanks! I just updated the Kickstarter video. Check it out!