Nelvaris: First Contact (Demo 7.0)

Nelvaris: First Contact Demo 7.0 is the final version of the demo to be released.

The demo is now finally at a place where I am happy with it. I have accomplished what I set out to do, which was create my own version of the classic PC space combat simulator game  Freespace.

Freespace and Freespace 2 are some of my all time favourite games, and I am disappointed that the franchise is not being continued and there aren't any big companies making games like these anymore.

Freespace is the single biggest influence to this game, an influence which can be seen in all parts of the game.

While I wish I was able to make a full game, this demo has taken nearly 3 years, and so a full game, by myself, is just not feasible at this point.

I have learned a lot about unity and game programming overall, so any subsequent additions to this game can be made far quicker than the previous 3 years, however, for the time being, I need to move on and tackle other, more simple 2D projects.

I hope you enjoy the demo!

Additions and changes since Demo 6.0

• Levels 4 and 5 have been added
• Debriefing rooms have had a design change and all debriefing text added
• The radar has now been implemented
• Squad monitoring has been increased from 3 squads to 8 squads
• All placeholder profile images have bee changed to new hand draw characters
• The game intro has been shortened
• The mouse is now locked to the screen, so it won't leave the game area on 2 monitor setups
• The pause menu has been redesigned. It now allows the user to flip the Y axis for inverted controls
• The new pause menu now has a controls screen with all of the game's controls on it (note that the other menu screens on the pause menu are unfinished)
• The nebula in level 3 has been changed, the gas is now animated
• Lights on ships have had intensity increased so they show up more clearly in the nebula and in the darkness of space.
• The offscreen indicator has been vastly improved to correctly point where an offscreen enemy is
• A new save system is in place. The player creates a profile at the start of the game and it auto saves after each level
• The holograms in the briefing rooms have been remade using the Shader Graph and now have an improved look.
• An extra control has been added - Y to target ships inside the reticle
• All levels have had tweaks to the difficulty.

Overall the demo gives a much more complete picture of what the final game will be like.

The game can be played with Keyboard and Mouse. It will work with the Xbox controller, however, the controls are unfinished for Xbox and use of the gamepad it is not recommended.

If you have any questions or suggestions please find me on twitter @TheSplendidFox