Hey Folks!

If you're a fan of the music in NEO Scavenger, Ostranauts, or Underrail, I have some good news for you!

Invisible Acropolis (a.k.a. Josh Culler, and the composer of all three above OSTs) has a new album out, entitled Trismegistus - Part 2. In his words:

"Its inspired by vintage fantasy and sci-fi movie soundtracks, and you can even download it for free if you want!"

You can find the album on Bandcamp here:
https://invisible-acropolis.bandcamp.com/album/trismegistus-part-2

Head on over and give it a listen. And if you enjoy it, spread the word! Let's all help there be more Invisible Acropolis music in the world :)

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC

Hey Folks!

Back in 2017, NEO Scavenger was approaching its 6th year of development. A far cry from the 3-6 months I expected to spend on a Flash browser game!

So as I wrapped-up the last of the major patches, I decided I'd take a bit of a break from NEO Scavenger to work on another dream project of mine: a spaceship life sim that let me design ships with Lego-like parts, fill it with interesting characters, and watch it go. I still wanted to play in the world of NEO Scavenger, but this would be a fun change of pace, while also letting me flesh-out the setting.

Fast forward a few years, and it appears I just can't resist some NEO Scavenger features :)

Above, you see a screenshot of the inventory screen in Ostranauts. And NEO Scavenger fans will probably recognize more than a few similarities. Even the paper doll's pose was basically a redraw over the old Philip Kindred model, now with a higher resolution.

Unfortunately, since the game is in a new engine (Unity C#), I couldn't just copy/paste the inventory code from NS. But it's getting closer each day, with slotted and held items, effects from equipping items, weight and encumbrance, and a bit of inventory Tetris for good measure.

NS players will also probably recognize the UI style above, even with the re-skinning. Like with NS, there are traits that cost points, and some that grant them. And the building blocks are here for an interesting variety of character types.

So far, as you can see, I haven't been able to balance the point costs as I did in NS. That'll have to come with testing. Also not seen here are some choose-your-own-adventure style screens to decide on your career history, contacts, and additional traits. All of which should hopefully give you some sense of ownership and context to your avatar.

And speaking of choose-your-own-adventure:

Turns out the olden ones are golden ones, when it comes to UIs. Why reinvent the wheel? The old combo of image, text, clickable options, and a message log work in so many situations, that I've started using it in Ostranauts to communicate events that are easier to describe than to show. In this case, a sort of establishing shot explaining your first foray into the boneyard.

And just like how the encounter system evolved into NS's combat UI, socializing with NPCs evolved from that. I mean, after all, a social engagement has a lot of the same moving parts, right?

We have our status info under each character, telling us how we're feeling. We have a list of moves we can make, and a preview of some effects it might have. We still have the message log, too, telling us blow-by-blow all of the things we experience and see as a player.

And what about actual combat? How will that look? Well, I'm sort of expecting this social UI to come full circle and host physical "negotiations." It has all of the necessary pieces that the NS UI had, plus one important improvement: a grid map. Now we can see where everyone is standing.

What's more, with line of sight in the game now, we could potentially have some fun with stealth and cover, or area effects. But I don't want to get too far ahead of myself here. Combat is still on the shelf until I finish some more pressing simulations.

It's also worth pointing out that a number of NS's less-visible features are still running under the hood in Ostranauts. The entire physiological sim, for example. We have hunger, thirst, fatigue, sleep, and temperature. Illnesses and symptoms are all copied over, too. Drug effects like alcohol and caffeine are in, so far. And we even have some crossover between social and physiological effects.

Another carry-over from NS is the ability to mod just about everything. I think I've done a better job this time of exposing more game data in plain text files (json format), and the usual PNG format for images.

And who could forget Josh Culler's amazing soundtrack? He's back with an OST custom-made for Ostranauts. Keep an ear out for his signature haunting electronic ambiance, plus a few new tricks to paint a soundscape that spans cultures in the off-world colonies.

And finally, crucially, Ostranauts is going to grow a lot like NS did. Early Access is coming soon, and like with NS, it's going to come out of the gate with much to be done.

https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/app/1022980/Ostranauts/

Anyone who was along for the ride on NS knows it was slow, but steady progress to add content and features. At every step, I tried to be in there with fans on the forums, both here and my site. Spitballing ideas, answering questions, sharing jokes.

And many times, these chats will turn into awesome features. Remember NS's old combat? Before the encounter-style UI? Some of you will. It was basically Civ-style hex combat, and creatures only had 5 wound states (including death).

Similarly, remember when nighttime in NS was just blue hexes and limited visual range? It was user feedback that turned that into terrifying blackness that allowed us to have tools for light, visibility, and night vision.

You folks are as much to thank for the evolution of NEO Scavenger over the years as anyone, and I hope to continue that tradition in Ostranauts. It'll take some time, but I think Ostranauts can become an equally good platform for telling stories of survival. And I look forward to crafting those stories with you!

Hey Folks!

I'd like to tell you about my latest game, Ostranauts.

Eight years ago, I began work on NEO Scavenger. And after five years of updates and ports, it was time to begin working on a new game. That game started as simply "space prototype," but has turned into quite a bit more.


Well, if you have a minute, here's a teaser video:

Ostranauts is a detailed simulation of owning and living aboard a spaceship, in a solar system where honest living is a slow death sentence. Set in the NEO Scavenger universe, where Earth has suffered cataclysmic collapse, the rest of the System lives on in a state of capitalistic dystopia.

Players will create their captain, build or customize their starting ship from the spoils of their career history, and find ways to keep their motley crew in line, fuel in their tanks, food on their plates, and the debt collectors at bay.

If this sounds interesting to you, you can learn more at the Ostranauts Steam page. Wishlisting it there will give me an idea how much interest there is in this game, and how much time I can spend on it.

Wishlist on Steam now!

And if you know anyone else who might dig this type of game, let them know! Spreading awareness is something everyone can do to help me continue to make games like this.

Thanks for your time, and I look forward to seeing the stories you create in Ostranauts!

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC

PS: Is this a sequel to NEO Scavenger? Not directly. Think of it more as a parallel story involving different characters, but in the same universe. An official sequel, continuing Philip Kindred's adventure, is still on my wishlist of games to make.

Hey Folks! NEO Scavenger Mobile Edition is officially launched!

[play.google.com]After a few stumbles, and nearly a year of development, NEO Scavenger is now available on your iOS and/or Android[play.google.com] device of choice. This is the same game you've grown to love/hate on PC, with all the same features, except the UI has been adjusted to work with multitouch instead of a cursor. That means the same slow-burn, deep-mechanics, play-at-your-leisure experience can now be enjoyed on your favorite bus/couch/train/bed/plane/armchair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtZCxLbtaAQ

This version of NEO Scavenger learned a few new tricks! The mobile version has the following improvements:

• Achievements - Track your progress in exploring all the game has to offer.
  
• Leaderboards - See how your performance stacks-up against friends and other players.
  
• Improved Save System - No more Flash cookies!

Yup! You can download the free demo at:
[play.google.com]and play it as long as you'd like. It's an unlimited time, limited features/content demo, and it should be enough to help you decide if it runs on your device, and whether you like the experience or not.

To get the full version, just click the "Full Version" button in the app's main menu, and follow the prompts for the in-app purchase (IAP). It will permanently unlock the full version on your device. The price is 9.99 USD to unlock the full version (adjusted for local currencies).

I originally wanted to charge the same price on mobile as desktop, since it's basically the same product. (Slightly improved, even.) But the mobile world is weird and prices there don't look like prices on desktop. So instead, I chose a price similar to other mobile games like NEO Scavenger (9.99USD). And just like on desktop, there are games that are both more or less than the price I chose, for better or worse.

Unfortunately, no. It's a neat idea, but even if I could afford to do this, I'm not even sure I could reliably link desktop owners to mobile accounts without rampant free-copy exploits.

Hard to say. It's something I'd like to do, but it depends on a lot of factors. On one hand, I'd like to unshackle desktop players from the finicky Flash engine once and for all. But on the other hand, I'd really like to resume work on my next game. It's probably something I'll explore in my free time, but I don't want to make any promises I can't keep.

Well, buying the game helps, of course. But if you can't (or prefer not to) do that, you can still help by spreading the word. Posting on sites like Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, or similar are a big help, too. And if you know anyone who might dig NEO Scavenger, please tell them!

Hey Folks! Just a heads-up that the BBG site will be down today for a complete overhaul.

Barring any catastrophe, we'll soon have a new site!

Unfortunately, this means the site will be inaccessible during the upgrade. However, I'll be hanging out in the new BBG Discord server intermittently to chat, answer questions, and figure out how to use Discord :)

Invite Link to BBG Discord Server[discord.gg]

See you either there, or on the flip side!

Update: Site is scheduled to relaunch tomorrow morning (Wednesday, Pacific Time). Almost there!

Folks! For the next 23 hours, NEO Scavenger is available at http://chrono.gg for only $3.50!

[chrono.gg]Deal ends at 9am Pacific, June 12th!

Hey Folks! Sorry for the several days of missing devlog. I was on an important business trip. And by "business," I mean this:

Research!

Braving 45°F (7°C) Vancouver rain in nothing but a hospital gown and pink flip flop, we set about filming the new NEO Scavenger mobile trailer. Let me just say, I have a newfound appreciation for what Philip Kindred must go through in every early game. And what's more, how a film production works!

Digital Cyclops[www.digitalcyclops.com] ran the production up in Vancouver, and did an amazing job. Especially considering the cold, rainy conditions! And what's more, they brought in Dalias Blake[www.imdb.com] to play the veteran scavenger! You'll see soon enough how imposing this man can be, decked-out in layered attire and strapped with tools and optics for the wasteland. He had some great suggestions about the various shots, as well.

The footage is currently being uploaded to Josh[mjoshua.com] for editing, and he's already lined up none other than @WritNelson and @ElConquistadork to do VO.

That's right folks. This trailer is going to be a pretty stark contrast to my first, game-footage-only trailer back in 2012.

I'm pretty psyched!

NEO Scavenger is now officially updated to v1.15! Since the test builds have been relatively stable, I've just finished updating the default builds to 1.15 on all sites. The "test" links are no longer necessary, and have been removed for now.

This updates the following builds:

• Flash version[bluebottlegames.com] on the official site
  
• Downloadable versions[bluebottlegames.com] on official site
  
• Steam default builds
  
• DRM-free downloads at Humble Bundle[www.humblebundle.com], GOG[www.gog.com], and IndieGameStand[indiegamestand.com]

New changes include:

• Fixed a bug that caused misplaced/missing items and camps when autosave is enabled.

It's not a big patch, but based on feedback so far, it solves a couple of really annoying autosave bugs. It definitely seems to have solved missing camp item issues. And whether coincidental or not, the number of corrupt save reports seems to have dropped as well.

It seems to be a net improvement, in any case, so it's finally time to make it official.

As always, if there are any issues with the new build, let me know on the forums!

Hey Folks! As many of you know, I'll be launching the iOS and Android versions of NEO Scavenger soon. And along with it, a new and improved NEO Scavenger trailer!

However, I need your help.

We're planning to showcase some "NEO Scavenger moments" during the trailer, describing some of the more dramatic, funny, or even confusing experiences players have had. This will (hopefully) show new players what they've been missing, and why it's worth their time to take a look.

Ideally, we need examples of the following:

• Gravity (1 sentence): What was an example of your early, pitiful death?
  
• Storage (1 sentence): What was your first "eureka!" moment related to storage/carrying items in the game?
  
• Triumph (1 sentence): What was your most triumphant moment in the game?
  
• Unnerving (1 sentence): What was the most messed-up thing you did in the game?

The more interesting the story, the more a viewer will want to have similar experiences. But remember, it has to be short enough to fit! If it takes a paragraph to set-up and get to the point, we can't fit them all into such a short trailer.

So if you've got an interesting story to tell, post it here! I'll be monitoring each of the social channels where this is posted for feedback. And even if you don't have a story, please spread the word so we can reach others who might!

Thanks, guys!