It has now been a few months since I started working on this project again, so it's probably a good idea to give an update about where the current state of the game actually is.

Setting expectations - there's very little there.

I have a habit of getting distracted by tech, architecture, tooling, and boilerplate code, and not making any actual progress on what I want to. This is still very much the case here, but I am approaching it in a way - with my eyes open as it were.

There are a number of ways I'm addressing this. To begin with, I am trying my best to strike a balance between prototype code, and software architecture. The code itself is not particularly great, it's fairly sloppily written, with the purpose of making visible progress, but the way it's being put together is hopefully sound. The reason behind this is, I intend to rewrite significant chunks of the functionality in assembler. I do not want to do so now, as it will grind actual productivity to a halt. I am trying to get the broad strokes in place though.

Also, I've broken the game itself into several core gameplay styles. I am tackling one of those, and intending to write vertical slice of each of these, without worrying too much about the project combining into a single coherent game. So right now I'm working on the story aspect, a kind of narrative/dialogue heavy adventure game section. Perhaps not the most riveting gameplay, but the part that interests me right now. I have one scene which I will get working, before I move onto the next vertical slice.

This also helps with breaking down the amount of content I need to obtain. I am not building the game chronologically, so I don't need all of the artwork required to get me from one point to the next. When I have the gameplay features all working, then I will do it that way, and stitch gameplay together.

Something that is new to me, is writing down story. I am not a writer, but I love stories. I have come up with many narratives for games and other projects in the past, but this is the first time I've made a conscious effort to document it.

So. I've still been very vague about everything.

This project started off out of the ashes of me trying to make a demake of X4: Foundations. But the intial idea this time around was to create a Metroidvania, set in the X Universe. The scope has shifted a little, and grown a lot. Due to a lack of emphasis on individual combat in the X Universe, and little latitude for expressive attacks, what combat I will be adding will be somewhat more stripped back. Additionally, while I will be doing my best to add in exploration with unlocks, how much of that makes sense within this, I am not sure yet. I do have some ideas.

As I've already stated, I'm also leaning more heavily into narrative and dialogue based gameplay, and some of the gameplay may more closely resemble an adventure game.

Additionally, if I have time, I would love to add some spaceship shmup sections.

I believe that I have a decent development set up for this. I am currently providing all the programming for engine, gameplay, and tooling, and I am in contact with several artists who are providing their assistance with this project.

So. That's all been vague replies and hand waving. What do I actually have? I have one location, a Teladi Peregrine, which I have taken some liberties, and defined several rooms: the bridge, crew quarters, a brig, an engine room, and an airlock. I got some sprites created by an artist I found on Discord, Wolfie. I have started getting some character designs done by an artist from Fiverr, Kalengo Phiri, and I've written a simple platforming system. You can run between the rooms, talk to your Teladi machanic, Letaseos "Leta" Yayasisos Neserosius IX, you can then run back to the bridge to have a chat with your pilot, Elriya "El" Maclan (I swear not all of the characters have nicknames) and she'll start you flying off. Not all that much gameplay, but it demonstrates a good number of systems working in concert.

Additionally, I have been making a point of trying to make some of the things data driven, so that as much as possible can be created with editors, and not require manual code editing. Dialogue trees, character definitions, and story states currently do not have their own editor, but they might do in future.

At this point, I have done very little testing on an actual Atari Jaguar. I did try it once, the performance was low, and there were graphical glitches, which seemed to be worse ones than what I had seen in either VirtualJaguar, or BigPEmu. The performance is something that, as already stated, is known and will be addressed. The graphical gitches are very much on my todo list.