Ambient Dark

Lounge Opening Ambient Dark launches on Monday 10th March. In this devlog I detail all the improvements and changes based on demo feedback, plus I explain what "early access" means for the game. Improvements Second Screen When the mouse moves outside of the game window/frame, the game no longer moves the camera. As well it is possible to right click to lock the camera and move the mouse around freely. This should make it much easier and more practical to have Ambient Dark on a second screen or as a window on a widescreen monitor, and still do other things on the other/main monitor. Monitors I added in airport-style departures boards showing the various spaceships coming and going. This was already accessible via the menu but having it in the world as well adds to the spaceport lounge feel and is a bit easier to access or even know it exists. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45422855/4652888d22a53154a9859d7c9b9e728f60ebf5cf.png I also added in a jukebox-style screen in the bar for changing the music, again to make the experience a bit more immersive. Thanks to those who played the demo and suggested this! Lower Plants The plants in the bar area (upstairs mezzanine area of the lounge) are now much lower to allow players to see more of the view outside the window. Before, it was difficult to spot any spaceships between all the foliage, making it less interesting as a place to sit. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45422855/748b46fd0eda4633ae2aefe9cf2b40b94aaf9b83.png Early Access Ambient Dark launches on Match 10th into an "Early Access" phase. This just means that I'll be adding more environments, rooms and music to the game over time. The game is very much ready to be experienced and enjoyed right now as it is. The full game will feature an additional 3 music albums that were not in the demo. The demo will remain available after launch but any new environments / rooms / music that I add to the full game will be locked and inaccessible in the demo. As for when and how often the game is updated, I...

Warm Welcome The demo for Ambient Dark has been out for a few weeks now. Thanks to everyone who has tried it out and the feedback given. Specifically, things that came up which I plan to fix/improve in the near future: Bug: Skybox is suffering from banding/gradation. Suggestion: Sensitivity slider for mouse look and console controls Suggestion: Walk button (e.g. left shift) and/or way to modify walk/run speed. Suggestion: FPS controls, to let people with higher powered graphics cards increase the framerate. Suggestion: Better icons and/or an easier way to work out what all the things are on the menu. I want to keep the game to being ideally zero text anywhere, so it can be played in any language, but I may add some text in the menu for some languages just so it's easier for players to understand, and then leave other languages as blank. If you want to give more feedback, I made a feedback thread here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/3396470/discussions/0/727997144358725480/ Or you can hunt me down on social media, e.g. via discord: https://discord.gg/hYSbQwFQZQ Future Plans I would love to add new environments to Ambient Dark. Specifically I have an idea for a planet-based spaceport control room. As well I would like to add in various facilities dotted around the galaxy such as research stations or industrial sites. However, I want to limit future environments to single rooms. Partly to make them feel a bit cozier. And partly because I'm developing Ambient Dark as a hobby project and so don't have a whole lot of hours spare for it. Hopefully I'm able to get at least one more environment in the game before release, and more afterwards, but it all depends on how much time I can sneak into working on the game between other projects. Living Worlds Another area I want to improve with Ambient Dark is making the world outside the window feel more alive. For the current spaceport lounge environment, I think there is enough activity from the passing spaceships, but for future...