Second Star Demo Update!

Hello!

Wow, so it’s been a while since we did one of these. We hope what we’re about to show you will make the wait worthwhile.

So for the last 6 months, we’ve been working nearly nonstop on Second Star, specifically the demo that we’ll be bringing to you real soon on Steam. Before you read on, I will say that I don’t have a release date for that JUST yet, but it’s coming–I promise.

In our last update, we announced that we were in fact working on a demo that would be made available early to those who signed up and then later on, to everyone. Now originally the demo we had was much smaller in scope than the one that we’ll be releasing. It was technically a vertical slice: one that would show off some of Second Star’s gameplay, a short quest, and a bit of dialogue all while walking around a pretty small level. 

But that wasn’t good enough for us. We decided that we didn’t just want to show you a slice of the game or what the game COULD be. We wanted to give you an actual piece of Second Star and its story – the first chunk of it actually.

So much has changed since January and the team has made amazing progress. I love lists so I’m going to break down what it is we plan on releasing in this demo.

• The ability to design your Dr. Lee’s background and motivations for joining the mission to find the Second Star. You’ll also be able to select from 4 options for your protagonist voice. Originally we planned on 3 but decided to bump it up to 4.
• Every line of dialogue in the demo is voiced. We held auditions for the cast of Second Star back in February and received hundreds of submissions which was pretty awesome. We’re proud to say we’ve been working with some incredibly talented voice actors to help bring the characters of Second Star to life!
• You’ll be able to explore your quarters, laboratory, and hydroponics room of the Persistence. Dr. Lee can observe and interact with many of the objects in their environment and will have something to say about them of course.
• Interact with the crew of the Persistence via communicator or intercom – they’ll have opinions on what they think you should do and sometimes will just chat with each other about the mission. Be their friend, crack a joke, or just tell them to buzz off. You’re a professional–you know what you’re doing, right? The crew will also be able to see the environments you explore through your eyes and will offer guidance (and commentary) along the way.
• Play the introduction of Second Star--learn about the mission, why you’re there, and what you hope to find as you set course for the first of three planets you’ll be exploring: Irkalla.
• Visit Irkalla! You’ll get to explore the first major area of a volcanic world still in its early formation stage. Your objective will be to find anything the Second Star team left behind. Don’t forget to stick around and admire the views–the planets in Second Star have day/night cycles but your suit will be equipped to handle that. 
• Try out the crafting, deconstruction, and a lite version of the hydroponics mechanics on the Persistence. 
• 8 tracks from the game’s original score which you’ll be able to hear throughout the demo. 

So the best part of this demo for us other than, you know, actually giving it to you to play, is that many of the core systems are now built which makes for a smoother development process ahead. 

But for now let’s do something we haven’t done in 6 months. Let’s show off some gameplay, complete with audio and other shiny things. Note that these are from an alpha build of the demo so stuff might still change before release. Most of these are dialogue-heavy because Second Star is a story and character-focused game and we want you to get to know your crew!

These aren’t all. We’ll be posting more videos throughout the week and showing off more mechanics so be sure to subscribe to our YouTube and follow us on Twitter.

We’re also testing heavily right now to try and give the most accurate system requirements possible. Second Star is a graphically intensive game but that doesn’t mean we can’t optimize the demo where we can. 

We can see the finish line from where we stand for the demo’s release and we look forward to finally being able to share a piece of Second Star with you. If you want to know more about the story or the characters of Second Star, head over to the Game page. If you’re interested in playing the demo before everyone else, sign up here!

We have been posting character and voice actor reveals on Twitter and we’ll be posting more videos and screenshots as we get closer to release, so be sure to follow us @secondstargame. And keep an eye out for those updates because we’re going to be doing a livestream soon where a few of us play the demo!

That’s all from me for now. See you soon!

Kat