Here’s the current trailer for Smugglers of Cygnus:
And here’s our first ever trailer for Smugglers of Cygnus
The game is currently slated to have a free demo released in 2022.
IMDb: Smugglers of Cygnus (Video Game 2023) - IMDb
4 Likes
2020-07-03: Overall game state
Species 1 is about 50% done.
Species 2 placeholders done.
Engineering, Navigation, and Command proof of concepts are done.
Next up: Flight 
5 Likes
05 July 2020
Backstories for four independent playable Cygnus galaxy species are done and will be fleshed (hammered for the AIs) out over the coming weeks.
Connections between the Cygnus Galaxy of Games (CGG) titles are being developed.
Character attributes for the four playable species are in the queue.
4 Likes
2020-10-11: Overall game state
Species 1 is about 60% done.
Species 2 is about 10% done.
Flight system is done! Full physics allowing damage, engine upgrades, weight/loading complexity, and hands-on/hands-off flight controls.
Next up: Species 1 set pieces
1 Like
2021-07-28: Overall game state
Species 1 is over 80% done.
Species 2 is about 40% done.
Species 1 and 2 set pieces are in progress.
Player ship customization system is about 25% done.
Initial demo scope work in progress.
Initial player ship design 10% done.
2 Likes
2021-10-17:
Working on UI and importing assets.
Player ship customization system is about 50% done.
Initial player ship design 70% done.
For a bit more detail - the player can now swap engines, wings, and bridges.
2 Likes
2021-12-10:
Still importing assets and working on UI.
Player ship customization is about 70% done. Missing the interior config and the decorations for the exterior (decals, paint variants etc.)
Initial player ship design is about 80% done, still working on additional meshes and options.
Work in progress on the initial set as well as the docking methods.
1 Like
2021-01-13:
UI, the never-ending grind.
Player ship customization remains at 70%, though we’ve added multiple colors to the parts browser to stand in for the paint shop. The paint shop will follow later.
Interior ship design is still in progress.
Handling and PhysX support for the ship is underway, about 10% complete.
Settings UI for configuring controls is about 40% complete:
The Pre-Alpha for Backers is now up on Itch, and the stub for the full release is up as well!
1 Like
2021-01-25
- Handling has now been moved from using the hardcoded input.ini to a built-in system that will eventually allow remapping of the walking/flying controls independently. Still very much a work in progress, and in no way “done”.
- The Task System is well underway, and the first bit you will get to see is the new Task Board filled with job placeholders. This will grow to be a huge part of the normal gameplay loop. Tasks involve 2 types of things players can do - Jobs, which will be procedurally generated one-shots like “take cargo from point A to point B for credits, faction, and experience” and Missions which will be far more complex and quest-like. That will include things like bounties and game-altering events like saving a space station from pirates or helping to clear asteroids from a zone.
- Our first character is now “in the game”, though in no way a proper NPC yet. Meet “Bad Luck” Bart, an AI bartender with terrible luck. Bart will have a lot of work for you soon! Bart’s voice will soon be provided by renowned indie game streamer and CPR champ HourADayGamer!
- The groundwork for the first planet-side mission is in place, but it’s still hundreds of hours short of being ready. Look for it in the coming weeks.
- Some small improvements and a few new assets have been added since last time.
Stay tuned, lots more happening!
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Folks are voting heavily in favor of the shared server host having the ability to activate PVP, and to have missions you can share (but don’t have to share)
So we’ll be working on this!
Multiplayer is already in the very early stages:
2 Likes
2022-02-17
PreAlpha 0.04:
So many changes!
- New jobs board style
- Jobs board sketched out
- New animations for “Bad Luck” Bart
- Lots of behind-the-scenes work in place
- Get a peek of the new bar set - and you’ll get to see what the first mission might be!
- Controller reassignment should save now.
Known issues/WIP bits:
- Only the right side Jobs board is still hooked up.
- Missions/Jobs aren’t assigned yet, browse only.
- Still working on ship handling and tuning
LOADS of things are being set up as we race towards the full Alpha release in just under 2 weeks, so make sure you give me your feedback if you want it in the Alpha!
Screenshot of the WIP jobs board UI:
2 Likes
2 Likes
2022-02-22
PreAlpha 0.05:
Ramp up to Alpha time:
- New Sector->System->Location implemented in jobs.
- Jobs board now assigns jobs, even though they don’t really do anything yet.
- Bugs galore fixed behind the scenes, including the text issues in the Job Board.
- Main Menu now in place.
- Last pre-alpha build!
Known issues/WIP bits:
- Missions/Jobs aren’t useful yet.
- Still working on ship handling and tuning
LOADS of things are being set up as we race towards the full Alpha release in just 7 days, so make sure you give me your feedback if you want it in the Alpha!
5 Likes
2022-03-13
Smugglers of Cygnus Patch Notes
ALPHA 0 Patch 1:
First patch is here for the Alpha. The laser-like focus this time was on improving gamepad support.
I’ll be honest, the results are still mixed. A UI redesign is coming, as things that looked solid when I designed them worked much better with mouse and keyboard than gamepad. We can do better.
Lots of changes for “quality of life” stuff as we improve:
- ZQSD keyboard layout has been added (for Euro keyboards) and the [ and ] keys for engine power have been moved to 1 and 2. I think I got it about right, let me know in the feedback channel if not! https://matrix.to/#/#longplay_games:matrix.org
- Some very minor improvements to the job board
- Key remapping is still read only, that’s on the to-do list to improve. It’s causing some chaos at the moment.
- Gamepad selection in menus now works - up/down and left/right, lb/rb, lt/rt all that. The left special key is also remappable, defaults to changing view.
This is the last build at 4k size. After this, the demo will be switching to standard 2k textures to mirror the standard edition copy. This should result in a substantial size reduction with only minor texture quality reduction. The Deluxe Edition will have 4k and RTX, but standard will not, so we wanted to make sure the demo accurately displayed what people would get in the standard edition.
There will be a bit of a lag before P2, because I have some fairly substantial UI re-dos to do to make sure I’m happy with the Steam Deck and Gamepad support.
3 Likes
2022-03-17
ALPHA 0 Patch 2:
This is a patch where we’re making 2 fairly huge changes.
- A complete and total revamp of the Ship Customizer (formerly Parts Browser). This is still a brand-new interface, let me know of any issues please.
- Working to find the appropriate size/performance for the “Standard Edition” game. Smugglers will have 2 editions at release. There will be a standard edition and an HD with Raytracing edition. There is no reason to burden everyone with the nearly double size download, and Raytracing is a heavy performance load with a fairly tiny audience. Let me know if I went too far on the performance tuning, it’s non-destructive and I can tweak it pretty easily until we reach a good base for Standard Edition.
- The keymapper is still fussy, but I’m working on it!
- Consider this patch a sort of ‘short step’ since I really wanted to get the new stuff in front of people quickly!
- As always feedback on the forum is appreciated, you can go here: Alpha 0 Feedback Thread or you can join the chat server and tell us directly! https://matrix.to/#/#longplay_games:matrix.org
2 Likes
Smugglers of Cygnus Patch Notes
ALPHA 0 Patch 3:
This is a patch with a modest UI change and a big bug fix.
- Fixed issue where new Ship Customizer hid the HUD.
- Everyone seems happy with the size/performance of the “Standard Edition” so far, but please let me know if you have feedback.
- New UI element for the game added, the tablet interface. This is a first sighting, it’ll be getting lots of tweaks as we go.
- Consider this patch a sort of ‘short step’ since I really wanted to get the new stuff in front of people quickly!
- The keymapper is still fussy, but I’m working on it!
- As always feedback on the forum is appreciated, you can go here: Alpha 0 Feedback Thread or you can join the chat server and tell us directly! https://matrix.to/#/#longplay_games:matrix.org
4 Likes
Smugglers of Cygnus Patch Notes
ALPHA 0 Patch 4:
More UI and gamepad updates, graphical updates.
- Changed default gamepad controls slightly, left special now changes view in flight, left face is now jump.
- Everyone seems happy with the size/performance of the “Standard Edition” so far, but please let me know if you have feedback.
- New UI element for the game added when you approach interactive objects, so far only turned on for planets/stations. Not hooked up to do anything yet, and simply times out after about 30s. This is mostly just to get feedback on the general look/concept. This will eventually replace the ship and job browser ‘automatic popup’ behavior with an intentional launch.
- Planet textures updated, and at an overall improvement in performance and reduction in packaged build size.
- The keymapper is still fussy, and has been disabled for the moment. It will return!
- UIs now automatically update buttons to reflect keyboard/gamepad usage as well as mapping.
- Jobs now have details available. Press “i” on the keyboard or the top face button (Y on xbox) to access.
- UI/HUD system is undergoing a massive change, most of which won’t really be obvious for a little bit.
- As always feedback on the forum is appreciated, you can go here: Alpha 0 Feedback Thread or you can join the chat server and tell us directly! https://matrix.to/#/#longplay_games:matrix.org
1 Like
Our current status on the Early Access Alpha:
Once the core gameplay loop is working and you can complete deliveries with no unexpected weirdness, we’ll be at WP 0. That should be another 3-4 weeks.
1 Like
ALPHA 0 Patch 5:
Loads of gamepad specific fixes for menus. I wasn’t going to update quite yet, but ran a poll and folks wanted to play with the new interact pop-up.
- Some focus issues still exist if you use mouse + gamepad (use alt-tab then click on the menu if you need to regain control)
- Current job menu temporarily bugged for gamepad (will be fixed shortly)
- Everyone seems happy with the size/performance of the “Standard Edition” so far, but please let me know if you have feedback.
- New UI element for the game added when you approach interactive objects. So far this isn’t hooked up for planets/stations, but has replaced the “walk up/pop up” interaction with the Job Board and the Ship Customizer.
- The keymapper is still fussy, and has been disabled for the moment. It will return!
- UI/HUD system is undergoing a massive change, most of which won’t really be obvious for a little bit.
- As always feedback on the forum is appreciated, you can go here: Alpha 0 Feedback Thread or you can join the chat server and tell us directly! https://matrix.to/#/#longplay_games:matrix.org
2 Likes