Background Art Preview: Cyberia

So we've been a bit quiet as of late due to personal circumstances, but today we wanted to show our higher tier patrons a preview of what we've been working on! Cyberia is something we're aiming to make a bit more significant than our previous updates, and we've been doing a looooooot of iterating to make sure we get it right. The main concept behind this area is to combine two separate backgrounds and use them both in a smart way. This means that once it's in game you'll be able to pan across from the ship (this is the full ship not just the landing craft) and be able to get to the brand new cabin environment that will have its own inside and background. The cabin is a still a little too early to show you guys but we will preview it here as soon as it's a bit more ready!

From initial sketches we were always aiming for this to be a lot more ambitious than our previous ones

Since this was a bit of a dramatic departure from our normal background creation, we've been trying to step up our production values in general. Things such as a panning camera as well as fun particle effects to simulate a proper winter time environment. One issue we did realize is that our initial concept was a little too cozy, where we want Cyberia to feel like a place that's incredibly brutal to live on. A bit less cozy ski cabin, and more like Hoth in Star Wars. So one big thing our artist did was to change up the lighting and sky to feel a bit more oppressive, and also create a unique feel compared to our other locations.

Was a little bit too cozy for what we're aiming for in the story

Now that's better! (but a little scarier...)

This half is basically done, but we still need to work on the other side

Biggest thing we want you guys to know is we're still actively working on the game, and we're really trying to make this update a bit more special. The UI/Bugfix update is still aimed for before the end of the month which is separate from the Cyberia Update, but we wanted to give you guys a proper preview beforehand. We do have some fun surprises in store which should help the wait, but we're still making very solid progress towards the update.

Currently the update is aiming to have at least:
-3 New Backgrounds
-New Elsie character model as well as improved character models for each of the cast
-2-3 NSFW scenes
-New panning tech and much more involved backgrounds
-At least 1-2 new music tracks

That's it for this art preview, but we're very excited to show off Cyberia once it's ready. We're going to be working on doing a better job at communicating to you guys what's going on, as well as give earlier previews in general. Hope you guys are just as excited as we are!