Welcome to our first newsletter of 2024! We’re getting back into development of VISUALISER, so I thought it might make sense to talk a little bit about what the game is and how it’s taking shape.

So what is Visualiser?

VISUALISER is an investigative adventure game, where you’ll step into the shoes of a robot detective. You’ll make significant choices throughout your investigation, and some of these choices will have significant consequences to how the story plays out.

VISUALISER is set in a far-future where most of humanity is in cryogenic storage and a society of Service robots is attempting to bring the planet back into sustainable equilibrium. You’ll play as Ptolemy, one of the Services working as a detective for the Peace Department. When a series of strange Service deaths start cropping up, you’re put on the case.

One of the big systems we’re iterating on at the moment is our investigation system. In our work-in-progress system, while exploring different areas in your investigation you’ll find yourself faced with a number of different Questions. Questions can be answered by combining evidence you’ve found into many theories, some correct and some incorrect. The decisions you make about how to progress your investigation with these theories will change how it unfolds.

We’ve been iterating on this system a lot over the last few months, and it’s coming together really well! Our initial version playtested in October of last year was pretty damn clunky, and many players found it difficult to engage with. But after some significant UI updates and flow changes it’s landed in what feels like a fairly solid place.

If you’re based in Christchurch, New Zealand, keep an eye out for our announcements of playtest opportunities. We’d love to have you play the demo and tell us what you think!

Thank you for reading the first issue of the Cosmic Soup Games newsletter! We’re planning to send these out every month or so detailing what we’re up to with the games that we’re working on, and anything else we feel like talking about.

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Thanks again for stopping by. See you next time!

Sean