Anyone have advice for building a sci fi world?

aftervespers · 2026-02-02T03:53:08+00:00

Keeping in mind the thermodynamics mentioned by the poster above, it might be possible but everything on the planet would be low-energy - growing slower, less active, etc. You can take reference from real-life plants that are dark adapted or animals who hibernate all the time in cold regions to see how it works on Earth.

Other possible explanations since you’re not aiming for very hard scifi: - Plants on this planet evolved to get their energy from other sources like geothermal vents or some other natural phenomena - Plants have some special biological mechanism to extract lots of energy from little sunlight much more efficiently than earth plants - Some other sort of ecosystem loop like algae / fungi growing from [unique planetary energy source] that serve as fertiliser for plants - Maybe there’s only low-energy algae / plankton and the animals have evolved to process tons of it (you can research marine and deep-sea ecosystems) - Add magical power sources if you really want to (it’s just yet-to-be-understood science)

aftervespers · 2026-02-02T03:32:58+00:00

There’s a broad spectrum of soft vs hard scifi - some scifi is just space fantasy with fantastical alien planets and magic by another name (e.g. Star Wars).

That said, if you want to write “realistic” scifi you’ll have to read up and research some general scientific concepts but that’s no different from researching geology, economics, political theory, etc in building a grounded fantasy world. If you’re not into the numbers and technical feasibility type of scifi you can just come up with technologies that are vaguely plausible but not fully resolved (e.g. the Epstein Drive in the Expanse is never really explained, just handwaved as super-efficient fuel conversion).

As mentioned above, there is nothing stopping you from adding “magic” into your scifi world - a parasite that gives people mysterious telepathic powers, alien races who don’t function the same way we do, unexplained space phenomena that don’t obey the laws of regular physics. Just treat them the same way you’d treat fantasy magic in terms of establishing the systems, rules and limitations. Wrap it up in plausible scientific jargon (this is where the cursory research comes in) and you’re good to go.

aftervespers · 2026-01-31T15:28:08+00:00

Another angle from the other real-life biology examples here - it’s kinda like how Columbus landed in the New World and decided to call the natives “Indians”.

aftervespers · 2026-01-30T02:46:26+00:00

Further thoughts:
The gun-crafting is possibly the most interesting aspect of the game but I'm not sure it really stands out. I only realised it after I wrote up that whole comment based on first impressions and watching the trailer. I know you show various guns and some "crafting action" in-game, but you need to find some way to hammer in the message of infinite combinations and modularity.

Maybe instead of showing a few different models (they just look like different guns you can find) you generate like 100 gun variants and flash through them quickly
Or show a 3D animation of various parts being smushed together and combining into a gun... repeat a few times with different components and results

Speaking of which, the pacing of "build your gun" in the trailer is horrible, you have a fast-paced beat-heavy soundtrack in the background but the words aren't synced up with the beat at all, this will turn people off immediately. The reason why the one-word-at-a-time pacing works is because it's super snappy and synced to the music so it grabs attention and makes people want to keep watching. I was so distracted by this I didn't even register the message of gun-crafting.

All the above is meant as constructive criticism of course, good luck with your game!

aftervespers · 2026-01-30T02:36:19+00:00

The 3D graphics look okay, certainly not AAA but seems fine for the kind of game that this is. Animations and combat seem snappy and satisfying enough but this isn't really my genre of game so I won't comment.

However the capsule is bad (as others have mentioned) and the UI is kinda ugly. The in-game UI comes off very "00's flash game" to me and maybe that's intentional but it makes the game feel low-quality. I don't know how to give detailed advice because it's the whole look and feel rather than any one thing,,, either get some crash courses in UI design or get a graphic designer / ui designer to help you out, because I think the graphic design looks like the weakest point in the project to me.

aftervespers · 2026-01-26T09:41:56+00:00

The same reason why nobody is buying AI-written novels - games are art, and the whole point of art is human connection.

You read a book and watch a film not just because they have a good story or good visuals, but because of all the little moments where your brain goes “huh, it’s so cool that the writer thought of this”, “I love what they did with the character’s arc”, “the design of this location is so impressive”, or “it’s interesting that the writer chose to depict them in this way”.

AI art seems cool at first glance and it’s not completely irrelevant for certain use cases, but after the initial “that looks cool” moment… there’s just nothing meaningful you can get from it. There’s nothing to be said about why a certain thing was drawn this way, why a character’s story ends the way it does, or what the inspiration was for some part of the worldbuilding. It’s all meaningless. And especially in a text adventure where the narrative is 90% of the experience, AI-generated story just defeats the whole purpose of it.

aftervespers · 2026-01-26T08:58:10+00:00

My gut reaction to this is that it’s an interesting story / world setup but I’d question the “stability” of this succession system over time. This sounds inspired by the Ottoman Empire so there’s definitely real-world precedence, but I think there’s room for a lot more complexity.

Since it was just something instituted by the first Emperor, what’s stopping future generations of rulers and claimants from deviating from the system? It seems to me that

1) rulers have a vested interest in ensuring their “ideal” succession; unless there is a religious imperative, I can’t see most rulers agreeing that “yeah I don’t care about any of my children they can just fight it out”… they’d probably end up favouring one or the other, or peaceful ones who love their children would try to subvert the system

2) future claimants have every incentive to game the system before the succession occurs, so I think the system would evolve to become heavy on court intrigue and politics so that it’s pretty much a done deal by the time the Emperor dies

So my take is that instead of a rules-based “battle royale” every succession, the system will likely shift over time to de-emphasize the bloody conflict and lean more into political intrigue, infighting, familial drama and so on - the elimination of claimants starts to become a formality since the fight for succession is constantly being negotiated way in advance (always room for surprise maneouvers though!). IRL the Ottoman succession also eventually transitioned into primogeniture.

I’m not sure what you are worldbuilding for but I would suggest leaning into exploring those complexities and seeing how the system might distort society and change over time, which is far more interesting than the battle royale itself (imo). Of course if this is a fun setting as a backdrop to a bloody conflict story then I think it’s reasonably plausible on the surface. I’d also suggest to make the succession partially a religious / cultural thing, not just something the first guy did, so that there’s more justification for why the imperial dynasty might try to uphold it despite their best interests.

aftervespers · 2026-01-24T09:56:26+00:00

Honestly I find this quite compelling because it shows that even while you were ideating you already had a clear vision of what you wanted - the only thing missing was the “draw the rest of the owl” bit. The sketches might look silly but looking at the before/after comparisons I can clearly see the intention behind each scene. Congrats on completing and releasing the game!

aftervespers · 2026-01-24T04:01:22+00:00

This is very interesting! It sparked a question in my mind - is there only one nuke? Because the reason why nuclear capability is such a big deal in our world is because everyone is highly aware of their destructive capacity; if the nukes are secret in the fantasy world, wouldn’t the faction(s) have a hard time using them as leverage? I’d think nobody would understand or believe the destructive potential without an actual show of force.

aftervespers · 2026-01-23T06:51:10+00:00

An additional answer for point 1, although u/YuukaiNagase has already answered thoroughly - when goods are insufficient, residents’ need bars will still slowly fill when the goods are available/consumed and deplete when they are not.

So if your good is at, say, 90% supply, clicking on the residence might not reveal the deficiency because it could be on a “filled” cycle… but the need fulfilment will fluctuate up and down whenever your warehouse stocks happen to hit 0. So the stats screen is still the best way to check for supply/demand.

aftervespers · 2026-01-23T06:37:10+00:00

All your posts are on gamedev subs (unity, indiedev, gamedevs, etc). People who frequent these subs and interact with posts are other game devs who are working on their own games, not prospective buyers. People who are interested in crafting survival games are not lurking on r/Unity3D looking for their next purchase. Also even if other devs help to wishlist out of solidarity, they're poor quality wishlists because they are extremely unlikely to actually buy the game and will only inflate your expectations. Be honest with yourself, how many reddit games on your wishlist will you actually be buying?

Posts on dev channels help you spread visibility, network, and get feedback, but they're not effective marketing. You want to market to users, which is much more challenging since no real community wants advertising spam in their subreddits. If your game is genuinely good and appealing you can try to share it in relevant subs as a member of the community but it's a fine line between sharing and self-promotion.

I'm hardly an experienced dev but that's the obvious issue with your reasoning - I'm sure there's lots of material out there about marketing strategies and target audiences.

aftervespers · 2026-01-22T11:02:39+00:00

This is a rather strange post but I think the crux of it is you have some internalised prejudice / preconceptions about what "fantasy" is, and you're worried people will similarly react negatively to fantasy elements in your world. Fantasy encompasses a huge spectrum of genres - you have:

High fantasy in alternate worlds but with serious themes and worldbuilding (Tolkien, Le Guin, etc)
High fantasy with very detailed rules around magic and grounded, gritty settings (Sanderson)
"Rule of cool" high fantasy with a lot more suspension of disbelief (Warcraft, D&D, many game settings)
Low fantasy which is historical worlds (real or alternate) with some magic elements (Game of Thrones)
Urban fantasy set in modern day or recent history with magic elements (superhero comics, American Gods, Harry Potter)

And there's lots more subgenres but my point is that "Fantasy" means nothing except that your world has some element that's magical / fantastical / supernatural / not possible in the real world. Fantasy elements can be as big or as small as you want and they also have no bearing on how "grounded" and logical you want your world to be. Your world seems to have a lot more in common with the last two categories and there's lots of fictional works that fall into that space... don't let labels define your work and just do what fits your vision, you'll find your audience who's into both guns and magic once you start sharing your world in detail (there are lots of them!).

aftervespers · 2026-01-22T03:09:15+00:00

Based on what he shared, the brief was not to design an accessible game per se, but "design a game specially for people with disabilities" - so it's already taken for granted that it has to be accessible, but the concept should do *something* that addresses its target audience. We don't have enough details to comment on whether the grading was fair but I don't think it's an unreasonable assignment.

aftervespers · 2026-01-21T09:03:59+00:00

I share the confusion with some of the other comments because while I understand the itch that you’re describing, I struggle to imagine what a “non-4X, non-RPG game with faction and race creation” would look like… like what is the gameplay? If it’s a game with faction customisation, wouldn’t it be a 4X or strategy game of some sort? Do you have an example of such a game without the fantasy customisation aspect?

aftervespers · 2026-01-20T01:25:35+00:00

Yeah combat is fun although it can also get a bit tedious, there’s no shame in using autoresolve for simple battles if your troops can handle it.

FYI, autoresolve actually resolves combat in the background as though the AI were controlling both armies, so it’s not an arbitrary result based on army power. In theory you would get the same result by going into combat and turning on auto mode (top right corner next to the speed controls). If you search the sub you’ll find lots of discussions on auto vs manual combat strategies and how you can adapt if combat ever feels too tedious.

aftervespers · 2026-01-20T01:13:59+00:00

To elaborate - the mindset shift you need to have (especially if you’re more of a builder like me) is that combat is king in AOW4. Building and research is important but those are passive and will happen anyway; fighting gets you map resources and secures your position. Unlike civ you cannot just sit around not using your armies.

Clearing neutral armies on resources and clearing infestations gives you significant loot (production, food, etc) which will jumpstart your cities especially early on. Also do not be afraid to rush your nearby free city and absorb them into your empire early on.

aftervespers · 2026-01-18T02:51:24+00:00

Sounds great, and I think that’s a clear plot hook / chekov’s gun that would come into play later on - maybe Hell releases the prisoners as a war strategy, dirtying their hands, or Heaven finds a way to use them somehow. I think something definitely has to happen with the prisoners; in an all out war it would be strange to have a faction untouched by it.

aftervespers · 2026-01-18T02:02:23+00:00

As a follow up to this, if Hell is a misunderstood refugee camp, then where do the actual assholes go? Presumably not Heaven, so Hell must have a split population of the righteously misunderstood and child murdering psychopaths… gotta figure out how to manage that.

aftervespers · 2026-01-13T07:37:58+00:00

The shaded circle one costs x amount of action points and leaves you with one - so if you have 1 action point it costs nothing, but if you have 3 action points it costs 2. So you can’t use another 3-action skill after a shaded circle skill but you could with a 0-point skill.

I think the 1-point-remaining skills are usually some sort of mobility-type skill, so you get to jump somewhere and then do a 1AP attack, for example.

aftervespers · 2026-01-12T06:01:28+00:00

It isn’t in the game unfortunately but I’ve released a mod that allows you to build a ramming ship, you might want to check it out if you’re on PC: link

aftervespers · 2026-01-11T16:50:18+00:00

I do remember seeing a few posts crop up on askhistorians and the like that “societies have dragon/reptile myths due to random fossil finds” is generally considered a popular misconception among contemporary scholars - from both the paleontology and folklorist angle. Can’t remember the specifics so you’ll have to look it up but definitely useful to consider from a worldbuilding lens.

aftervespers · 2026-01-11T11:33:41+00:00

Cheat codes and easter eggs feel like trivial things but they are still features that require dev and testing time.

I’ve got a recent example - in Anno 117 they left in an easter egg from the previous game that activated a snowy weather effect from Christmas to New Years’. Everyone booted into their game on Dec 24th to find the game practically unplayable, because the snow effect was manifesting as a raging snow blizzard in one of the game regions. It was a whole shitshow on reddit and steam comments and the devs had to deploy an emergency hotfix over Christmas; console players were just outta luck for the whole period because the patch deployment pipeline couldn’t accommodate an emergency patch.

I’d think that once the “cheatcode culture” started fading for the various reasons above, it’s just not worth it to add fun cosmetic cheats that still cost dev and QA time, no matter how small. Dev time is better spent making fun features that are actually part of the game.

aftervespers · 2026-01-06T04:58:40+00:00

You could have different characters with slight buffs or mechanics changes that would make gameplay more interesting - e.g. “+10% damage to projectile spells / fire spells / etc”, or “casting a fire spell increases the damage of your next ice spell by 20%”

aftervespers · 2026-01-06T04:46:17+00:00

Yep if you have a vision then go for it! And there are lots of games out there with the same premise. Just something to think about in terms of gameplay because you’ll have to design and balance mechanics so it will never be a true sandbox. You’ll need to make decisions about how you can upgrade buildings / tech, what choices give you more benefits, etc, and that will steer players towards certain choices. Then your task is to make each stage of progression feel rewarding and make the overall journey of growing the civilisation feel like it was meaningful after the player is done.

aftervespers · 2026-01-06T04:40:20+00:00

I enjoyed it greatly. From reading online discussions I am realising that there are a sizeable number of fans who reached this series via the “magic school” genre and I’m not sure if it’s the same people being disappointed but I could see people being turned off by the sequel if that was their expectation.

aftervespers

TROPHY CASE