Hi all, Liam again.

I thought I'd do a post on one of the most exciting parts of developing Sunless Sea for me. Just as I get a kick out of seeing one of our placeholder textures being replaced by a game-ready sprite, the feeling of a mechanic snapping into place is an amazing moment where you can see how the final game will play. Everyone on the team has very similar gaming experience and our references and touch-points are usually the same, so when Alexis explains how a mechanic is going to work, we can all visualise how it will function... but it's different seeing it in practice. We also try and play games together when we've got a spare moment, because having that shared experience of a game and talking through it really helps you understand the potential for your own game's mechanics (Hearthstone is a particular favourite of ours at the moment due to the fact you can get a quick hand in during lunch).

I know what we are implementing in the game, I know what we're aiming for, but the great thing is that I don't get a real sense of precisely the overall impact on the game some of the mechanics will have until they are working. They start off as a concept, we work them up into a rough implementation, then we introduce them into the game. It's that moment that is exciting. Watching something that was a tech demo before start to feel like a game. The mechanics that make the biggest difference to the play experience are the ones that make you lose, because as soon as you are able to fail, every moment you aren't feels like a little victory.

Here are a couple of the best experiences I've had while implementing mechanics.

Terrain collision
Until we introduced the damage penalty when you hit land, you could just bounce around like a pinball. Once we introduced damage into the equation, I finally got a sense of the fragility of my ship. It's strong, but it isn't invincible. From then on it felt like an achievement navigating it across the Unterzee unscathed.

Beasties
It used to be that I could cross from one edge of the map to the other without fear of anything hurting me (aside from the previously mentioned rocky bits). Once we started throwing down spawn points that spat out pirates, giant crabs and living icebergs, I had to tactically decide whether or not to deviate from my original course and use up precious supplies or power on through and tackle the beasties in my path. They are pretty savage at the moment too: we are currently working on implementing a bit of Artificial Stupidity to level the playing field a bit.

Fuel and Supplies
This was introduced very early on, and it was the first moment the game stopped feeling like a tech demo. I remember the first time my boat, low on fuel, finally drifted to a halt in the middle of the ocean. The lights winked out and I was left in darkness. Then the supplies ran out. Then the crew began to panic. I hadn't paid attention and I was going to die because of it. It felt great!

Terror
This is one of my favourite features. The darker it is, the faster your terror rises. If it gets too high... well, let's just say you don't want it to get too high. I've learned to be careful when I extinguish my lights and to be wary of dark, open waters.

It is hard to stay excited about playing a game you spend so much time working on, and I realise that will become truer the further into development we go. That's why I'm savouring these moments when they occur, and making sure I derive as much joy as I can from watching Sunless Sea develop into a game where I can be a loser.