Sierra Ops Major Update is Finally Here!
Author: indiefoldcreator
Date:
Fri, 17 May 2024
Genre:
Adventure, Casual, Indie, Strategy
Developer: Innomen Team
Release Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2020
Developer: Innomen Team
Release Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2020
Heyo, Youko here! It's been a while since I've written the update, but I'm here to finally give you the full load down on our upcoming major update! We're still ironing out some bugs at the moment, but it'll be up soon! ːallenshockː
Here's our new adjusted trailer and opening ːaiheartː
Just in case you missed our prior posts, this update will include:
Female character option for the main character, Junius
Story Mode difficulty
Arcade Mode
Voice Acted situational dialogue
Misc (controller support, tutorials +, visual update)
Let's break down each of the above in more detail! ːashtonglareː
For those of you who don't know, one of the ongoing memes in the Sierra Ops dev team is that I, personally really want a female protagonist option and that Junius was always written to be more or less gender neutral so it'd be a relatively easy switch. Lo and behold, the pipedream is actually becoming a reality! ːallenshockː
Now, what does that actually mean in terms of contents?
As much as I'd like to give a Person 3 Portable experience, that's just not feasible for the size of our team and the scale of the game plus the resources we have on hand. As a result, the difference between the two protagonists will be relatively minor, but there will be a few instances of gender specific dialogue and scenes, but for all intent and purposes, feel free to pick whichever you like based on personal preferences. This also applies to character routes/ romances (if you care about that sort of thing).
Since I know people are going to mod in gated off pairings anyway, we flat out decided to allow free access to all character routes for both protagonists to give everyone the best experience possible. Go and pursue your yuri and yaoi dreams (though it's technically shoujo and shonen ai)! I won't stop you! ːclaineohohoː
That said, if you're concerned about accidently romancing someone (I've had those nightmares in Mass Effect), don't worry. You have to explicitly pursue a romance to actually trigger it and the best friend route is always available if platonic relationships are more your jam. Keep in mind, the romance aspect of the game was always on the lighter end and we are very PG-13, so temper your expectations. :sweatyJess:
Due to the nature of Sierra Ops being a hybrid visual novel/RTS/Shoot 'em up????? ːjeanthinkː, we've had a lot of complaints on both ends in regards to gameplay difficulty/ease/obtuseness and story length/ too much dialogue/ not enough gameplay. Story mode is our solution for those who just want to focus on story.
Story mode is designed for those players who want to just experience the story and completely trivialize the gameplay. That said, because Sierra is a game that's impacted by gameplay performance, playing story mode will limit certain outcomes (most of them bad). We think this is a fair trade-off since the majority of players prefer to see good outcomes only, but at the end of the day, we're still gating off certain aspects of the story. It's definitely not an incomplete experience, but it's something to keep in mind. There's nothing wrong with practicing in story mode and then eventually moving to normal mode once you're more familiar with the gameplay.
That said, this doesn't mean that all bad outcomes are barred from story mode. Story bad ends are still completely accessible! We hope that's enough to sate your story curiosity.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Arcade mode! Arcade mode is for everyone who would prefer to completely skip the visual novel and dish it out on the battlefield instead!
This mode features completely new stages, scenarios, and upgrades not available anywhere else in the game. It's completely uncoupled from the narrative of the game, so experiment to your heart's content with different load-outs, weapon configurations, etc.
Even if you enjoy the narrative aspect of the game, this'll hopefully sate your appetite for new combat scenarios while we work on the next instalment of the story!
We'll be updating this mode soon with new CAST and Lapis content at a later date so look forward to it!
As mentioned in earlier updates, we've been working to include some limited voice acting to the game. Due to the way scenes are structured and cost, we've largely limited voice acting to combat, victory, development port, side mission selection, and some other minor bits and bobs. Hopefully, this adds the little personal touches we're looking for so crew members actually feel like crew members!
You'll notice a new little pop-up in the bottom right corner of the screen that indicates who is talking and what they're saying if you ever get mixed up. A big thanks to all our voice actors who've devoted time to being in our game!
We've tried to balance how much they play, so any feedback would be highly welcome. ːjeanthinkː
Along side the explanation heavy stuff above, here are a few more additions that'll be coming into your hands along with everything else!
A. Controller support
It's exactly what's on the tin! As mentioned before, we've been looking into making Sierra controller compatible so you can play on the go with systems like steam deck and potentially in future console release (this is really far away). We're very interested in feedback, so please feel free to share it in our discord or the steam forums. Thank you ahead of time!
B. Tutorials +
We've expended on the tutorials somewhat so certain mechanics and systems are better explained and have accompanying visuals. We hope this helps clear up whatever confusion there is, but let us know if it needs to be adjusted again!
C. Improved Visuals
Our amazing environment artist, Tobby, has given the battle graphics a total overhaul! Everything from weapons particle effects to backgrounds and ship damage states has been adjusted to be cleaner and more cohesive! Overall, everything has a cleaner and brighter look, and we're super thankful for his hard work!
He's also the one responsible for the new banners on Steam! Make sure to give him a round of applause if you like the changes! ːclaineohohoː
https://store.steampowered.com/app/364210/Sierra_Ops/
That's it from me! Thank you for supporting the game! ːaiheartː
Here's our new adjusted trailer and opening ːaiheartː
Just in case you missed our prior posts, this update will include:
Let's break down each of the above in more detail! ːashtonglareː
1. Female Junius
For those of you who don't know, one of the ongoing memes in the Sierra Ops dev team is that I, personally really want a female protagonist option and that Junius was always written to be more or less gender neutral so it'd be a relatively easy switch. Lo and behold, the pipedream is actually becoming a reality! ːallenshockː
Now, what does that actually mean in terms of contents?
As much as I'd like to give a Person 3 Portable experience, that's just not feasible for the size of our team and the scale of the game plus the resources we have on hand. As a result, the difference between the two protagonists will be relatively minor, but there will be a few instances of gender specific dialogue and scenes, but for all intent and purposes, feel free to pick whichever you like based on personal preferences. This also applies to character routes/ romances (if you care about that sort of thing).
Since I know people are going to mod in gated off pairings anyway, we flat out decided to allow free access to all character routes for both protagonists to give everyone the best experience possible. Go and pursue your yuri and yaoi dreams (though it's technically shoujo and shonen ai)! I won't stop you! ːclaineohohoː
That said, if you're concerned about accidently romancing someone (I've had those nightmares in Mass Effect), don't worry. You have to explicitly pursue a romance to actually trigger it and the best friend route is always available if platonic relationships are more your jam. Keep in mind, the romance aspect of the game was always on the lighter end and we are very PG-13, so temper your expectations. :sweatyJess:
2. Story mode
Due to the nature of Sierra Ops being a hybrid visual novel/RTS/Shoot 'em up????? ːjeanthinkː, we've had a lot of complaints on both ends in regards to gameplay difficulty/ease/obtuseness and story length/ too much dialogue/ not enough gameplay. Story mode is our solution for those who just want to focus on story.
Story mode is designed for those players who want to just experience the story and completely trivialize the gameplay. That said, because Sierra is a game that's impacted by gameplay performance, playing story mode will limit certain outcomes (most of them bad). We think this is a fair trade-off since the majority of players prefer to see good outcomes only, but at the end of the day, we're still gating off certain aspects of the story. It's definitely not an incomplete experience, but it's something to keep in mind. There's nothing wrong with practicing in story mode and then eventually moving to normal mode once you're more familiar with the gameplay.
That said, this doesn't mean that all bad outcomes are barred from story mode. Story bad ends are still completely accessible! We hope that's enough to sate your story curiosity.
3. Arcade Mode
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Arcade mode! Arcade mode is for everyone who would prefer to completely skip the visual novel and dish it out on the battlefield instead!
This mode features completely new stages, scenarios, and upgrades not available anywhere else in the game. It's completely uncoupled from the narrative of the game, so experiment to your heart's content with different load-outs, weapon configurations, etc.
Even if you enjoy the narrative aspect of the game, this'll hopefully sate your appetite for new combat scenarios while we work on the next instalment of the story!
We'll be updating this mode soon with new CAST and Lapis content at a later date so look forward to it!
4. Voice Acting
As mentioned in earlier updates, we've been working to include some limited voice acting to the game. Due to the way scenes are structured and cost, we've largely limited voice acting to combat, victory, development port, side mission selection, and some other minor bits and bobs. Hopefully, this adds the little personal touches we're looking for so crew members actually feel like crew members!
You'll notice a new little pop-up in the bottom right corner of the screen that indicates who is talking and what they're saying if you ever get mixed up. A big thanks to all our voice actors who've devoted time to being in our game!
We've tried to balance how much they play, so any feedback would be highly welcome. ːjeanthinkː
5. Pretty much everything else
Along side the explanation heavy stuff above, here are a few more additions that'll be coming into your hands along with everything else!
A. Controller support
It's exactly what's on the tin! As mentioned before, we've been looking into making Sierra controller compatible so you can play on the go with systems like steam deck and potentially in future console release (this is really far away). We're very interested in feedback, so please feel free to share it in our discord or the steam forums. Thank you ahead of time!
B. Tutorials +
We've expended on the tutorials somewhat so certain mechanics and systems are better explained and have accompanying visuals. We hope this helps clear up whatever confusion there is, but let us know if it needs to be adjusted again!
C. Improved Visuals
Our amazing environment artist, Tobby, has given the battle graphics a total overhaul! Everything from weapons particle effects to backgrounds and ship damage states has been adjusted to be cleaner and more cohesive! Overall, everything has a cleaner and brighter look, and we're super thankful for his hard work!
He's also the one responsible for the new banners on Steam! Make sure to give him a round of applause if you like the changes! ːclaineohohoː
https://store.steampowered.com/app/364210/Sierra_Ops/
That's it from me! Thank you for supporting the game! ːaiheartː
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