GM from the bowels of the Hash Rush development mines! The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of productivity as we burrow through old codes, hammer out new ones, and optimise both as the starting line for Early Access inches closer. April is looking packed to the gill with more development, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet — let’s take a look at what happened in March!
Turn Down for What?
It’s impossible for a game to offer the same level of immersion without sounds. Sound effects serve as an important cue, helping the player to orient themselves in the environment. It also serves as a non-verbal narrative, making it easier for players to keep up with everything going on at any given time. This is why made it a priority to better define Hash Rush’s soundscape
In Hash Rush, we are building a varied soundscape to sound effects to support the game’s setting and gameplay. Inspired by StarCraft, Warcraft, the vastness of outer space, and industrious notes which almost sound like a working shanty to inspire the Ernacks to Rebuild, Fight and Drive off the Crystals Scourge, our aim is to a unique sound design that pays homage to our influences while carving out its own identity. We have ambient sounds that help set the mood by creating an immersive atmosphere. Then, we have special effects that trigger when you do something cool or exciting such as killing an enemy or finding a new resource node.
Here is what healing your unit now sounds like and this is one of the main themes of your Home Base Hub.
As a result of having established a thematic baseline, we will now be creating a diverse range of sound effects to carry players along.
Where is My Mind?
Every Real-time Strategy Game has different elements and each one of those elements is incredibly important. Understanding how they work and interact with each other can mean the difference between winning or losing a match. In most cases, it all boils down to the UI.
A good UI design makes it easy for players to understand their options, their goals, the route to achieve them and how to interact with the game world. A bad UI makes it harder for players to do anything but struggle through the game. Because of this, it’s important that UI designs are clear and easy to understand so that players don’t have to spend too much time figuring out what they’re looking at on screen before they can act on it effectively.
So, we sat down and asked ourselves what should players be seeing, what would they like to see, and most importantly, how to present this information to them without overwhelming the display. The result was this:
With the UI framework finalised, the design department is now working on prettying up the mockup
The Beginning After The End
So, what’s the deal with Hash Rush and who are these cute, blue critters supposed to be again?
We know. Nobody’s entirely sure what the game’s about, especially newcomers to the game. That’s why we’ve also allocated resources to start working on worldbuilding through a lore and questing system. We want to make sure that every player has an opportunity to learn about the world of Hash Rush in an immersive way. The goal is for players to feel like they are part of a living universe, where everything has its place and where every action has consequences.
In closing, we are hard at work to bring Hash Rush to Early Access. The developers are publishing updates and progress reports on a daily basis and there are no hurdles in sight. From Sound additions and UI readjustments to backend and design updates, there has been a lot of noise in the mines during the month of March.
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