Breathedge 2 News Newsy-woosies

We honestly thought we wrote the last news update just yesterday… then we looked at the calendar.

Why didn’t you yell at us sooner? This is all your fault!

Phew. Now that we’ve successfully shifted the blame — let’s get to the news.

Since the demo’s release, we’ve been focusing on making the gameplay as good as humanly possible. Sure, we’ve also been doing some model stuff, other stuff, and all kinds of mysterious “developer” stuff — mostly at 3 a.m. — but the hardest part turned out to be… thinking.

Thinking is hard. We can officially confirm that. We tried it. We didn’t like it. But we had to keep doing it anyway. What this brave act of self-destruction will lead to — we’ll all find out very soon in Early Access. In the meantime, here are a few juicy details.

The most important thing — the core, the essence, the very soul of the game (and yes, it’s even hidden in the title) — is oxygen. We’ve done a lot to improve the oxygen mechanics since the demo. But if we take off our huge rose-tinted glasses for a second… the oxygen system is still complete sh... It’s fine! But! we’re not leaving it like that! We’ve decided to go even deeper and turn oxygen into one of the most valuable parameters and resources — without abusing the Man or making him suffocate every other minute.

Right now, we’re creating a broader system that ties together all survival parameters: gas, hunger (and thirst — yes, you asked for it, it’s back, the Man is officially allowed to drink again). All parameters will depend on the Man’s condition, the environment, and various world factors. Everything will be built around positive and negative effects — buffs and debuffs — that can affect not only the Man but also your crew, your ship, or your base.

After the first Breathedge, where oxygen was the main driving force, simplifying that mechanic might sound strange. But honestly, it didn’t drive anything forward — more like forward–backward–forward–backward, and few people enjoyed that little dance. So, will the Man be able to float around in space longer without gasping for air? Yes. Will that make the game easier? Not even close. Safe zones with free or infinite oxygen are gone. Oxygen is now a resource — and you’ll have to hunt for it with a stick, just like our ancestors did. (Cavemen hunted oxygen, right? RIGHT??)

Another parameter you might’ve poked at in the demo was fatigue. Its mechanics in the demo can best be described as: uuugh... bleh... uuuuuuh... pffft. A brilliant concept, of course — just not exactly how we planned to leave it. Fatigue is actually a pretty important parameter. It’s basically the game’s natural way of saying, “That’s enough gaming for today.” Get out of bed — fly around — loot some junk — eat — sleep. You know, like real life. Sure, you can fight fatigue: chug coffee, pop pills by the handful, and generally behave like a very bad dog. But sooner or later it catches up with everyone (fatigue, not the dog — come on, focus), and the more you resist it, the harder it hits you in the back of the head. Again — just like real life.

Tightly the storm clouds gather as one,

Black and mighty, their