Space Dingus Early Q&A

We've got a lot of questions asked from Discord, Steam comments, and the Youtube comments for the trailer. I thought I'd answer a bunch of them in one place!

I've separated them into sections, for easier reading:

1. Multiplayer

2. Release and Price

3. Controls and Gameplay

4. Localization and Modding

5. Bonus Questions

Multiplayer

1. Will Space Dingus have couch co-op, or online multiplayer?

A: We are focusing entirely on online co-op as the main focus for launch. Couch co-op isn't in currently, but we've been getting a bunch of questions on this. We may add this later, but no promises yet!

2. How many players can play together?

A: The plan is 4 players. The engine technically supports more, but it's nice to have a limit for gameplay purposes.

3. Will there be crossplay support?

A: Not at launch. The focus will be Steam + Windows first.

Release and Price

4. Is Space Dingus coming to consoles, Linux, Mac, Mobile, etc?

A: Not sure yet! First launch will be Steam + Windows, so we can devote all energies to gameplay and bugs. Porting would come after that. We also need to come up with a better solution for in-house porting, so we can handle all the updates ourselves. Eventually, this became a problem for Death Road to Canada.

5. When will Space Dingus be released?

A: Not this year! However, we're hoping to get some kind playable version (a playtest or demo) out as soon as we can. Make sure to keep an eye out on the Steam page, or the Official Rocketcat Discord, for news on this. [EDIT: Fixed a very confusing typo that simultaneously said not this year AND this year.]

6. How much will it cost?

A: Somewhere around $20 USD (if you get it early), likely with regional pricing using Steam's automatic system. After an initial period, the price is likely going to raise to $25, but we'll see on details.

Controls and Gameplay

7. What are the main control changes from Death Road to Canada?

A: We use mouse aiming and keyboard now! There's additional commands from Death Road, including a special use for Right Mouse Button that I'll talk about in a future post.

8. Will there be gamepad controller support?

A: It's planned, but not implemented yet. Headshots are currently handled via mouse. You can spot this sometimes in the Trailer, it makes the cursor turn green and spin. We have to adapt this system for gamepads. We have some ideas here, though.

9. Can you fight the bandits now?

A: You can physically fight the "bandits" now, instead of them just obliterating you in CYOA text events. There will be a bunch of different humanoid factions that may attack you, and for different reasons. Instead of being attacked by bandits when you're vulnerable, you can also have bounties placed on you for being a huge jerk.

10. What happens if your spaceship blows up? Do you float around in space?

A: You DIE. (Death Road death sfx)

We're not sure yet if you'll even be able to completely lose your ship. You can lose your car in Death Road to Canada and walk around, but right now there's no direct comparison to Walk Events in Space Dingus.

Instead, if you run out of gas or take too much hull damage, your ship enters Low Power Emergency Mode. This slows you down so that bandits and other invaders attack you, until you find fuel or find a way to repair your ship.

11. What's with the new movement options in the Trailer?

A: You can sprint and dive now! You can also hop around, fairly uselessly. Sometimes you can jump on a lunch counter and kick things over. The dives give you temporary immunity to certain things, but then you need to stand up after. Standing up speed is affected by your Fitness stat.

Localization and Modding

12. Will there be translations?

A: Very likely, it's a big priority this time! We'll try to start with a few languages we pick, and go from there. More details on our plans for this as they develop.

13. Will there be Steam Workshop support?

A: This is a big personal goal, and it was an additional reason for the engine swap, besides online co-op. I always wanted good, stacking mod support for Death Road. It just never worked out in our old engine, when we tried adding it.

Bonus Questions

14. Will food, gas, morale, and other Death Road resources return?

A: They all come back, plus we add a bunch of new ones. Gas is possibly getting renamed to "Fuel", after we decide which is funnier: Putting "gas" in a spaceship, or putting "rocket fuel" in a chainsaw.

Money will be introduced, so you're not paying immense amounts of food to buy a science lab for your spaceship.

There will be more ammo types.

There is likely going to be a resource for repairs.

We're still not adding Water.

15. Any changes to old stats and skills?

A: We're taking some out, and adding others.

Wits and Composure will probably be removed, and there will simply be more Personality Traits than before. Loyalty definitely stays. We're not sure if Attitude stays or goes.

There will be a lot more skills, so that you have to specialize more. Both support skills and combat skills.

Speaking of Traits, Perks stay and are generally stronger, closer to how the later unlockable perks were in Death Road in terms of power. We're also adding a third category: Profession.

16. What happened to the Fantasy Death Road spinoff you were working on?

A: I answered this one before, but wanted to have it included in this Q+A, too.

When we changed engines, I wanted a fresh start. We tried a Sci-fi theme instead of Fantasy, and I really liked it, so we made the switch. If Space Dingus does well, I'd like to do a Fantasy version for sure, and then probably go straight to Death Road 2 Canada: 2 ---------

That's it for now! Let me know if I missed anything major, and I will either answer it in the comments, or maybe even add new questions or clarifications to the list! As always, tell your friends that a Death Road followup is coming soon. I'll make another big news post next month, and it will most likely be all about the changes to combat gameplay.