Noah_Lewin

Thoughts on Apastron Episode 3 Release

Hey everyone! This is a little ramble of some notes I have while working on Apastron Episode 3 Time of Crisis. Gearing up for its release I’ve been reflecting back on how I got here. I honestly did not think I would be getting to this point where I have multiple ongoing titles.

I wanted to do a long form write out of this because I’m so excited about the release of Apastron’s expansion, Time of Crisis. It truly is the culmination of a decade worth of work and planning towards this massive crossover event. For a very long time I was unsure how this was going to look. I had a lot of creative anxiety about every choice I made. So for the longest time I just wasn’t making anything, and that burned me out. I made Otter Space Rescue in 2019 just to prove to myself I really could finish something. That was such an amazing project, because I also got to work with Pierce Cram who did the music. It reinvigorated this idea in my head that there was something else out there for me to do. I didn’t know how but OSR played some role in it. I had been playing a lot of first person shooters and I wanted to push myself. I wanted to see if I could actually make one of my own and finish it.

It took way longer to finish than I wanted it to. I was really stubborn about it. Releasing Apastron in 2020 was scary. I had a long term plan to continue to update the game. So when the launch on Aug 18th came around, I felt the game wasn’t done. Even with Episode 1 completed it was a weird naked feeling. I immediately crunched like crazy to get Episode 2 out in October. I wasn’t satisfied after that. While I was working on Entodrive, I just had this feeling that something was dragging me back to Apastron. That’s when I decided to go all in on selling this multiverse idea in Apastron. I thought the way to really make these story beats have more weight is to show you stories across the multiverse. I decided then to make Entodrive be the prequel to Apastron Episode 1. As I was planning out the script for Entodrive I felt it just added so much back to what player’s experienced in Apastron Episode 1. Going into the development of Vacancy Unlimited as well, there was this pressure in my mind like what if these characters meet. Every character I introduced I wanted to have an impact. I didn’t want anything to be thrown away.

I knew the Episode titles were going to be ordered as follows; Nation of Apathy, Universe of Sin, and Time of Crisis. I knew the main villain was going to be Absurdia, the sort of antithesis to the Apastron Character. Equal in power, so Edgar would have to muster some sort of team to be able to defeat Absurdia. This was the final cue where I knew I had to get everyone in for this fight. Max Jai, while eccentric and seeming to not know a lot, is one of the smartest people in his universe. Anything tech related the team would need he could seemingly build it. “The Herald of Light” Geoff Bunma who has a number of magical abilities, enchanted objects, and access to the light monuments. The light monuments hold secrets to the stability of all universes. Spryward who is a character introduced very recently in Vacancy Unlimited was just so interesting. He’s possibly the strongest character when it comes to physical strength in the Apastron universe. The team feels unstoppable right now and we'll have to see how it lasts. It might just take a couple more. I’m unbelievably excited for the surprises I have in store. Time of Crisis is one of the craziest things I’ve ever worked on, let alone solo developed. I can't wait for you to see these characters interact. It's going to set up so much future stuff that I also can't wait to share.

I have a few upcoming stuff I’m working on that I can share about though. Apastron Episode 3 Time of Crisis is going to have big implications for the continuity of the Apastron universe. First thing is that I’m going to be working on Time of Crisis Tie-in events for Entodrive and Vacancy Unlimited. These Tie-ins are going to act as means to help you understand the timeline of events and why certain things are going to happen. About 3 months of time is lost for Spryward and Geoff being stuck on Coelho #6. A lot has changed in their universe. They have to deal with finding a new home and whether to trust newly found allies. In Entodrive, Max Jai has something to share with you. His presentation goes awry when he is swept up by an instantiating portal. Explore new parts of Cache Isle as you search for your friend. Take on a new mystical Entodrive in this customizable part of your journey. Last announcement is that Spryward is getting his own video game! Some work in progress can already be seen on his Indiedb page. The Phenomenal Spryward will take place after the events of Vacancy Unlimited. The man who cures his city from a zombie virus struggles to retain the society he once knew. Dawning the superhero persona Spryward, Deshaun Martin takes on a corporate political infrastructure that suppresses society's revitalization.

Spryward game - Indie DB

Entodrive & Vacancy Unlimited Early Access returns to regularly scheduled updates beginning with Time of Crisis tie-ins starting in November.