A game I've been meaning to write about for a while, Quasar is a top-down twin stick shooter that will be coming out early next year. Indie developer Osnap Games has been giving some updates that I thought I would share here.

3D Artist John Olabode, discussed the lighting in the game:

We began the lighting process for Quasar with a traditional 3 light setup (key, back and fill) and then additional lights in areas we thought made sense, being careful not to stray away from the look we were trying to achieve, outer space! After tweaking the lights, and using a combination of warm and cool tones, we started to integrate some post-processing in small doses. The post-processing in conjunction with the environment lighting, allowed us to obtain the feel we were striving for.

Additionally, late last month they discuss the music and gave a sample of what to expect. You can listen to the track here:

For a game like Quasar, a constant chaotic experience, I want the player to feel a sense of urgency and action when they’re flying around our universe. I approach the creation process in the simplest way possible. A few chords in succession that are designed to lure the player in and once I’ve found my base, a solid chord progression, I will take my time to find a drum line that both drives the song and pushes that sense of urgency. I treat the drum line with care. I try to keep them fairly simple and not overbearing. After creating the basic building blocks of my track, I will start working with arrangement, flow, and pace. I step back a bit and determine how I want the player to travel through the song itself. Crescendos, decrescendos, counterpoint melodies.. I find the flow and build my melody from there.

Quasar is currently slated for release early next year, and we'll have more on the game as we get closer to that date. Until then, make sure to follow Osnap Games on Twitter.