Making a claustrophobic space horror game where you photograph planets

Wishlist Voyager-19: store.steampowered.com/app/29...
image block loader shader: pastebin.com/4t2NjdvY
dead pixel shader: pastebin.com/Mc6iTFQm

[@EvanG529]

You've heard of Iron Lung, now get ready for Titanium Liver.

[@tkm7152]

What about Silver Heart?

[@copy2010]

Next it's going to be golden stomach

[@BowlOfHotDogs]

palladium pancreas

[@junklabs-studios1318]

Tungsten brain

[@nathanaelgazzard7989]

Fallout has lead belly covered

[@technoboop1890]

Lung-like is going to become a genre mark my words

[@vizari9570]

it already is💀💀

[@WildlyStapled]

"Tincan" is an lung-like that's been out for quite a while

[@gonderage]

the first lung-type game

[@IodizedNaCL]

dont give the gaming journos any ideas

[@spiderpig20]

I somehow knew it too a while ago- with the exact name "lung-like" too

[@Pufftarot]

I never knew I needed Space Iron Lung but I can't wait for the Markiplier theatrical release

[@mrlucky974]

Space Iron Lung?

[@kaiser9321]

Oh yeah that’s right Markiplier did play his other game

[@Brigtzen]

@@kaiser9321 miz didn't make iron lung

[@nononoohfuck]

Iron Lung is in space 💀

[@alfiegordon9013]

Space iron lung So Iron lung lmao

[@an2qzavok]

if you had multiple screens, it'd give player a reason to look around.

[@drenz1523]

more scarier for just one screen i think

[@_GenericAmerican]

@@drenz1523 But with multiple screens, you need to multitask.

[@IgnobleKin]

It would be cool if you had other functions away from the computer that you had to maintain. Just to add to the stress

[@thefrub]

One thing that would be really cool would be if you subverted the whole "your boss is an evil corporation that doesn't care if you die" thing that's in EVERY game now. Like this is a group of people trying their best, but despite good intentions all around, they're helpless against space

[@OutbackCatgirl]

i mean it's true to life

[@ValeBridges]

​@@OutbackCatgirlBut the setting is darker if, even when at their best, humanity is helpless.

[@Ryadovoy_Borodin]

Good point; if the player knows their bosses don’t care they (the player) doesn’t have anywhere to place hope outside of themselves, while if their boss does care they place hope in the corporation that ultimately can do nothing for them. The destruction of hope is much more effective than starting with none.

[@ChimneyCrab737]

Babe wake up, new Miziziziz game

[@Crazydarkside]

Currently watching, but already giving me MASSIVE voices of the void vibes

[@dawsonaucoin6239]

But without the jokiness of it

[@Miziziziz]

oh dang, never heard of that before, going to check it out

[@dustyloops8355]

@@Miziziziz If you're ever thinking of playing it, don't read too much into it, as it's a game full of secrets and unexpected weirdness. Plenty of scares and unsettling moments too

[@siddiq069]

yup

[@dawsonaucoin6239]

@@Miziziziz have you heard of kerfus

[@RazzleTheRed1]

Seems really cool, gives me real Signal Simulator/Voices of the Void type vibes mixed with Iron Lung

[@laglooog8846]

To make more feel of the ship moving, you can add inertia physics system, for example, when the ship moves forward your character move abit to the back, when the ship stop, your character go forward abit faster.

[@salam-peace5519]

This reminds me of an educational game I played in my childhood in the early 2000s that is probably completely unknown outside of Germany because it was only available in german. It was called "Löwenzahn" (german for "dandelion") and was based on a very popular educational TV show in Germany of the same name. These were mostly simple educational 2d point and click games, but in the fourth game of the series there was a 3d space game were you would fly through the solar system and take photos of the different planets. You could either navigate on a top-down map or in 3d view. Seeing the planets of our solar system quietly get closer and closer to you in the darkness of space had a very similar feeling to your game. Obviously the Löwenzahn space game had no horror elements as it was meant for kids, but it still captured that exciting feeling of exploring space. Nice to see this childhood nostalgia recreated in your game.

[@NoxplaysGD]

I'm genuinely impressed that you made a game about space, a seemingly infinite expanse, claustrophobic. Massive props!

[@kingangus4808]

You actually sound like an AI

[@NoxplaysGD]

@@kingangus4808 I have that effect on some people lol

[@ShargDudu-wf6hi]

You actually sound like an AI

[@NoxplaysGD]

@@ShargDudu-wf6hi beep boop beep boop

[@menofscoobistherepublic7660]

you don't sound like an AI, you just express your ideas well 💪

[@thescoobis4734]

Voices of the Iron Lung

[@theos5187]

You should checkout "Voices of the void", really good indie horror with kinda similliar topic.

[@littlehorn0063]

And Signal Simulator too, for good measure

[@okie9025]

UFO PORNOOOO

[@TheOldEverglades]

@@okie9025NO

[@thefurry7165]

​@@okie9025NO DRACULAS NO MUMMY NO DUENDE NO MARCIANITO

[@Laikafan02]

Voices IN the iron lung

[@dawsonaucoin6239]

If iron lung and voices of the void, or signal simulator had a child

[@littleminer64]

Loving the VotV rep in this comment section, can't wait for this

[@NXE212]

This man can see me making a grilled cheese sandwich and somehow coming up with a masterpiece of a horror game

[@yonghong4832]

Unholy Hunger (no idea what name to give lol) Basically you are infected by a virus (does not need to be a zombie virus) and you can no longer eat food with ease and has a weakened immune system. you need to prepare your food carefully and control your jaws and tougue as well as other internal organs to prevent harming yourself

[@NoxplaysGD]

To be fair, seeing someone like me try to make something as simple as a grilled cheese would give anyone inspiration for a horror game

[@NXE212]

@@NoxplaysGD I never even make a grilled cheese(yet), the concept of cooking cheese is still alien to me due to my Vietnamese household

[@ReverseFlash.]

Bro Cant stop COOKING

[@accountname6603]

Getting real Scavenger SV-4 vibes from this game, thats one of the games I really like!

[@Double512]

lowkey one of my favorite games of all time, i really wish someone would make something like it again

[@RobTFilms]

inb4 pyrocynical makes a two hour long video explaining the entire game

[@thebluehat6814]

"so if you don't know there's this device called a photo camera and what it does is-"

[@Kav_Games]

This is how i imagined Iron Lung 2 to look, this is amazing!

[@Cutting2Night]

I think it's absolute remarkable that you're able to put your ideas in small but still engaging and atmospheric games which are so much more feasible to develop and release as a solo developer. I'm still struggling with FPS or TPS game ideas that always fall out of proportion because I lack certain skills (mostly artistic, especially character art) and therefore never even reach an alpha state. Very inspiring, thanks a lot! :)

[@kl0nos]

looks soo cool!! I would sugest a "zoom in screen" mechanic when you click on the monitor, because it can be kinda hard to read? or maybe not idk but anyways I'm really excited for this release!!

[@underscorerx]

This feels like an idea i should have came up with. Glad it won’t rot in the backrooms of my todo lists

[@haikuheroism6495]

so it's Duskers meets Ironlung? That fucks severly, I like it

[@TehAntares]

Just recently, I watched the movie Salyut-7 and started thinking: what if Voices of the Void took place in space ? Being a single astronaut on a small space station positioned on the dark side of the Moon, maintaining it and controlling the work of a lunar observatory on the surface. And of course, creepy things happening, like manual docking and fixing your power and life support systems wasn't enough.

[@uicosole]

For inspiration for the horror aspects, I recommend checking out Voices of the void, a horror game where you analyze signals from space Some of them show normal space stuff, some of them very eerie, and some cause events to happen in the game

[@BudgiePanic]

New addition to the iron lung genre of game

[@spoonsweet]

Love how you've built this video, its great seeing your work again!

[@kirbs4192]

Voices of the Void plus Iron Lung, both are awesome games. No doubt this will be too

[@Lonewolf360gaming]

My inner child awakens when it comes to space exploration related stuff

[@simonockas]

I always get so excited when this guy uploads. This is what I want from a devlog. I really like the aesthetics as well.

[@alexnoman1498]

I remember playing a kid-friendly version of this game back in 2002. From Löwenzahn, I believe. Sometimes on the way to the next planet to photograph, space garbage patches would appear and you had dodge remnants of sattelites. Very fun.

[@Badguy292]

I love the intriguing projects you do, Miz. great stuff!

[@robinriemens6478]

This man was born to make games

[@GMOTP5738]

He's mediocre lol

[@Queezz]

This is awesome, excited to see the horror aspect other than the already established claustrophobia and endless vastness of cold void on the other side of your pod

[@hyperlion7429]

ooooh this kinda gives me the same feel as Scavenger SV-4. Very interesting!

[@kurushimee]

So, basically, it's kinda Iron Lung meets Voices of the Void?

[@Bit-fz9md]

Iron Lung + Voices of the Void

[@miguelgenovata6250]

i have no idea about developing games but, you could try adding an anomalous entity from the get go, and make it a red dot as you navigate your way through the map, it's extremely territorial but moves from time to time, makes the game much more intense and photographing the planets much more thrilling, and as for the photographs of the planets, you can sometimes make them animated, as if an entity passes through, it could cause static on the camera, doesn't have to be distinguishable, just enough for the player to feel unease and eerie. For the chef's touch, add tapping or knocking sounds once in a while, as there's no sounds in space, that's the only viable way to scare the player sound-wise.

[@Marsnarchy]

There’s no way dude went ghost for two months and came back to drop a 5 minute video on an entirely new game that makes my top 5 games that are in the works. Wild.

[@Nurr0]

This looks great! Definitely going to play it... Wishlisted!

[@ksaw3212]

Your ideas are really cool, but the execution goes so far beyond cool that it's insane

[@alang.bandala8863]

You mixed the terrefiest indie game from the past year with one of my phobias. *I'M IN*

[@patek2385]

WoW, this guy is alive after all

[@caseyfromspace]

As someone who absolutely LOVED Endoparasitic, I'm still positive this will be my favorite game of yours. It's insane to me how much this feels like every element of this game is geared to my interests, like I don't think I, myself, could've come up with a concept for a horror game that I would like more than this, this game looks AWESOME. My only hope is that it's pretty replayable because I feel like this concept has so much potential for a game you can play over and over again trying to do better. Regardless of if it's replayable or if it's more of a one-off short experience like iron lung, I'm confident it'll be one of the coolest games I've ever played. Super excited!

[@spleenvitals]

You're one hell of a game designer, man. You make cool stuff.

[@GMOTP5738]

🤣🤣🤣

[@halbzwilling]

You are killing it 🎉🎉

[@ChinchillaDave]

3d planets displayed as 2d images inside a 3d capsule, love it!

[@fearofthechippan]

This looks so awesome! Reminds me a bit of Sunshine, in the sense that it evoked that same fear of space that that film did

[@thatsagoodone8283]

I have been missing your videos! What a treat! :) Hope you are doing well!

[@VaunaKiller]

Nice one. I like the claustrophobic vibes of interior view. Hopefuly you could see something creeping there too. Would be scary, since you probably can't do anything due to being completely immobilized

[@lavaeater]

Such a cool concept. I love it already

[@humptyPPG]

THE KING IS BACK!

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

Iron Lung... in spaaaaaaaace!

[@artalogue]

god i love when people take inspiration from good pieces of media and make something based on it and potentially even go beyond the original

[@sugarsores6521]

So many great subtle touches!

[@zachdoesdev2002]

looks pretty cool and unique! curious what the horror elements will be like

[@benjaminclehmann]

I think it would be a nice touch if the hose connected to the players body was disconnected or removed when the player turns off life support.

[@osirislv]

oh lord, we're going full gemini home entertainment with this, aren't we

[@Blubbpaule]

cant wait for the horror explained video and how its done

[@feixpak6051]

Just bought it, cant wait to play!

[@stevenp5476]

discovered the game through a let's play and i was highly impressed. it was short but sweet and highly effective with horror. minimal but great atmosphere.

[@brendanodoms5401]

When I was little I would wrap myself in my blanket and pretend I was in some space pod like this

[@UnprofitableProductions]

You have to add the moon with blood oceans from Iron Lung as an easter egg or something

[@albarnie1168]

Was cool seeing you at gdc! Shame I didn't get to try the vr project!

[@elektra81516]

Wow I had almost this exact this idea and you beat me to it!

[@GammaPlayaOG]

It looks like an amazing game!

[@blincey]

The GOAT returns

[@ILBOI_X]

ANOTHER BANGER OTW 🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥

[@cryptorcd9352]

Looks really cool, since its going for immersion over the realism. Mby it would be cool if room where you are in is bigger? Would be cool if you could walk, not too big of a room. But maybe a window, some cabinets etc to make it more fun and as a story progresses ( I assume there will be one) creppy things start happening and you have to solve a mystery? Idk if its correct choice, but pc feels good and rest a bit empty. Just a window looking at space and maybe you occasionally see weird stuff through it would go a long way. Excited to see how this one develops further tho!

[@z-beeblebrox]

"Overall this environment doesn't add anything to the gameplay..." *IS 90% OF THE HORROR*

[@mrfigs7804]

Horrifying, thanks 👍

[@emmahealy4863]

Ooh its like Voices of The Void! ❤

[@erkintek]

Looks so cool

[@TRUFANATIC]

WHAT!!!!??? I was thinking this is just another cool indie game, but it's Miziziziz!!!

[@Sweepy_Games]

I just love your worldbuilding in games like this. Maybe you can somehow connect it with Wrought Flesh and Endoparasitic? I mean lore wise

[@Rexen1995]

Insane, nice one.

[@greasehead9969]

when i play this i better FEEL like im in SPACE . big respect

[@ItsMoorbinTime]

I think it's cool that you came up with the concept of the game and THEN realised it was similar to Iron Lung. As opposed to thinking "I wanna make a game like Iron Lung cuz it was popular." Having an original idea coincidentally similar to a pre-existing one is so much better than an original idea based on a pre-existing one.

[@DarkKnown1]

The game seems to be getting better

[@jk_lol9266]

U got a good brain, my dude.

[@PrimrosePetals]

THIS IS SO COOL i am buying as soon as i get paid omg

[@TopatTom]

ANTHER DAMN MASTERPIECE

[@Povilaz]

Very interesting!

[@personman2346]

oh hey voyager 19! Was buying that game soon actually.

[@DommoDommo]

Wow new Mizz!

[@aleksp8768]

nothing but bangers from miziziziziziziziziziziziz

[@broodovermind]

giving me 3 body vibes, very cool

[@supercharged5-39]

This gives voices of the void. Seems fun

[@XceptionalBro]

I love the monitor! May I suggest adding a terminal to the UI? Old space shuttles were controlled via terminal, I'm pretty sure, and I'm sure it'll be way more stressful trying to type commands and fix the shuttle while it's falling apart around you.

[@jorgevelasco-theartofgames8687]

He's back

[@bondedblade9611]

This would be terrifying as a VR game

[@grayrobber]

I was thinking about something like this before!

[@Greenpixel16]

honestly id highly recommend to have the photos not have any stars in them --- if you look at many photos from apollo missions and such, the camera exposure makes it so that while you can see celestial bodies, stars are barely visible at all. It adds a sense of realism to it that I think could really help with the horror aspect

[@georgeofhamilton]

That’s pretty neat.

[@grayrobber]

Voices of the void-iron lung hybrid. Good.

[@dialog_box]

missed opportunity to call the in game OS something like PhobOS. i've always wanted a reason for that pun to exist. with all those greek gods (and by extension celestial bodies) whose names end in "os," it just seems criminal not to make an operating system named after one

[@ohimdabiggestbird]

although i understand why miziziziz chose the player to be in the spaceship opposed to controlling it from afar, i still find the "controlling something remotely" fascinating, it gives a vibe of "you're not in control", or "you don't have as much control as you might think", it's just like how a kid who relies on their parents for control, can't find said parents thus faced with a lack of control, therefore planting panic and most importantly fear in their head. idk about yall, but i feel like that is a great concept for a horror game (edit: by concept i am referring to the "lack of control" part, not the "kid in a walmart" part lmao), but everybody avoids it thinking the opposite

[@AuntBibby]

i dont know about u but i think "horror game where u play as a lil kid lost in a walmart" sounds cool too

[@ohimdabiggestbird]

@@AuntBibby after a second thought, maybe i didn't give the walmart kid enough credit

[@bubbletea695]

try out voices of the void, its free and does something similar to what you're talking about

[@itsafish4600]

hes baaaaack