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Project Nyx
What is NYX?
Have you found yourself craving a new experience lately? Have you looked over your collection of multiplayer titles and felt uninspired to play? That’s the void Project Nyx is trying to fill. It’s an experimental title that takes everything you love about the shooter genre, puts it through rigorous refactoring, and then blasts it out into space.
Transition from explosive indoor firefights to bewildering 6-degrees-of-freedom space dogfights. Use the environment to your advantage, master powerful abilities, and revel in the insane moment-to-moment gameplay
Choose between six different classes, each equipped with unique abilities and playstyles. You’ll find some familiar archetypes to get you up to speed, but mastering them is a journey unto itself. There is no right or wrong way to play. Be daring, be creative, be slow and calculating — every class is simply an instrument, and you’re the composer.
You are no longer a slave to gravity. Bend it to your will. Every element of the Nyx universe manipulates gravity to some extent. Space travel, jump pads, shields, weaponry, abilities, and more can twist reality in fun and interesting ways.
Classes
*It’s important to note that the information provided below is a conceptual overview of potential classes. They are yet to be implemented. Like all aspects of Nyx, classes are subject to change dramatically prior to launch based on numerous factors, such as playtesting feedback, logistics, balance, and so on.
Hunter
You’re no stranger to battle. You know that fancy tricks and bulky armour mean nothing to a well-placed bullet, especially if that bullet brings friends. That’s why you lean on your collection of weaponry, trusty grappling hook, and scanners to win the day. Good luck out there, space cowboy.
Survivalist
When a job comes up, you always know exactly what to wear — enough armour to put a dropship to shame. With the addition of a larger power cell, you can shield a whole squad, charge around the battlefield with an ally on your back, and easily become any foe’s biggest problem.
Explorer
Every squad needs an agent of chaos. Light armour doesn’t make you weak, it creates opportunities. You rely on your speed and wits to outmaneuver or outsmart opponents. Holograms, disruption tools, and hacking abilities give you everything you need to make proper big-brain plays.
Specialist Classes
*These classes share many qualities with those above, but they sacrifice some utility in exchange for special gear and abilities.
Assassin
Stealth, agility, and precision are your tools of the trade. Intricate training has forged you into an elegant weapon, striking foes with ruthless efficiency. You’re more difficult to detect, which gives you time to stalk and pick off weaker prey. Your energy bow, assorted arrow types, grappling hook, and inherent mobility make you the ultimate predator.
Marauder
Do you consider yourself a space viking? Marauders live for the thrill of combat. You collect scars like they’re medals. You have a small personal shield that can be thrown to assist allies or smash enemies in the face. Every hit your shield takes empowers your abilities. Ram through enemy lines, soak up damage, and expunge your collected power to wreak havoc.
Technician
You’re a tech wizard who knows a thing or two about medicine. When someone takes a hit, you have the power to patch them up. Your multi-use drone can jet around the battlefield assisting your squad, collecting pickups, and running interference. Combining high mobility and nano-swarm healing abilities, you’ll be the true hero behind any victory.
Game Modes
* The experimental nature of Nyx allows for some very interesting twists on popular modes and endless potential for the creation of new ones. Beginning with the classics, more modes will slowly be introduced for testing (potentially in an early state) to see how enjoyable they are. Here are some of the first modes in production:
Deathmatch / Team Deathmatch
A great way to play around with the shooty mechanics of the game and get familiar with the movement systems, abilities, and strengths of the various classes. It’s a simple mode that’s all about the chaos of battle. The first individual/team to a certain kill total wins.
Control
You may already be quite familiar with capture zone game modes. The team that captures the most zones will decrease the opposing side’s ticket count over time. Kills also decrease ticket counts. Whichever team runs out of tickets first loses. This mode is oodles of fun due to capture zones being spread across diverse environments, like inside spaceships, out in asteroid fields, around a space mining complex, and so on. Modes like this maximise the dynamic movement aspect of the game.
Capture the Flag
The enemy has something you want. You have something they want. It’s a game of back and forth action, with each team vying for the other’s precious cargo. There may even be a few secrets hidden around the map that can shake things up. Every class can take on any role, either attack or defence. Strategy is your best bet here.
Battle Royale
You may think battle royale modes are running out of steam, but you haven’t experienced anything quite like this. You’ll be launched into an abandoned space colony with your squad, which appears somewhat like a giant snow globe filled with interesting locations. Survival is key here. You don’t just have to loot for the best equipment, you need to manage your oxygen and energy levels.
Every class takes on a whole new meaning here, with their abilities capable of making a far greater impact. Explorers can hack high-security, rare loot areas and set up holograms and traps; Hunters can carry more weapons and scan for enemies; Assassins can upgrade their bow and stealth capabilities; Survivalists can acquire more defensive power and bigger guns; Marauders can upgrade their shield’s offensive and defensive features; and Technicians can heal, revive, and use their drone for assisting the squad or grabbing distant pickups (and passively grabbing helpful consumables).
This mode will take the longest to produce, largely due to the sheer scope. Every map piece is a fully-fledged level in its own right, let alone the manner in which classes interact. The game will start off introducing the game modes above while classes and systems are implemented that form part of the battle royale mode. However, early blockout testing will likely occur to start getting feedback when the time comes.
Smaller 6v6 Modes
Numerous 6v6 modes will be experimented with over the course of development. The class system lends itself well to this style of gameplay. These may include: attack and defend matches with progressive objectives, sports-themed arcade modes, and so on.
Mod Support
While it’s likely not going to happen in the near future, mod support is definitely in the pipeline. We are actively researching the best manner in which to integrate it. There is just too much potential here for us to hog it all to ourselves. We can’t wait to see what incredible things you create within the Nyx universe!
What's the Catch? (Open Letter)
Project Nyx is currently in development by a financially bankrupt solo developer who is actively seeking ways to fund the project. No need to lie here. I revealed the project a lot earlier than I initially intended, and in a far simpler manner than the IP deserves. This is largely due to the fact that I can no longer justify spending so much time on the project without income, especially with an increasingly difficult financial situation brought on by world events.
The project deserves a bombastic trailer with far more polished gameplay, but that sort of stuff will come eventually. The current build is a conceptual prototype built with marketplace assets. It’s a very barebones example of the project’s gameplay style and potential. There is so much more I’d love to show you. I wanted to see if there is any interest out there for this kind of experience.
How can you help?
If you want Project Nyx to become a reality, please wishlist the game on Steam, tell your friends, and post about it within your favourite gaming communities. Also considering hopping into the game’s official Discord server to chat with me and hear about testing opportunities.
Where do I go from here?
Based on the Internet’s response, I will assess the best avenue for Major7th Games’ future. If things go extremely well, crowdfunding may be a possibility, and I’d love to share the game’s development journey with you. It will be great fun to share some of my knowledge as I learn new things (UE4’s going through some big changes, and I’d love to explore the Epic Online Services integration, Chaos, upcoming network prediction overhaul, and so on with you).
Publishing is a possibility, too. I have a far more complete pitch available for the overall IP if any are interested. There’s a new console generation coming up, and I can’t help but feel this is the kind of weird IP that could excel in a next-gen setting. If none of those pan out, I will begin seeking more freelance jobs and work on the project slowly over time.
Thank you!
Thank you very much for checking out Project Nyx! I would love to hear your thoughts. If you have any questions about how on earth the various elements of the game will come together, feel free to ask (Twitter, Discord, wherever)! It might be fun to do some design videos on the plans for each feature.