This year has been full for fans of legacy first-person shooter (FPS) franchises thanks toCall of Duty: Vanguard,Battlefield 2042, andHalo Infinite. The arena shooter subgenre has also been active withlegacy titles such asQuake Remasteredand newer indies inspired by classics likeDoom, including Early Access releaseForgive Me Father.Spacefluxdeveloper Calin Ardelean said he’s seen an “increase in enthusiasm” for retro-style shooters since starting work on his game in January 2018.
Ardelean has always enjoyed shooters, and a big influence growing up wasHalo— especially 2010’sHalo: Reach. He’s also a fan of the puzzle-shooterPortal, and decided he wanted to make something more engaging than a simple puzzle game by combining its elements that “captivated” him with otherinspirations likeMinecraftin an online multiplayer shooter. Game Rant spoke to Ardelean aboutSpaceflux’s “weird” take on retro shooters using impossible geometries and destructible environments.
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Spaceflux’s Origins
Based out of Canada, Ardelean received a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from the University of Toronto in 2019. He said he has a long history of toying with projects using different game engines but fell in love withUnreal Enginein 2017. “Once I tried Unreal I got hooked,” he said. “I thought it was the greatest thing ever.” He tried creating a few different ideas using Unreal before landing on the familiar idea for an FPS with portals — inspired by one of his favorite games — that evolved over time.
While going to school, Ardelean interned with the telecommunications company Qualcomm as a software engineer, and in 2019 he spent a brief time with a start-up called MentallyVR developing avirtual reality appprototype in Unreal that would set users in places like beaches to perform guided meditation as part of real-time therapy sessions. This professional experience did help with his skillset somewhat, but Ardelean said his main focus has always been game development, andSpaceflux’s core concept was already there.
Ardelean is the primary programmer and designer onSpaceflux, but soon after work began on the trippy arena shooter he partnered with his good friend Raymondd Parisien — who offered to do art and sound design. Together with some freelance UI and graphic design by Ontario College of Art & Design University grad Jenny Gu, the trio hadSpacefluxprepared for its Early Access launch in September 2020, and ran aKickstartercampaign that August to help build hype and let Ardelean work on the game full-time. It raised $5,117 Canadian on a $2,000 goal.
“The Kickstarter was definitely successful beyond what my standards were, and the Early Access launch wasn’t quite as good. However, I’ve noticed over the last year the game has been gaining traction little by little.”
Spaceflux’s Portal-Inspired Puzzles and Impossible Geometries
At its core,Spacefluxis a basic shooter with ideas pulled fromHalo: Reachlike abilities to help differentiate play alongside its weapon types. What makes the game really stand out is how its voxel-based maps are altered by impossible geometries that create different kinds of symmetries. There are currently six of these geometries that Ardelean splits into three categories: fractals, looping modes, and mirror modes.
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“Some strange things” happen as a result of these impossible geometries that impactSpaceflux’sFPS mechanics. Originally players were able to shoot themselves, but Ardelean disabled that after getting feedback about how frustrating it was to die after finding what they believed to be an enemy. Because of the infinite planes in fractal or horizontal loop modes, Ardelean said it’s not uncommon to have players chase one another’s backs or try to find a larger fractals for better line-of-sight. “It’s pretty chaotic, but also dynamic.”
There are a lot of ideas for modes planned, and Ardelean said he wants to keep developingSpacefluxsimilar to howMinecrafthas been updated for 10 years. However, while the work is still manageable for one person in its Early Access state, Ardelean said he is looking to streamline development because it’s “tedious” to add new content that works with every impossible geometry andSpaceflux’s destructible environments.
Spaceflux’s Destructable, Constructable Environments
Having levels with fully destructable environments was one of Ardelean’s initial ideas forSpaceflux, and he wanted to create more “emergent, dynamic gameplay” by letting everyone place blocks as well. Though this destructability was apparently the biggest obstacle to making impossible geometries work, the idea has helped create dynamic games combined with abilities like Cube Cameo that let players blend in and hide.
“The two things coming together, repeating levels and destructibility, was kind of the ultimate nightmare for me. Especially networking that into an online game … But after a lot of frustration, somehow it worked. I just hope I don’t have to do it again.”
Fans ofSpacefluxhave influenced development through mediums like Discord, where they can offer suggestions, report bugs, and take part in play sessions and tournaments Ardelean and Parisien aim to host every month. It’s through these tournaments that the lead developer has seen emergent interactions like blending into a sea of cubes. For those who want to try the game, a free demo is available on Steam, and the next tournament will be a joint venture withSlap City- a titlemade byNickelodeon All-Star Brawldeveloper Ludosity- throughout the weekend of November 27. The “Slapflux” tournament will have a $100 prize pool for both days, withSpaceflux’s event taking place on Sunday.
Spacefluxis available now in Early Access on PC.
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