Hologryph, a Ukrainian studio from Lviv, has just presented the first gameplay trailer for its open-world PvPvE game SAND. You might remember it from its stylish steampunk trailer with Galician characters. ITC.ua managed to play an early version of the game, and now we will share our impressions.
Galician elite
In an alternate twentieth century, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was at the forefront of space expansion. Space exploration led immigrants from Galicia to the planet Sofia, a typical exoplanet with seas, oceans, and islands. Over time, the planet became the main colony of the Empire.
At one point, however, the water evaporated completely from the surface. What exactly caused such a large-scale cataclysm is unknown.
People were able to evacuate, but many had to leave their property and wealth behind. And since it became dangerous to stay on the planet, access to Sofia was strictly closed. And where there is a ban, there are people who, for a good reward, can break it and return people’s property. And along the way, try to find the treasures of Austria-Hungary. These people are the players, like Galician stalkers in a fantastic steampunk setting.
SAND — an extraction-action game with an emphasis on gameplay. The developers do not have plans for a full-fledged story campaign yet, but will develop the game’s lore in various ways.
On an iron spider
We were shown a very early version, so I won’t focus on bugs or optimizations. I should also note that we weren’t allowed to take our screenshots, so the footage was taken from the trailer and the press kit.
The main exhibit, attraction, and lure of the game is the Trumpler. It is our walking fortress, weapon, and base that simultaneously resembles the Iron Spider from the movie «The Wild, Wild West» and the traveling castle from the cartoon «Howl’s Traveling Castle».
We played along with the developers, so in a sense, we were led by the hand. But given the state of the game, this is a normal practice. We gather a team of up to five people and land on the planet. So far, the developers are planning about ten jumpers on one map at a time.
The surface of the planet is generated randomly when the server starts. That is, settlements, points of interest, and evacuation will be in different locations. Each generated location will «live» several weeks, after which it will restart in an updated form.
After loading the location, we headed to one of the points of interest, a small town. We took a box each and went searching for loot. The box serves as an additional inventory. You can collect resources, ammunition for weapons or cannons, and food in it. Some objects, such as a repair kit for a trampler, are too large to fit in the crate, so they have to be carried separately to our walking ship.
The town is small but tiered with a town hall in the center. It’s a great spot for foot combat between players.
The batteries for the trampoline are an important element. The vehicle is powered by three power sources, and the more power we give to the ramp, the more energy we use. According to the developers, the batteries will last about 15 minutes at full speed. It’s hard to estimate whether this is a little or a lot from the game’s test build, but I’m sure such mechanics will be adjusted many times before the release.
At first, it’s a little unusual, especially when you have to move around rocky terrain, but rapidly I became quite adept at maneuvering during battles. In fact, steering is a kind of mini-game so that the helmsman doesn’t get bored when his team is firing back at the enemy ship.
On the nose of the jumpsuit is a cannon — the main firepower against other stalkers. It has a finite supply, which we were able to replenish in the city earlier. I liked that in order to shoot, you need to put a box of supplies on a special platform of the gun itself. As if after the shot, the hero takes a shell from the box to reload.
The first shot of a gun is almost always aimed. It is almost impossible to hit the target on the first try because at different distances the projectile can fly above or below the target. Also, the tracer can hit a rock or vice versa, nose-dive into a low spot, and then you have to take a completely different angle.
That is, the game does not turn into a boring shooting range for the shooter. To hit the target, you have to sweat a lot. And add the movement of the device itself, and everything turns into a real fun roller coaster.
The trimmers have a modular system. When they hit walls or partitions, they will collapse. In this way, you can make your way to the engine and try to blow up the tranny with accurate shots to its heart. Several hits also disable the cannon.
In such cases, a repair kit helps. Each of them has a limited number of charges, so each element requires its number of charges to restore.
It so happened that we came to a boarding. In this case, pistols, rifles, shotguns, and fists of strong Galician boys and girls are used. It is advisable to protect the player behind the gun and the driver. At one point, we had three jumpers inoculated in this way, and it all turned into real chaos of explosions, shots, and screams on Discord.
At this point, it became clear that the developers were making a really fun game.
Each of these fights is not without casualties. After death, the player automatically regenerates on the springboard, but this requires food, one canned food — one respawn. If you run out of food, you won’t be able to recover. Also, it will be almost impossible to win without a springboard. But there are chances.
If you kill the opposing team or put them under pressure, you can capture someone else’s jumpers. And if there are resources there, the same canned food, other players from the team will be able to return to the battlefield.
It also opens up some tactical decisions. For example, to take all the resources from your jumpers and try to «exchange» ships with the enemy.
After collecting resources, we head to the evacuation point, fire a flare, and wait for the tow truck. And so far, this element of the game raises the most questions. In other extraction games, evacuation is a very tense moment of the game, as all players see the evacuation signal and have to defend all the collected loot.
In Sand, the locations are very sprawling, and the enemies don’t have time to run to try to take away our resources.
I immediately mentioned this to the developers, and they replied that they were already working on solving this problem and even had ideas.
After the evacuation, we use the collected resources to upgrade the jumpers. For example, we install a second cannon or more trampoline compartments. But we still need to find drawings for the new compartments. In general, the system of improving the trampoline is similar to the ship designer in Starfield. You can’t upgrade your heroes.
Since this is a PvPvE game, there should be monsters in addition to living opponents. However, at this stage, the only natural obstacles are «walking sands». Whether they are a reference to «Dune», the developers strategically kept silent. I was able to see them only from a distance with binoculars when I watched the battle of other bloggers and journalists. But in the open sands, they will pose a real threat to the crew.
There are no survival elements in the game. Food is used for respawning, and a steam pack will help to heal. However, to prevent players from running far from the jumpers or trying to run far beyond the edge of the map, the developers have added a body temperature mechanic.
If you stay under the hellish sun for too long, the hero may faint or even die. Cooling down is elementary, just step inside the cool metal horse.
Conclusions
Despite the fact that most of the mechanics are in place, the SAND release is still a long way off. Many elements will still be reworked, canceled, and added. There is still a lot of work to be done, but even in this unfinished form, it was really fun and sometimes addictive to play. We wish the developers from Hologryph and TowerHaus the best of luck in completing the project, and we look forward to the game’s release.