From the Nullstar Dev Team
And we’re back! Jetlagged, tired, and sore but overall back! Over the past couple of weeks, Dean and Ryan have been in Germany attending Gamescom 2024 as part of the IGEA Australian booth, alongside other Australian studios, showcasing the team’s new game, Nullstar: Solus, to the international audience in attendance.
What was a crazy non-stop ride of support and encouragement has now settled and we are eager to share a brief overview of the event as well as our goals for Nullstar moving forward.
Ryan eager to see the masses!
Our main goal for Gamescom was to get the game's name out there. After finishing up with Broken Roads, Ryan, myself, and the team were eager to showcase the game that we all came together to make because we loved working together.
To see the passion the team has put in over the past 2 months was awesome. From many publisher chats to even more Kolsch we are happy to say we achieved what we came to do. High numbers of traffic for the game, wishlist numbers, playtesters, and more has really shown us what type of game we have and want to make and the fact they line up with what some people in the industry are looking for feels really good! However it wasn’t all business!
Kolsch and Currywurst!
Thankfully during the event the team got to do some browsing of Gamescom as well as spending time with other developers and industry professionals. From watching Alien Romulus in a small local cinema to checking out the local currywurst and talking about games over beer, it was a great trip to get an idea of what the industry is currently doing and our place in the puzzle.
The true highlight of the trip - Dean
Dean got to play Terry in SF6 and Monster Hunter: Wilds and didn’t shut up about them so I guess it was a win for him no matter what! Ryan got to experience a bit more of Gamescom and, alongside other Aussies, spent a good long time in the indie area seeing what the world is cooking and there is some really good stuff on the horizon!
So before we finalise some things in this post we want to thank Jens and IGEA for the opportunity to be a part of the stand and showcase Nullstar: Solus. A huge thank you to Screen Tasmania for assisting us in getting here and showing the world just what Tasmania has to offer.
See you next year?
Another big thank you to the Griffiths University students who assisted us whilst we ran around like headless chooks. Shoutout to their patience with us as Gamescom can be hectic and at some points we were completely lost in meetings.
And finally shoutout to everyone who took their time to chat with us, hang with us, play games, and overall just be part of this amazing experience. From publisher chats to other developers in other countries showcasing their local talent. We are in awe of the indie side of the industry and are eagerly awaiting where your story takes you.
There was some intense speedrunning sessions going on at the booth!
So what’s next for Nullstar Solus? Well, the next event you will be able to catch the team at will be Level Up Tasmania down in Hobart at PW1 from the 27th of September to the 29th. You can learn more about it here: https://www.premier.tas.gov.au/latest-news/2024/june/level-up-tasmania-video-games-showcase.
After that you can catch the Nullstar team once again at PAX Australia 2024 as part of the PAX Rising indies from the 11th of October to the 13th. We will have some more coverage on the game as we get closer to the events.
We want to thank you for all the support since the game's formal announcement in July. We only started this prototype in early June and implemented art in July so to have such colossal feedback that has universally been positive is a huge boost for the team.
Dean once again is the Gamescom Smash champ!
We will aim to post more updates as development progresses but for now you can wishlist and follow the game on Steam, follow us on social media, and join our Discord channel.
Until next time, pilot!
Nullstar Dev Team