Introducing Netmap 1.0

    Gathered friends, welcome all.  A while ago, nearing a year at this point, I had been working on a game.  As it usually goes with me, it was a solo effort, and slow going.  The game was aimed to be a recreation of an old puzzle/strategy game from Lego’s vast library of Flash games, Spybot: The Nightfall Incident.
    After a while, though, I was getting sick of the lack of progress.  So I asked around: I need people to help me work on a game I’m developing, if nothing else to keep me on track.  I was coding the game in Python at the time and got a few offers of help.
    As time went on, the game evolved, changed, and grew.  What started as a simple recreation of a Flash formed a cyberpunk story, refinements to the game mechanics, and more.  The original Python engine had to be scrapped in order to get the speed necessary from C++ and SFML.  After about a year of work, now, I’m glad to have the game and its world in such a place where it’s ready to show.  So, without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to Netmap 1.0.



    In the near future.
    The Internet is dead.  Welcome to cyberspace.
    No one knows when it really started going downhill.  Some people said it was from too little control, with ISPs having free control over people’s access.  Some say it was too much, with governments and lobbyists censoring and deleting whatever they wished.  The only thing for certain is that the Internet is a useless cesspool, plagued by viruses, advertisements, and lies.
    Regardless, some people continued research into computer networks, trying to improve where the original had failed.  Groups formed in universities all over the globe, working with quantum computers in sync with each other to allow instantaneous communication regardless of distance.  Amateur rocketeers took it a step further, launching dozens of these quantum machines into orbit around the Earth.  The experiment would evolve, turning into a free network independent of any nation or corporation.  It would come to be called the Netmap.
    And it’s under attack.
    You play the role of a Netmap Agent - a team of hackers that serve as detectives, moderators, and defenders of the Netmap.  A mysterious substance, Empaline, has started to form throughout the Netmap, with the power to destroy the entire system.  Bombs are being planted.  Nodes are going dark.  Your job?  Find who’s behind this plot and stop them, before the entire Netmap falls.

    So!  Netmap 1.0 is a puzzle/strategy game with a cyberpunk theme and elements from adventure games.  I’m the lead programmer for the game, and I help out with a little of everything.  Dalton Messmer is our lead composer.  Bethany Hawke is taking the role of art director; she creates and perfects the character designs and other artistic bits.  Finally, Thomas Frick is our gameplay advisor.  Together, we’re the crew behind Netmap 1.0.
    Expect more updates in the days to come!