Thanks for sharing this! One of the coolest part of the Blendo milieu is reading about development. I may have to work on something in Skin Deep myself...

oh hey! i remember seeing this in the announcement trailer

This was super fun to check out. Very interesting to see where the game might have been heading at some point, I admit I'm rather taken by the idea of wide open, more systemic interconnected levels. But I'd rather the game actually released. Also just the thought of designing AI around it making is me sweat.

Pretty cool, I appreciate you releasing this. It's interesting seeing this level design, reading the dev notes, and then comparing it to the final game.

This unreleased level gives me more System Shock 2 vibes, especially with the more believable ship layout and greater emphasis on actual ship components. I could see it working if there was more of an emphasis on gunplay or ranged abilities and a bit more persistence between the areas.

That being said, all of the changes described make total sense and the final game is better for it. While the levels in the final game are much tighter, that definitely serves the gameplay better as it allows you to close the gap to the enemies and also more easily escape. Which is good because it encourages players to be more creative rather than play conservative and just try to plink from afar.

I'm getting weird colour glitches - the whole screen switches between green, red, and blue tints, or completely black, depending on the camera angle and player position. Any ideas why?

Damn, the first trailer I saw was on this map. It’s what made me fall in love with the game! Kinda heartbreaking that it never got an official release. I’m really enjoying the game though, taking it slow and savoring it in small doses.

I recently started working on my own game, and now I totally get how much effort and heart goes into crafting an experience like this. Because of that, I’ve learned to be more empathetic, I think. A while ago, I probably would’ve just gotten mad that this map didn’t make it into the game lol, but honestly, now stuff like this inspires me to keep going with my own project.

Thanks a lot for sharing this experience with us.
Hope you at Blendo Games keep creating awesome stuff. Blessings to all of you!

Thank you to the author for releasing this and including the commentary. It's a pleasure to climb around the environment and enjoy the sights and sounds. As per the author's note, I will not whine too much about what we didn't get. I enjoyed playing Skin Deep very much as it is, and I feel fortunate that it was released. But as a big fan of spaceships and exploration, it hurts to see something so beautiful and so unrealized. The layout, the contrast, the believability, it's all so good. I suppose its existence alone is encouraging--as long as there are creators with this kind of aesthetic and ambition in their hearts, we'll see more games like it eventually. Thanks again.

I'm sorry for rushing you, but I'd like to see the level without the funny colors-
Though, it is both hilarious and interesting, the total darkness one makes it hard to appreciate the decor.
Loved the game, I am curious to see if modders can't take some of the bits left on the cutting room floor [Admittedly, out of a hunger for more levels in general. But it's really cool to see these bits in general too.]

Cool! Thanks for letting us see

It's so cool to get an inside look like this, thanks for putting this up!

Much appreciated

Thanks Suzanne, amazing!

Players can make their own levels using the DarkRadiant level editor (https://www.darkradiant.net/) . We will hopefully be able to release a modding guide soon that explains how to set it up and get started, but currently we are focusing on post-launch patches and bugfixes.

Looks awesome. Is there a level editor planned for this game?

damn...

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Regarding the issue with the whole level appearing green/black/red: this is a known issue with mod loading which should be fixed in an upcoming patch.

Hi! You've managed to make a cool immersive sim game! I work as a level designer myself and would like to discuss a couple of development points and give feedback on locations.
If you are interested, write to me in a personal steam!
Have a nice day!

Will check it once i finish up :D

Thanks for the peek behind the curtain Suzanne. I think the smaller levels with their own gimmick in the shipped game were the right call. I like that each room is its own lil sandbox. Probably harder to do that if you have to craft these big spaceships.

I had the lighting issue in the base game after the epilogue. Closing the game entirely and re-opening it fixed it!

same as @harpi, depending on where you look in this it's green, red, or black, and VERY rarely normal lighting. when you open certain doors the screen goes pitch black until it closes again!

This level is completely green for me, and on some angles, it becomes completely black. It's the lighting I think.

Beautiful!!! And great thoughts about game development!!

I didn't even know there was a level editor in the game lmao

Can't wait to check it out once I've finished the game. So far its been an absolute delight!

The best kind of cool extra map. It's really cool to get some insight into the design of a game and how it changed over time.

OMG this was cut?? I always loved the look of this in the trailers :)

Awesome!