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Spatial Dimension 4 is a walking simulator developed in the Unity engine. The main appeal of a walking simulator is to explore 3D worlds and look at intriguing visuals and scenery. In this project, I’ve added platformer obstacles and things to collect in order to progress the narrative.

The narrative begins atop a plateau just outside of a city. The plateau holds a strange museum built by 4D Exploration Labs. The exhibits inside explain that the building is actually the first 4D BRIDGE to another planet! However, the BRIDGE has been deactivated for an unknown time.

Another exhibit is located behind the BRIDGE Lab and it displays the marvels of floating platforms made of 4D metal. Conveniently placed on top of the exhibit hovers the core required to reactivate the BRIDGE. Once the core is returned to the power terminal, the hall leading into the museum mysteriously and seamlessly leads back outside, but the surroundings are completely different!

Explore exotic and alien worlds and find more abandoned labs. Follow the 4D bread crumbs left behind by the science team of 4D Exploration Labs. How did they discover so much just to disappear? Where did they go? Find out more and travel across Spatial Dimension 4!

The Exotic World

Two tribes are in a feud: the Ungas and the Bungas.

The Ungas live outside of the mountain cave and have a fort on the edge of the fungal forest. Within their walls lies BRIDGE 03, and no foreigners are allowed inside unless they prove their support for the Ungas. To support them, one must obtain a core from the Bungas.

The Bungas live inside a deep cave in the mountains and have a colosseum. Anyone can participate in the colosseum if they pay a fee. It costs ten gold nuggets to get in, and they can be found throughout the forest. Challengers must face a giant worm, and the champion who beats it is rewarded with the tribe’s prized core.

The tribes formed shortly after the 4D Scientists first discovered the Exotic World. The scientists found that the most intelligent life form on the planet was not very intelligent, so they tried to educate them. A handful enjoyed learning about science and what the scientists were doing, even though they truly were unable to comprehend it. The others became frustrated from the complexity of the lessons and began to rebel. The natives were divided into two tribes. The Ungas became the tribe of science, and the Bungas became the tribe contrary to science.

The Alien World

The mostly desolate planet is home to a thriving star port known as Onyx. The native beings appear to be machines with screens for faces, and their language is complex combinations of color. When the 4D Explorers discovered the world after building BRIDGE 03 and 04, they shared their language, knowledge, and technology. With the new 4D technology, the citizens of Onyx were able to reach a highly advanced star system located relatively at (x, y, z, 4). A lone cubical structure drifting through space soon led dozens of travelers to Onyx, thus making the city the diverse star port it is today.

The issue with Onyx is that it was originally designed for the native robots, and all of the structures were built to house their computers and machinery instead of people. As the alien travelers visited the city, they began to complain about the lack of shelter from the extreme desert climate. As a result, the aliens worked with the robots to build a hotel to provide the things the robots never needed, like food, drink, and sleep. One can stay at this hotel to rest until the scorching sun sets and the night life emerges.

However, one who explores the universe on foot will struggle to reach the city in the sand without a passport. Since BRIDGE 04 connects the Alien World to the Exotic World, there was initially a large immigration of cave dwellers. The natives did not appreciate these low-intelligence creatures wandering into their world and causing issues. So the 4D Scientists and the robots decided to build a tram across the desert to their city that was not accessible from BRIDGE 04, but from a new BRIDGE.

They dug into the mesa where BRIDGE 01 was located and built BRIDGE 05 and the first platform for the new tram. If one was intelligent enough to reach BRIDGE 05, they would then need a passport to access the tram. In order for one to earn a passport, they would have to reach BRIDGE 04 and perform a seemingly simple IQ test: pick up the provided power core and return it to the administrator. The IQ test was enough to stop the annoying cave dwellers from reaching the city while letting the more intelligent travelers explore their world.

Foxtrot Players' Manual

For detailed instructions on how to play Foxtrot, view the linked players' manual below!

How To Play!

Development

In my blog post before publishing this page, I discuss why I am holding back on finalizing Messiah Quest II and working on this new project. In short, I want to work on something I can release for free. Once it is finished, Spatial Dimension 4 will be published here and possibly other sites, and it will be free just like Messiah Quest.

Spatial Dimension 4 is being developed in Unity. Working on it will help improve my skills with using the engine, and I would like to use it to get better experience with publishing. I have a dozen projects in Unity, but I never got to the point of a shippable package. As for art, I have decided to go with a specific aesthetic of low-detail textures in a 3D world. So far I have found it much easier to generate graphical assets with my art skill. While developing MQII, I would always hit brick walls when making art. I have not done anything with music or sound, but I plan on doing something completely different than MQII with FamiTracker.

So far I have many core features implemented: walking, jumping, dying, and the visual tricks to make 4D travel seem possible. The remaining core features include picking up collectables, interacting with objects, and a user interface to display dialog. Most of the development should be filling the worlds with obstacles and people to talk to, as well as building a convincing environment.

Update from almost 2 Years Later

If you can tell from the screenshots, the aforementioned core features are fully implemented and much of the game has been developed. By that I mean from a feature perspective. Environments have been built, and they are populated with obstacles and people etc. From an audio perspective there is much to do. I’ve made a theme song which hasn’t been implemented yet (since there is no title scene at this moment), but I’ve given the player character footsteps and a jump sound.

I am either wanting to finish all the content of the game before implementing audio, or simply waiting for the mood to strike me to make music. Currently I’m working on a game within the game. It is the last challenge I must develop for the player to reach the end-game. The inner game is a 2D platformer titled Foxtrot, and if you play Spatial Dimension 4 in the future and need assistance/extended lore, you can refer to the players’ manual above.

Update from over 2 Years Later

Progress has been slow as I work in spurts. Recently, I’ve finally started implementing more audio. I’ve even developed the title screen and added a few user settings. Now the theme song is finally in the game.

The game is light-hearted in nature, yet there is an undertone of emptiness and mystery. I wanted the theme song to express the tone of incredible technology left to decay for unknown reasons.

As for content, I’m working on a region near the end of the game where the tone begins to shift. The other worlds in the middle of the game carry a feeling of wonder and excitement. You find yourself on completely different planets filled with new creatures and aliens. These characters are mostly invested in their own lives and are in somewhat comedic situations. No one really knows (and some don’t even care) about what happened to those who bridged these worlds together. Meanwhile, the Home World has a strange, empty feeling. The only semblance of character is left behind on a notepad still open on a computer screen. Sure, the ramblings of these scientists are still quirky like all the other characters, but you can’t help but wonder why they disappeared.

The region I’m developing is known as the 4D Tower. It is a sort of observatory to explore more worlds yet to be bridged together. I have taken my time to build this level, because I wanted to include more convincing non-euclidian illusions. The tower is 4-dimensional: navigating through it should bend your mind like it bends space. My first illusion of the 4D bridges are very basic. The player walks through a U-shaped hallway, and when they turn the next corner, the world is different. It is simply a pair of identical hallways which seamlessly teleport the player before they turn the corner. Now with the 4D Tower, I’ve employed the use of a 3D Mask (Unity has tools for 2D masks which can hide sprites and such, but 3D masks are a little more complicated). The 3D Mask is an invisible block, and peering through it only shows the world behind it. The player cannot even tell it is there. With camera tricks and layers, I can place rooms behind the block that the player will never see unless they look through a hole in the mask, such as a doorway.

I’ve always really enjoyed the magic doorway illusion. For example, you find yourself in a large empty field, and there is a simple door frame standing on a hill. Around the outside of the frame, you can see the field, while looking through the frame reveals a drastically different scene. After months of pondering and a day or two of implementation, I have mastered this illusion and included it in my game. Maybe in the beginning of this project I thought I could get away with the simple U-shaped hallway for the whole game, but considering it is a game about 4D space travel, I needed to include more convincing illusions such as this.

So I’ve been taking my time to make sure this region is as close to my vision as possible. Development will continue to be slow and careful as it is an important point in the story. I will also be sidetracked to compose music for the game, but that is something that has to be done at some point regardless. This is possibly going to be my biggest finished project to date, and I need it to speak true. This is my art, my story, my voice, and my song. I only wish it will bring enjoyment to others.

Special Thanks and Cameos

This game was inspired by the countless indie games I’ve seen while watching my favorite streamers on Twitch. I would like to thank these streamers and share each cameo in Spatial Dimension 4, as well as link to their pages.

Joel Vargskelethor plays the part of Death. If you happen to find Death, you may find out more about your quest.

https://www.twitch.tv/vargskelethor

Desert P! Look at this lizard! I think he’s supposed to be in the desert, but I guess a beach is close enough. I just think they’re neat.

https://www.twitch.tv/desertp

Vinny Vinesauce and Meat. The Big Worm of the Bunga Colosseum is based on a worm puppet used for an old Microsoft commercial. The puppet looks like sad meat, but he still has many adoring fans.

https://www.twitch.tv/vinesauce

Shoutouts to Simpleflips! He’s in jail and you gotta help him break out!

https://www.twitch.tv/simpleflips

Jeff the Vidyabum appears as the mascot for Bum’s Vidya Arcade in Onyx. The arcade features games like Foxtrot and all the classics, which can be accessed in virtual reality. In meatspace however, the arcade features a server farm with no windows or doors.

https://www.twitch.tv/vidyabum

Jabroni_Mike as Eldritch Mike and RevScarecrow as Fungal Scarecrow. These two tend to stream together, so I thought it would be fitting for them to co-anchor the Onyx News.

https://www.twitch.tv/jabroni_mike
https://www.twitch.tv/revscarecrow

And then my brother as Book Boy and Book Boy 2: Book Boy Found The Book!

https://www.twitch.tv/xrayhotel

Thanks to all these channels and their communities for entertaining me during the good times and the bad times. And thanks for inspiring me to keep going!