In preparation for Early Access release, ShySnake have released new gameplay footage of Spy DNA:

Spy DNA Trailer (Pre-Alpha)

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The video uses actual gameplay footage showing the core game loop: accepting a mission, selecting your team, doing some spywork, and finally combat, featuring realistic weapon and injury simulation.

@Shy Snake The developer of Spy DNA played through a hostage extraction mission.

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Follow along as Jason plays a hostage extraction mission from the beginning to end. We begin at the moment when a mission is generated at the base, continue to mission planning, infiltration, and team selection, then to mission execution, and finally, review the mission results. Subscribe and click that bell icon to be notified when we post new videos!

A new video for Spy DNA shows discovering and accepting missions. Additionally the developer wrote a new blog about complexity in games and how it doesn't need to translate into complexity for the player.

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When the Commander is at the base, you can use the intelligence screen to discover and accept new missions.

The background noise is actually from the game itself, I should have muted it in retrospect. The background noise actually serves a purpose, because it stops when the time stops, so the player gets a clear cue, aside from desaturation of the colors on-screen and the highlighted icon in the HUD. You can see this in action when I long-press to select "sprint" as a movement speed for the Commander. While the time is stopped, there is complete silence.

[...]

Complexity in games

I want to talk about complexity in games. I think complexity is a very misunderstood subject. Game developers are sometimes seeking to “simplify” where there’s no need, while at the same time adding complexity without realizing it.

What is “complexity?”

When I say “complexity,” I mean specifically “perceived complexity.” In other words: Is the action considered easy or hard for a human to accomplish?

Here’s a practical example: If I asked you to throw a ball at a target, would you consider that a complex or difficult task? Probably not. However, hitting a target with a projectile is a task complex enough that solving the math behind it drove the creation of the first computers.

When video games were created, lobbing projectiles at things was a rich enough subject that entire games were built around the idea, such as Artillery Duel and Scorched Earth.

Let’s look at a more recent example. Is driving a car complex? Most people consider it so easy that they do all sorts of other things while driving. Yet teams of engineers are still struggling to teach a computer to do the same thing. Analyzing visual data is so challenging, that they have to use additional sensors (Lidar) that humans don’t have, or need. Objectively, driving is very complex and yet it’s still easy for humans.

And again many games are built around the idea of driving (or flying). Most of those games are considered very easy to pick up and start playing. Perfecting your technique and winning is the real challenge.

[...]

Husband and wife team Jason Sams and Alex Maier of Shy Snake Games have talked with Shane about Spy DNA, their unique computer RPG, and indie game dev in general:

Spy DNA RPG With Shy Snake Games! - Shane Plays Radio Ep. 92

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Spy DNA, a tactical squad RPG that combines turn-based game mechanics with realistic combat simulation, is now on Steam Greenlight:

About Spy DNA

The game plays about 70 years in the future, and the player controls a squad of genetically-enhanced super-spies with unique talents.

When the genetic enhancement research is stolen from the lab, it is the player's task to recover it and prevent a rogue nation from creating an army of super-soldiers. In the course of the game, you will face a variety of opponents, such as endangered animal traffickers, unethical researchers, and rogue military organizations.

How we’re different
Our goal is to bring a new level of intensity to gameplay by creating a believable and realistic world. We started by creating a combat system that feels as much as real combat as possible.

Weapons behave like in the real world.
We’ve created a physics-based model of the weapons. The projectiles lose damage and armor penetration over distance as you would expect.

Accuracy.
The most important thing in a firefight is figuring out what you hit when you shoot. We built a virtual firing range for the developers to use to dial in the accuracy. We even dug up a bunch of shooting records and guidelines from the real world to use as benchmarks for our virtual weapons.

Armor works as it does in reality.
In real life armor is rated for the type of bullets it STOPS. Buy a piece of armor, get hit with a round it’s rated for, and you’ll end up with nothing worse than a (bad) bruise. However, if the bullet isn’t stopped, it’s still going to hurt, a lot.

Getting shot, stabbed, blown up, or set on fire are Really Bad Things™.
It’s far better to avoid them than to try to “tank” them.

What's next?
Shy Snake, the two-person team developing Spy DNA, are already working on the Early Access version, slated to release in Q2 2017. The team's immediate focus is on getting the game through Steam Greenlight to be ready to distribute the Early Access release.

The full release of Spy DNA is slated for Fall 2017 and will be localized into Russian and German.

Want to try it today? Download Alpha Demo of Spy DNA on IndieDB:
Indiedb.com

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Two and a half years in the making, the tactical squad RPG Spy DNA is now in public alpha. The demo is available for download on IndieDB and directly on the SpyDNA homepage:

Spy DNA is a tactical squad RPG that combines turn-based game mechanics with realistic combat simulation.

The game plays about 70 years in the future, and the player controls a squad of genetically-enhanced super-spies with unique talents.

When the genetic enhancement research is stolen from the lab, it is the player's task to recover it and prevent a rogue nation from creating an army of super-soldiers. In the course of the game, you will face a variety of opponents, such as endangered animal traffickers, unethical researchers, and rogue military organizations.

The game is greatly inspired by the great RPGs of the past that made the genre popular in the first place.

The demo for Spy DNA will allow players to experience several aspects of the game, from character creation, over RPG dialog and back story, to intelligence and combat missions.