ℹ️ - Delivery Us Home (& Photo Mode)

Developer: KeokeN Interactive

Publisher: KeokeN Interactive

Platform: TBC

Initial Release: TBC

Played on PC with a digital copy provided by Wired Productions

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We all like getting new games, especially new games with photo modes, but how about getting the rewarding sense of satisfaction that you helped to make one actually happen? Well, that's what you could do right now by backing the Kickstarter campaign for Deliver Us Home.

If the name sounds familiar, that's because this is now the third entry in the Deliver Us series. Having been to the Moon and Mars after long-since evacuating a desolate Earth, it's time for the future of humanity to find a new planet they might call home – only, it looks like someone already did.

Being less linear and more open that the previous games, Deliver Us Home will have a larger world to explore and much more to discover. Players will be invited to roam around in search of the story elements as well as crafting materials, suit upgrades, and indeed things to photograph.

That's because the small indie developers at KeokeN have a self-confessed appreciation for photo mode and the beautiful content that virtual photographers are able to create with it. So much so in fact, that the photo mode gets a special mention on the Kickstarter campaign where you'll even see a collection of shots from a few photographers who were invited to get an early preview.

What exactly can you expect from the photo mode in Deliver Us Home then? Well, there is of course plenty of time for things to change between now and the eventual release, but that starting point is pretty much the same setup as the one in Deliver Us Mars.

There's good reason for that though, partly because that's the most logical thing to do, especially for a demo, but also because this is another photo mode based on the Advanced Photo Mode blueprint for Unreal Engine.

That means that you geta handy D-pad shortcut and completely free camera movement over a reasonably large range – albeit with some decidedly dodgy control inputs for now! The camera also benefits from manual focus (the auto focus is still a bit broken) and depth of field control through a combination of aperture f-stop values and perhaps confusing Sensor Width.

Essentially, that last one confusing is meant to simulate different sizes of camera sensor and their respective strength of bokeh blur. This can be used to increase or decrease the amount of defocused blur at any given f-stop value.

Post-process options are well catered for with preset colour filters, chromatic aberration, film grain, motion blur, and vignette all present. Not to mention the temperature and tint adjustment, different render modes, and full RGB control over colour saturation, contrast, and gamma.

While some may argue that there may even be too many options here, there's no arguing with the fact that they offer a great deal of creative freedom.

Aspect ratio frames and a few game & studio logos round off the rest of the photo mode tabs, though there is one other small feature that deserves a mention. That is the toggle to make the character rotate to face the camera.

This is always a useful option that can be great for adjusting the character's body position for improved composition, just by leading them into place while moving the camera around. Just don't flip it back on accidentally after they're already set, or you'll have to do it all over again.

Of course, the other thing to remember here is that this is still a pre-production demo and we already know that the Unreal photo mode blueprint can be customised with all sorts of unique features. As well as Deliver Us Mars, this base photo mode has appeared in Atomic Heart, The Talos Principle 2, and Lords of the Fallen, each with their own tailored modifications to add something extra.

As I write, the Kickstarter has already smashed its initial targets, meaning we definitely have this game to look forward to, but don't let that stop you giving KeokeN your support. You never know what extra goodies might make their way into the photo mode as a stretch goal.

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