EMF CAMP 2024

Hello folks, us again! We promised we’d be back with more details on EMF, and so here it is!

A bit of background

If you’ve never heard of EMF Camp, it stands for Electromagnetic Fields and is the largest outdoor gathering of hackers, tinkerers, and all-around tech enthusiasts in the UK. Picture a sprawling campsite filled with workshops, talks, blinking lights, and people building all sorts of weird and wonderful projects—everything from DIY satellite dishes to interactive art installations. It’s a unique blend of summer camp and tech festival, where the unofficial motto is: “If you can dream it, you can probably make it—just bring some duct tape and a Raspberry Pi.”

EMF is part of a trio of rotating European summer hacker festivals, alongside CCCamp near Berlin and “The Dutch Camp” (which is never content with just one name—past versions include SHA, “Still Hacking Anyway,” and MCH, “May Contain Hackers”). These camps fill the summers between the more serious, wintertime gatherings like the Chaos Communication Congress (CCC) in Germany—a massive event hosted by the Chaos Computer Club, Europe’s largest hacker association.

The CCC itself has deep roots, founded back in 1981 at the height of the Cold War. It started as a response to the vulnerabilities in the West German government’s new tech, but it quickly grew into a cultural institution—a place where democracy and digital rights meet tech wizardry and hacktivism. Fast forward a few decades, and it’s the beating heart behind a whole ecosystem of hacker camps, where EMF has carved out its own space.

All this alphabet soup boils down to one thing: a place where hackers, makers, and dreamers come together to share knowledge, build coo

EMF '24

So, this brings us to EMF this summer. There are plenty of reasons we attend these camps—it’s the community some of us grew up in, and Off Grid as a game is, in part, a love letter to this side of hacker culture.

Beyond catching up with old friends and sharing stories around the campfire, this year we had a mission: to do some structured research for Off Grid: Red Team (OG:RT), our new sub-game of OFF GRID that dives deep into teaching precise cybersecurity skills.

We did a teaser announcement about OG:RT a few weeks ago, sharing the exciting news of our partnership and support from Ufi, and now we can finally share more about what we got up to at EMF and why we were there. OG:RT aims to build practical skills and extend the base premise of Off Grid into a companion experience, allowing players to explore infosec concepts. Right now, we’re focusing on a proof of concept (POC) to test whether practical infosec skills can be effectively taught through a video game. Our long-term vision is to offer a foundational learning platform with potential pathways to industry opportunities, but for now, this POC is all about refining the core experience and gathering feedback.

EMF was the ideal place to start gathering feedback about the idea, pick the brains of experts, and get a sense of where current cybersecurity training is missing the mark. We’ll do a proper write-up about what OG:RT is in detail soon, so stay tuned!

In the meantime here’s what we did last summer:

Highlights from EMF ’24

Workshop Fun: We ran a workshop where we played the latest iteration of the intro scene and first tutorials of the core game. It was a great chance to see what’s readable, what’s confusing, and what sparks curiosity. Plus, it was a blast to show off the game to a room full of friendly faces, sharing a few laughs and geeking out over the details.

Lofi Mocap: Ever seen a DIY motion capture suit in action? We brought ours along and captured custom idle animations from our hacker friends who cameo in the game—like Darren, who’s always got that signature, laid-back swagger. These little touches will make Off Grid feel even more like it’s part of the hacker world, blending real and virtual in all the best ways.

Feeding the Community: Rich also brought along his famous smoker, a beast of welded metal he first put together for EMF ’18. It’s become something of a tradition now—smoking meats while sharing stories and knowledge. This year, we joined forces with the Milliways crew to keep the smoker going for four days straight, feeding hackers from dawn till dusk. Friends brought pre-marinated cuts of meat, and we kept the smoky magic alive. (You can read more about the Milliways ethos here.)

Whiskyleaks: Always a crowd-pleaser, Whiskyleaks is our tradition of bringing a bottle and pouring a little liquor on the ground for our fallen and jailed hacker comrades. It’s a moment of solemn reflection, but also a reminder of the resilience and solidarity that runs through this community.

Insights from the Community

We sat down with friends and experts—folks managing security in all sorts of places, from harbours and local councils to tech giants, scrappy startups, and even nuclear facilities (yes, really). Our conversations ranged from the state of infosec to the gaps in current cybersecurity training. One theme kept cropping up over and over again: the importance of an “attacker mindset.” These insights were pure gold, helping us refine our questionnaires and shape the remote and more official interviews for OG:RT that followed as part of our development process.

Getting to know the folks from different camps really helped us build this mod with them. C-Base for example has a ton of interesting lore and background to their community, so we know it is important to include as much of this as possible, and although the C-base village wasn’t there in person this year, we brought them there in spirit.

C-Base in Mod / IRL (note this is an image from CCC-Camp not EMF):

Our intern Elias scripted a section of gameplay about Chaos Post, and we were able to show it to some of the Chaos post team and get their feedback on how to make it better.

JEAN’S TAKE ON EMF

Going to EMF, I discovered all the things I’d always dreamed about building were all here in full effect: using networks and Arduino’s to build interactable games and installations. It was amazing to see them being realised. It helped me see what is possible and that there is a part of me that wishes to learn these skills.

It’s not just games and tech, but also food, ethics, and diversity—this brings a wholesome vibe to the place. Everyone is massively willing to discuss ideas freely with each other, and that is the essence that bubbles together a melting pot of daring and integrity.

There really is a Goldilocks sweet spot at EMF whereby everyone is engaged enough to bring something; take something away; share with others; reach outside of comfort zones, all because they are interested enough in the first place to being there and thus realise everyone here is approachable and ultimately, my (your) kind of people. 

That being said, I took my kids, who loved it more than me! - from coding in the tent, to being free ranged and free to run a muck and take part in as much as the adults. As a parent, who worries about the onslaught of social and gaming (aka mobile gambling) kids via mobile phones, this was a great place to put the point of digital social and creativity to work! For them to see the why this stuff exists and why its fun, and what *you can do* when they grow up is just mind blowing for me. Their favourites were the *physical digital* games.

STEF

EMF, was awesome. I’d been to CCC in Germany, so I knew I was going to like EMF, but being surrounded by so much tech and crafting in one place, it was actually like being in my own nerdy heaven. There’s a lot of creative and weird things to see, with artists expressing themselves in ways I’d never encountered before. I was obsessed with this Tesla coil that played music. 

A big highlight for me was playing Duck Hunt on a hillside… using LASERS (thanks SebLee!) We camped with our good buddies in the Millyways village, such a solid group of geniuses, where I got my hands on a Millyways challenge coin, which is a reminder of just how special this community is, and I can’t wait to go back!

Off Grid:Red Team

If you’re intrigued by all this and want to see how the spirit of IRL hacker culture and knowledge-sharing folds into the game, we’d love for you to get involved! Fill out the form here, and we’ll add you to the OG:RT mailing list. You might even be selected to take part in beta testing and provide feedback as we work towards creating a complete end-to-end prototype.

Even if testing isn’t for you, you can still join this mailing list to stay up to date on all the latest developments. We’ll be back soon with more updates about the game!

If you haven’t already - be sure to wishlist Off Grid on Steam - each wishlist makes a big difference to us, and we really appreciate your support!

OFF GRID DEV BLOG - "Hacking IRL"

Hello folks! We’ve been so busy pushing forward with OFF GRID that it’s been hard to find the right moment for an update—but here we are, and a lot has happened in the last four months! We teased a bit in the interim, but now we’re ready to dive into the details.

First up, we had an amazing time at EMF Camp, the UK’s largest outdoor hacker gathering, where we ran workshops, caught up with friends who cameo in the game (mc.fly, pathfinder, Lauri Love, Darren, et al.), and connected with the wider community. We’ll have a full retrospective post coming soon, but in the meantime, there’s even bigger news…

We're extremely proud to announce we’ve secured funding from Ufi to develop a companion experience to OFF GRID that takes players deeper into the world of infosec (in parallel to how OFF GRID takes players deeper into the world of hacker culture). Interested? Then read on!

Team Updates

We have some team updates, our three lovely volunteers, Elias, Mellissa, and Diogo, had their work experience with us come to a close, they made some fantastic contributions to OFF GRID and the studio and its other projects at large. We have also had our producer Raquel move on to new adventures at Brazilian outsourcing giant Kokku. While we’ll miss them, part of being a small, independent studio is helping talented people grow and take the next step in their careers. We’re incredibly proud of all they’ve accomplished!

As is the way with chi and the movement of energy (yeah man!), we have been incredibly lucky to have new energy come in and fill this void. We’ve welcomed Edvin as a junior environment artist, and long time friend Jay Springett has also joined the team. Bringing with him some deep expertise in worldbuilding and cross-media storytelling. Jay is probably best known for his involvement in Solarpunk’s early origins, he’s also been a contributor to reports for BBC R&D and the Canada Media Fund. He’s been able to jump in and inject his operations expertise into production management and beyond for OFF GRID: Red Team, this new extension of the core OFF GRID game.

Without further ado, here is what we have been up to on the core game in recent months

Core Systems

App System overhaul, part 2

Some of you might remember that we did a redesign and rebuild of large parts of the game's app system last year (if you missed that, then read more from the blog post: OFF GRID: Off Grid Dev Blog - "Still Alive and Hacking"). After that there were plenty of more pressing issues that needed dealing with first, but we finally got to doing the second part of that overhaul, dealing with how apps work in first-person mode.

As nice as the radial UI we had for selecting apps in the first person mode looked like, it didn't really fit well with how the apps now work. First of all, it required the player to first select a target, as it would then automatically show apps appropriate to that target type. However we've moved the control over which targets the player can see at a given time to the currently selected app, so that created a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem here. Next, having to manage two separate lists of apps, assigning them to the radial UI and the normal app dock separately, was unnecessarily complicated. Even more so on the Lua scripting side.

So it was time to clean up the design, and with the way the apps now work, we realised there was actually no reason to have that separate UI any more. We could just as well enable the one and the same app dock in first person mode as well. That means no longer having two different ways how apps work, and how they are used by the player. No need to assign them to two places separately. No more need to define if they can be assigned to dock or the radial UI and setting default states for both, resulting in simpler and cleaner Lua code for modders to deal with as well. Sounds like a win.

Well, as with everything else in game dev, every solution creates some new problems of its own...

The problem we now had was that most of the gameplay is designed around the 3rd-person perspective, giving the player a lot more view around their surroundings, and especially on any guards that might be approaching them from behind. Our goal for the 1st person view was always to allow the player more time to think, to search for useful data, and to take a more tactical approach compared to the direct and fast interactions the apps have (especially after this redesign) in 3rd-person mode. To help with that, after the player had selected a target in 1st person mode we paused the game time to let the player consider their next move safely. Now that we no longer select the target first we had to choose between two options. We could pause the game the moment you enter 1st person mode (but that could be way too powerful of a tool, being able to freely search and hack anything in game with all the NPCs paused. Or we could not pause the game, and lose that bit of safe time for the player to think we wanted to have in 1st person. Neither option sounded great.

Got time?

If we can't stop the time, and we can't keep the game running normally, then that only leaves one option; doing something in between. Which is exactly what we did. We slow the time.

Now entering the 1st person mode changes the game to slow time mode, giving you more time to look around, select targets, and interact with them. But still not unlimited time, all the AI characters in the game are still moving around and going on about their business, so you can't just switch to 1st person mode in the middle of an open area and hack away. If there are guards around, eventually they will spot you and catch you.

This solved all the problems, at least on the game design side. Changing a game that was built to either be running, or paused, to handle an extra slow time state took a bit of work and refactoring various systems.

The hidden tech behind it all

The last part of the app system changes was less to do with gameplay, and more to do with Lua scripting and other things going on in the background. Removing the radial UI already cleaned things up a bit, but we still wanted to simplify the code needed to define what apps the player should have in each mission. And we also had some unsolved situations regarding apps in modded levels, or in special cases like tutorials where one might want to override what apps the player would normally have and instead set them to specific ones.

So we also ended moving defining app's starting states in the app Lua script into the mission scripts, and then added some helpful Lua API calls for setting the apps for the mission more easily, rather than having to call a state change per each app (which wouldn't even have worked when dealing with modded apps/levels, as nobody could possibly know which apps the player has in their game.

As part of implementing that we needed to figure out the logic for how the player's apps are saved between missions. We needed to make sure apps given to player in one mission and the way the player has assigned them to their dock carry over to the next mission correctly, but also handling cases where the player ends up playing a mission that defines different apps/configuration, and then returning back to player's configuration again on the following mission. And of course making sure it doesn't all break if some previously used app isn't available any more (either because it was a custom app defined in one mission only, or because it was from a mod the player has uninstalled).

This is all working now (apart from a bit of more work needed on our save system side), and while it all got a bit complicated on our end, the good thing is it all pretty much "just works" from the player's and even from the modder's perspective.

Layout and Props and Art?

We’ve been hard at work on scripting and interactive objects, which, as you can imagine, brings its own set of challenges—like figuring out how to deal with the ‘haunted’ office drawers in IntSecur’s poltergeist-infested office.

We’ve been fleshing out our production wiki to document everything, ensuring smooth sailing as we continue building out the game. On top of that, we’ve started refactoring the character customization system, making it more intuitive for building levels. We’ll dive into more details in an upcoming blog post, but for now, check out the new LUT layout in action on the Jen model.

We’ve also added sliders to adjust body shape for greater variety in character design!

 

Lastly, Stef has been working on our level building updates has this to share:

Studio Announcements

Ufi Supported sidequest

We’re pleased to announce that, with funding and support from Ufi, we’re taking OFF GRID in exciting new directions. We’re developing a vocational training companion experience that will sit alongside the core game. Think of it as an ARG (augmented reality game), where we use experiences and media outside the game to guide players deeper into the world of information security, pentesting, and hacker culture. Specifically, we’re focusing on the ‘attacker mindset’—the skills gap that often goes overlooked in conventional cybersecurity training.

Ufi has pioneered the use of technology to advance vocational skills, coining the term “VocTech” to catalyse the movement. We love how this project blurs the line between fiction and reality, helping players jump down the rabbit hole and explore infosec techniques in a hands-on, immersive way.

OG:RT

OFF GRID: Red Team (OG:RT) is an experimental subgame of OFF GRID, where we’re testing innovative mechanics with ARG elements. The goal is to mirror real-world cybersecurity challenges in a narrative-driven experience, helping players develop an ‘attacker mindset.’

Though OG:RT is currently a standalone project, it’s feeding directly into the development of the core game. Some features we’ve been planning are already in use, and the project has opened new funding avenues that are allowing us to accelerate Off Grid’s development. This initiative has also enabled us to bring new talent, like Jay and Edvin, into the team to help push things forward.

Get Involved

We’re looking for people interested in following the development of OFF GRID: Red Team and gaining early access to our alpha builds. Some participants may be selected to play the game and provide feedback via follow-up questionnaires, helping us shape the project as it evolves.

If you’d like to get involved, sign up here. 

Even if testing isn’t for you, you can still join our mailing list as part of the form, to stay up to date on all the latest developments.

We’ll be back soon with more details on our time at EMF Camp!

If you haven’t already - be sure to wishlist Off Grid on Steam - each wishlist makes a big difference to us, and we really appreciate your support!

OFF GRID Dev Blog - "Fresh Blood"

The sun is shining, our team has expanded and Off Grid development is in full steam ahead. It's a good time for some updates from us, don't you think?  

This is a long one so here is a summary of what you'll find below:

• Pontus - On Core Systems
• Melissa - On Layout and Props
• Diogo - On Gameplay Scripting
• Stef - On New Level
• Studio Announcements - EMF Festival!

Wait did you say more team members?

For the first half of this year we were joined fulltime by Melissa on Art and Diogo on Level Design. With their help we have been polishing and adding content to the main campaign in Off Grid, but more on that later.
We have also been assisted by Pedro, who was with us early in the year working on scripting and tools, Elias, who has recently joined the team and is getting stuck into the Modding side of Off Grid and Raquel, our producer that is keeping us all on track! 

Pontus - On Core Systems

Since the previous blog post, we've done a lot of background tech changes, including switching to a new version control system and remodelling our build pipeline to match, especially in the context of how our main project works with the Levelkit project we provide for modders. While not necessarily an obvious change from the user perspective, this will help us making sure we can always make Levelkit builds that match an exact Off Grid version and that are guaranteed to work nicely together.

We've also already tested this setup with some internal test builds, which means a long list of various small bugs, fixed here and there, and all kinds of game features tweaked slightly. Most of them not really big enough to write about here.

One of the more directly interesting ones from player's perspective is a new Tasklist app (making good use of our ongoing overhaul of the app system). As the old joke goes, "there's an app for that", and now there is one to help you keep track of your current objectives without having to go to the pause menu for that.

Melissa - On Layout and Props

We decided to improve the Apartment level by making new beds, furniture and personal items (clothing, shoes, notebooks, wall art, posters). We wanted the place to feel more like home and add dimension to the characters, especially the bedrooms, after all you can tell a lot about somebody by looking at their rooms!

Joe’s room is simpler and more practical, while Jen’s room is messier with a mix of girly/tech stuff.

  

We also updated the vending machine art and worked on some in-game branding for food items.

New Vending Machine and Snack Art

New Coffee Machine

Diogo - On Gameplay Scripting

The last few months have been focused on improving the early levels of the game, and with that comes tutorialization to introduce the player to Off Grid’s core mechanics. A particular section to highlight is when we teach the player about being careful with the noise they make when running.

 

Avoid the Sleeping Guard!

To better tie this tutorial to the rest of the level and to the overall story, we used it as an opportunity to further showcase the characters’ personalities. We start by getting the player to unexpectedly come face to face with a guard (who luckily is sleeping on the job) before having them engage in a small conversation with the always sarcastic figure of Smedley, where they learn about this core part of the game through a humorous interaction.

Stef - On New Level

As well as all of the above, we have been working away at a new level location: the Harbour. 

So...the Harbours name is Harbour?

Harbours are interesting locations, they are like a living thing, designed to keep goods constantly moving, constantly shifting, pulsing and transporting stuff around, much like a human body. We rely on them for so much, our harbours are precious, and in constantly increasing demand - after all how do you think your Temu orders are getting to you? As such, they are always looking towards technology for solutions...lovely, hackable, technology.

Here are some early screen captures of work in progress. We have some unique and interesting plans for the harbour, but we don't want to spoil the surprise too much!

Studio Announcements - EMF Festival!

The Off Grid team is once again joining the Milliways Village for some modding fun. We'll be using it as an opportunity to play test our modding tools and immerse our team in the world of digital security to help inspire our level design and story.

Until then we are working away supporting the CCCamp Mod to show off there. If you are also going to EMF come find us and say hi! We'll be in the Milliways Village.

The CCCamp Mod

If you haven’t already - be sure to wishlist Off Grid on Steam - each wishlist makes a big difference to us, and we really appreciate your support!