Hey, everyone. We've noticed some concerns recently from people claiming that Blood Trail has been abandoned. WRONG! Blood Trail is more alive than ever. Although it may not seem that way from the outside, as we haven't had an update in many months, we understand your frustration. We're also eager to have an update ready for you. We're working intensely on a series of updates that will quite literally change the game.
We've been carefully listening to your feedback and are pushing forward with a massive overhaul that will address everything. Not only that, these updates will put Blood Trail in the right position for us to continue fully with the story campaign.
These updates will first appear on the Experimental Branch. When they're stable, we will move them to the Main (default) Branch.
Here's the current plan:
- Update 1: Gore / NPC / AI
This major update will include a comprehensive rework of the blood and gore, enemy AI, and enemy visuals, along with an updated locomotion system.
We're revamping both the gore system and the enemy damage system to provide higher detail, increased interactivity, and better performance. The end result will be a significantly enhanced version of the current game, more violent than ever. Expect to see more detailed damage including slash and stab marks, all-new blood effects (and copious amounts of it), accumulating gore, and even more opportunities to dismember enemies. In addition, the system for dealing health damage to enemies is being completely rebuilt with a focus on accuracy. This means enemies will react proportionately according to the type and location of the damage they've sustained.
The NPCs are getting a visual refresh, featuring a new look and outfit (with more to come soon). Given the experimental nature of these changes, we'll concentrate on incorporating additional visuals after this update, so we can gather your feedback as soon as possible.
We're implementing an updated locomotion system, resulting in more realistic, improved animations. The AI controlling them will be completely new. Enemy AIs will now coordinate their positions and reactions as a squad, enhancing the feasibility of stealth kills. It's important to note that ONLY SHOOTER ENEMIES will be included in this update! Melee and unarmed enemies will return in a future update. Stay tuned!
- Update 2: Melee / Additional Visuals
In this second update, we will reintroduce melee fighters to the game. They too will have a complete overhaul of their AI and a deeper combat system with improved offense and defense. Enemies will also get new vocalizations, reactions, and attacks. Innocent/runaway enemies will have better fleeing/hiding abilities. We will also be integrating our mocap animations into this system for the first time.
This update may also include additional features like new enemy faces, outfits, animations, particle effects, sounds, etc.
- Update 3: Player / Weapons
After focusing on the enemy, we're setting our sights on the player. Wendigo and his weapons are due for overhauls/fixes/improvements. We can't elaborate on the details here as we're still hashing them out, but we aim to address common issues and add substantial improvements across the board. We're looking to rework physics interactions, general controls, the overall feel of gameplay, and player movement. We want to provide better gun play, fix recoil, and improve melee and bladed weapon interactions.
Please remember that none of these updates will truly represent the final state of the game. We'll be adding more animations, vocalizations, visuals, and features along the way. The way these updates are released may ultimately be more or less than 3, and will likely include several hotfixes.
- Further Updates: Content / Story
After the overhaul updates, our plan is to release an additional content drop, likely including a couple of new weapons, one or two new maps, and updates to existing maps. (Note that updates to existing maps may also appear earlier as part of the previous updates). This will provide fresh content for you to explore while we focus on developing the story.
Once these updates are stable on the main branch, our attention will shift to the story campaign. We've been laying the groundwork for this and it will mark the point at which we progress with the central narrative. While we'll keep you informed and share some progress details, we won't reveal too much to preserve the element of surprise. Our plan is to release the story in chapters or episodes.
The story mode is where you'll find the bulk of the game's content. As you play through it, you'll unlock numerous weapons and locations for use in the arcade modes. We'll also introduce attachments, skins, and more.
Eventually, we'll release the final chapter, marking the completion of Blood Trail VR and its transition out of Early Access.
We appreciate your patience and support as we continue to work on these improvements and updates. As always, your feedback is invaluable to us. We look forward to delivering a game that exceeds your expectations. Thank you for being part of the Blood Trail community!
P.S. If you haven't already, head on over to YouTube and subscribe to our channel for more updates!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzrKqzAshow
