Hey guys,
Apologies for a rather long gap between the updates. It’s been so much work that I didn’t even notice how the time just flew by. I’ve been throwing some gifs on reddit pretty regularly, but haven’t given any updates on where we are and how everything is going.
The progress
As the core idea gradually taking up a more defined form, we are cutting down things that we think might not work together or just simply too ambitious for us. Yeap, we’ve learnt this lesson the hard way.
After many discussions we decided to drop the 4-weapon slot system. I think, with this loadouts, where you could sort of define your own character build, we wanted to bring something new, but in reality it would clash with the fast-paced nature of the game. Any kind of interaction with the inventory to swap the gun in the middle of a fight would inevitably slow the pace or, what in my opinion even worse, would require you to be more defencive. We want you to feel powerful, reckless and be in control of the battle. You are a hunter and your enemies is your prey.
Besides, to justify the loadouts we would need a big variety of weapons, otherwise it becomes pointless. And as I said in the beginning, we know our limits. It takes me about 60-80 hours to make a gun model, from a concept stage to its final, textured model with vfx and animations. Even twenty guns would be roughly about 1500 hours. In days it’s almost two months of ceaseless work without sleep and breaks. In real life those 2 months will easily stretch into 4-5 in the best scenario. And it’s just weapons. For a game you need enemies, levels, environment art, vfx and so on and on and on. That’s why many indie games take years to make.
Knowing all that, we reduced the number of weapons to seven. Each with a secondary fire mode and a distinct role in the gameplay.
This is what we have so far:
1) The basic handgun: Primary mode - rapid fire, not very accurate, close to mid range.
Secondary mode - large, relatively slow projectile that can slow enemies.
2) Shotgun: Primary mode - slow, large spread, shot to mid range. Secondary - a fast projectile that explodes spawning bouncing shrapnel.
3) Machine gun: Primary mode - very fast, good accuracy, mid range. Secondary - grenade launcher, explode on impact, average damage.
4) Railgun: Primary mode - slow, perfect accuracy, long range, projectile can bounce of the surface and change direction. Secondary - scope.
5) Plasma rifle: Primary mode - slow projectiles, high damage, close to mid range. Secondary - energy beam, fast, instant hit, gradually builds up damage with time.
6) Rocket launcher: Primary mode - fast projectile, high direct and splash damage, large radius. Secondary - grenade launcher with bouncing projectiles.
7) Plasma shotgun: - huge spread, high damage, close distance. Secondary - heat wave, very close range, massive damage.
As you can see, many of the models are untextured and don’t have animations. It helps to iterate quickly and change design without being too attached to your work.
These is our first iteration and I’m sure the guns’ firing modes will change as the first feedback starts to come in.
Enemies
Designing our enemies we’re trying to follow a simple design principle inspired by chess.
In chess every piece has its own, unique set of move/attack patterns. If you look at each piece by itself, their patterns pretty simple and straightforward. Yet the game is very deep and complex due to a massive number of possible combinations those pieces can occupy the board.
If we translate it into the dimension of video games, with clear patterns and in the right combination even a simple AI can create interesting and complex situations.
So, for the last few weeks, my priority has switched from guns to enemies.
I’ve fully finished two more enemy types: the Oracle and the Knight. And just started a new one, which I call the Restless Sleeper. Though it is more an environmental hazard, than an ordinary enemy.
Oracle - is a slow flying head that casts large orbs of energy.
The Knight - has two types of attacks. Her main is wide, rapid sword slashes. And If you gain a large distance there is a chance that she’ll toss a grenade at you.
And the family photo
There is some lore behind each of them and how they all come together, but I want to keep it for the game)
Meanwhile, Anton has re-written and optimized the code for our procedural test levels, which will be our playground for testing the core mechanics. The system is relatively simple. It uses hand-made rooms and put them together in a particular order. Similar to Spelunky.
However, it’s NOT a rogue-lite. This procedural part will eventually become a separate mode where you’d be able to generate a level for a quick play.
Ok, what else…. Oh, yes! We’ve made gibs!
It’s actually pretty fun, gory, and maybe slightly over the top, but it completely changes how the gunplay feels.
This gif is a bit old, and we’ve already changed a few things, but it gives the idea)
I think, this is all for today.
Thank you for sticking around and making it to the end)
Devs
