Hello my fellow Metal Heads.
I want to start getting into the habit of keeping you all up to date on what is going on with development, especially because it seems I only keep you informed only when there is an update.
Firstly, I will preface this and say that if you want DAILY updates, please head on over to the official Discord server and join.
OFFICIAL DISCORD LINK
WHAT IS GOING ON?
DAY JOB
I've been fairly busy with life in general, as I've previously mentioned, but one of the more important things was to get myself a day job so that I can continue to support the development of Metal Heads financially (due to everything that happened about 9 months ago, any hype I built up, any momentum with marketing efforts suddenly fell flat, resulting in a huge drop in sales to the point where I've made almost nothing in the last 3 months, even at Xmas time, when I got a boost in sales, it was only enough to sustain development for 2 months).
I succeeded in getting a day job after about a week of searching, and whilst this will take up my time and energy, it sure as hell beats being broke.
It's a challenging job, but I'm enjoying it, and it's one HUGE amount of stress taken off my shoulders.
Getting a day job, was the best thing I could have done given my situation.
BOARD GAME UPGRADES AND NEW CONTENT
In summary, I have been working on overhauling the board game mode, updating the UI, changing gameplay elements, and just all round polishing it up to be a much nicer gameplay experience.
I have also been working on new items for the board game mode, creating and adding new character animations, character sounds, along with other audio to bring the board game to life, as right now, it's a bit of a dull experience to say the least.
There is a LOT that needs to be done, and there's a long way before I will have it at a point that I am happy with it, but already, the progress made is great.
I have also been working on a new board game map, located in a desert oasis.
I'm a huge sci-fi nerd, and I've always loved the idea of sand worms, sand sharks, Graboids etc, and so one of the cool features of the new map is that whilst players CAN run on the sand to collect plectrums for additional points, but they run the risk of being munched by the "Sand shredders" that lurk beneath the sandy surface, so players will have to run and jump across solid, non-sand objects to stay safe.
There are a few key features to the map, but that is one that I will be happy to finish off.
One other thing I have added to the board game mode is the ability to change the camera while running, to a traditional platformer style camera for those who prefer.
BOT SUPPORT
I started working on adding bot support and AI controlled players about 2 weeks ago, but since then I have been job hunting, and working at the day job.
However the 2 days that I have worked on bot support, I've already made a LOT more progress than I thought I would in just 2 days.
I won't get into the nitty gritty details of bot support, as there's a lot to it, but rest assured that I am working on bot support, and it's coming along nicely, so the next big update I do will hopefully include bots! :)
Currently, all the the bots are a bit brain dead, all they know how to do is jump up and down on the spot, but the next time I work on them (today), I will begin giving them some life.
QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions, feedback etc, please don't be afraid to jump onto the forums, or use the Discord server to share your thoughts.
I am much more active on Discord and will generally answer within 24hrs, however since I don't get any notifications on Steam if someone posts on the forums, I may not see your post for a few days unless I get into a habit of checking every day.
THATS ALL FOLKS!