CATURDAY!
I just wanted to drop something here to quell any ideas that CAT & MOUSE is abandoned, to give some insight into me as a Dev, and to talk about the first major update.
ProzackPH7's Background
(you can probably just skim this bit)
Hi, I am ProzackPH7, creator of CAT & MOUSE and PH7 Studios. I am a completely solo developer and I have never, never in my life, made any game whatsoever (those few of you who played the Early Access version of the game can probably tell). This is the very first game I have ever actually attempted at creating and stupidly decided to make it entirely multiplayer (Im a bad boy). I am completely self taught in C++, aided massively by google and the Epic forums, I do all the art, sound fx, UI, Steam updates, trailers, discord, twitter, marketing, everything myself. I have no background professionally as a game designer, I have never taken a C++ class, I haven't even considered taking a course on game design. Regardless of how woefully ill-prepared I was, I was confident that I could learn how to make games and be a billionaire by dinner (told you I was a bad boy).
I started creating CAT & MOUSE because I wanted to make a simple game that I could push out quickly, play with friends and build a community who would be excited to be a part of the development process. Many tasks I thought would be easy were far from easy, one in particular that I had thought would be the most fun is marketing, but this turned out to be my biggest hurdle. I am not a boastful person who likes to sell things to people, so when I had to encourage people I have never met to buy my game I became incredibly uncomfortable and nervous, only managing to reach a handful of Twitch Streamers (who were awesome btw), but it was 100% the most difficult thing I have ever done. To compound on this, having limited feedback from players due to my failure at marketing puts me in a position of not knowing what people actually enjoy or dislike about the game, creating a sort of internal feedback loop of questioning whether or not I am making the game better or worse. So, I will focus much more effort into marketing through as many networking schemes I can employ and I encourage those who enjoy CAT & MOUSE or have criticisms to speak your mind on how to improve the game.
It has been an uphill struggle but I am committed to making CAT & MOUSE what I had envisioned it to become, sometimes even happily struggling. I love making this game even when I hate it, because I know CAT & MOUSE is a game that, surprisingly, no one else has ever made before and that I truly have fun making and playing. I super appreciate everyone who has purchased, those who have been waiting patiently for this update, who have left positive reviews and those of you who have engaged on Steam and on Discord, it encourages and motivates me to continue on this long journey to complete CAT & MOUSE.
So yeah, thats me, just some guy making a game that he thinks is pretty cool and hopefully others will enjoy playing with friends.
Now, to the actual important stuff:
***SKIP HERE IF YOU DONT WANNA READ ME TALK ABOUT MYSELF***
The update is mostly finished, I dont have a date as of yet but my goal is currently by the end of the year. I know that is a long time but I dont want to push out an update that is buggy or lack luster. The AI & ART update is a massive update and I have had to rework almost everything, so my hope is that the wait will be worth it.
I have been working very hard on making the AI act as closely to players as I can, specifically the Mice. Because they have the ability to climb and dash, not to mention they are able to go places Cats cannot, this has proven to be fairly difficult to program... but I have done it. It takes a lot of time populating the maps with all of the nodes and areas for the AI to use to properly move around so this is the current WIP for Mice. The Cat's AI is far simpler, only needing to chase and jump and attack, so this is basically just a stripped down version of the Mouse AI. I have fully integrated the AI into survival mode and just need to create a special condition for the points game mode. This will need further optimization but at the moment you should be able to play with or against 8 to 16 AI without any noticeable slow down, some slower PCs will notice some frame drops if they are hosting and using AI.
I have been working on a ton of new art for the Cat player model, including new animations and have added the ability for the Cat to meow (this is entirely aesthetic and Mice can also squeak). There will be 2 new levels with this update with a possible 3rd depending on time, complete with new textures, particle FX, sound FX and decals. Some updates to the original levels have been made and more physics objects have been added for players to play with. Unfortunately one change I wanted to make that most likely isnt coming is dynamic lighting. I wanted to allow players to set the time of day however they wanted, but so far I'm not convinced this will be possible without some form of Raytraced lighting or a completely custom lighting system, if anyone is curious as to why I can explain more in the comments. I will, however, be releasing every map with a day and night mode for people who just gotta play at night. I have also adjusted some settings and removed some decals so Mice players can see better in dark areas and Cat players can more easily see Mice when they are exposed. Thats really all I want to touch on with the Art; I want to keep most of the Art additions/changes under wraps until it is complete and I release the update. (I have a couple little surprise art and mechanical additions that I think are pretty neat)
All of these additions also include new UI Art, additional gameplay mechanics, a music skip and show song keybind, and new server, video, audio, and gameplay options like Field of View, camera sensitivity, First person mode toggle for Cats, two different Cat attack configurations, Mouse third person climbing, and more.
Lastly, there will be a huge marketing push following the next update along with (as always) a massive discount. If anyone streams, posts Youtube videos, or posts short clips on TikTok and you want to show off CAT & MOUSE, please let me know and I will play with or provide some kind of aid to help. I want CAT & MOUSE to grow and I need all the help I can get marketing this thing.
I really hope you all enjoy what I have been toiling away at for the past year, sorry its been taking so long.
If you have any suggestions or ideas or just want to say mean things to me, check out the Discord or the "Suggestions or Issues" discussion on Steam.
Thanks for playing my stupid game!
-ProzackPH7