Hi everyone, time marches on and we're back with our monthly update! Here's what we've worked on in July:
WIP Co-op!
During the first phase of the project we ensured co-op worked with every feature we created. This was proving very time consuming so we eventually switched to prioritizing singleplayer so we could hit certain project milestones. This month we’ve been going back and patching up any new features that weren’t working properly over the network. In addition to this we’ve added a swathe of player animations to improve how the co-op player looks.
Co-op is a huge task and while the basic gameplay is working well, there’s a lot of mission and campaign specific work to come! With only one programmer we need to switch focus in August onto other areas but it’s been good to play co-op again.
New Enemy!
If you keep an eye on all our posts you may have seen a recent video explaining the theory behind why we add certain enemies to the game – it’s well worth a watch if you’re interested in design, so if you haven’t watched it you can do so here.
One area we were lacking was an enemy that took up a large amount of the screen and moved slowly but was heavy hitting. This month we’ve filled that slot with this bad boy:
This enemy stomps toward their target, shooting rockets from either arm at distance, flamethrower jets up close and can also do a ground stomp if you’re trying to run past and take advantage of his slow turning to attack his weak area.
Oh, and if you’re thinking of shooting out a nearby window to quickly take care of this beast you can forget it – he’s immune to venting!
Completed Level!
Last month we talked about Air Exchange, a greybox level we’d created with large fans that could suck enemies into them. This month Alex completed the environment art so we have a new finished level to add to the ship:
Navigator!
We’re continuously working on the Navigator, one of the layers that drives the game. This month there was a large focus on creating the sectors you escape through on your run, including a special sector that will become an optional tutorial for first time players.
We also spent time on how the research currency is represented and accrued in this part of the game and how it all ties into our upgrade system.
Other stuff!
Every month we do loads of smaller changes that don’t necessarily warrant a section to themselves, so ordinarily this is where we mention some other interesting/noteworthy stuff – however there was a lot of focus on the headline items above this month, anything else was SUPER boring stuff like updating the engine, fixing bugs etc. :)
Just for fun!
Our composer Barry Topping was back this month, he delivered a new set of tracks for our current ship and is starting to work on music for our away missions. Barry's music is awesome so this is always a treat.
Tell us what you think about the latest additions! If you want to reach out we’re active on all these platforms:
Until next time...
