Hello,
in this Blogpost that I decided to call "Changeblog", I want to dig deeper into the changes made to ReThink | Evolved 4 over its predecessors.
At the end, there will also be a short glimpse into the Future of the series as a whole.
Before we get started:
All of the ReThink's are made by one person, me, there is no studio or team behind the games.
This means, that I have to focus on on a specific part of a game to improve, and for ReThink | Evolved 4 (RTE4) that was the gameplay as a whole.
The Cubes:
Cubes are the games core gameplay element and did change quite a lot over the last years, and so it happened that some cubes were removed while new ones where added.
With this change I wanted to further streamline the gameplay and remove cubes that could be replaced by others, or were not used very often.
In total, two cubes were removed, 4* have been added to the game that were not present in RTE3.
*Technically 3, one Cube actually is a Set of two cubes that belong together, but I dont know how to count that properly.
Aside from these changes, I changed the way how Cubes are put into the game again, as it turned out that RTE3 became "too flashy" because of the new Spawners.
Here is a direct comparison between RTE2, 3, and 4:
As you can see, I changed it back to how RTE2 did it, but with improved Graphics.
This approach needs a lot less space than previously, which should make the game easier to "read" in terms of "what is going on" inside an area.
The cubes also got the new design I created for ReThink 3 in 2019.
Signs:
Puzzle games usually have a sign in each room that tells the players what they can find inside, and thats not different for the ReThink's.
I tried different things, but never got someting that "just worked", so I came up with this for RTE4:
While it is not a very fancy sign, it gets the job done.
It is easy to read, cubes are colored properly, the sign itself is not too flashy, but also not hard to spot like the transparent ones in RTE3.
It also (again) combines the "Name/Number" of a Puzzle with all useful information in one location, with the Reset-Button being next to it, so that there is no need to run around and search it, as it should always be next to the big sign.
The Puzzles:
Puzzles, their appearance and layout got a lot of changes in RTE4, some of which are more obvious than others.
In general, RTE4 has a more "chaotic" layout again, as I got Feedback from about RTE3 that could be broken down into: "It is too symmetric, linear and uninteresting"
Players also wanted the larger maps from previous games back, as RTE3 only had 4 Puzzles per map instead of 8-10 - and they are back.
To offer some comparison, the First 4 maps from RTE3 easily fit into RTE4s second map.
The way puzzles are built also has been changed, they are now (sometimes) segmented into multiple steps, to avoid having a large room with a dozen cubes and an unreasonably hard puzzle for the average player.
This obviously does not mean that RTE4 is super easy now, but it should be more consistent. (That aside, the "Evolved" games should be easier than the "normal" ReThink's, because there is no guidance by a grid that prevents the players from doing weird things with the cubes, that make the game far more difficult than it actually is.)
The "Puzzle-Count" and the "40", does not actually mean anything.
It may read like "oh, its only 40 puzzles again?", but thats not what really is going on in RTE4.
I combined some of the tutorial-puzzles that would have been a seperate puzzle in previous games into one room, so you technically get 2 for 1.
Aside from that, some puzzles are "two in one" by design, they actually contain two seperate puzzles to be solved.
One very obvious change is the new, darker, floor for the puzzle-areas:
This is something I have taken over from ReThink 3, since it made the game easier to look at.
All RTs share one problem: I don't know what screen a player has, how it is calibrated, what setings the game runs at and what the lighting inside the room is.
The darker floor solves a lot of these problems and takes the players setup out of the equation.
Aside from that, I can use the darker floor as "guidance", which allows me to counteract (to some extent) some awkward solutions that would not work anyway - allthough that does not mean the game stops you from trying, you are still free to do whatever you want.
Changing Maps and Loading:
Yes, this is something I had on my "to do list" for RTE4, and changed significantly in comparison to previous games.
RTE2 used loading-bars while the game was frozen when the map changed.
RTE3 used teleporters to change maps.
While these solutions worked, they just did not feel "nice", especially the teleporters were something I got complaints about.
In RTE4 you will travel between Areas of the game by train.
I think you can spot one of the monorails "doing its thing" in the trailer, as they are now present on each map and can be accessed by the player to travel to any previously unlocked map.
This means, that you could go from the last map of the game to the first one without having to walk through all the previous maps, like you had to do in RTE2.
They also provide a nice outlook when arriving/leaving a map, and work decorative when the player is not close to a station. (they then just drive around and "do their thing", bringing a bit of motion into the game.)
Graphics:
Graphical improvements were not the focus for RTE4, but that obviously does not mean there have not been any.
While the game still uses the same Walls, Floors, Roofs etc. as RTE3, there have been countless of small improvements in quality and addition of new things.
There are new Trees and plants in the game, new decorations, and more.
Fore example, I created new "Energy Fields" that fit better into the game than the old ones, while also looking better:
RTE4 easily is the best looking ReThink so far, and does not need to shy away from comparisons to other games outside of the series.
The "endless Laser Bug" - 2017-2020:
Yes, it is gone, forever, finally.
This was more an issue for the normal ReThink's, where it was possible to "trap" a laser between two cubes by pointing them directly at each other, and then removing the incoming lasers, but could still be done in any RTE.
I had to rip out and replace the entire logical core of the game to fix this, so even if RTE4 behaves like any other ReThink, the inner workings are completely different.
The game also reacts faster than any other ReThink, it reacts instant, the tiny delay that the previous games had when updating the lasers is also gone.
Features - Old meets new:
RTE4 includes most of the laser-related features from the previous 3 games, often in an advanced and improved fashion.
The game also adds its own features, like the moving level parts, new cubes, new targets.
Some of you probably think this now: "New targets?"
"Target" is just the name (that I use) for the things you aim the lasers at.
All previous ReThinks had only one type of them, but RTE4 has three, of which two can be found in the trailer, the basic one you are used to and the one used to control the location of movable objects.
The third one... you gotta find out for yourself :P (It is nothing ground-breaking, but a useful addition that gives me more freedom when building puzzles without making them unreasonably large.)
Things that did not get changed:
- The Menu
While it is not the fanciest menu in existence, it gets the job done, so I am putting the effort somewhere else.
- Story
Yes, I know, some of you would love to get a Story like Portal 2 has (for example), but I will not touch the Story until I can focus on it with all of my ressources.
The reason for this is, that I want to provide an awesome story, not just some "meh" placeholder, but that needs a lot of time and ressources, which is why I am keeping that on my "wishlist".
- Soundtrack
Yes, I am also aware that the games do use the same Soundtrack for a time that feels like an eternity now, but let me explain why.
I am not a composer, musician etc. and Soundtracks are very expensive. (Thats in the area of thousands of dollars, even the cheaper offers I got.)
While I would love to provide you with an awesome new Soundtrack, in Reality it would also mean that the games could not be sold at the current price anymore - unless they would sell a lot more.
- The overall look
While I created new designs for Walls and other things, I decided to keep the old ones.
Forcing something new if the current works very well would only harm the game in the long run.
It is on my wishlist, and there are plans, but dont expect a complete departure from the current style the games have in the future.
A glimpse into the future:
In this section I want to spill the beans about things I have on my wishlist for the future.
While I am already working towards these things, do not expect anything listed here to "just be there" one day.
- VR ReThink
I recently did play RTE4 in VR (yes, it works, technically) but decided that I do not just want to "slap on" VR.
A good VR game needs to be built specifically for VR, and that is what some day will happen, a VR-specific ReThink that uses all the possibilities that VR provides.
- Editor + Workshop
I am currently working towards this by "cleaning up" the games Settings and Assets, so that I can expose their functionality to the players in the future.
Making an Editor for a game is like making a 2nd game, in terms of what is needed to make it work properly.
- Co-Op
This also is on my wishlist, but will not happen anytime soon.
All the networking stuff, replication etc. will cause me more than one headache, so I need a lot more time for this.
In addition to this, it is also complicated to test (as i recently found out) since this did cause all kinds of trouble when I did some experiments.
- Story
Some day, I want to provide a Story that can rival the largest games in the Genre, but for now I am focusing on the gameplay and the other things.
A story is nice, but no one will play through it if the gameplay cant carry it properly, this is why there wont be any big story change/addition at the moment.
Closing words:
I know that the first games, and especially the original ReThink from 2017 had quite a rough start, so rough that I had to redo the original game twice to at least get rid of the biggest issues it had.
ReThink | Evolved 4 is not perfect either, by no means, but I put a lot of time and effort into this game to make it the best I currently can, given my limited ressources and workforce.
Many of the changes are based on feedback, your feedback, and the game is made for you - the players.
I know that there is still a long way to go, that not everything will always work perfectly, but one day I want a ReThink to be one of the best Puzzle games we have, and that is what I am working towards.
I am thankful for everyone who supported me in the past, some of you even from the first ReThink, even with all the problems it had - these games would not exist without all of you.
Thats all for now, have a nice day.