Here is the first of what should be a regular series of dev blogs for Age of Hell. Today is about the plans for the upcoming demo overhaul.
Incoming demo update
The demo has been up on steam for a bit over a month now and and there's been lots of useful feedback. Thanks to everyone who took the time to play and provide feedback. The demo has actually been out (on itch) for over a year it's been good to get some fresh eyes on the game.
So here's what is happening as a result. We've been working on a massive overhaul of the demo over the last few weeks but it is taking longer than expected (doesn't everything) so the the demo has been temporarily removed from Steam while we get this done. The demo is still be available on itch for people who want to try the current build. All going well we're hoping to get the new build out before the end of the year.
Itch link: https://hellforge-studios.itch.io/the-age-of-hell
Planned changes and additions
- Full tutorial section at the beginning of the demo
- A complete overhaul of the textures with a brand new texture set
- A rework to the existing map to better lead the player in to the new enemies. The pacing will be slowed down so players have more time to get used to the feel of things and learn the mechanics
- Tweaks to the difficulty balance, especially on lower difficulties. Some enemies will get specific nerfs to hp or damage.
- Improvements to performance via reduction the total number of sprites and converting chunks of geometry to models.
And then stuff that might make it into the next demo build but is definitely planned for the future
- Improvements to sound balance
- Rework of the menu. The GZDoom menu while serviceable is very overwhelming. It will be largely replaced by the time the game ships but I'd like to get that in the demo sooner rather than later.
Here's a couple of shots showing the new tutorial section with our brand new textures
Cheers,
BB