Hello all, we are here to assist. And in this instance, what we can do for you is get you data.
The chatter continues between these two "developers" .. thankfully their encryption methods remain the same in this new month, this new year. Below is what we've found for you to observe, you faithful few.
We also acquired some moving pictures - well and some static ones - for you and you alone. Please cast your perception upon them with appropriate levels of attention.
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{ Status }
Our overall goal currently remains getting the game ready to release into early access.
The two areas that will be available initially upon release are both now fully playable and nearly complete. They both still require some polish, minor level tweaks and dialog writing. There is also a short list of systems left to complete (such as water: how the player drowns, how it damages vehicles, how it gets the tires/vehicles/driver wet). The systems affect all areas of the game so getting those done feels high impact.
Upon completion of the remaining few systems, we'll be partially focused on what's left of level content, like dialog and minor level design tweaks. Those will be worked on while we shift focus to a pass on the dynamic ground system, user interface and title/loading screens.
It feels like there is a fair bit left to do but looking back there is an immense amount done. As challenges and problems arise, we must remain grateful for being able to fix them. We smile to each cloud in the sky. Pushing forward with energy and purpose must continue!
{ Steps Of Stone }
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While making this game, I found that driving over hard surfaces or built structures was just as fun as driving over natural obstacles like mud, sand and vegetation. The solid and clear challenges of hard-surface offroading is a very different experience than the fuzzy, messy experience of trying to make your way through a muddy river.
So there's a balance throughout the game of different types of surfaces and obstacles from the "softer" ground and bushes to "hard" ones like concrete, stone or metal. Part of why the game is based in a sci-fi setting is so we can throw the player into challenges ranging from quiet woods full of muddy streams to driving on space stations with lasers and robots.
The core physics and damage lean towards realism but the setting and challenges you're faced with are able to be any combination of realistic and imaginative.
{ Construction Zones }
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Once you've acquired the Scout Drone, you're able to designate build zones. As you progress through the game, you find supplies which are added to your total supply pool. Using these supplies, you can build an increasing number of structures.
This is one of the core paths of the gameplay:
- Scout and figure out what your objectives are in an area
- Build a camp and find a food supply
- Decide where you're going to want to build structures to help you complete the objectives you need to
- Establish paths and trails to these build sites
- Bring the needed supplies to your constructions
- Complete objectives so you can unlock additional areas
You'll decide which supplies and how many to take on each trip to your construction site. This becomes a balance between number of trips vs supplies carried per trip. Over time, having various vehicles and trailers will add to these decisions. A big truck might allow you to carry a lot of heavy supplies but it'll dig deeper ruts and cause ground to become muddier and torn up more quickly. Smaller vehicles may be easier on your trails but will take additional trips, which means more time and more risk of a mistake.
A construction's progress disappears if you retry - only saving fully once you've finished the structure. So vehicle damage accumulating as you make trips or daylight fading will threaten your task - however if you can make it to a telepad, you can "print" a new vehicle without retrying or rest at camp to advance time to the next morning.
The main idea behind the building system is to allow players to essentially plan their own mini missions by getting to decide where to carve paths and which structures to build.
{ Sling Shot Bug }
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We encountered a hard-to-find bug that eventually had a relatively entertainingly simple fix. It became known as the "sling shot bug".
Initially it manifested seemingly randomly when you'd exit the vehicle, the driver would get shot off into the sky or into the ground. Maybe 2% of the time. This is how it got its name.
Then, when we built the second area, we discovered that it only happens when a change of elevation is involved. The second area has a very steep hill you can descend. We determined it could be replicated when you walk on foot -> enter a vehicle -> drive up or down a hill so that your elevation changes drastically -> exit the vehicle -> get sling shotted into the sky.
So the next question was: Why?
After much searching, it turns out it was because the inverse kinematics system on the driver, the system that makes the legs & feet fit to the ground accurately while you're on foot, was dampening the hips movement. This is important to make the movement of the player more stable feeling as you run over bumpy ground or up/down steps.
The problem is introduced when you get on a vehicle at the top of the hill: the hip's vertical position was at the top of that hill. You'd drive down the hill and the hip position wouldn't change (because you were driving, not walking). Upon exiting the vehicle, the system would reactivate to match the driver's feet to the ground but the driver hip position would still be at the top of that hill. So it would launch them far into the sky to reach where that hip position was.
We simply reset that tracked hip position when you exit a vehicle. In the end, a simple fix but it was a maze to find.
{ Talking To People }
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Your character will meet and talk with many people during the course of your offroading adventures. This gives us two key tools to make the experience more fun.
It let's us shade everything you do with conceptually interesting ideas - driving up a hill is way more rewarding and fun when you're driving up that hill to save an old lady's lost dog. The other reason is to be able to inject interesting ideas into the world - characters that talk about things a player may not have thought about otherwise.
Additionally, mechanically characters can be goals or rewards. Talking to characters may unlock new things, give you new places to go, modify the area in some way or provide direct hints to things nearby.
{ Clouds In The Sky }
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Initially, generally clear skies with some pleasant clouds will act as a backdrop. After entering into early access, we will begin to add alternate weather patterns - my hope here is to give strong ambient feelings but also mechanical gameplay ramifications for those, like rain making everything slippery. But for now, it's just pretty clouds across the sky. :)
In an abstract sense, clouds over an open blue sky are often considered bad. Something of a negative stain on a beautiful thing. During development (of games, software - but really of anything) you encounter many challenges of different forms. The 'perfect' idea, the vision, is often viewed as something behind those challenges. I've found this not to be true - it seems that the challenges you face shape the final result in beneficial ways. The unexpected problems act just as strongly on the final result as the initial vision does.
Making a beautiful sky isn't about having it be empty of clouds, merely a pure gradient of blues. Rather, it's about how much you enjoy the shapes, colors and contrasts that come from the clouds scattered across it.
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We hope this data was beneficial to you. We will continue to apply our minds to seek out new data and communications to report to you. . .
Until another time that is not now.
