Hello everyone!
In order to have a closer contact with the audience - it was decided to give news about the game's development and content right here in the Steam community, so that you won't miss anything. Today, as the first post of this kind, I will tell you what is in the game at the moment, what content has been added and/or changed over the summer period, as well as share the nearest plans for the next season.
Also, I think it's a good idea to share the exact number of whishlists for the game in each such post. At the moment, the game is on the wishlist of 5546 people!
What content is currently available in the closed version of the game?
- Main Menu
- Game Settings
- Sandbox level for testing all mechanics.
- 1 melee weapon (katana)
- 2 light class weapons (pistol and revolver)
- 1 medium weapon (shotgun)
- 1 almost functional enemy NPC (in development)
- Speedrun mode
- Map Editor (temporarily disabled at the moment)
- Test dummies
- Targets for shooting practice
- More than a dozen interactive objects (exploding barrels, breaking glass, moving platforms, jump panels, interactive doors, equipment store, and so on)
The most important things that were added over the summer period
- Added “last chance”, when a player takes critical damage - he has 1 xp remaining
- Revolver's alternate shot now fires the entire moon clip.
- Added bullet holes for every weapon (except melee).
- Added moving platforms
- Added movement option for targets
- Changed interface design
- Updated start video
- Added exploding barrel
- Added doors and pressure plates to them
- Added breakable glass that slows down time when broken
- Completely redesigned the loading and launch screens of the game
- Added 50 hints when loading between levels
- Added speedometer
- Zooming now has sounds, effects, and can change from 2x to 8x
- Added a leg kick to the V key. The foot does 50 damage, and also if the player is in the air - pushes them back. Currently disabled and will be used later when new melee weapons are added
- Added an enemy unit called WMPv1. At the time of publication his AI is still in development and will be released within a month, so far only his unconscious model is available in the game.
- The game has been ported from Unreal Engine 5.3.2 to Unreal Engine 5.4.2.
- Fixed dozens of bugs and errors
Predictions for the fall season
Lower productivity in the fall
The fall is expected to be less productive. Development has been done for the last year with an extremely small budget (about $100/month on average). I made a very large bet on this project, and have not been officially employed for a year now. During this season, development has progressed quite a bit compared to the same summer in 2023. However, I physically can't continue like this, I need money for my basic human existence, and I'm not even talking about the fact that I also need money to buy hardware and software for game development. That's why I'm moving game development back to a hobby format in the fall, and will be doing it less constantly. I will note that this is exactly a reduction in activity, but not a complete stop. The development will still continue, but it will be less active. And so it will be until I will not have from the game a permanent monthly income of at least 300-400$ per month (which is the average actual salary in my country).
Content to be added soon
- Enemy AI
- At least 1 heavy class weapon
- At least 1 melee weapon
- At least 1 medium weapon
- Tidying up the sandbox test location
- Restore the map editor and add all missing objects to it.
- Music system
- 1-2 more enemy NPCs besides WMPv1
The above list is only the most important content to add. Now the development is going with the expectation of polishing to open the game to free public testing in Steam, so that everyone could try the game for free, share their impressions and contribute to the development of the game.
My requirements for the quality and content of the game for the launch of free public testing in Steam
- At least 3 enemy NPCs
- Fully functioning map editor
- At least 2 weapons per class
- At least 5 speedrun levels
- Enriched sandbox level
- Music system
When all of the above list is implemented - open testing will be a regular event held once a season to test new content, and will continue to be so until the game starts selling in Early Access format.
Conclusions
- The summer season was quite fruitful on the quantity and quality of added content in the game.
- The fall season is expected to see a decrease in development activity due to lack of development money.
- Specific goals and objectives have been set, which we should strive to fulfill.
- The game is on the wishlist of 5546 people.
Thank you all so much for your support of the development, for your attention, it's definitely important for morale! See you in November <3
If you want to financially support a project, you can donate here: https://ko-fi.com/zendev
You can add this render as wallpaper for Wallpaper Engine here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3321130366
