Human life is just raw material, bloodshed is standard procedure, and YOU WILL BE REPRINTED a lot. Welcome to DIOXIDE. It's Byte Barrel here, and this is our very first DevLog!
If you caught the Future Games Show during Gamescom, you might have spotted our brand-new gameplay trailer for DIOXIDE! Titled Corporate Mass, this reveal takes you straight into an atmospheric church for a firsthand look at the dystopian sermon broadcast by the ruthless Corporation ruling Metropolis.
If you haven't seen it yet, take a quick pause to check out the video below before we dive into the details!
In today’s DevLog, we want to share a behind-the-scenes look at how the game has evolved since the DIOXIDE announcement. First off, let’s take a look at the main event of the trailer: the church. The moment you walk inside, the brutal weight of corporate control hits immediately. Any sense of old-world sanctuary is stripped away. What remains is an oppressive hall where corporate values are forced upon citizens like a mantra. With every step you take, the glowing holographic posters follow you through the halls, preaching the sacred Corporate values, a constant reminder that human life here is nothing more than fuel for the machine.
As you walk down the main nave, you can't miss the glowing neon sign hovering beside a mysterious portrait. We won't spoil anything just yet, but let's just say this is a very important persona in the corporate hierarchy.
The whole creative process behind building this space was thrillingly intense. It started with us just sitting around, throwing wild ideas back and forth for the trailer: "We need massive neon that would catch everyone's attention! Or wait, what if oil is literally dripping down from the big guy's portrait?" That energy carried over into the final design, crafting an environment that constantly reminds citizens of their place in the machine... and most importantly, that The Corporation Provides!
But first, we had to create the layout. Seeing the church transition from rough greybox geometry to a fully realized, propaganda-filled place of worship was a huge leap forward in shaping the game's identity. While the original blockout focused purely on scale and sightlines, the final pass brought our full vision to life. We truly can't wait for you to step foot inside and experience this environment for yourself!
Layout vs. Final
New locations aside, we’ve also given our previously shown areas a serious makeover. Instead of just listing off lighting tweaks and detail passes, we’ll let the visuals speak for themselves:
A ruined city without ruins? Not anymore!
The citizens are still working to survive another day, but at least their suffering comes with a better view.
As you can see, the visual style and atmosphere in DIOXIDE are still shaping up. Finding the exact balance for a city in ruin requires continuous adjustments. It took round after round of tuning these environments, but seeing Metropolis finally feel as heavy and oppressive as we always pictured makes every iteration worth it.
Great environments need punchy combat to match. To give firearms the weight they deserve, we’ve added bullet decals for DIOXIDE. Every round you fire leaves a lasting mark on Metropolis, tailored specifically for our comic-book style. Instead of slapping flat 2D textures onto walls, these decals combine bold, ink-heavy outlines with dynamic depth mapping. This creates a convincing illusion of 3D depth that shifts seamlessly with your camera view, blending stylized art with real-time lighting. The system is still evolving, but we’d love to hear what you think of it so far!
That’s a wrap for today’s DevLog, but more is coming soon! Secure your Core-ID and wishlist DIOXIDE if you haven’t done it yet! The Corporation is always listening... but so are we! Your voice is extremely important to us, so drop a comment below and join the official DIOXIDE Discord server to let us know what you think about the recent changes.
Until next time!
–The Byte Barrel Team