After a long hiatus, A Cat's Manor has been in development getting some serious upgrades. The culmination has been it wining the grand prize at London's PGC23 The Very Big Indie Pitch.
A lot has changed since development was paused years ago. Most notable changes was Unity game engine getting a major graphical boost with a 2D render. A Cat's Manor makes full use of the new 2D lighting system. The atmosphere has been greatly enhanced now with each room having local lighting with different hues that reflect off of their surroundings. Characters and objects now feature edge/rim lighting.
Individual objects, such as emergency lights now cast an eerie haze illuminating objects in the darkness. Compare that below in the old version where you had to work with a single global light solution. Where lights were faked. Not light bulbs emit convincing bright glows that selectively hit their surroundings, enhancing the perception of depth.
Lights were not the only upgrade. Characters now are fully fleshed out in 3D. Freeing up the artist to a whole new level of animation freedom. No longer locked to a 2D sprite tween plane, characters now portray full angled movement. Making them more expressive and opening up their move set and interactions to a whole new level.
With 3D enemies now enjoy far more menacing movements. Characters feature IK limbs and weapons. More mobility options as they traverse the game's world to hunt down the player. One of the many benefits of having your characters 3D is the faster production time of new animation assets. Where before movement was limited and frame based cell animation took hours and even more to fix and change, now in 3D alterations can be made on the fly and take minutes.
Thanks to Akeytsu, the amazing rigging and animation tool, characters now can easily display emotions. From funny expressions to the down right deadly. These are in-game animations that really add a lot of life and atmosphere the the gameplay.
New lighting system, and 3D characters now enhance the in-game presentation. The camera now is freed from the confines of a 2D angle and can now explore the scenery with a lot more freedom. Allowing for more slick cutscenes and better action framing basking in colorful hues and glows.
Another comparison shot of the trailer opening between the new and the old. The room is stylistically illuminated by candles, while the frame of the window is lit by an exterior cooler light. Objects are better defined and stand out as the new Unity Light2D system illuminate their edges softly. The characters have better depth and freedom of movement as a result of 3D construction.
The dining room enjoys a soft lights while the pendant lamp glares strongly casting a shadow below the table. Ceiling plants feature better depth as leaf edges are softly illuminated. The new 3D Mother is now free to walk around the room and express better movement. In contrast to the old version where the Mother was confined to a flat plane with very restrictive movement.
This is just the tip of the iceberg! A Cat's Manor has been totally revamped. More gameplay, more bosses, more music, more mechanics, more features. Make sure to check back from more updates as we unroll the improvements and upgrades.