That shotgun does look like a pretty cool addition, and I could see it being useful in some alternate game modes indeed! ^_^

Thanks!

As to the recoil, I think that you could perhaps convey a fair bit of that by animating the gun itself: a sharp jerk backwards, perhaps pulling up a bit, too, then settling back into its "ready" position.

Agreed. I checked some more refs since posting this and having the gun recoil back (vs up, as I've done--half-commitally) is quite common, but I'd def want to couple that with some camera anim for max impact.

As to its use in the main game, I think that it could fit well there: For one thing, as you say, ammunition could be limited. And for another, well, a shotgun is an awfully noisy weapon to fire when undue sounds could lead to drawing unwelcome attention. Between the two I could see some interesting decisions coming up regarding whether or not to use the gun in a given situation...

Yeah I'm thinking it would draw enemies from an even wider radius than anything else, so you'd have to be wary of firing with low ammo.

[Please include a portfolio]

Independent game developer/freelancer looking for development assistance with several on-going projects. Essentially I'm looking for someone with a generalist development skillset with whom I can collaborate across both my solo and client projects. (By generalist I mean somebody who has had decent exposure most of Unity's subsystems, including 2D and 3D.)

Ideally I'm looking for somebody who's in a similar situation as I am: currently working a day job, making games/art on the side, and looking to make the switch to full-time. This would be ideal for me as it makes money less of a motivating factor. That said, I am willing to pay as much as I possibly can to find (and retain) the right person. (in general I strive to pay others before myself, and to find models that see everyone being compensated as equally and fairly as possible.)

I currently have five games on the market across PC, Mac, Switch and Android. You can read more about me and my games on the freshly launched Cosmocat website.

Drop me a line via PM or email [email protected] if you're interested. Please include a portfolio, and do feel free to reply here with any questions.

Bump! I'm once again looking for somebody.

I prototyped a basic shotgun last night! It's actually the first time I've (fully) implemented a gun in 3D, and I had a blast doing it, heh. Because I had already implemented ragdolls, bleeding, and blood decals, the "feel" stuff came together fast. The main effort was integrating the model (it's from an asset pack), the muzzle flash, the anim and the (currently very crude) hitscan logic. It def needs some more "oomph" on the recoil--I'll probably need to animate the camera if I do end up keeping this--but I think it's a great start for just a few hours of effort.



As I've mentioned before, I don't really want guns in the main game flow, but I'd love to add this as a mini-game of sorts. I could picture a camping area with a sleeping bag that you can interact with to rest, and you'd basically dream up a scenario where you can go full bore. That said, because it feels so damn good already (way easier to get good "feel" with gunplay than melee, IMO), I would consider adding it to the main game as a late-sage, hard to find item, with very limited ammo. I welcome thoughts on this.

Separately, I also looked into what it would take to get IK for the player hands (currently, they're posed and animated very simplistically). It loos like Unity doesn't support this with it's built-in IK, as that's only for humanoid avatars, so I'd either need to look at something like Final IK, or Unity's Animation Jobs system, which has a "TwoBoneIK". Not something I plan on pursuing further at this time, but maybe revisiting in a few months as I think it could add a lot.

For droid, Id use the tilt for movement on mobile

The original version had touch controls for thrust left/right. It's a very "twitchy" game, so I feel like tilt might be a bit too unforgiving, but could be worth at least trying yeah.

Thank you for sharing so much detail about your development process, it's been very useful for a newb like me to learn from. Thanks also for the survey layout; in 18 months when I'm nearer completion, I'll be looking at that.

You're quite welcome, glad you found it helpful!

Are secondary game modes simple to code in your game? Is it high reward for low effort?

Probably more like medium effort/medium reward. There is a lot of potential for re-use (most of the procedural generation logic, for example), but any new content and mechanics would basically need to be done from scratch.

I think it could be a great addition, though. Where the entire game is currently set in the same environment, dream sequences would allow me to explore completely different environments without breaking continuity.

It would also give me an excuse to add some more action-heavy segments (perhaps optional). I'm pretty set on not having guns in the main game--not because I object, but just because "it's been done"--so by positioning it as a dream, I could pretty much get away with anything.

Good luck with the remainder of your Beta! 

Thanks, good luck with your game!

You really don't have to--mine is only one more voice, after all! I won't say "no" if you do want to do so, but please don't feel any pressure for it. ^_^

I want to do so! (and have done so!)

So the beta is underway, and so far the feedback is promising. One player is extremely engaged and sharing lots of feedback and suggestions, which is great!

While I wait for the results (if anyone is curious: here's the standard survey I'm sending out along with it), I'm starting to prep a roadmap for early access. To that end, here's the current view (which I'll be maintaining in the Steam discussion board):

• Achievements (of course!)
• More variation in level layouts and environments (including: larger/wide open spaces, more variety in room shapes, etc.)
• Additional enemy types (in particular: more "creature"-esque enemies, like tentacles, large insects, etc.)
• More environmental hazards, including more prominent underwater areas
• More beacon types, and in general, more of a focus on the beacon launcher (less on combat)
• A boss level of sorts, along with a proper ending (I'm actually contemplating multiple endings)
• More reasons to explore, backtrack (more distinct secret areas, locked doors, etc.).
• More significance for luck, and greater use of stats in general (including more stats-affecting items)

And a slightly more speculative/lower probability idea: secondary game modes, like dream sequences or mini-games (if I were to include guns, they would be in this mode)

Looks like a good mobile app game

Thanks! It actually started off as a small mobile game, though we're targeting PC/Steam for this expanded version (and desperately hoping to lose the "mobile game" look somewhere along the way, heh). That said, the controls are still simple enough that it could easily be ported back to mobile at some point down the road.

this is looking great!

Thanks walaber!

K, new build time! Build 12 goodness:

• Add death markers
• Various level and enemy tweaks
• Various visual improvements
• Add intro cut scene (placeholder)
• Add additional prototype levels to Venom including new enemy type (worm) and new hazard type (noxious cloud)
• Improve star map screen

That's live on Itch now and we'll be doing another round of beta testing shortly for anyone that's interested. Feel free to drop a comment here or in the Discord.

Plus a few stills:

Aaand here's the corresponding video for that:





Notes to self:

• Fix the bug that annoyingly causes the player to "land" on start/unpause
• Fix the blood decal at the bottom of the mineshaft (increase projection angle)
• Update the plank's discovery log image

[Starting room]

Just ahead of the video that I'm hoping to capture over the weekend, here's the layout of the tutorial scene that I've been working on for the past week or so (and the only handbuilt level in the game as of now).



Admittedly it's a fairly simple layout, but there's actually quite a bit going on, so I'll try to break it down.

Starting room
The player spawns here. For added suspense, it's pitch black (flashlight is off) and the stress level is maxed (heart beating, visual FX).

I wait about a second and then show the flashlight controls. To set the mood and tie back to the story, there's a seemingly endless mineshaft with a couple splatters of blood at the bottom. I debated having light at the very top, but it ended up feeling too close.

The door to the next area area boarded up, so the player has to scavenge for a plank (2x4) to smash. (In this instance, the controls are displayed via the discovery log, which the player is prompted to open after finding the plank)

There's also a journal entry on one of the walls. Just something a bit silly to introduce the concept of finding journals and letters.

Toxic hazard
This particular hazard (I call it "toxic falls") likely won't actually appear again until towards the end of the game, but it seemed like a really good way to introduce toxic damage since it's so overt (and looks/sounds cool--you'll see/hear). I took the opportunity to tidy it up into a proper prefab, as well as prepare some improved toxic decals. I use the hazard to introduce running and jumping via an on-screen prompt.

MonPro, rope
As you may recall, the MonPro is used for navigation (minimap). I've made a pickup version of it and require that the player collect it before exiting the level (see below). Again I prompt the player to open the discovery log for details, including controls.

Exit room
The exit room has the "exit fan" prefab which requires resetting a terminal to stop a fan in the ceiling before ascending with the rope. To force the player to collect the MonPro, it's now a required item to interact with the terminal. (This will only really apply to the first level, of course)

TBD
I'll likely have the beacon launcher in here, but this is really the last piece of the puzzle (see outstanding questions below).

Outstanding questions
Up until now all levels were based on the same scene file. Likewise, dying/restarting would just reload this same scene. As a result, the main assets were never unloaded, and there was almost no load time after the initial hit.

Because this is a new scene, it adds additional loading time between tutorial and main game levels, and vice versa. This raises a couple questions:

• Should I start the player in the tutorial every time, or only the first?
• If I don't, what about any transient items they find, like the plank? If I skip it for subsequent runs, they could be at a slight disadvantage. If I don't, they'll incur additional load times (unless I look at doing some async loading stuff, but that's a bit more heavy lifting than I had planned to do for this).

One thing is for sure: if I do force the player through the tutorial every time, the key items will persist; they'll just need to collect the rope and exit. The upside of doing this is that I can then perhaps have shortcuts or other special buffs that they can unlock and access in this initial area (a la Spelunky).

Regarding the beacon launcher: I still need to figure out a way for this to serve some purpose in the tutorial level, otherwise there's no real context. Its primary use is to mark the map, detect enemies, etc., but none of that applies to this first level. I'll have to give this some more thought.

And a final general thought: I'm throwing quite a bit at the player in a short amount of time. This is probably fine for the beta and initial early access, but in the final version I'm thinking I may make some items discoverable through subsequent playthroughs, like say the beacon launcher and the various beacon types (via "blueprints").

Thoughts/feedback welcome!

It's a few things--although I've been holding to it long enough that I may be forgetting some of my reasons, and others may have come in since I first made the decision:

For one thing, I don't like being tied into a client. I have little interest in the social aspects of one, so for me such a thing is pretty much just an imposition.

Another point is that I'm strongly anti-DRM, and while Steam doesn't enforce DRM on all games, it does offer its own, so I'm inclined to eschew Steam for that reason, too.

Speaking of DRM and the client, I don't like having to hope that if the service goes down or is closed someday, I'll still be able to play my games. I want to download an offline installer, be able to back it up, and install from that if I so desire. (Barring potential compatibility issues with later hardware and/or OSes, of course.)

And finally, I think that I do want to--at least for my part--undermine the near-monopoly a bit by giving my business to other stores.

Thus I stick to other portals: GOG primarily, itch somewhat, and Humble on rare occasions.

That's fair. I'm kind of on the fence about DRM... I do tend to include it in my Steam builds just by default, but I've also put them all on Itch with DRM disabled. I would like to think that if Steam (or anyone with this kind of DRMonolopy) did something ridiculously stupid, like shutting down without deactivating DRM, the devs would step up. I know I would!

I will say that it's convenient having most of my games in one place, with a consistent way to launch them, initiate online matches with friends, etc. It's also been the place I've seen the most sales of my own games. Better the devil you know, maybe?

In any case, if you are opposed to using the Steam client or DRM build, say no more! You have been the biggest supporter of this project, I will happily find another way to get you a build!

I've found "project from view" to be quite handy for materials like wood; with a little adjustment afterwards, and the caveat that it likely won't work for all cases, it can produce some pretty decent effects, I think.

Yeah there's a touch of stretching on some of the angled portions, but I'm trying to not let that kind of stuff bother me because OCD and UV mapping don't seem to mix well

Something I worked on over the weekend: a proper model of the "quad support" structure that I use in many of the rooms, and am using as the foundation for the mineshaft-like structure that will appear in the intro/tutorial room.





You can also see (in the room on the left) some of the WIP texturing I've been doing--experimenting with much larger room textures in an effort to minimize visible tiling.

Well, first pass at unwrapping and texturing. A bit bland/generic so far but the layout is solid and free of stretching.



This was also the first time I successfully used "project from view" to unwrap a model. It actually worked out quite well! The trick was using orthographic mode to keep the scale consistent.

There are some minor artifacts down the middle from the mirror modifier I'm using but easy enough to correct.

Save that I don't maintain a Steam account.

I gotta ask... what's the rationale? Are you making some kind of a stand, or is it merely that you just don't use it?

I don't love that they're able to maintain their monopoly, but it is arguably a decent platform, and I say that both as a gamer and a developer/publisher.

It still needs to be unwrapped and textured, but the beacon launcher is finally getting a proper model!



This is mostly being done in support of adding a proper tutorial intro/level, which I spent some time on over the weekend and will share some video of soon. Basically, the idea is to introduce the most essential items and mechanics, though I still hope to have some be discovered through playing rather than overt hand-holding.

Well, I think it's finally time for another closed beta! There were a million more things I had hoped to do before running another beta, but that's just the way it goes, and locking it in will hopefully light a little fire under my ass and really help me prioritized what's most important.

To that end, I'll be kicking off the beta in the next few weeks. As with all my betas, you get to keep your Steam key in exchange for filling out a post-play survey. Here's the sign-up form if you're interested.

So Felix and are in that proverbial "last 20%" home stretch... We've been trying to nail down what we think is going to be considered "done" as it pertains to a launch version/MVP. Here's what we've come up with (relative to where we are today):

• 32 levels (4 worlds x 8 levels each)--we're currently at around 30, though some need some rework
• some kind of an intro story/cut scene, even if just images and text
• an ending and/or credits
• a boss/final challenge level
• achievements

I did a super quick prototype of a basic cutscene system--basically just an array of scriptable objects, each compromised of an image and text, and some tweening:



For the boss/challenge, we were thinking of having a level with a few different paths, each of which leads to a switch. The goal would be to activate each switch and destroy the planet. (actual story TBD, heh). To that end, I've implemented basic pressure activated switches:



Last but not least, some long overdue updates to the starmap, namely, showing information about the levels (mostly importantly, coin count):



<shameless>And an obligatory reminder to wish list us on Steam and join the Discord if you'd like to check it out--we'll be running another closed alpha soon.</shameless>

[No sound library usage]

> Experienced with custom-made Sound Effects and/or Foley recording (Including: glass shattering, light hums, gunshots, demon/ghost voices etc). No sound library usage

This is a bizarre requirement. What is your rationale?

Foley is just one aspect of sound design. I don't know a single sound designer who doesn't use a combination of sound libraries, Foley, field recording, synthesis, etc. in their process. It all depends on budget, the significance and uniqueness of the particular sound effect, etc.

Generally one would invest more in the "hero" sound effects (trailer, key items and moments in the game, etc.). To require original source material for every single sound effect is very likely going to be cost prohibitive. Nevertheless, I wish you luck in your search.

(Source: I'm a sound designer...)