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[lonewolf]

The newest alpha build 0.4.8 is ready for download! Log in to your Play-Em account and download the latest version!

The following changes were made:

• Revamped whole level to include more straight away sections, you will need to start a new game old saves will not work with this build!

• Reduced initial loading time by splitting the level into chunks.  The game loads faster from a save or a new game but you will see the loading screen during play to load new areas.

• Removed many of the weapons for acquisition in later levels.

• Created a cross hatching shader to make inked lines on all 3D objects to better integrate the comic book look.

• More AI pathfinding bugs fixed.

• Fixed some textures on objects throughout the level, added more objects to the level to give it a better atmosphere.

• Redid the sky texture to match the art style of the game better.

• Fixed the lighting to appropriately shade areas better and work with the new cross hatch shader.

• Added fog for background.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable summer! I just got back from PAX and it was incredible! I definitely will consider bringing Lone Wolf to the Indie Mega Booth in the future, it seems like it would fit right in there!

Sorry for the huge delay in this build, but I really, really wanted to polish things up and make it as presentable as possible before I released it. Basically this is a rehaul of the level, straightening out a lot of the areas and ramping the level so it makes it easier to play. I also started really polishing up the level's art so it looks more like it will in the final product, and as you will immediately notice, I added a cross hatching shader that inks the environment objects to match my art style so things will start blending together now to look more like a comic book. I've spent the past couple of months doing as much as I can to fix a lot of the issues with the environment and AI control, but there are still some I really want to work on, like a priority cue for enemies so they will not all pounce on you at once, and finally fix all the textures for the particle effects to match my art style. There is still no night/day yet, but that will most likely be implemented soon as I have the level in it's final state and all the static objects are in place.



There may be some performance issues with this build as I have added more objects and trying to optimize other things like loading areas in game, so there will probably be framerate issues as you play in certain areas. Also the build is about 100MB bigger in size so you will have to wait a bit longer to download this version because of the size increase. It takes up around 650MB on disk now currently and I imagine it will increase as I add more levels to the game in the future. Please give feedback where and when you can, I really want to complete as much of this level in a polished state as soon as possible, so I can start on a few more fun quests through the level, and alter the tutorial to be a lot simpler and more interactive. Thanks again for all the support and your patience, pre-order or donate at http://www.lonewolfgame.com or at http://www.play-em.com, I hope you enjoy the new state of the game!

If you want to support the game please purchase or donate at:

http://www.lonewolf.ws/store.php

http://www.lonewolfgame.com

http://www.play-em.com

Also check out the game on these sites:

http://www.facebook.com/LoneWolfGame

Google+ LoneWolfGame

http://www.twitter.com/lonewolfgame

http://www.lonewolf.ws/rss

Youtube LoneWolfGame

Steam Greenlight

[lonewolf]

Halloween is right around the corner and here is your Werewolf fix!!!  From now until Halloween at midnight, Lone Wolf: Episode 1 will be on sale for $6.66!

The newest alpha build 0.5.0 is ready for download! Log in to your Play-Em account and download the latest version!

The following changes were made:

• Added destructible objects!  Exploding barrels, crates with items, and other objects to smash up in the environment.

• Day/Night cycles, near time 7AM/PM should change night to day / day to night.

• Fixed loading to be much, much faster!  Overall, everything should have been sped up considerably, load times should not be an issue now.

• Fixed rare annoying bug that would have the objects being picked up not disappear and remain at character's feet.

• Start a new game, save games will not work right with this build since spawning NPC's and items has changed.

• Fixed many of the camera issues, added camera shake to heavy hits.

• Fixed loading bug from savegames where multiple enemies would spawn in various areas.

• Mash buttons to get up off the ground quicker and gain some extra Ki.

• Minor fixes to textures, materials, and collision throughout the environment.

• Minor bug fixes to the Menu, namely adjusting audio volumes.

• Minor fixes to animations to load properly, should fix some of the effects animations not loading and playing properly.

• Added a prompt for when a weapon that needs ammo and cannot be equipped.

• Found a rare Unity bug that crashes Windows 64 bit standalones, if you are getting a crash on start with the 64 bit build, use the 32 bit one instead.  This issue is still remaining until Unity fixes it since it is related to the physics used by the game engine.

This is a major build, I have spent a lot of time fixing many of the outstanding issues that have been plaguing the game for a while and am happy to say that this is getting ever closer to a polished state!  I have added day and night, as I have been mentioning for a while now, it works perfectly and the lighting and cross hatching of the environment changes along with the time changes.  I also decided to add destructible objects, now there are crates, barrels, concrete barricades, and exploding oil drums to smash up and find dropped items from.  Destructible objects that have been destroyed should be saved in the save data, so if you load a save game and see any extra destructibles, please let me know.  

This build also has some camera improvements as well as a camera shake now for when you or your enemies make heavy hits.  I've also added the ability to get up off the ground after being knocked down quicker by button mashing.  This will also result in gaining a bit of Ki as you do this, if you are very quick it can give you enough for that special move to get out of a dangerous situation!  You'll have to start a new game since the old saves will not load spawns properly, you'll most likely see duplicates of NPCs and items if you do load from a save since I have changed the way the data is saved and loaded.  Over all the whole game should have better speed, I spent a lot of time optimizing functions and removing unnecessary code and loading areas is the most notable, it should be taking a few seconds to load new areas now instead of a minute or two.

I have found a rare Unity bug that occurs on my system, as well as several others, where the game will crash on load almost immediately if you are using Windows 64 bit builds.  If this is happening to you please email me the items in the crash folder, most importantly the output_log.txt file and the crash.dmp file.  You can find this under the folder you installed the game to in a folder that has the date included as the folder name.  As always, feedback is always welcome and appreciated, I really want to try to squash any remaining gameplay bugs that pop up and I will be spending a lot of time revamping the questing systems and fixing up the tutorial and GUI next.  Lone Wolf: Episode 1 is available to pre-order at a special price for Halloween this week: $6.66!  Pre-order or donate today at http://www.lonewolfgame.com or at http://www.play-em.com, to play the latest alpha build!  Hope you enjoy this version and have a fun and safe Halloween!

If you want to support the game please purchase or donate at:

http://www.lonewolf.ws/store.php

http://www.lonewolfgame.com

http://www.play-em.com

Also check out the game on these sites:

New Grounds

http://www.facebook.com/LoneWolfGame

Google+ LoneWolfGame

http://www.twitter.com/lonewolfgame

http://www.lonewolf.ws/rss

Youtube LoneWolfGame

Steam Greenlight

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[lonewolf]

Vote for the game on IndieDB and Steam Greenlight!

The newest alpha build 0.5.1 is ready for download! Log in to your Play-Em account at http://www.play-em.com/login and download the latest version!

The following changes were made:

• Added a new sidequest involving Bud to assassinate Biff. Start a new game to start the side quest.

• Fixed the way quests and dialogue are handled, should run smoother now.

• Fixed some bugs and dialogue related to the tutorial text.

• Fixed some input bugs related to the inventory and opening and closing.

• Added some triggers to spawn more enemies when backtracking.

It's been a while but I have been hard at work on some new content added to the level!  Finished up a sidequest involving another NPC named Bud, you can find him in the South West part of the level.  There are multiple branches of dialogue in his quest, so try to play it as you like and see what happens!  I've also added some more enemies for when you backtrack to meet up with Bud again so it doesn't leave the level void of some fun character building combat to occur.  I have reworked the questing and dialogue system quite a bit, so it should be easier for me to add quests and special level related events so I'll be adding some more to this level soon. 

On another note, I'm happy to announce that I have also been at work on getting some new characters ready to animate and I have some help in this regard.  I've been working with Mike Atniel, a really great guy and former animator of The Simpsons TV show, and we are getting some new characters rigged and ready to animate with an animation software that I've been really impressed with, called Stickman.  Basically it allows you to set up cut out animation with deforming image control points, this allows for some really smooth transitions and making the animations look a lot less like cut out animation.  We'll also be editing the images by hand to spruce them up a bit more and give them a more dynamic feel.  I might share some of this development in a future video to show how we animate with it, as it is pretty impressive how easy it is to set up a rig and get it animated right away.  We'll be working on new characters and brushing up the current characters using these techniques.

I'll be working on cutscenes next, fixing up the current ones, adding some more cutscenes, and fixing up some more of the art and bugs that pop up.  Hopefully we'll have some neat new characters to show you soon!  Pre-order or donate today at http://www.lonewolfgame.com or at http://www.play-em.com, to try out the new quest! Have fun with it!

If you want to support the game please purchase or donate at:

http://www.lonewolf.ws/store.php

http://www.lonewolfgame.com

http://www.play-em.com

Also check out the game on these sites:

New Grounds

http://www.facebook.com/LoneWolfGame

Google+ LoneWolfGame

http://www.twitter.com/lonewolfgame

http://www.lonewolf.ws/rss

Youtube LoneWolfGame

Steam Greenlight

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[lonewolf]

Vote for the game on Steam Greenlight!

The newest alpha build 0.5.4 is ready for download! Log in to your Play-Em account at http://www.play-em.com/login and download the latest version!

The following changes were made:
• Added a new cutscenes to set up the story along with new music track.

• Fixed the some quest bugs.

• Fixed some more bugs with dialogue.

• Dialogue and images polished up for the intro.

• New cutscene that has interactivity.

It's been a long time since the last update, but I've been hard at work cleaning up the current Intro cutscene as well as creating all new art for the new cutscenes.  I even included a new cutscene that is interactive, so the current level is complete right now.  I want to give a big shout out to some of the people that made this possible, David Ghilardi, one of my best friends and a great actor as well as comic book super buff helped me out with the dialogue rewrites, this made everything flow a lot better with my artwork.  I also want to thank Chris and Dimitrios Papakostas for helping me get in some awesome new music into the game that really makes this new cutscene a thrill to watch.  I also want to thank the people that are helping me set up for the Dogeparty West that I will be demoing Lone Wolf in public for the first time, it is at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood and I'll be doing some giveaways to those that try out and give me feedback on the game!  Hope to see some of you there!

There is unfortunately nothing new on the animation front, the new animator I had been collaborating with has been busy at school, and we found some quirks with Stickman that make it impossible to continue using the program.  So I've been trying out a lot of new 2D animation programs, and none of them have seemed to fill the gaps that I need in my workflow to make things easier.  Then I discovered a free open source project for Unity called Unity Sprites and Bones.  It introduces a skeletal animations system with Unity that is pretty easy to set up and has deformation as well.  I have decided to add more to this project and help with this development to be my go to tool for the new animations.  It still needs freeform deformation and some tools to help create collision boxes for 2D, but I think it may be possible to add these in the future.  In the interim, I have added an exporter to output animations to PNG files, so I can create sprite animations out of the 2D skeletal animations I create in Unity.  I also am helping out with a PSD importer that we already have working to import PSD layers into Unity and create atlases and sprites from them.

So next on my agenda, is getting Unity Sprites and Bones into my workflow and polishing up and creating all new animations for the game.  After that I'll be working on restructuring the GUI and polishing up all the assets for it.  Praying that the time between this update and the next will be a lot shorter!   Pre-order or donate today at http://www.lonewolfgame.com or at http://www.play-em.com, to see and play the new cutscenes!  Thanks again for all the support!

If you want to support the game please purchase or donate at:

http://www.lonewolf.ws/store.php

http://www.lonewolfgame.com

http://www.play-em.com

Also check out the game on these sites:

New Grounds

http://www.facebook.com/LoneWolfGame

Google+ LoneWolfGame

http://www.twitter.com/lonewolfgame

http://www.lonewolf.ws/rss

Youtube LoneWolfGame

Steam Greenlight

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[lonewolf]

Vote for the game on Steam Greenlight!

The newest alpha build 0.5.7 is ready for download! Log in to your Play-Em account at http://www.play-em.com/login and download the latest version!

The following changes were made:

• Added new automated Joystick support. If there are controller plugged in, the game will attempt to set up all controllers with default input configurations.

• Altered input to a new input scheme, removed Punch Left/Punch Right, Kick Left/Kick Right, Autolock, Journal and added Quick Type, Item / Weapon, Quick Left, Quick Right, Zoom In, and Zoom Out.

• Fixed some minor input related bugs. Changed the Controls screen to feature new input.

• Changed Special Moves Input for playable characters, with a new "Casual Play" mode with simpler input. Input for specials include changing in to the Werewolf and back with holding down Block and pressing Down + Punch, all other specials use either Up + Punch, Down + Punch, Up + Kick, or Down + Kick.

• Fixed a bug with grabbing to help up an ally, now prioritizes reviving fallen allies over enemies.

• Updated the art for the Status Bars, now includes the current Quick Item and Quick Weapon as well as ammo and quantity.

• Added a "How To Play" screen under "Options", also replaces "Continue" if you don't have any savegames. It is basically a brief version of the manual.

• Changed input for menus that required the PUNCH button (Button B) to be replaced with the JUMP button (Button A), so it matches the XBOX / PS controllers default accept/confirm.

• All joysticks can now navigate the menu and Button B on a controller will go back in the General Menu.

• Added "Play Style" to the "Gameplay" section under "Options" can now choose between the default "Casual" style of play or the old "Hardcore" style of play.

• Made a new progress bar for loading, and slider for save games. Also adjusted the way you can change values in the General Menu so it is faster.

• Bugfixes for camera zooming with other players, some occlusion culling fixes for terrain disappearing.

• Completely rehauled the user manual and added more images.

After all the feedback I got on Lone Wolf from the DogeParty at Meltdown, I decided that making it overall simpler to get in and start playing was the biggest priority. I had set up the controller input a head of time for the demo, and realized that if players have controllers, this is what they'll be playing with more than the keyboard or mouse. So I knuckled down and spent this whole time getting the game to autodiscover the most recognized controllers and autoconfigure them for the game. So if you have an XBox Controller, you will most likely have the best luck with that as all platforms tend to play nice with XBox controllers over the others. It should also work with PS3 controllers (as I got mine to work with the Motionjoy drivers) but may need more tweaking. If it doesn't recognize your controller automagically, then you can always manually put in the input configuration in the Controls Menu under Options from the main game menu.

The next issue I tended to see was another barrier to getting people into the game and really experiencing everything the game has to offer especially in regards to the Special Moves. I'm from more of an arcade background, so I love a few complex controls here and there to give more tension to the play to try to pull off some moves, however I saw quickly that this style of play was not for everyone, so I decided to borrow from Dragon's Crown and make the Specials related to a directional + button. So now all specials are executed with Up or Down + the Punch or Kick buttons. I have created "Play Styles" with a "Casual Play" mode for easier specials input and for those who like to have more of an arcade feel to the controls with a "Hardcore Play" mode. I also created some new input buttons based on the Quick Menu feedback, now you can use the directional pad on a controller to switch weapons and items even quicker without having to bring up the Quick Menu GUI. Hitting Quick Type lets you change the type of the item/weapon in your Quick Menu, while Item / Weapon let's you switch between items and weapons in the Quick Menu. Quick Left and Quick Right allow you to select the previous or next item in the inventory for the current type of item you have selected. So using these inputs you can forgo the holding down Switch (Tab or Left Bumper by default) and just push these buttons to change your item selection. This should make it easier to change weapons or items you want to equip or use in combat on the fly, but the old method is still retained to make it fit for controllers that don't have the extra directional pad (arcade stick as an example).
I've also taken a few days time to go and rehaul the instructional manual completely, adding images and rearranging it so that all the good stuff like controls, GUI info, and character info comes first.

I redid the graphics for the Status Bars and now you can see the current Quick Item and Quick Weapon and it's Ammo without having to open up the Quick Menu every time! So this in conjunction with the new Quick Buttons (Quick Type, Quick Left, Quick Right, Item / Weapon) I think it makes the gameplay flow a lot better. Now you can easily see what items you have equipped and ready to use during play. I also added a How To Play section to the Options menu screen and also have it replace Continue if it is your first time playing or do not have any savegames. This should make it easier for first time players to check out how the controls are set up. I also did some adjusting to how menus are handled in the game and moved the PUNCH button to confirm to the JUMP button so this corresponds more with the console style of confirming/canceling menu items. Button B is now used on the controller to go back in the menu as well. I changed the loading bar to the blood splat and a numerical percentage so it is easier to see how much left is needed to be loaded. Also changed the slider for savegames to fit more with the menu style of the General Menu. All the connected joysticks/controllers can now control the General Menu as well, so other players can pause the game and use the menu for changing items too.

I had to sidestep the animation rehaul in favor of usability since that seemed to be the main issue stemming from all the feedback I had gotten. I also found a lot of minor bugs and some occlusion culling bugs during the GUI revamp. I think I have most if not all taken care of now, so I can pretty much focus on making everything else look pretty now. So next up is going to be animations and effects, and then a lot of game balancing after that. If you haven't already, you can pre-order or donate today at http://www.lonewolfgame.com or at http://www.play-em.com, and play the latest iteration with all the improvements! Hope you are enjoying the progress, more updates soon!

If you want to support the game please purchase or donate at:

http://www.lonewolf.ws/store.php

http://www.lonewolfgame.com

http://www.play-em.com

Also check out the game on these sites:

New Grounds

http://www.facebook.com/LoneWolfGame

Google+ LoneWolfGame

http://www.twitter.com/lonewolfgame

http://www.lonewolf.ws/rss

Youtube LoneWolfGame

Steam Greenlight

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[dez]

YES!!
love the style!

One of my favorite touches is how you have player chats pop up in talk bubbles like a comic book. Fits super well.
The backgrounds could integrate a little better with the characters but wow this is awesome!!
Just make sure the final boss/leader of the enemy gang turns out to be your previously unknown twin brother that you have to fight to the death!  LOL

voted for you on greenlight!  :D

[Savick]

Is this even being updated any more?

[lonewolf]

YES!!
love the style!

One of my favorite touches is how you have player chats pop up in talk bubbles like a comic book. Fits super well.
The backgrounds could integrate a little better with the characters but wow this is awesome!!
Just make sure the final boss/leader of the enemy gang turns out to be your previously unknown twin brother that you have to fight to the death!  LOL

voted for you on greenlight!  :D

Thanks for all the compliments!  I'm reworking the animations as soon as I am finished with this open source 2D skeletal animation tool for Unity, hopefully that will smooth some things out.  I can tell you this there is definitely going to be a fight!  Thanks for the vote on Greenlight!

[lonewolf]

Is this even being updated any more?

Yes! I have been working on some tools lately, was out on vacation for a bit and just got back from Comic Con, I'll definitely have an update soon showing off some of the new animations I'll be creating with this open source skeletal animation tool for Unity!

[lonewolf]

It's been a long time since an update so I figured I'd fill in some of the things I've been working on these past few months.  I've been working with and helping to create Unity Sprites and Bones, a free open source 2D skeletal animation tool for Unity to help in recreating the animations for the characters to make them a lot smoother.  The changes I have made to the tool I've put up for everyone to use on Github and it is here https://github.com/playemgames/UnitySpritesAndBones/tree/unstable if you want to check it out.  It has been a lot of work put into the tool and the animations, but I am not ready to show them in game yet, so consider these a work in progress.  I'm making sure everything is polished looking and ready for a beta release, so you will see more animation work and hopefully a new updated build release soon.  Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween!  Help out and 
pre-order or donate today at, http://www.lonewolfgame.com or at http://www.play-em.com<, to get the latest build.  More to come soon!

[lonewolf]

Lone Wolf has been Greenlit!

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=93012501

Thanks for all the support for those of you that voted on it!  Will be releasing news on a Steam version soon!  Animations are still being churned out, once they are finished expect a big update!