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[hube]

We like the DayZ style of play but top down orientation takes away from the immersion and doesn't invoke your survival instincts nearly as much. Currently the game is meant to be a survival puzzle shooter. What does this mean? I like thinking about it as multiplayer Myst with weapons.

There's a story but it's not force fed. We want to leave it up to the players to poke around and uncover the island's hidden secrets all the while surviving in the environment. Also we are planning on incorporating a number of tasks that require at least two players working co-cooperatively to complete.

Massive servers? I think we'll see down the road. We are focused on making this game fun and if testing shows that more people = more fun then that's the direction we will try to take it.

[hube]

This has been the biggest hurdle for me to overcome in the project. Animating the characters. It's not perfect but luckily our characters aren't that big on screen so you can't see as much detail. I'm curious to see what it will look like once we get it in game... here's a snapshot from blender3D.

http://screencast.com/t/1qA52PU7KpKt
(Screencast.com has a low framerate so it may be a bit choppy)

Feedback, tips, tutorials much appreciated.

The walking is split into two - legs and torso so that we can blend the walking better with the aiming.

[:^)]

this looks awesome.

[Ant]

The depth of field is only on the menu screen, in game the perspective is more top-down so you don't see that far. We are going to experiment with a more thirds person rotating camera to see which plays better but for now it's top down.

I really prefer the angle and depth blur the title screen uses instead of the top down view.

[hube]

Thanks for the feedback - we've started a discussion on the camera.

Initially we had it angled looking north but fixed (not rotating). As we tested multiplayer we quickly realized that players who attacked from the south could see players much sooner than players who were southbound. I'd be running south and start taking fire from a player I couldn't see in the forest south of me.

We discussed making a camera that follows the retical but haven't had the time to implement. I think its an option we'll explore. I'll see if I have time to implement this into our alpha test for next weekend.

[hube]

February Update:

We were gunning for a multiplayer alpha by the end of last month. That had a bit of a rough end but in the end we were better for having attempted it.

We have new animations in the game now, the zombies made their debut, ragdoll effects are on them for nice death sequences. Mutliplayer is a bit shaky right now - some problems with the controls we're working out. Here are some shots from the level. Video coming next week I hope.

[hube]

Making the roofs inside buildings vanish progressively as the player explores rather than all at once upon entry.

The multiplayer is getting debugged, we added a multiplayer lobby with names and game options.

[pluckyporcupine]

This is looking great. The style is really cool.

[hube]

An animation of the roof vanishing in action... also our character has a rather "wide" stance this needs to be fixed in the coming days.

[Panurge]

The roof vanishing looks like it could give the interiors a really claustrophobic atmosphere and lead to some effective scares. Everything seems to be shaping up very nicely!

[Quarry]

A fade effect would look more polished as well

[hube]

The roof vanishing looks like it could give the interiors a really claustrophobic atmosphere and lead to some effective scares. Everything seems to be shaping up very nicely!

Panurge - exactly. Before you could see the entire building just by walking in. Now that we have this you get the sense of exploration. On top of that I am in the process of adding doors, some of which will be equipped with a keypad that requires a pin for entry. This will make it even more interesting as you will not be able to see the entire building and some players will be able to escape others if they know access codes to certain parts of the map.

A fade effect would look more polished as well

Quarry - Agreed 100% now I just have to figure out how to do that Also I think instead of a plane over the room I'll make it a cube from top to bottom so that when a player walks out and aroud the corner they cannot see under. I think closing doors will solve this to some extent as well.

Thanks for the feedback gents.

[hube]

[hube]

Working on a GUI redesign - still in concept mode - I read that Unity Pro has a camera blur effect - hoping to achieve something like this with it. Hi-res on our devlog:http://zombygon.tumblr.com/

[hube]

Decided that the room covers need to just be black. Got them to fade. Blocked the outside when in a building. Definitely getting to the level of claustrophobic I was aiming for.

[hube]

Progress Report:

Lots of bugs getting fixed. Finishing touches to the island. Working on new inventory. Coping with realities of life and how little time we have to work on this. Doing a dev-jam this weekend. Excited.

Slice of Island anyone?

[deathtotheweird]

looks good, although the interiors look a bit too clean for it being a zombie apocalypse and all.

[hube]

Allen - We're not dealing with a zombie apocalypse... more like an unexplained phenomena. Without giving too much away we want the game to have a hint of shooter survival and a hint of point and click adventure. Something strange is happening on this island. The player can figure out what while he fights for his life.

Point noted though. They do feel a bit sterile at times. I think we'll throw in some bodies to shake things up here and there. Thanks for the feedback!

Thanks Garrent!!

[hube]

[christonian]

looks great keep up the great work