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TIGSource ForumsCommunityDevLogsHeart&Slash - [RELEASED ON XBOXONE AND PS4]
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Author Topic: Heart&Slash - [RELEASED ON XBOXONE AND PS4]  (Read 88132 times)
Jad
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« Reply #300 on: July 17, 2014, 02:32:37 AM »

Hello! The game has better animations now! It moves much more beautifully.

Sadly, the first screenshots look better than what you have now. All the black and the outlines are fudging up the nicelookery that the game had.

That's what I think.
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Juan Raigada
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« Reply #301 on: July 17, 2014, 02:53:10 AM »

Sadly, the first screenshots look better than what you have now. All the black and the outlines are fudging up the nicelookery that the game had.

Really? I hate the original look now. I always thought it was bland, but I couldn't do any better.

But I guess taste is a very personal thing. I like the new style much better (although some of the later screenshots are messy. I think some assets are still a little bit convoluted...)
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Juan Raigada
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« Reply #302 on: July 21, 2014, 10:23:58 AM »

Another quick update:

We will release a pre-Beta build for our beta backers the 23rd (it's basically the full first level, minus bosses).

On top of that, work on level two progresses. Basic enemies are designed, and rigging and animation has started... Once we have a full enemy set up I will show it, but it might be a while...

I'm getting married this Saturday Gentleman and I'm taking 10 days off.

Do not worry, for Kike and the artists will still be working on the game. It just means I will have a LOT of integration + marketing to do once I get back...

But I'll leave a teaser here:



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spinaljack
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« Reply #303 on: July 22, 2014, 02:10:49 AM »

Well done on getting Greenlit!
We've got the same issue of having a good start and then votes slowing down so I was wondering if you've got any tips on driving more votes.
Love the new look btw.
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Juan Raigada
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« Reply #304 on: July 22, 2014, 02:34:54 AM »

Well done on getting Greenlit!
We've got the same issue of having a good start and then votes slowing down so I was wondering if you've got any tips on driving more votes.
Love the new look btw.

Depends, where are you at votes wise?

We found the KS helped, as can do any sort of press/PR/social media push. But we never got out of the slowdown, it just kept going slightly. As long as you go up in % each month (after each batch) you guys should be fine.
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Elideb
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« Reply #305 on: September 24, 2014, 03:12:00 AM »

We keep implementing new stuff into the game! One of the latest additions has been the sequence/cutscene system.

Why create our own sequence system?

I despise reinventing the wheel and I'm also perfectly aware of the existance of several alternatives available for Unity. As a matter of fact, I spent more than a week testing some of them. Most had problems managing sequences which would be executed in a randomly geneared world. This problem could be worked around, but any improvement seemed too painful. Others were simply unusable, or failed too often for comfort. Which is a pity, really.

But the main issue with existing solutions is their fixed structure and lack of composability.

What's new?

To ease development, I've used a barebones version of .NET Reactive Extensions my friend @cookingsource has compiled for his own project. For the time being it is called SimpleRx, but we'll see where it goes. Thanks to it, Observables will ease a lot of tasks in Heart&Slash.

The old cinematics (intro, placeholder boss sequence, arenas) were each implemented as a script which executed arbitrary stuff when and how it wanted. Each cinematic required a lot of work and were hard to tweak.

The new sequences are composed of events (still considering other names). Events can be either fire&forget or timed. The latter expose observable properties to subscribe to, so we can know when they've finished executing. With this, we can group events in several ways:

- Sequence: events are executed strictly one after another. The sequence completes when the last event is completed.


- Take: several events execute concurrently, each starting at an arbitrary time. The take completes when all events have been started and all complete.


- Decision tree: events are executed one at a time, and the next node to execute is selected from the children of the current. Each has a selector assigned (Func<bool>). The first to return true is run. The tree completes when a node has no children or none of their selector's return true.




A tree with a root node and two children. The slider selects which child hierarchy is displayed.

Two important bits of information: a sequence is a special case of the decision tree in which all nodes have a single child with an always true selector. Also, sequences, takes and trees are timed events themselves, so they can be composed. Our new arenas, as seen above, are a sequence consisting of:
- Start take: events to display warning, spawn enemies, change camera behaviour...
- An event which waits for all spawned robots to be destroyed
- End take: events to slow down time, change camera behaviour, display clear message...


Arenas in the second level surface (and lots of placeholder art)

This is so powerful that sequences will become the core of several other systems: dialogues, quests, scene selection... Maybe even boss encounters, if we make them complex enough. But, since it is based on trees instead of graphs[1], looping systems are out of the question. Also, although Behaviour Trees would be feasible[2], designing a decent editor for them would take too long. In the future we'll see, but there are good BTs available for Unity, so we might just buy one if needed.

[1] Actually, the core structure is incorrectly named DirectedGraph.
[2] And the other way around: our system could be implemented as a behaviour tree with a customized selector and ending as soon as a leaf is executed.
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Thomas Finch
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« Reply #306 on: September 24, 2014, 05:17:47 PM »

Glad to see everything is still chugging along! Can't wait to play!
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Juan Raigada
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« Reply #307 on: September 24, 2014, 11:54:49 PM »

Glad to see everything is still chugging along! Can't wait to play!

Yes, it's coming along. It's just become crazy busy, and we plan on hitting very precise internal deadlines, and thus the lack of updates on my part.
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Elideb
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« Reply #308 on: October 03, 2014, 08:27:28 AM »

Good news!


Heart&Slash is on Steam! (but not for sale, yet). After fighting against their tools for one afternoon, we finally got things working yesterday. We also squashed some serious bugs and, finally, Juan got the Windows and Mac builds up and running from Steam's servers this afternoon. We are having some issues with the Linux builds, but I'll try to get them fixed throughout the weekend.

This does not change our release plans, still aiming for early 2015. Some time ago we decided we would use Steam's Early Access program to serve our KickStarter Beta Backers. I can't tell how long we'll have to wait for Valve's approval*, but as soon as we get it we'll start sending keys to the $25+ tier backers.

The idea is to keep this version updated with new content (or polish, love, whatever we manage to get in time) every two weeks, so we can get feedback early on. The current builds will include the first level and the lower half of the second. The other half is almost done, so it will come next. Then we will get bosses, new weapons/equipment, unlocks, quests... And bugfixes and tweaks, of course.

Regarding pricing, our Early Access will share the same price our beta backers paid: $25**. We don't think it would be fair for them if we made the Early Access cheaper. We also want to keep the number of people playing the game in its current state low. Otherwise we'd risk being flooded in feedback or reducing the impact of the final release once we get there. We'll see how things progress in the future.

* Because I don't know; but even if I did, apparently I'm not allowed to say.
** Given the exchange rate Valve uses, that means it will be considerably more expensive for Europeans, Australians, etc. Something tells me that Steam won't apply the same 1-to-1 exchange rate with the Japanese Yen. I hope the prices are a little more proportional for Japan, at least.
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Elideb
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« Reply #309 on: October 06, 2014, 01:47:19 PM »

Aaaand, we are live on STEAM EARLY ACCESS! (and got our first sale!)

By now you already know how things play in Early Access, so we don't need to warn you: the game is not finished, many things are WIP (like the camera), some will change (yes, yes, the camera).

Let's see how things go and people receive the game. We hope we have a long enough warning text to avoid trouble with people's expectations, but we are not sure what is the current state of Early Access among the general public.

We are currently listing over the top system requirements. We wouldn't want someone to buy the game and then be unable to play it properly. The game plays almost well in my laptop, which was underpowered when I bought if 5 years ago. As we get reports from people we will lower settings.

And now, let's look at all those stats and bars for a while...
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Elideb
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« Reply #310 on: October 11, 2014, 03:29:17 AM »

Yesterday we released the Linux builds for Steam and came across an involved problem.

Since our Linux builds are 32 + 64bits, we need a launcher to decide which one to run. The script is incredibly simple:

Code:
#!/bin/sh

MACHINE=`uname -m`
if [ "$MACHINE" = x86_64 ]
then
    echo 64bit Linux detected
    HS_ARCH=x86_64
else
    echo 32bit Linux detected
    HS_ARCH=x86
fi

HS_EXEC=$0.$HS_ARCH $@
echo Running $HS_EXEC
$HS_EXEC

After the builds are created this file is copied to the generated directory (using UnExt's BuildConfiguration):

Code:
[MenuItem( "Build/Linux x86 and x86_64" )]
public static void BuildLinuxUniversal() {
    var newConfig = baseConfig.SetTargetDir( "../Builds/linux/" + CurrentTime )
                              .SetExecName( baseConfig.ExecName.ToLower() );
    newConfig.AddFileMapping( "../builds/linuxlauncher", "../" + newConfig.ExecName )
             .Build( BuildTarget.StandaloneLinuxUniversal );
}

Everything works perfectly, until a 3rd party enters the ring: Git. Git has a feature called SafeCrLf which automatically replaces line ends in text files. By default it uploads all line ends as Linux EOL (LF) and, when checking the file out, converts them to the client's OS EOL. Our development machines run Windows, so that's CR+LF.

And that means that our little linux launcher has Windows' EOL when we copy it into the build. Of course, most shell interpreters treat that extra CR as part of the line. And the script fails because there's no command called /bin/sh\r.

This didn't catch me by surprise. I knew EOL would be CR+LF in the Linux builds*. But I didn't expect Bash to catastrophically fail with that extra character. I guessed it would just be ignored as a non-valid character.

But, alas! I'll have to add a new instruction to BuildConfiguration to copy text files, forcing an EOL representation. And next time I'll test these things, instead of guessing =)

* We already take this into account when loading configuration files into the game. When reading them we split lines by either "\n" or "\r\n".
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jgrams
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« Reply #311 on: October 11, 2014, 08:57:43 AM »

Won't it work to use a .gitattributes file with the following line, to tell git that your shell scripts should always have LF line endings?

Code:
*.sh eol=lf

Or something like that? http://git-scm.com/docs/gitattributes
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Elideb
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« Reply #312 on: October 12, 2014, 11:01:41 AM »

Oh! I had no idea such a thing was possible. I never read much about git attributes, thinking they'd handle much more complex situations.
But I already coded the BuildConfiguration method. This is a more general solution, so I can use it with Mercurial or any other thing. Of course, had I known about the attribute, I wouldn't have bother Tongue
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Elideb
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« Reply #313 on: October 18, 2014, 02:56:34 AM »

Hi!

This week we're presenting the game at Madrid Games Week, which I think is the biggest non-professional videogames show in Spain. There are a lot of huge names around here, but also a considerable indie presence. With two indie booths, from GameLab and MadeInSpainGames, I estimate around 40 indie titles on display. Some of these are very well known, too. Like Ziggurat and Gods Will Be Watching. Ziggurat is, as a matter of fact, right besides us, so we are constantly talking to the MilkStone guys. Since their game is also a roguelike-lite, there's quite some talk on procedural map generation =)


Those lights were terrible for photos, so we ended up turning ours upwards

It's being quite tiresome, but people seem to enjoy playing the game (specially kids, apparently). We've spent a considerable amount of time explaining the control scheme over and over, so we'll have to print them for the next time, or create a quick tutorial to introduce controls one by one.

We were also interviewed a few times by Spanish TV and radio crews. That was weird, but let's see how things look and what effect they have.

The PC we were given is a bit underpowered, so Juan had to bring over his PC. I've also brought my laptop, so while one of use talks to people in the booth, the other can work on improving the experience. We've tweaked level length, enemies spawn rates, difficulty, pathfinding... and fixed lots of nasty bugs. In just two days we've had 9 new builds created (none of them introducing any new bugs!).


One of the few moments we had to relax. And we didn't

One of the best "fixes" we've made is introducing an "exhibitor mode", which lets yoy invert camera axes by pressing X  or Y. I'll add some more tweaks there (like "reset player pos" or "reset level" for the times things go wrong), because these proved very, very useful.
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Juan Raigada
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« Reply #314 on: October 23, 2014, 10:03:59 AM »

And we submitted to IGF! (not that we really think we have a chance, but it's an important deadline). Between this and the MGW show, it's been a rough week. I'll let Kike expand on where we are at on the process, but we fixed like 60 issues in the last few days.

Game development feels like riding a rollercoaster sometimes.
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Elideb
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« Reply #315 on: October 24, 2014, 09:00:49 AM »

Well, here's my attempt at making a daily post. Let's see if I can keep up!

One big change we've introduced in the game is a considerable redesign of how weapons are managed. Its effects will be more noticeable as we move forward, but they are pretty big right now.

The sympton

During Madrid Games Week (and before) players kept asking if it was possible to change where a weapon is equipped, or if we'll add that feature soon. That's because many of them, in their hurried race to fight robots, equipped their first weapon in (most often) the left weapon slot. That is the first slot, so it kinda makes sense. Even if it was not the one marked by default...

The disease

By placing the first weapon in the left slot, they are forced to cotinually press the selection button to use that weapon. Otherwise, they'll use whatever weapon they picked afterwards, which could be a gun or shield.
Sometimes, they might have acquired another good weapon, which they placed in an empty slot. But if they preferred this new weapon, they have to press that button to use it. Same situation, different cause.

The (partial) cure


Picking the first weapon is now less confusing

We have divided the weapons into primary and secondary. Primary weapons are expected to be used constantly, and are usually swords, maces, spears and such. Secondary weapons are used less frequently, either because their use is limited or because they fit special situations. These are guns, shields, weapons with charging times, grenades...

Now that the division is done, we only allow primary weapons to be placed in the main slot. And the first primary weapon must be placed there. This way, we make sure players don't fall into an uncomfortable configuration.
Also, we now allow replacing weapons in the pickup menu. If a weapon is placed over another one and a slot is free, the replaced weapon is moved there. This way we remove quite some uncertainty when picking weapons.
And, to make things easier, the main weapon can only be scrapped if there is another primary weapon. If so, this other primary will be placed as main weapon after the previous one is destroyed.

To improve things further, we have also changed secondary weapons so they are used right away. Instead of equipping a gun, pressing attack, aiming and releasing, by simply selecting the gun it automatically aims. Then, press the attack button and you shoot. This change makes guns and shields feel a lot more immediate and reduces part of the burden of using them.
As a matter of fact, I now consider shields useful, instead of wasted space to later trade for hearts.

We implemented these changes into a new build for Madrid Games Week's last day, and the results were much, much better. People spent a lot less time trying to figure out what was going on in that menu, and nobody asked if moving weapons around was possible. So the changes got approved.

Developing a vaccine

So we have cured the disease, but some issues still remain. People have problems understanding the pickup menu. The fact that you are placing the weapon described above in the slot you select below is not evident. We plan to modify the menu so that it is completely interactive. When you pick up a weapon, you will see its icon placed in the currently selected slot (or the drop area). Moving the cursor around will update the menu, showing where each weapon will end, which will be dropped and such.

After that, we'll see if actually allowing players to change the main weapon is needed.
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Elideb
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« Reply #316 on: October 26, 2014, 04:11:19 PM »

I didn't post anything yesterday, but it does not count, because it was Saturday, does it?

But today, Sunday, apart from trying to fix some stuff and help some of our beta testers pinpoint issues they have with the game, I have done something I'm happy with: reduce build times by more than 25% and size by 20% =)

We had quite a lot of stuff inside Unity's Resources folder. I think they were moved there because some stuff loaded faster from there... or whatever. But, honestly, I don't care. Having Resources overpopulated was causing great delays in using the Unity editor (it has to reload resources quite frequently) and filled the builds with duplicated stuff. Models referenced from a level would be included as part of the level AND as part of resources.

So I've identified the few things we loaded with Resources.Load (audio and some particle effects) and moved everything else out of there. With that I've reduced build times in my machine from 20+ minutes to 15, and the resulting size from 1GB to 800MB. Yuhu!

That's specially important when we generate builds for Windows, MacOS and Linux (and for Win64, in the future), and have to upload them to web services. That would take 90-120 minutes everytime we build. Steam identifies changes and only uploads what it determines has changed, but other platforms (and our shared repository) don't. Even after compression, each build represented 225MB to move across very slow internet connections. We'll see how big are compressed builds now.

I'm still running tests, but nothing seems to have broken, and things load pretty much as fast as the used to (from my SSD, so that might not be the greatest measurement ever).
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Elideb
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« Reply #317 on: October 27, 2014, 03:51:06 PM »

Today we have been squashing bugs and adding some variations to the city area. Most of its rooms are still too empty, so we will be revisiting every room and creating common themes (subway entries, street lights) and local settings for each area. We cannot dedicate too much time to this, but it is very, very needed.

We have also been discussing options for the second factory boss. The artists have already created its room and integrated it in there. We'll be running tests in the coming days. I hope I'll have something to show for next #screenshotsaturday.
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« Reply #318 on: October 29, 2014, 01:16:47 AM »

I didn't have time to post yesterday, so here's a small treat:



And now, let's think of puns for each part name.
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« Reply #319 on: October 29, 2014, 02:25:11 AM »

I remember seeing this game a couple months ago, I completely forgot to track it then. I'm happy to have found it again and see that development is going strong, keep it up dude!

I'll be watching your devlog, plus you earned yourself another follower on the tweeting system
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