next »

[xdavidleon]

E3 2015 Trailer

[xdavidleon]

Every stealth game uses some sort of 'cover system'. In tenchu and Metal Gear Solid, you had one button that 'attached' your character to the wall, so you had to press the button again to move away from it. In Splinter Cell and Hitman they used an improved version of that system.. but I always found it tiresome and clunky.
Then, games like the new Tomb Raider and The Last of Us started using a dynamic cover system. When the character gets close to a wall that can provide cover, he will crouch or get close to it, and trigger the proper camera behaviour. This way, the player doesn't have to manage the cover/uncover of the character and his movement is not restricted.

We spent some time implementing a simmilar system in Twin Souls.



We cast an array of spheres around the character, and when one of them touches a collider belonging to the 'cover' layer we can then be sure there's a cover in that direction.
We use the normal of the collision in addition to the 'forward' direction of the character to determine which way is the cover in respect to the player's movement.



So, if character has a wall on its right, and his forward direction is to the left side of the screen, then the camera will strafe to get a better view of that direction. The gifs explain it better than words. The next step is to add an IK system to hands and head so the player extends his arms near the cover collider, thus creating the illusion that he is sticking to the wall.



We also implemented a crouch stance system. This is also dynamic, and we just use triggers in the scenario to mark zones in which the character will crouch.

[xdavidleon]

Damn.. I always forget about updating this dev log  

I uploaded our first gameplay video here:



I thought it was a good idea to create that video to show the Kickstarter backers how much the game has evolved, but PC Gamer took notice of the video, then Gamespot and then Rock Paper Shotgun.. and that's awesome..! but it backfired a little bit since the AI in the video has most of its 'difficulty parameters' super low, and of course users assume the game will be too easy

Anyway, we are currently undergoing a full redesign of the enemy behaviours and AI, and in the video we've put the AI we did 8 months ago.. so yeah, there's not really that much challenge in the video, although the new enemy systems in the works are hard and punishing.

As I wrote on a reddit thread:

It's just a quick vertical slice showcasing some stuff already implemented. We are redoing all the AI systems, and we disabled stuff like enemies hearing sounds, spotting corpses etc.. It's really easy in the video. Some of the mechanics are also unlocked later in the game (like the summons) and will require you to hold the 'assassinate' button instead of being instant (and will make noise).. etc.

In the game, scenarios have different paths with puzzles associated that make you think about how to use your powers to take advantage of the terrain.

There are Light contraptions like barriers that block paths unless you find ways to disable them, light runes that illuminate surfaces and make sneaking much more risky, and even explosive traps among other obstacles and puzzles.

The enemies also summon Light spells to search you, illuminating areas in darkness and removing your ability to stay hidden.

From level 4 onwards there's archers with improved senses that can illuminate zones with light arrows.

There's also levels with platforming, 3 boss "fights", a strong story and plenty of other stuff

I'll be sharing more stuff about the new AI in the following weeks. The game will also be playable (with the new enemy systems) at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, this August.

[xdavidleon]

Working on plenty of stuff. I mostly had to do different UIs and misc systems not really related to gameplay.. but they are important too

Here's the power wheel to select your current Shadow Technique:

You've got 6 different Shadow Techniques that can be unlocked by spending skill points. The Skill Points are obtained by finding Technique Scrolls, which are hidden through the scenario. You can also unlock other improvements and skills.. but the Shadow Techniques form their own category. There's 3 'defensive' techniques (in blue), and 3 offensive techniques (in red).

I spent quite some time researching different Power Wheels in games, and found out that Dishonored had the closest design to what we were looking for, so we used most of the stuff we liked and adapted it to our art style.

Now.. the 'Chapter Score' screen!

Usual stealth game stuff. Enemies killed, suspicions raised, times detected... Added the Chapter Time as I'd like to see speedrunners play with an 'official' time score. There's also different achievements per level that reward different playstyles. I might add some special achievements depending on the chapter.. but for now it'll stay like this.

We've added 3D cinematics to the game.. and 2D cinematics too, but we are not ready to show that yet. What I can show is an early version of our dialog systems, and a small 3D cinematic:

http://www.gfycat.com/RepulsiveInsidiousBarracuda
http://gfycat.com/AthleticShockingJohndory

This is the last week of work before Gamescom. We've got a booth there (pavilion 10.1, booth 102.A), so please come by and play the game if you can attend
It will be a busy week so I don't know if I'll be able to share some stuff.. but I'll try to dump everything I can this weekend.

Cheers!

[zzanack]

The game is getting better as time passes, good job!

And congrats for this devblog

[xdavidleon]

The 'Kunai' Shadow Technique is almost done.

[AnaGuillenFdez]

I remind this from some time ago, when I first discovered the Path of Shadows prototype. 
I liked it when I played it from that time, I am glad to see what it has become. Today I heard about this TIGSource thread, I found it interesting to look into Aragami's devlogs (I think more would have been interesting, but I understand devlogs can easily take your time).
Congratulations on publishing this game, I am hyped to play it. I know the last post is from 2015, but I couldn't resist writing a comment.