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[Mark Mayers]

Update 102: 11/02/2016

If you've been following progress of Desolus, you'll know I've been talking a lot about alternate dimensions.
In Desolus, each world and puzzle set exists around a type of alternate dimension which the player can travel to through portals.

The first dimension type that I've been working on is an inverted set of light and dark worlds.



The Light (Orange) world and Dark (Blue) world are alternate versions of the same space.  
'Light' isn't necessarily good, and 'Dark' isn't necessarily evil, but they are more two versions of the same world.

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Five months ago, I started prototyping the mechanic of traveling between dimensions.
Over the past months I've brought this concept to (near) completion, and fully integrated it into the game.



May 28th, 2016: Original Prototype



November 2nd, 2016: Current Implementation

The alternate dimensions and portals in Desolus are rendered with one camera, one scene, one set of objects, and no render textures.

Accomplishing this involved essentially rewriting every shader in the game to make use of some crazy stencil buffer magic.
The rendering is too complex for a single post, however I am considering giving a talk about it in the future.

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In addition to completing the rendering aspects of the dimension inversions, I've redesigned parts of the world to intuitively visualize them.

The past few weeks I've been working on an Inverted World for Desolus, which shows the alternate dimension by flipping/reflecting it on top of the normal world.
I gained inspiration after I binge watched Stranger Things two weeks ago. The 'Upside Down World' concept gave me some cool ideas.

Here is a screenshot of the inverted world, which shows both dimensions at the same time.



If you're a tad confused at this screenshot, here's a quick explanation. (Although this might confuse you more!)
There is a horizontal mirror or a 'vertical flip' of the world which shows the alternate dimension.



You might want to view this in high resolution.

If an object is symmetrical (meaning existing in both dimensions) actions will be mirrored in the opposite dimension.
However certain puzzle elements might only exist in a single dimension. Notice how in the first screenshot, the white door is on the ceiling!

The first world explores this mechanic, introducing various puzzles thematically based around the symmetry/asymmetry of these dimensions.

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Overall I'm pretty excited at how the work of the last few months has paid off!

[Mark Mayers]

Update 103: 11/10/2016

Over the last few months I've rewritten almost every shader in the game.
As a result of this, I had to redo some aspects of the title screen to re-stylize it with the new shaders.

The title screen has gone through many iterations, and it's interesting to see how it's evolved over time.

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September 2014



November 2014



March 2015



September 2015



November 2015



November 2016



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[DireLogomachist]

Goddamn that is stunning. Awesome work!

[oldblood]

Looks amazing! Just upgraded from my DK1 to the retail Oculus. So if you ever need any VR testing, let me know!

[Mark Mayers]

Goddamn that is stunning. Awesome work!

Cheers! 

Looks amazing! Just upgraded from my DK1 to the retail Oculus. So if you ever need any VR testing, let me know!

Yea! I think it's been over a year since you played the last demo. The game has evolved so much since then.
Hope all is well!

[Mark Mayers]

Update 104: 11/29/2016

As I've mentioned many times before, Desolus was initially inspired the games Metroid Prime and Portal.

Something I've enjoyed about Metroid games (or Metroidvania titles) are their breadth of exploration.
For those not familiar with the term Metroidvania (although I'm sure most are), it's derived from the games Metroid and Castlevania.
In this genre of games, the player acquires new abilities which drastically alter gameplay and allows exploration of new paths in a highly interconnected world.

For a while, I've been thinking about flipping this style of game on its head.
I don't have a term for it, but let's call it a 'Reverse Metroidvania.'
This is a theoretical game genre where the player's abilities do not change, but the world state does.  

For Desolus, this concept would tie directly into the narrative of the game and how the player affects the game world.
Every puzzle you complete brings the world closer to a unstable cataclysmic state in which reality is distorted.
As the world becomes unstable new dimensions open, allowing you to take alternate paths or solutions for puzzles.  

---

The same type of meta-level design applies in Zelda games as it does the Metroidvania, but on a smaller scale.
The player acquires an item midway through a dungeon, which alters gameplay for the rest of the dungeon.

In an earlier DevLog, I talked about 'Zelda Dungeon Based Level Design' in terms of how a game world is structured.
For Desolus, there is potential to connect puzzles in ways which alter the pathway through the game.



I'm contemplating taking a similar approach to Zelda or Metroid for the meta-level design of Desolus.

Changing the Zelda/Metroid style formula, however, the world would change drastically instead of the player acquiring an item/ability.
Midway through a world, a cataclysmic event would happen which would alter the flow of gameplay for the remainder of that world.
Each type of cataclysm would introduce a different type of dimension; the first being the inverted dimensions.

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So what does this cataclysm look like? What would be an interesting visual system for 'dimensional tears' in the game?  

I've decided to experiment with some type of fractal based system. Each type of fractal would symbolize a different dimensional tear.
As such, I looked into fractal shaders and how I could visually represent this system.

Here are a few animations of what the shaders look like in action:






This is a modified Mandelbrot set fractal, with a procedural animation and slightly tweaked math.
An original Mandelbrot looks like this:



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I am currently in the process of integrating this fractal animation into the dimension rifts/portals in Desolus.





This fractal animation is part of a an animation overhaul for the game, using procedural animations.
I'll talk about the animation overhaul in a future update.

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[jamesprimate]

Every new layer of detail and polish has been amazing 

[Mark Mayers]

Every new layer of detail and polish has been amazing 

Thanks dude

Most of the last two months has been spent refining major systems and polishing details.
This is almost a first, because before the game evolved and changed so quickly in terms of design I didn't have opportunities for granular refinement.

I also haven't presented the game publicly in months (I think the last time was September?) but this has allowed me to focus on development pretty strictly.

[Mark Mayers]

Update 105: 12/21/2016

DIMENSION INVERSION PHYSICS

I've been researching a few physics concepts to describe dimension inversions in the context of real science.
Most of this was gathered from reading papers and watching explanations. You can click on each of the images for their sources.

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Note: I can't claim I'm a real physicist, this is purely a loose description out of curiosity.
         All of this is in the context of a fictional universe, described with real world concepts.

There are three types of symmetries in particle physics: Charge, Parity, and Time.
If all of these symmetrical properties in a particle are inverted, an identical but mirrored particle would be produced.

This property is the basis of the CPT symmetry theorem.



Each dimension type in Desolus is inspired by these symmetries (Charge, Parity, Time).

The first type of dimension is represented by a parity inversion and a charge conjugation.
In gameplay, this is represented by mirroring spacial coordinates and swapping particles from matter to antimatter.  



When swapping charge and parity does NOT produce an identical particle, this is called a CP Violation.
This can be corrected by inverting the time dimension of a particle, thus preserving CPT symmetry.

This phenomenon can be illustrated using this picture as a metaphor:
-A charge conjugation in the context of this picture is swapping the black/white channels.
-A parity inversion is a vertical mirror of the image (change in orientation).

Notice how the CP operations when combined, do not produce an identical copy of the image.
This would be a metaphor for CP Violation in physics.



CPT operations can be described in relation to the other two.
-A time reversal is charge conjugation combined with a parity inversion.
-A parity inversion would be charge conjugation combined with time reversal.
-A charge conjugation is a parity inversion combined with time reversal.
 


One could describe the following properties regarding the two dimensions in Desolus.
-All matter is swapped with antimatter (charge conjugation).
-The world is a geometrical mirror (parity inversion).

Since these two operations do not produce an identical universe, this would be a CP violation.





With all of this in mind one could describe the dimension gates in Desolus as a CP inversion.
A CP inversion can be alternatively described as T (Time Reversal) since CP == T according to CPT theorem.
 
So simply put, the dimension gates in Desolus invert time between dimensions.



The player doesn't perceive time differently in either dimension.  
However, time reversal is hinted within the gameplay of the alternate dimension.

-The music is played in a 'inverted' theme of the original. The melody is essentially played in reverse.
-The wind for the sky/trees is in the opposite direction, and the clouds move backwards relative to the other dimension.
-Particles fall up instead of down.

---

I wouldn't call this scientifically rigorous research, but it's interesting to think about regardless.

~Recommended listening after you've read this.~





Also, happy winter solstice!

[Mark Mayers]

Update 106: 12/27/2016

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PROTOTYPING NEW MECHANICS

I have recently revisited some old ideas, such as my curved world prototype which I made a while ago.
Continuing with the astronomy and physics themes for the game, I'm thinking of creative ways to implement this as a puzzle mechanic.



There is a mechanic similar to this in Ocarina of Time's Forest Temple.



In this puzzle, the player can curve or straighten a room to visit it at two different orientations.
However, I'm more interested in exploring the effects of curving space rather than changing orientation.

What type of object would warp space in this way? My first thought was (of course), a black hole.



More on this later.

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ALTERNATE TITLE SCREENS

I am starting to add menu systems to the game. Because of this, I have finally added a pause screen.
The pause screen is actually the tile screen, but it changes based on which dimension the player is in.







Making a pause system is actually a non-trivial problem...
But I won't dive into the technical implementation here, as the details are somewhat tedious.  

---

[Mark Mayers]

Update 107: 01/04/2017

I've been finalizing my latest demo over the past few weeks. I'm happy to say the game is really coming together.

However, my website needs a massive content update.
Recently I've started working on capturing footage that can be used for promotional material and possibly a trailer.

After struggling for quite some time to figure out a decent means for quality screen capture, I decided on a more novel approach.

I am currently prototyping a script which allows for renderings at high resolutions and frame rates.
This happens *inside* the Unity Editor, meaning I don't have to rely on external screen capture software or build the game.






For example, the two videos above were rendered at 4K@60FPS. (You can click on them for higher quality).

This would normally be impossible with my current hardware.
However, the script waits to capture every frame so there is no loss in quality or skipping frames.
All of the frame captures are then sent to a directory, and can be stitched together as an image sequence in Adobe Premiere.

The one issue is that the process is extremely slow. I'm talking like 3 frames per second slow.

It's impossible to play the game while recording in the script's current state.
However this can be alleviated by writing a script which would control the player character automatically.

Ideally, this process allows for super high quality gameplay footage which would be impossible to get otherwise.

[Mark Mayers]

Update 108: 01/18/2017

Development has been going well recently, but it's been a bit rough for me personally.

I've come to realize Desolus probably won't be a long game.
So far it clocks in at about 30 minutes. If the final game is 2-4 hours, I could be happy with that. 

What I've ended up with so far I am proud of.
There is an astronomical difference in quality in what I started with, and what I have now.

However, in the last ~2 years of part time work, Desolus has been revised completely at least three times.
As a one man team with almost 0 budget, I realize I can't continue that destructive perfectionism.

I think I'm at a turning point for development, even if only a mentality shift.
It's time to start having realistic expectations, and focus on acquiring resources I need to release the game.

[Mark Mayers]

Update 109: 01/23/2017

This weekend was the Global Game Jam.

I worked primarily prototyping a game mechanic where you can bend a world's surfaces.
The game isn't a looker, but the mechanic turned out to be relatively interesting.

(GGJ 2017 prototype)



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The Global Game Jam gave me context for how I could implement the curved world mechanic I've been thinking about.
I have mentioned this mechanic before in many previous posts. I've been sitting on a rough prototype for a long time.

(Early prototype version of Desolus, Curved World Mechanic)



The above prototype version of the curved world for Desolus was accomplished with a vertex shader.
However, for the mechanic created during the Global Game Jam, I ended up procedurally modifying the mesh itself.

The need for procedural meshes existed because the mesh's collider had to be updated.
Shaders only affect how an object looks, but not player interaction or the object's physical properties.  

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Since the first puzzle set is 'done' for the time being, I am finally moving on to new content.
As I mentioned in the previous post, I need to focus on content creation rather than extensive revision.

I am feeling good about the core game of Desolus.

I can now build and improve the game, rather than continually tear it down and revise.
Revision and iteration are important. However, at some point you need to move on or you will never finish.  

[Mark Mayers]

Update 110: 02/03/2017

DEVELOPMENT RECAP, PART I

I haven't updated this DevLog as frequently as I used to, even though I work on the game every day.
I'll be doing a series of updates this week, as well as revamping my website with all the new content.

The last few months have been absolutely critical to the development of Desolus.
We have some catch up to do on everything which was accomplished in this short time.

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THE BLACK HOLE

The 'black hole' is the name of the mechanic in Desolus which one uses to absorb and transfer energy.

The game used to be solely based around the black hole mechanic, until I came up with the concept of Dimension Inversions mid last year.
The mechanic now acts as the core means to interact with the game world, rather than the core focus of the game itself.

In a sense, I've wound up with a very abstract version of picking up cubes/switches, as seen in Portal.
As you probably know, cubes and switches in Portal be used to open exits and activate various puzzle elements.



---

Coming up with an interesting way to interact with the world is essential for any video game.
The black hole concept has changed drastically since I first started the game in late 2014.

VERSION 1: November 2014



The game started off as a first person shooter/puzzle platformer.
In this version, the player fires a black hole into orbs, which activate platforms allowing you to traverse levels.

It was very difficult, and also confusing. The puzzles were mostly twitch based, rather than proper puzzles.
I decided to revise this mechanic, and reduce (and later eliminate) the execution elements of the game.    

--

VERSION 2: November 2015



The goal of these early puzzles revolved around the player absorbing and transferring energy between those black obelisks.
The obelisks have particles spheres called 'stars' which are essentially switches used to activate puzzle elements needed to progress.

The the twitch based elements were removed, but the game still revolved around the 8 second time limit of the black hole.
This led to some frustrating scenarios where the player would fail to activate puzzle elements in time.
I later removed the timing completely from the game.

--

VERSION 3: April 2016



This version of the black hole was a bit more structured.
Having removed all timing elements from the game, I could focus more on puzzle based design.

The main goal of the puzzles are to activate all of the obelisks/stars in the environment.
Activating these stars unlocks the exit to the area, which allows you to proceed to the next puzzle.

This is still largely the structure of the base game, although the puzzles are considerably more complex than before.

--

VERSION 4: October 2016 (Current)



This is a video of the very first level in the game. It's not really a puzzle but more of a mechanical introduction.

You can see the iteration in the current version, it's much more refined.  

I added a 'claw' device that appears only when you're looking at an obelisk, or are holding energy.
With actual animations the claw feels like an actual device, which also fits into the general motif of the black obelisks.

---

There's much more in the puzzles than simply absorbing and transferring energy.

In the next post I'll talk about the inverted world, and the role of the alternate dimensions in the game.

[Mark Mayers]

Update 111: 02/05/2017

DEVELOPMENT RECAP, PART II

This is the second post recapping development of the game over the last several months.

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THE INVERTED WORLD

A great and mysterious cataclysm has fragmented the world of Desolus into two inverted dimensions.
These dimensions (which are either orange and blue) are mirrored copies of each other, each with different properties.

Hovering above the landscape is an aurora, which shows the alternate dimension inverted over the horizion.
You can see the alternate dimensions in the game simply by looking up.

Orange Dimension: Showing blue dimension through aurora.



Notice the exit door to each level, which is up the hill on either side.
-In the orange dimension, it's on the left.
-In the blue dimension, it's on the right.

You can see the inverted dimension's door by looking up, into the horizon.
This also applies to anything in the opposite dimension of what you're currently in.

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DIMENSION GATES, AND THE INVERTED WORLD

To travel between the inverted worlds, the player can use dimension gates.

One of the first dimension gates in the game has you traveling between dimensions to progress.

In this example level the exit door is on the 'ceiling' in the orange dimension, which shines blue.
This is actually a reflection of the blue dimension, which the player can travel to through a dimension gate.  



Notice how the door starts on the 'ceiling' but can be reached in the opposite dimension on the 'floor.'

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The Inverted World and Dimension Gates were added in November of 2016. You can check out this post for more info.

[Mark Mayers]

Update 112: 02/10/2017

DEVELOPMENT RECAP, PART III

Since mid last year, most of Desolus has been completely redone to focus around the alternate dimension concept in the game.
This is the last in a series of brief development recaps, to consolidate progress with the game's development.

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INTERACTING WITH DIMENSION PORTALS

The main means of interaction in the world of Desolus is through a 'black hole' contained within a claw like device.

The black hole has two functions:
-Transferring energy to power sources
-Redirecting energy from power sources






Much of the earlier puzzles in the game involve manipulating the state of the dimension portals using these methods.

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I am planning to shift the core focus of the game *further* in the direction of the alternate dimensions.
As I mentioned in the first recap post, the black hole is more of a means to interact with the core concept of the game, rather than the core concept itself.

To me, a good game involves exploring an interesting concept to the furthest extent possible.
 

[Mark Mayers]

Update 113: 03/16/2017

Been a bit over a month since I updated this DevLog.
This was mostly because I was preparing for/at GDC.

~A brief Post-Mortem~  

---

GDC



PROS:
+ First GDC, so everything was new.
+ Networking and meeting an insane amount of people.
+ Meeting up with friends in gamedev who I do not see frequently.
+ Took a week off from both the day job and Desolus development, which gave me some respite.
+ The expo was interesting, and the pass was worth the $250.
+ GDC parties, and networking which occurs during them.
+ Was (relatively) inexpensive to attend, I stayed with a friend in SF and got a cheap flight.

CONS:
- Only had an expo pass, unfortunately do not have access to talks or GDC Vault.
- Got REALLY SICK for over a week afterwards. Post GDC Depression is also very real.
- Took me about 2 weeks to fully recover from the convention and get back into a normal schedule.
- The creepy 6 handed statue outside of Yerba Buena Gardens.

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PRESENTING AT THE MIX @ GDC



I'm happy to say that Desolus was featured in this year's 'The MIX' for GDC 2017!

This was the first major event that I've shown the game in quite some time.
Last expo was the Boston Festival of Indie Games in September 2016, and before that PAX East in April 2016.

I've spent many months polishing this single vertical slice of the game. I feel it's starting to pay off.

---



PROS:
+ Was generally a really awesome event.
+ Exciting to present alongside a big list of interesting titles.
+ Meeting some TIGSource people in person, like Nathanael Weiss.
+ Received lots of good feedback on my current demo from other developers. It's rare I have quality play tests like this.

CONS:
- Waking up at 4am from Boston and taking a 7am flight to SF, only to stay awake for 24 hours to present at The MIX.
- Didn't receive much press coverage from the MIX. However, I had someone from IGN stop by and play through most of the demo.
- Somewhat expensive to present. (Although the event itself was catered, free drinks, etc. so I understand).  

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OVERALL

Attending and presenting at GDC made me realize I should shift focus to solely on development of the game itself.
Until the game is around 90% finished, I do not think I will present at major events or festivals.
Unfortunately, it could be a very long time until I reach this point.

Attending events and conventions was great for initial exposure and networking.
However, they are prohibitively expensive from both a financial, time, and mental energy perspective.

For the time being, I will likely focus completely on developing content for Desolus.

[TheWanderingBen]

Arrived at this devlog from your comment on a random reddit gamedev post. This game looks mechanically novel and visually gorgeous! Posting here to track future progress. Good luck! 

You say you'd have preferred a more finished project to display at The MIX, but I'm wondering: how did you find showing off this type of game in a public space? Though our games are significantly different, I'm also making a single-player experience that requires some thought on the player's part to progress. Any advice for showcasing? I'm thinking of applying to The MIX @ E3.

And you're wrong, that Yerba Buena statue is fantastic!

[Mark Mayers]

Arrived at this devlog from your comment on a random reddit gamedev post. This game looks mechanically novel and visually gorgeous! Posting here to track future progress. Good luck! 

You say you'd have preferred a more finished project to display at The MIX, but I'm wondering: how did you find showing off this type of game in a public space? Though our games are significantly different, I'm also making a single-player experience that requires some thought on the player's part to progress. Any advice for showcasing? I'm thinking of applying to The MIX @ E3.

And you're wrong, that Yerba Buena statue is fantastic!

Hey thanks!

For the past ~2 years I've been working part time on the game and presenting at various conventions.
Across this time period, I've vastly revised and iterated the game's design based off of player feedback, and festival criticism.
However, now I'm at a point where I am satisfied with the core of the game! Which is great. So now I'm moving into a purely content creation stage of development.

Overall, presenting at conventions can be invaluable for initial exposure, networking, and most importantly getting playtesting feedback.
Festivals can also be a (relatively) objective way to judge the quality of your game, and give you outside critical perspective.

In terms of general advice, it depends what you're looking to get out of the convention.
Why are you attending? Do you want playtesting feedback? Press? Networking? Exposure?
What are the costs for presenting (beyond just financial)? How much time will it take you to recuperate afterwards?
Before you present you should evaluate what your expenses are, and especially what you're seeking to achieve.

If you want more info in regards to the presentation process, it might be useful if you check out my PAX East 2016 Retrospective.

Here's a list of other convention retrospectives I've done:
-MAGFest 2016
-BFIG 2016
-BFIG 2015
-IndieCade 2015

If you have any specific questions, feel free to reach out!

[TheWanderingBen]

Hey thanks!

For the past ~2 years I've been working part time on the game and presenting at various conventions.
Across this time period, I've vastly revised and iterated the game's design based off of player feedback, and festival criticism.
However, now I'm at a point where I am satisfied with the core of the game! Which is great. So now I'm moving into a purely content creation stage of development.

Overall, presenting at conventions can be invaluable for initial exposure, networking, and most importantly getting playtesting feedback.
Festivals can also be a (relatively) objective way to judge the quality of your game, and give you outside critical perspective.

In terms of general advice, it depends what you're looking to get out of the convention.
Why are you attending? Do you want playtesting feedback? Press? Networking? Exposure?
What are the costs for presenting (beyond just financial)? How much time will it take you to recuperate afterwards?
Before you present you should evaluate what your expenses are, and especially what you're seeking to achieve.

If you want more info in regards to the presentation process, it might be useful if you check out my PAX East 2016 Retrospective.

Here's a list of other convention retrospectives I've done:
-MAGFest 2016
-BFIG 2016
-BFIG 2015
-IndieCade 2015

If you have any specific questions, feel free to reach out!

That PAX East retrospective was great, especially the advice about a catchy title screen. Thanks for sharing!