next »

[darkhog]

Working on AV Agent AI some more. Decided it would be better if they can alert other AV Agents in the general vicinity (7.5 meters radius * agent's average scale) so they go after the player as well.

[darkhog]

Okay, now AV Agents will notify any of their friends that are around when they see you. Works nicely. Anyway, next thing on the agenda is to make generalized health system for each of the enemies (and the player).

The way it is now is that only the player can be hurt by damage triggers, which isn't at all how this is supposed to work. This was put in place as a placeholder to quickly test health system for player and healthbar interface. Later on, when developing AV agent AI I was too lazy to actually turn it into general health system and I am suffering the consequences now.

[SolarLune]

Yo!

2. Ah, I see, so the "sky box" is editable space, as well. Not sure how easy or feasible it'll be to edit that area (since you'd have to place a pretty good amount of objects to populate the ground), but if it works, it works.

And yeah, feel free to use any of those ideas.

[darkhog]

Since "skybox" would be quite far away from the player, as much detail isn't needed there as people won't see it well, especially with lowres mode on. So few objects that roughly make up what you want to be there with big size, without much of a geometry, would be good enough. And thanks.

Already started work on "place checkpoint where you want" idea (will continue after reworking health system as per previous post).

Figured out that just allowing to do it unlimited would make people "checkpoint scum", so I've made a pickup that player would need to collect in order to make more checkpoints (you'd start each level with 2 checkpoints possible to make, then you would have to collect that item to increase amount of checkpoints possible).

//edit: Fixed Wall'o'text

[darkhog]

Today was a quite productive day for me. Finished health system update for now (player still can't die, but this can be resolved later, after things like checkpoints are implemented), made loading screen for level editor when accessed from the main menu (it turned out that while in Unity it loaded fast, when in build it can take up to minute which player can experience as game "hanging up" so by showing up simple "Loading..." message I can alleviate this) AND implemented Mega Man-style "disappearing platforms" challenge using nothing more than an enemy that bounces back and forth and some triggers.

Here's the puzzle itself:

And here's how it is being controlled:


The way it works is that this enemy (which can only be killed with gun that is to be implemented) is bouncing back and forth between two triggers that toggle on/off state of the platforms for both collision and rendering.

One thing that makes my editor so powerful is that triggers can be activated by both player character and the enemies, such as this one. The arrow you see on the enemy is shown only in the editor so you can see initial direction it will go.

Next on is the implementation of level exit so you can actually end level once you complete your goal. Then checkpoints and then I'll make it so player can die.

The important thing is that this level, bare lack of exit, is basically done. There are few things I want to add, but this can wait until "postproduction" phase of levels where I'll be adding stuff I wanted to do initially and make levels more beautiful, for now I want to have 5 levels for the demo which will then be posted online for free both to promote game and get initial feedback before I start IGG campaign.

[darkhog]

The player can now exit the level as intended using the exit platform! Woohoo! Next up: Making player die and checkpoints!

I have so much fun doing this game, it's not even funny (irony intended)  .

[darkhog]

Just the message to keep you posted: I've figured out details of the checkpoint mechanic and started to implement it. For now I'm focusing on placing checkpoint when specific button (C on keyboard, button 3 on the gamepad, I think) is pressed (or rather released).

Every checkpoint will be placed in the place where you released "checkpoint button", including in the air.

Each checkpoint will be good for ONE USE ONLY. So think twice before you checkpoint-scum.

If checkpoint isn't set (set checkpoint will be displayed using a little flag icon next to checkpoint counter), the level will be RESTARTED if you happen to die instead of you just being moved to last checkpoint set by you and said checkpoint being destroyed. You'll recover initial amount of checkpoints, but would have to work your way through the level again.

The default amount of checkpoints granted to you at the start of each level is 2. You can further increase that amount by collecting special "checkpoint orbs" (to be implemented).

Checkpoint system only register your position and rotation. So if you happen to solve a puzzle after setting one or kill an enemy, that puzzle/enemy will still be solved/gone if you happen to die later on and be moved back to the checkpoint.

[darkhog]

Checkpoint system is almost done and it's working as intended. There's few things left to do, however:

- Implement display of how many "checkpoints" or "backups" can you do and display showing whether there is a checkpoint set
- Implement a nice particle effect that happens when you respawn and existing checkpoint is destroyed
- Implement Checkpoint Orb powerup that will increase available amount of checkpoints by 1.

But that can wait until tomorrow! Off to sleep!

[Noyemi K]

I don't know if anyone's mentioned this yet, but the kerning on that font used for the logo is killing me. Between that and uneven pixel sizes on the text, it just looks very unprofessional and not very appealing.

Looks like the game's still in a kinda rough state though, so I imagine you'll get the logos and text done up real pretty before release.

[darkhog]

Yeah, text in the logo is kinda blurry... Will try to fix that, though the game itself is more important ATM.

[darkhog]

Finished checkpoint display. It displays how many checkpoints you have left to create before you have to start the level over after dying and also there is a little flag icon to show if you already set a checkpoint somewhere in the level so you can avoid wasting checkpoints.

The levels may get kinda big, and while starting with two "checkpoints" and checkpoint orb pickup may alleviate having to start over often, you need to know when you can create checkpoint (because you've started level over again or because you've died earlier and checkpoint you set is now gone) so you won't waste "checkpoint point" as I call it by just moving it (there are some cases when you would want to create checkpoint anyway, like before any particularly hard section even if checkpoint was previously set in different place, so I didn't remove that option). So having a area that you can glance over and say "yep, set the checkpoint alright" or "nope, better set the checkpoint so I won't lose my progress" helps.

[darkhog]

Here's a screenie of the new checkpoint display.



Originally it was under the score display, but I've found it was breaking on other aspect ratios that 16:9/16:10 (I want to have it working on all most common aspect ratios, including ultra-wide and 4:3/5:4/3:2) and was distracting while playing game, so I've moved it under the health display. On the screen you can see the player character, the checkpoint (checker-board style player character), the checkpoint display which consists of amount of checkpoint you have left to place and a flag that shows up if a checkpoint has been set as previously was discussed in the devlog.

[darkhog]

I'm thinking about releasing a "pre-demo" that would contain game's current state. Sorta like Early Access but for demos.

Obviously it would be free (and the level editor would be locked off for obvious reasons) and I would release next "pre-demo" every level I finish up to and including level 5 after which I'll make current levels more beautiful (as in, put more detail in) and release a proper demo.

What do you guys think? I'm not sure if I'll do it, just letting you know that this is a possibility and asking for your feedback on the idea.

[darkhog]

Also finished up the checkpoint orb pickup, the only thing left to do for now if I decide to release this "pre-demo" is to get the level into functionally complete state (still missing few things).

[darkhog]

Okay, so this is it. I've decided to release that predemo thing I was talking about. But before I'll post download links, please read few things that are important.

First of all, only level 4 works and other buttons, that are prepared for when demo will be completed does nothing. This is because the other levels aren't created yet.

Another thing is that level looks bare and I'm aware of it. Don't worry though, it will be developed further after other levels are functionally done to look better.

Last thing I want to mention is a list of known issues.
- Music in main menu doesn't loop correctly. This is because of a bug in Unity itself that I've reported and can't do really anything about.
- One dialog in level 4 (behind yellow door) isn't executed correctly. I am aware of this and this will be fixed in the next predemo that will include another level.
- If you go out of bounds in main menu, you have to restart the game as you will fail indefinitely.
- Resume game button doesn't work. To unpause the game, press esc again.

Please report any other issues you encounter.

Download links:

Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/w2h9104bvz026ry/virussimpredemo1.zip?dl=0
MEGA: https://mega.nz/#!rM0DzYDQ!QLE-oT1DVms3AIVixoi6mILrKRWc88jTHqiKbLJj8cg
Filesize: 26.3 (zipped)

[darkhog]

Started work on the next level. It will be level 3 in demo chronology. Would like to have your opinions on the level released in the first predemo.

[darkhog]

Second level is coming along nicely. Still I don't have much to show of it, but it'll be a nice level.

[darkhog]

Working on the next area right now. Soon will also start coding the destruction gun powerup.

There will be following gun types:

- Destruction gun. Kills things you'll shot at.
- Infection gun. Will infect processes, files and enemies bullets touch and make them stop all movement and become indifferent to your presence.
- Friend gun. If bullet from it hits enemy, it'll count as infecting it, but the process in question will become friendly towards you, i.e. if you hit AV agent with it, it'll target any nearby AV agents that aren't your friends instead of you.

When picking new gun you'll drop previous one (if you had one) nearby, so you won't need to worry that if you pickup new gun, the one you had will be lost forever. The gun will be fired with right mouse button as left is reserved for melee. It'll take some time to get used to, but it will be worth it.

Each of the guns will also have shotgun variant that would fire 4 bullets at once in different directions.

[darkhog]

Hello, I've created this short survey so you can help me make the game better after playing it: http://goo.gl/forms/DkIbYqhgePO66i2o2

I'd appreciate if you'd fill it.

[darkhog]

Moving forward at a steady pace. Today I've finished implementing main target for the next level, which can't be killed using smashing, so you'd need a killing gun, which I'll be working on tomorrow (or even today if I feel I'm in the zone).

For people who played predemo#1, please don't forget about filling out a survey so I can get a representative charts so I can fix game's problems according to you!