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[Interactionman]

Hello everyone!
It's time I got my own log started so here goes...

I recently started working as an independent developer and here is my first game!

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead

The game is inspired by the old Irish saying "May you get to heaven thirty minutes before The Devil knows you're dead" and it's a platform/adventure game where you play as someone who recently died and finds themself in-between death and... It's up to you to find your way safely to whatever comes next, before The Devil finds out you're dead!

Here is the first screenshot...



I'm building the game in Unity, the screenshot was taken directly from the editor.

This is my first ever independent game and although I've been working as an artist/level designer in the industry for a few yrs I've never done programming before so I'm learning a lot as I go along. So far I have one level roughed out with primitive shapes in Unity that is playable with all the puzzles and whatnot. Then I did some work to define the art style, the results of which are above! I'm pretty happy with it, I just wanted to make one small scene so I could get a solid idea of what my target is in terms of level of geometry and texture detail, overall style and what I could achieve visually with Unity. I'll probably tweak it a bit as things progress but at the moment I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

The next step will be to test out some different movement options. I've been working as if it were a traditional 2D scrolling platformer, built with 3D art. But I want to try out allowing 3D movement 'into' the screen to make the most of the 3D and allow for some more interesting interaction with the environment, while keeping the camera fixed in the current direction. Then I can get on with building some more levels

Ok that's enough for now. I'll post more stuff here as it happens and here are a bunch of links for other sources of info/stalking:

My website - http://www.interactionman.com
Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/interactionmangames
and my occasional twittering is here - https://twitter.com/iam_games

Thanks for looking, and for sharing all your projects. It's great to see what everyone is up to :D

[tjpalmer]

I think the idea sounds cool and that it looks nice so far. Of course, it's hard to get an idea of your gameplay, but the semi 3D could be fun. Good luck with the coding!

[Interactionman]

Hi everyone, thanks for checking out my dev log.

Sorry no more screenshots this week, but I want to keep this updated even when there is no new art to show.

I did go back and try out the 2D vs 3D movement and as I suspected the 3D movement felt better and I think works better with what I want to do with the locations and puzzles etc. I did a couple of test scenes, converting part of the first level I built for the game into a 3D environment (it's in a cave so it was pretty open and wide spaces), and also a small test using the assets from the mansion house in the screenshot above. Both worked out nicely and it's not too hard to hide the walls and other scenery when walking 'backwards' into the scene, and then bringing it all back again when you come forwards. So that's all settled - 3D world with a fixed direction camera it is!

Then I went on to fixing a few things with the character controller, making the character rotate to face the direction of movement, polishing up the climbing mechanic and object interaction and working on the 'special abilities' so I have them in place to play with in the level puzzles... and then I totally broke it   I ended up with that awesome problem where it's broken with the new bits of code in and if I take it out something else breaks. So I'm a bit stuck with it at the moment, hopefully that will get resolved soon but I'm not really sure how at the moment.

In the mean time I'm doing some work on the next level design, which I can hopefully start blocking out in the next week.

[Cakeprediction]

I adore that name.

[Interactionman]

Hi everyone!

I've been hiding away in my cave working on character design for the last month, hence no updates. But I'm back now, with pictures!

Here goes...








I haven't had much experience with character design before, but I think I got the overall feel right so hopefully they will translate well into 3D and look at home in the world. I need to get the first one modeled in 3D and animated next so I can try it out in the test level. Animation is another thing I haven't done much of so another month of learning new stuff is on the way!

I've made a start on the female character designs too, but they are taking a little longer to get right. I've had more experience designing men's clothing since I used to be a menswear designer years ago, so getting the women's outfits right is more of a challenge for me. The first few turned out too much like costumes instead of clothing so I'm reworking them to bring them back in line with the guys. I'll post them up as soon as they are ready, and hopefully I can get some feedback on them to make sure they're ok.

That's all for now, hope you like my Victorian dudes so far and check back for more 'coming soon' 

[Impmaster]

I like the look. Got more clues as to what the gameplay will be like?

[Interactionman]

I like the look. Got more clues as to what the gameplay will be like?

Thanks Impmaster. It's basically a platform/adventure style game. The main character recently died and has to find his way to... wherever he's going next. So you'll need to look for clues/directions and solve puzzles along the way as you search for the gateway to... the afterlife? Heaven? No one really knows where you go when you die, you just know you have to get there Before The Devil Knows You're Dead 

There will be no combat in the game, although there will be hazards to avoid and of course the ever present threat of The Devil finding out you died and coming to claim you. So it won't be a walk in the park either!

[Mr. Levich]

Hey, just wanna say that your title is simply fantastic and that the Irish saying offers boatloads of different interpretations regarding game mechanics - it will be really interesting to see yours

Also, level visuals from that screenshot are astonishing.

[Interactionman]

Hey, just wanna say that your title is simply fantastic and that the Irish saying offers boatloads of different interpretations regarding game mechanics - it will be really interesting to see yours

Also, level visuals from that screenshot are astonishing.

Thanks Mr Levich, yeah as soon as I heard that saying I started getting ideas about what game I could make from it! So many different ways it could go, I hope people like my version

[Interactionman]

Hi everyone, here is the first female character concept!




There are more different versions on the way, but I just wanted to get the first one out already.

The idea was to make the male and female characters somewhat similar in proportion so I don't have to make all new rigging and animations etc. for them. Hopefully she's not too man-like! I'm going for a more Annie Lennox or Tilda Swinton type of woman rather than the usual Pam Anderson type that games are full of.

Please feel free to give some feedback, I'd especially like to know what the female viewers think - do you prefer playing a female character if you have the choice? And does it put you off at all if there isn't a female character option?

Thanks for looking 

[beepdavid]

Loving the character designs! Looking forward to seeing them transform from concept to 3d assets.

With having a female character option, would you alter the games story to accommodate the player choice or does it work either way with subtle language changes, he/she etc?

[Interactionman]

Loving the character designs! Looking forward to seeing them transform from concept to 3d assets.

With having a female character option, would you alter the games story to accommodate the player choice or does it work either way with subtle language changes, he/she etc?

Thanks David

I'm aiming to tell as much as possible of the story (both the history and what's currently happening) through visuals rather than dialog/text so hopefully there won't be much to modify if anything.

[SelfTitled]

Wow you can really tell you used to be an environment artist that screen looks awesome (specially like the skull under the floorboard, nice touch).

Are you seeing it play more like a point and click adventure narrative base game?

[Interactionman]

Wow you can really tell you used to be an environment artist that screen looks awesome (specially like the skull under the floorboard, nice touch).

Are you seeing it play more like a point and click adventure narrative base game?

Hi SelfTitled, thanks! I like hiding little bits and pieces around in my levels for people to find. I always thought it was part of my job, and a sign I'd done my job properly as an environment artist/world builder if people had the reaction of 'I really want to be able to go over there' meaning into the backdrop which is usually just a few props arranged to look like there is more to discover just over the horizon. It means the players are getting the impression of being in a world rather than some kind of limited 'movie set' with an endless void just beyond their eye line!

As for the gameplay, it's not a point and click movement style, you are in full control of the character in three dimensions but the gameplay will be similar to those kind of games where you are exploring your environment, finding clues about what's happening and where you need to go with logic and physical puzzles to solve along the way.

[Interactionman]

Hi everyone, it's time for an update!

I've just posted my regular monthly update on my website here - http://interactionman.com/blog/?p=96.

So what has happened since my last post? Well I've been busy modelling the main character in 3D and getting the texturing done. Here he is...



I've also rigged the character and set him up with the character controller in Unity with some animations from the standard assets pack for the time being until I get custom animations done. Here he is again...



and a video...






It's taken a while and there were a few bumps along the road but everything turned out well in the end. There is still quite a bit of work to do to get all the interactions and abilities scripted and custom animations to do but I'm getting a bit of extra help with some of the coding tasks which should make things go a little quicker. I can't wait to see him fully functional and test some gameplay with him

I'm planning on getting the remaining level design done on paper over the coming month and hopefully I can start blocking out one of the levels in 3D too.

As always thanks for looking, feel free to leave feedback and/or questions and see you next time! 






 

[Interactionman]

Time for another update!

I've been super busy over the last month building the first level for the game. I had the design down 'on paper' already so I've been busy modelling it in 3D and then getting it all set up in Unity. The layout changed quite a bit as I went along, but all the main elements and sub-areas are still there, just in a slightly different configuration.

The level is still in the block-out stage at the moment, just basic geometry and no textures, but it gives a good impression of what each area will be and more importantly allows for testing the gameplay and the other big change in the last month - the all-new character controller.

My friend Rob Lynam (http://inmosystems.com/) has been helping me with some of the coding tasks recently and has re-built the character controller. It's now a lot more responsive and includes variable walk/run speed, a much more controllable jump that allows for a little hop or a great big leap. We’ve also added crouch which means I can make some secret hidden areas that are a little harder to get to for all the explorers to find and it all works for both keyboard and gamepad. The character is still using standard animations that come with Unity for the moment, but I’ll get those replaced later.

Here are some WIP screenshots....







There is also a video here...





Once the layout was done I also modeled all the props and assets needed for the gameplay, so everything that you can pick up and carry or otherwise interact with in the level is built and placed out and I've just started scripting the gameplay. I expect that will take about another week or two and then I can get some people to test it.

I'll post some more stuff once I have the gameplay done.
As always thanks for checking out my blog. You can take a look at my website too and follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook if you want, the links are just below.

http://www.interactionman.com
https://twitter.com/Interactionman
https://www.facebook.com/interactionmangames


See you next time! 

[Spencer Bambrick]

These screens look amazing! Is this going to me more of a platformer, or more of a puzzle game? With the mood and artistic style you've got I kind see it going either way, or a combo of both and working really well! I love the environments! Really gives a spooky/mysterious vibe, and it's very immersive.

[MereMonkey]

Loving your character models!! Just checked out the couple of videos you posted also, the camera looks really smooth when moving alongside the character's movement. One thing that drew my eye was the slightly unnatural landing of the character when he touches the grown, most noticeable for me during your 'character controller test' video at 1:07. Apart from that all is looking great, can't wait to see/hear more!!

[Interactionman]

Hi Spencer, thanks very much I'm trying to include elements of both platforming and puzzles, but I'd say overall it will be less about jumping around and more exploring/solving things.

Thanks MereMonkey, glad you like them Not sure if I mentioned in this blog or if it was on my own website, but the animations are currently the 'standard assets' ones from Unity which I will replace later. They are functional and do the job for now, but there are a few things that will need to be changed/improved for my character and various custom animations for the gameplay too.

[MereMonkey]

You probably did haha, sorry about that! I had your devlog bookmarked to look at in more detail later, so at the time I was only looking at the eye catching parts haha. I'm looking forward to reading through your posts in the very near future!