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[dyingember]

Some more magic spells!

This one was a new type that does 2 types of damage (previously the magic system only allowed one). It does direct damage to the target it hits, and then as it explodes it does additional AOE damage to surrounding enemies.

[dyingember]

Some updates on some progress -- unfortunately not much visual to show.

A lot of work went into making the AI smarter. The AI can now hear more than just your footsteps. They will react to you casting a spell, swinging a sword, dashing, etc. They also can hear their friends running to get to you and will react by following.

Speaking of hearing, previously once they heard you they would stay locked on to your location. Now after they haven't heard you for a few seconds, if they can't see you, they don't know where you are. This lets you use the invisibility spell more meaningfully. If you slip up and start running you can slow back down to a walk before they find you.

I also finally added a save and load game system. Just one slot for now, not sure if we'll have multiple in the future or not.

[dyingember]

New Map!

This will be the boss area for the big dual swordsman boss shown earlier, who also has a few more animations we're almost ready to show off

[dyingember]

At the same time we're working the double sword boss (he really needs a name) we also just got this horrible thing finally rigged and in the game!

[dyingember]

I added a few spring bone controllers to the "bulb" of this boss so that is has a "jiggle" that persists throughout animations. This is one of the areas where working with an engine such as Unreal really pays off, as this took me about 5 minutes to do and I had never used them before.

[dyingember]

New HUD. The flame grows and shrinks based on your health. As for why we kept both a bar and the flame?

One of the themes of the game is the disposable nature of our hero. She's a biological weapon and every time she dies, another is sent. We wanted to drive home thematically how fleeting each one can be. She's just a flame flickering in the wind, able to be snuffed out at any time.

As for why we kept the bar, the flame isn't as precise as one would need for this type of game.


full res: https://gfycat.com/PoliteHotHorseshoecrab

[dyingember]

We're working on materials and lighting to create the mood we're going for in the game. That is, creepy/scary/dark. Here's how the Nightmare boss looks now after some work:



There's now a heavy vignette on the game which helps hide some enemies and paths and makes you a lot more hesitant to proceed. It's a "cheap" trick but it seems to have a pretty profound effect in the game.

Talking about some other changes, lots of AI improvements over last update. Enemies previous had trigger zones for certain attacks that took into account distance and angle. They now take into account the velocity of the player. So if you're running vs standing still the enemy can adjust his attacks to suite that, which makes them feel a lot more alive.

[dyingember]

She's our first boss, but that doesn't mean we're going that easy on you :-p

[dyingember]

New enemy type! Fire dogs :-D

[Cobralad]

you have a big readability problems
i dont see collision borders because everything is black.
also characters use pure black and grey on them which blends them onto background. Thats unfortunate as well as not good looking, since using achromatic colors in chromatic picture is not a good thing.

[dyingember]

Just finished the map for the entrance to the palace. The palace (still unnamed) will be the second area of the game.

[dyingember]

New in-game model for a boss and her idle, the queen of the palace (still unnamed).

[vividhelix]

This looks really interesting. How close are you going to stick the the souls formula?

[dyingember]

This looks really interesting. How close are you going to stick the the souls formula?

In terms of combat, pretty close, with some key differences.

1) You can't two hand or one hand weapons
2) You always have access to a bow
3) Shields are temporary and only last ~1 second, but they block in every direction.
4) In terms of magic, you get a limited number of casts of only 1 spell per life (you can change this spell at the spawn point)

Outside combat, there's varying levels of similarity and differences. Dialogue wise and level design wise, it's relatively similar. Character progression is very difference. You only upgrade your armor, weapons or spells, and you upgrade them with materials you find or get from killing enemies. Each time you kill a boss you unlock the next "tier' of upgrades made available to your weapons, armor and spells

[dyingember]

It's been awhile! We've had a ton of progress that I need to eventually get on here, but in the meantime, here's a new map!

[dyingember]

Just launched our new trailer and website!





website: http://piratebeats.ninja