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[Hollow-Headed]

If I were to play, I'd play only with obstructed rooms on. Makes the game feel much more realistic.

Also, randomized outfits/hair and floors made the game really come alive! <3

Thanks! Anything art related is always a slow process for me, but it's making good progress.

The hidden room option was based on a suggestion that felt as though levels were too visible, and didn't leave much suspense or mystery, so I'm glad you like it!

[Hollow-Headed]

Levels are now capable of having multiple floors! This has been on my to-do list for a long time, but it has always been an issue of working it in around the game's own functionality, and more importantly, its own limitations. Although it is now possible, it comes with a few flaws in regards to realism.

Due to how the game operates, each floor is essentially their own level, meaning that although the floors may be a part of one overall level, things that you do on one floor won't typically affect any other floors. Ultimately, what this means is that enemies on one floor won't hear gunshots on another floor, even if, realistically, they ought to. Similarly, if an enemy is chasing you, and you transfer to another floor, they're not going to follow you. When you leave a floor, it is basically frozen in time until you return.

There are some exceptions to that, though. In this example, you see two enemies being blasted out of windows from the second floor, and upon returning to the first floor, you can see them and the glass on the ground. Also, although enemies will not actively transfer between floors, anything that you are carrying will transfer along with you, so you can carry a body from one floor to another.

[Hollow-Headed]

I've added shadows to the stairs, which helps provide a sense of depth, and indicate whether they lead up or down. When a staircase leads up, the shadow casts outwards, but when it leads down, it casts inwards.

[Hollow-Headed]

I've added a TV remote as an item. When used, it will turn a TV off and on, but will only work if it has an unobstructed line to it, meaning that It won't work through walls and doors, but it will work through windows.

Because nearby enemies will hear the TV and move to investigate it, this acts as a more distanced way of turning them on for a distraction, without needing to be near the TV itself.

[Hollow-Headed]

I've changed the way kills and knockout timers are displayed. They're now icons that will remain on screen, regardless of whether or not their sources are in view. This makes it to where you will always know how much longer someone has before getting back up, or if there was a death, even if it happens off-screen.

I'm also trying out something different with the cursor. It typically has two parts, a static cursor that showed the exact center of where you're aiming, and an accuracy gauge that expands and shrinks in order to represent how your shots may vary. I've removed the static cursor, leaving just the gauge to act as the cursor itself. I feel that this is more representative of your aim, and that by removing the center cursor, it makes landing a headshot harder as the cursor expands, since headshots are partially based on the target's head, relative to the cursor's center.

[Hollow-Headed]

While you're holding a remote, I've added icons that point towards every TV on that floor. When a TV is being obstructed to where it won't respond to the remote, the icon will appear red, but if the TV will respond, it will be gray if it is currently off, or green if it is on.

This allows you to easily see exactly when a specific TV will respond to input, and what state it is in, regardless of it being within view.

[Hollow-Headed]

Hacking has undergone a fairly drastic change from its previous showing. It can now only be done via security consoles, rather than being able to be done wherever you want. Due to what you can do with them, they felt too overpowered like that. You still need to collect the appropriate access level before being allowed to use the various options, only now, in order to do anything, you must interact with the console.

Also, continuing with the trend of adding icons to everything imaginable, I've taken this opportunity to add it here, as well. While you're in the security menu, everything that you can interact with at your access level will show an icon, allowing you to easily identify everything that you can interact with.

I'm not entirely satisfied with using the light switches to indicate light access, because the level can quickly become cluttered while in the menu. Although I do want there to be light icons, there only really needs to be one per room, and even though they could easily be manually defined, any long-term solution should have the game able to automatically find a room's optimal positioning for it. As such, since it is only an issue once you have access to the lights, the highest access level available, I'm opting to stick with this method until a better, permanent solution is done.

Note: The normal free-range camera mode is still there and accessible at any time, this is a different menu, which just has similar camera controls.

[Hollow-Headed]

They say that cardboard boxes are good for hiding, but I don't see much of a difference, to be honest...

On a related note, icons that are positioned near the center of the screen are no longer forced to stick out from their object in order to point to it, as seen with the player's death icon. Pointer distance is now dynamic, so as to provide much smoother transitions as the camera moves around them.

[Hollow-Headed]

I've added a menu specifically for the icons, which will allow players to change how they behave, with each type of icon having its own setting.

Off: The icon will not appear.
Proximity: The icon will only appear if its target is on-screen.
Constant: The icon will appear at all times, even if you can't see its target.

In this example, the light icons are set to proximity so that when the security menu is open, the device icons stay on screen, whereas the light icons only show up when their light switches are visible. This allows players to use icons as they see fit, rather than forcing them onto everyone. This way, if you don't want a specific icon appearing, it can be completely disabled, or if you just don't like them following the camera, they can be limited to only show while in view.

[Pixelologist]

All I can think of is the description for a certain kind of fart when I read the title. Is it just me?

[Hollow-Headed]

All I can think of is the description for a certain kind of fart when I read the title. Is it just me?

It is certainly not just you. It isn't a coincidence or an unfortunate choice of words, just a touch of lighthearted humor, justified by a vaguely fitting play on words to describe the stealth and violent sides of the game.

I figure it helps set the tone of the game to something a little less serious, without taking things too far. Just a not very subtle nod with no further references outside of that.

[Hollow-Headed]

Hacking access is no longer tier-based. Instead, each card now grants access to one specific ability, which means that you must collect all three in order to have complete access.

The old system made the third card too important, since it meant that collecting it and it alone could grant access to everything, and as such, it made the previous two cards mostly pointless to collect. With this new method, it makes all cards equally important, since you now must earn each ability individually.

[Hollow-Headed]

I've added snow as an additional outdoor environment. The snowfall behaves very similar to rain, but when you step on the snow itself, it will leave a temporary footprint, which will fade away after a few seconds.

It may be worth expanding on the footprints later, making it to where enemies can see and track them, but for now they're just for visual effect, which is why they don't stick around for very long.

[shakazed]

Following. Looks really cool!

[Hollow-Headed]

Security systems and light switches will now take damage when hit by bullets, and if they're damaged enough, they will break, losing all functionality and occasionally emitting sparks.

When all light switches within a room are destroyed, the lighting will be stuck at whatever status it was set to at that time, with no way to change it. This introduces the possibility of irreversible darkness within a room, but at the cost of making noise.

[Hollow-Headed]

In order to better indicate when objects are broken, they will now emit smoke. Similar to the rain and snow effects, the smoke is a sort of pseudo-3D effect, allowing it to appear as if it is dissipating upwards, changing based on the camera's position.

[Hollow-Headed]

I've adapted the new smoke effect to guns, making it to where they will temporarily emit smoke after being fired. The amount of smoke varies based on the type of gun, with weaker guns letting off just a little, while more powerful guns let off a lot.

[Hollow-Headed]

I'm in the process of adding some explosive-based items, with the first being a basic grenade.

Unlike other thrown items, grenades have a two-step process, where holding down the input will prime it, but will remain in your hand until the button is released. When thrown, the grenade will attempt to move to wherever the cursor was at the time of its release, but if it contacts a wall or other obstructions, it will bounce off of them.

You can pick an active grenade up, but it will remain primed, and may explode in your hand if held for too long. While holding a primed grenade, a timer will also appear in order to indicate how much time is left before it explodes.

Note: The explosions need work, but I haven't settled on an exact look, so I'll be using that for now.

[freank]

a good start!

[Hollow-Headed]

Stun grenades have been added, which behaves like a normal grenade, only rather than inflicting damage, it will temporarily knock people down.

Unlike the other grenade, this one's explosion does not damage electronics, such as light switches and cameras, but it will still shatter glass. Both grenades are also able to be thrown through windows, which is something that I didn't mention in the last update.