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[Ramos]

WOW, I am a bit late to the party but I want to say CONGRATULATIONS!

[vdapps]

Thanks @Ramos!

And I'm writing new devlog right at this moment.

[vdapps]

-= Devlog #22 =-

(RTG is in version 0.5)

'Story levels (all levels done)'

Hello Everybody!

New devlog here! So, what's new since previous version?

- FINAL LEVEL FINISHED -

I was tweaking final level, mainly to add there some stuff which are not seen in other levels. So it stands out from the crowd a bit, plus there's something what can player consider as final antagonist and end of the road. I think I achieved what I wanted, however, I don't want to spoil so no animation, sorry.

- STORY LEVELS (AKA MAIN LEVEL HUB) -

Another important thing: implementation of intermediate (or story) non-gameplay levels. In fact, it's technically one level which is parametrized, so every time when player revisit it, there's something new, some change, giving a sense of progress. So it serves as kind of hub, for all other gameplay levels. You can see sketch of this level in the animation. It's still subject to change, as I will add there stuff as I'll write the story.

- ALL LEVELS DONE, LEVEL COUNT STOPPED, YEAH! -

Big relief for me, as I'm done with most important part of RTG development and that's levels creation. Big milestone and I consider it moreless as half-way of RTG development. So, humbly increasing version to 0.5 and my progress here on TIG to 50%. Phew.

- WHAT'S NEXT? -

Most important stuff (all content for actual gameplay) is done. Player can go seamlessly from level 1 to level N (final level) meanwhile revisiting intermediate (story) levels. Now, there's second most important thing to do: connect all of this with STORY.

I have brainstormed details of story already and I'm quite happy with it. I have also brainstormed how player will uncover it. I want to avoid writing some beletry, so story will be told solely by player accessing terminals. There will be different kind of files, which can player read, like mails, system logs, etc. Small terminals will contain generally less content, in every level some new file, mail or log, which will add a bit to final puzzle. In main hub level, where's big 'primary' terminal (seen in animation), player will be able to browse files in the terminal, where initially, most of files/folders will be locked and they will become gradually unlocked as player revisits this level.

Revisiting the hub level will happen always after finishing a bunch of gameplay levels. You can see in the animation such revisit after the first bunch. Levels are divided into 'tiers' and in hub level you'll see the progress across those tiers as well.

So, that's all folks! I'm looking forward for next devlog.

Cheers!

Check progress across 'tiers' here in hub level. Red = locked, green = done, yellow = upcoming 'tier' (levels bunch).

[Alain]

Awesome, congrats for reaching v. 0.5!

[Prinsessa]

Nice! Coming along really well Looking forward to learning more about the story. So what do the remaining 50% consist of, besides that? Is it music and stuff? By the way, would be nice to have something in addition to colour to distinguish between the different statuses of a tier

[vdapps]

Thank you @Alain and @Prinsessa! 

So what do the remaining 50% consist of, besides that? Is it music and stuff?

Here you are contours of my backlog for remaining 50% (which I have just in my head):

- write story, implement terminals (reading, scrolling, browsing, etc..), distribute story fragments into terminals
- intro / outro
- as you noted: sounds, music
- controller support (big must)
- engine optimizations (first ray hit, multi-thread rendering)
- for Steam: I'd like to integrate Steam Cloud + some achievements

By the way, would be nice to have something in addition to colour to distinguish between the different statuses of a tier

Yes, story level will be yet scripted and optionally more things will be added. But I found it more natural, edit those levels into details when writing story and placing it into terminals.

Generally speaking, I never wrote, not told story in such way, this will be my first. So, I'm curious, how I'll handle it. Hopefully, it'll not be a disaster. My only experience and "education" in that regard, is that I just have read lot of books, I just played a lot of story-rich games (especially sci-fi) y tengo muchas ganas. So let's see.

[JobLeonard]

I like the lights on the floor. Reminds me of airports, or lights in car tunnels. You know, liminal spaces.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liminal_space_(aesthetic)

Actually, the whole game fits that aesthetic so far. Maybe it's something to think about whether or not you want to lean more consciously into that or not in terms of feelings. Also regarding the writing for your story! (really curious what you have planned for us there btw)

The nice part of it would be that it's not too demanding in terms of art asset production (as in: it fits with the geometric minimalism you already have).

[vdapps]

Thanks @JobLeonard for the tip. I not knew about that aesthetical style. In fact I was not following any aesthetical style in the game, but algorithm decided it will be some sort of minimalism.

But you're totally right that "liminal spaces" style gives lot of bang for a buck. It makes significant artistic impact even with very simple assets. Unfortunately, all gameplay levels are already done, so I'm not going to change it, but story level WILL be enhanced yet while I'll write story, so that style is nice way to go! "Liminal spaces" also fits game story/environment setup, so it's quite natural to use it. Also my final level has something like liminal spaces in it, I just not posted any animation to not spoil it.