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[sbroome]

In 'Escape Condition' the player is tasked with eradicating SYN, a virus destroying the planet and humanity.

To do so they'll play as Marcus Baker, travelling through 3 time periods (past, present, and future) and across 3 divinity levels (holy, chaotic, and unholy) for a total of 9 time periods. For every day of the player's life, they will have to choose between going on a mission to the past to fight against the roots of the SYN virus, or a mission to the future to fight against the outbreaks of the VIRUS.

After completing a mission, the day's progress is added to the player's XP and DNA progress chart, unlocking unique flaws, skills and side missions, based on how much the player leans towards science vs. divinity.





WIKI

TIME PERIODS

• ANCIENT WORLD - Reached by interacting with ancient works of art and music. Limited loot drops. Concrete jungle. Severe weather conditions. ARCHAIC treasures. SYN virus origins
  
• MODERN WORLD - The real world the player fights for.
• FUTURE WORLD  - While the future ranges from utopia to cyberpunk depending on divinity, the impact of artificial intelligence is a constant. Screens everywhere. Drones. Robot Servants. Higher sea levels + other severe weather conditions.
  

NPC CLASSES

• ANCIENT WORLD - Highly infected NPCs from "ancient" times who specialize in melee weapons after technology is removed from the world. They thrive in the toxic air that slowly drains the player of health.
  Link to high-res look at some ARCHAIC NPCs in their native environment - the ancient world
  http://escapecondition.com/imgs/archanic_NPCs_jungle.png
  
• MODERN - NPCs from present day who specialize in weapons we'd see now. Balance of melee and ranged weapons.
• FUTURE- NPCs from the future(s), who specialize in SMART weapons that are designed to destroy SMART armor. Includes giant robots, cyber mercenaries, and drones.

WEAPON CLASSES
Each weapon class varies according to the timeline it was manufactured in. ie a Cyberpunk assault rifle will have different characteristics than a Future Utopian Assault Rifle.
Each weapon has a unique weight which will determine mobility while equipped. The fastest weapons to have equipped are knives.

• ARCHAIC - Steampunk weapons, blessed by/named after the traits used to destroy SYN. Unlock special skills by pairing with ARCHAIC gloves. Some archaic weapons also interact with player mana.
  
• MODERN - Firearms and  from the real world. Flat stat boosts such as increased reload speed when paired with MODERN gloves.
• FUTURE- SMART Weapons built using artificial technology some time in the future. Buff FUTURE Weapons by pairing with FUTURE Vests, which contain high-powered batteries.

GLOVE CLASSES
Gloves determine affect melee damage when the player has only the gloves equipped. They also buff weapon handling for melee and ranged weapons if those weapons are from the same class (ie ARCHAIC gloves with ARCHAIC rifle).

• ARCHAIC Found in strongholds in the ancient world. High melee damage with chance of mana regen.
  
• MODERN - Rubber gloves, tactical military gloves, etc. Melee damage varies.
• FUTURE- SMART gloves not only buff SMART weapon handling, but can be used to hack some vaults in the future. Low melee damage.

This grid serves as the player's only map in the game: showing the current cross-section of divinity and time period

[sbroome]

Lots of updates, many will be outlined in upcoming devlogs, but for now my focus is on combat.

The class system for combat is set up:
--ARCHAIC class items will be divine weapons and gear from the past, that provide extra damage or protection against the SYN virus
--MODERN class items will be weapons and gear from present day
--FUTURE class items will be weapons and gear that come from the future and integrate artificial intelligence/technology in ways not available in MODERN items

This is a demo of one of those class matchups, with FUTURE weapons used against ARCHAIC NPCs. B.c of the mismatch the time to kill is very slow compared to if a player were using ARCHAIC weapons

[sbroome]

Making the infected NPCs a lot more responsive to their environments. Since they're cannon fodder I don't want them to be too smart, but now they at least do an animation and sound to indicate that they've spotted the player, and will move at a speed that makes them easier to handle in groups.

[sbroome]

Finally getting into environmental art for when the player time travels. The first priority is the Cyberpunk reality shown here, where a lot of the missions will take place when traveling to the future:

[Sp1ke]

Looks quite nice. It would be good if enemies were more disformed and/or be able to use different methods of attack in different periods of time.

[sbroome]

Thanks sp1ke, that's actually the way NPCs work. I am currently recording longer devlogs with voice overs to upload starting this week, and they'll break down all of the class systems in Escape Condition including the NPC classes.

I moved the wiki for the game to the first post and will just add to that as I go, easier that way.

[droqen]

Can you travel freely between time periods like in that latest video?

[sbroome]

No, this is just a  demo is just to show the types of environmental changes you can expect to see in the world (weather, environment, npcs, buildings). The full map process of time travel is done mostly off screen for performance reasons.

This is an older demo of time travel mechanics. It's further along now but the logic is the same as player travels from modern day to future utopia (1 of 3 future variations along with Cyberpunk and World War):

[sbroome]

TIMELINE: FUTURE WARZONE





This week I'm working on the art needed for another future timeline: Future Warzone. In Future Warzone the map has been decimated by massive flooding and advanced weapons. Flooding is overcome via tall, erected walls that the soldiers use as fighting platforms so the action is far more vertical in this timeline than others.

In addition to the mercs shown in the above video, I'll be adding in two primary futuristic armies that represent the "red team/blue team" dynamic - which is holy resistance fighters against the oppressive corporate regime that pursues only ambition in all variants of the future. There also will be exclusive weapon drops available only in these worlds, although they can be kept and used for the rest of the mission.

[sbroome]

I was finally able to do a lighting build, so this is more reflective of what the game's final graphics will be (the rest of the clips have been unlit to this point).

For this update I Wanted to convey the feeling of being dropped into the middle of a battle, in contrast to the other timelines. To achieve that I've added lots of rooftop turrets and a new building style shown below that looks mostly destroyed. I'll add more details to these assets later so that their appearances are more randomized from a distance.

I'm hitting 50-60 fps consistently on my test rig, but still plan to cap at 30fps for simplicity's sake as things move forward.

Up next: Building dioramas that will play in the background during warzone missions, these will take place mostly in the new destroyed buildings that dot the map, and give a sense of a huge battle taking place. Currently testing what works well performance-wise before building the final code for this.

[sbroome]

After creating the fog of war last week for the FUTURE WARZONE timeline, I jumped back into Cyberpunk this week and made sure it offered plenty of contrast.

Now you'll see weather conditions and air/water quality strictly dictated by the level of divinity in the world so that strategy is more apparent to the player right away after time traveling (environmental quality/weather impact some gameplay elements like how fast your mana recharges).

Surviving favela-like housing arrangements will make missions difficult in this timeline.

up Next: adding code so that as the player breathes in polluted air without a mask, their health drains until they reach a fresh water station, or use a med pack.

[sbroome]

This week I worked on the Ancient Evil timeline. The SYN virus has still overtaken the planet, but instead of embracing technology, all technology has been destroyed and turned into an overgrown jungle.

For players this means NPCs that ambush constantly with melee weapons, less frequent loot drops (ARCHAIC loot only), and a more difficult landscape to navigate on foot.

[sbroome]

Heading to final art on the Cyberpunk assets for terraforming. The map changes are now starting to communicate more of the environmental damage from global warming (fires, floods) and the SYN virus.

To add to this feel I'm making the propping of trash and abandoned vehicles from the modern world a priority.  Use of the neon lights you see in typical cyberpunk will always be paired with flickering or damaged traditional lights, to indicate that the residents use neon glow b/c they lack reliable electricity.



The last steps for this timeline will be to replace the placeholder propaganda art with original content, finishing the art for residential transformations (heavy use of awnings, kiosks, fewer screens).

[sbroome]

Back to gameplay now that the biggest pieces of the terraform process are in place. This week I'm testing for collisions and responses before adding ramps, stairs, and other eye height changers:

[sbroome]

First full devlog is up, breaking down combat in the Cyberpunk timeline. NPC path testing around the Cyberpunk art is done, up next is optimization, then making the first mission playable for testers.

[sbroome]

Art update for Ancient Evil

[sbroome]

Hires screenshot of Badentoc Labs. This is a military contractor whose quantum computing device you have to hijack to time travel to the future.


http://escapecondition.com/imgs/hires_badentoc_091920.png

[sbroome]

While I have a programmer building the back end, I wanted to do an optimization pass on assets. The latest play test is here, I'm getting ~180 FPS in a standalone steam game, making the chances good for a 60FPS release. This is still an ideal rate, and for time sake if I run into major issues I'll settle for 30 FPS, but would greatly prefer 60.

This footage is in the ancient evil timeline. More comprehensive tests will come with the CYBERPUNK and FUTURE UTOPIA timelines due to asset complexity.





Concept to screen comparison for the building terraform process:

[sbroome]

I've been working on mission assets, making sure important combat areas stand out more as the game heads towards "playable."

This is a time machine capture zone. Players will fight for control of the time machines to travel to the future.

+ After another optimization pass, FPS in Steam is up to ~220 FPS, meaning all major blueprints/meshes for the game are vetted for release.

[sbroome]

The last couple months have been gone to creating the Steam back-end and UI for the game, both are now near completion in anticipation of bringing in some local play testers for feedback on gameplay. It was good to get past this major hurdle, as persistence is a big part of any RPG game.


http://escapecondition.com/imgs/UI_Widget_weapon_codex.png
http://escapecondition.com/imgs/UI_widget_NPC_Codex.png