Coming "back" from a hiatus is a daunting thing, which is why technically speaking, that's not what I'm doing at all. I stopped working on this project completely for 2 and a half years and didn't even think of it as a hiatus. The truth is, the game scope was too big, the design wasn't fleshed out enough, and I bit off more than I could chew... so honestly, I was doing work on it the whole time I was gone, mulling it over in my head, considering why I even wanted to make the game in the first place.
Turns out, there's only one reason: To prove to myself that I can finish something big like this from start to finish, and do the best job I possibly can on it as a solo developer. And if anyone happens to enjoy it (or even find out about it, since I'm TERRIBLE at marketing myself), I will be very pleased with that.
But enough jabbering... check out the DevLog video below if you want a glimpse of how it looks right now (and please consider subscribing if you want to follow the progress, this is a brand new channel!):
Scope Changes
The game is now out of what I call the "early prototype" stage and has graduated to the "prototype" stage. By this I mean, I'm no longer trying to figure out what I can/can't do from a technical perspective and coming up with new features. I have a specific set of features and systems I know will be in the game when it's finished, I know that implementing those features is within my abilities, and I'm now executing on that. I'll have entered the "pre-alpha" stage once all the base features are implemented, and then it will be time to start tuning and polishing them more.
I'll be putting a Trello board sometime this week to keep track of everything, so I won't list out everything that will be in the game here. Instead, I just want to mention some of the major changes, since information in previous articles/videos will now be outdated:
--- The Ether Ability system has been scrapped. Previously, players would choose from a selection of four abilities in a little widget menu that would pop up. Now there will just be a single button players press to use one of two abilities: "Focus" and "Ether Grenades".
Focus is (mostly) as you see in DevLog #13, with some adjustments I'll mention in the next bullet, and is used by pressing and releasing the ability button. Ether Grenades will be sticky, sort of like Halo's plasma grenades, and will also do damage through cover; they are used by pressing and holding the ability button to equip, and then the Shoot button to throw.
--- The Focus ability is being changed to prevent weapon usage while it is active. I envision an animation where the character places her left hand over her head and her weapons dissolve while she's using it. Movement options will all still be available while using Focus. I just think that ability was looking WAY too strong as it was, considering how dark and foggy the maps will be.
--- Dodge rolling will grant ~0.2s of invincibility frames. The roll itself is relatively slow, so it's intended use will be to juke out shotgun users at close range, since the shotgun is strong at close range (two-shot down).
--- Cover Blast will no longer be an Ether Ability, but will be activated by shooting a charged Ether bullet at a piece of cover (see DevLog #8)
--- All the "Magic" lingo (apart from Magical Girl) is being replaced with "Ether", to be consistent with the lore and more specific about the energy that's being harnessed. So instead of "magic" you'll be hearing it referred to as "ether".
New Character Model
As you can see from the DevLog above and some images I've posted recently, there is a new character model! No more shiny black lady! Huzzah!!!
I purchased the base model from the UE Marketplace and then had the daunting task of figuring out how to make it modular within the parameters of my game... the model did come with some separated pieces, but they wouldn't work to mix and match clothing items because the body geometry was actually removed. I came up with a system where the character is split into four main parts: Head, Top, Bottom, and Feet, with anything else being attached to one of those (for example, Hair is attached to Head, Necklace is attached to Top, etc.).
Then I sat down for a good couple days, learned Autodesk Maya, and the results speak for themselves 😎 JK, I'm no 3D modeler just trying to learn what's necessary to scrape by on my own!
I will be doing some work in the future to get that very beautiful magical girl outfit I commissioned to fit around the new model using this system. Luckily, the modeler did an excellent job of separating it into pieces already, so I don't think it will be too bad (you can see pictures of it at the end of the DevLog #13 article).
Overall, I'm happy with the look of the model and the modular system I have in place; it's just a matter of acquiring assets to use in the system and setting them all up now :)
Conclusion
Going forward, article updates may be more sparce, because they take a lot of time on top of the video and generating images/GIFs and so forth. I will probably post a short article with each video just summarizing any details that may not be obvious in the video; I think the main thing is seeing what's going on when it comes to games, so that'll be my focus for updates.
More to come later this week... I mentioned a while ago implementing a limb destruction system, which...
...you will see more of later! But now, the work continues. Thank you for checking out my humble game and have a wonderful day <3
New Scope, a Modular Character Model, and Rising From the Hiatus Ashes (DevLog #14)
In which I discuss coming back from a hiatus, the new scope of the game (features that have been changed, etc.), and creating a modular character model from a UE Marketplace base.
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