Devblog Update #55: Doors are for people to come and go.

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Happy Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend!!!

This sprint we have the sad news that our main programmer for the past several months has decided to step back from the project for the time being, due to personal reasons. While it's sad to see him go, we wish him the best in his future endeavors, and are incredibly grateful for the contributions he has made to the project! Thanks for all you've done Bryan!

This has a few implications in terms of scope, which we'll have to be extra sure to keep tight. Thankfully, a lot of the core back-end systems are up and functional (Continuous Integration/Deployment, Save System, Analytics, etc.) so it's mostly the actual gameplay programming I'll have to deal with. This will take time away from the art, and design that I do, but I think if I'm intentional to schedule and block out time, I can make it work. I did before!

So, moving on to the visual stuff!

Once again, this is the Watcher, who is guarding the way into the Vault of Deilen Fel. The player will have to coordinate their efforts with their teammate (NPC) in order to get past it! I've put it more or less where I want it, and am working on filling in the walls/space around it to make the actual chamber the challenge will take place in.

You may remember the concept art for the vault door from last Devlog. Well, it's in 3D and in the game now! And I must say, I think I did a pretty good job in representing the concept art in the visual style of the game.

I've also added in a bit more visual variety/appeal to Lyari's cottage in the center of Deilen Fel. Since it is a focal point, I'm adding more detail to the ground than I can afford to do across the entirety of the level.

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In terms of code work, the second of the three overworld challenges is complete, and slotted into the level progression, and I'm working on implementing the third challenge, which will be followed by the Vault! The last thing Bryan completed was a "Shout" mechanic, where the player (or an NPC) can "Shout", which will alert others about a certain event, or cue them to do something. With the intention of future games having co-op functionality, introducing some basic communication mechanics, even with NPCs, will be pretty useful.

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I've been struggling lately with coming up with game mechanic/challenges designs that fit within the constraints we have for this game (scope-wise). specifically figuring out how the challenge with the Watcher will play out. Hopefully we'll have an idea we're happy with before too long though. In the meantime, I have other art/programming to catch up on!

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Here is the fourth video in the mega-flora timelapse series! It was a unique challenge making the hanging fronds.