Proof of Life #127: progress report #15. Getting there.
Added 2022-05-16 21:23:18 +0000 UTCHeya everyone, it's-a me, N_Taii! It's another PoL Monday post, and another progress report for HC3, most likely one of the last ones (progress report, I mean, not PoL posts).
I don't have a whole lot to say, so I'll keep it on the short side. Kind of.
So I have made good progress on the story, and I have reached development for the last portion of HC3's introduction. This last portion shouldn't take extremely long to develop, but there's a few other things I need to get ready before I upload anything, so that's why I can't give a precise release date quite yet. Most likely around the beginning of June, but I'll keep you updated on that.
With the first release, you will be able to play the prologue (a short segment of around 30 minutes) and the full introduction, a few hours long, provided you don't skip the dialogues. There won't be an extra-scene yet in this first release, only in the next one, as it will work more as a proof of work so you guys can get a feel of the game, rather that a full-fledged update. This will also be a way for me to gather feedback.
Something else I wanted to write is a short description of the features you can see in the MC's room. It's a bit cramped with text, I know, but I'll make sure it all disappears during cutscenes.
-Game manual: it works as a kind of tutorial, giving all kind of info on various things such as POV or choices. There will be an actual tutorial before that, but this should work as a reminder for those who forgot or skipped over it.
-Bed: Switches between timerframes, nothing surprising there.
-Reminiscence room: Incorporating it from the very beginning of the game might present a few challenges for various technical reasons. Still, I'll do my best to make it work.
-Side quest board: same as in HC2, this one will list all the side quests in the game (at the time of the update you're playing) and their requirements.
-Crystal balls: until now, there was nothing exactly new. Crystal balls, however, are a first in the HC series games. I've talked about them before, but I'll do it again here. The MC can interact with those balls and, if a freeroam event is taking place during their current timeframe, the ball will glow. Simple enough. On the left, there is a "Freeroam Hint Switch". By turning it ON, if the ball glows, it will also give the player the general location of the freeroam event ("North of the district", "Duke's Estate", etc...). Those who wish to keep the mystery going can just ignore those devices entirely and it won't affect their gameplay.
That's it for this PoL! I'll go back to developing now, so I can bring you the first release of the game ASAP. In the meanwhile, know that I am ever thankful for your patience : )
Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful week!
N_Taii
Comments
I've already taken a lot of time considering it's been over four months since the release of HC2's last update. Every creator should find a proper balance between rushing their creations and going full perfectionist and delaying until the end of times. I'm still trying to find that balance. The good thing with Patreon and periodical game updates is that, if something is lacking, I can get feedback and fix it later. That isn't to say I'll rush anything or work on the game half-heartedly though, but we're still far from a final release anyway, so anything unsatisfying can be worked on early on, contrary to rushed "finished" games : )
N_taii
2022-05-23 21:52:52 +0000 UTCYeah for me it would be really cool and convenient if the respective crystals start to glow by themselves always when there is a freeroaming scene available for one of the respective characters. And when you interact with them you get additional information, e.g. the location, the time,… I think its great that you will work on the UI. It will surely have a great impact on how polished the game feels and how wholesome. Thanks, I am so excited for HC3 by now. But rather take your time and do it right and dont rush the first releases (just think of the many computer games of the last years, that have been rushed and people were so disappointed, because so many things that were promised werent even implemented or only half-hearted.) I know you are different and you will always give your best. Just my little advice, rather take some more time then too little. How a game looks when its released is more important then when (up to a cerain degree;))
Pete
2022-05-21 07:49:03 +0000 UTCTechnically, it could be doable to have two options of interecting with the crystal balls or not, but having to deal with that on top of all the other things could prove to be a bit of a hassle. I'll think about it later, when I am done with the more important things. As for the menu and UI, good point. Since it isn't something that's very hard to change, I'll do the other stuff first and will get to it more seriously later, see how I can improve that : )
N_taii
2022-05-21 01:07:32 +0000 UTCI also feel like the room is too clouded with texts, but if its only possible to either switch all texts on all maps on or off and you cant pick which ones then well.. be it as it may;) concerning the interaction with the crystals I would like to have an option, if possible, to not interact with them and still see whether there is a freeroam event or not. But if thats too much of a hustle then rather focus on more important things. I want to add something concerning the video from last week; I would love to see an overhaul of the UI and the menu. Everything else looks so beautiful and the UI and menu layout just dont feel on the same level
Pete
2022-05-19 08:56:54 +0000 UTCNo worries! Communication is key after all : )
N_taii
2022-05-18 17:21:07 +0000 UTCAh, I hadn't considered you'd be using the same function elsewhere. Yeah, I'd say just leaving the text on in the MC's room would be perfectly fine, given doing so lets you also have other areas of the game marked, and you've got it set to turn off during cutscenes anyway. Also, I certainly understand the logic behind requiring an interaction to get the glow, now that you've explained it, and while I'm not in the group who wants them to be a surprise, I'm not about to demand you ruin other people's fun just to make things marginally more convenient for me. Thank you for explaining everything.
Varyon
2022-05-18 00:33:05 +0000 UTCHonestly, turning off the text wouldn't be a problem. This would mean, however, that all labels on the map would be turned off entirely, meaning all indications like "magic shop, inn, xxx's room", etc... would be turned off, since they're all dependent on the same plugin. Still, since the MC won't be spending a huge amount of time in his room (except for sleeping), and that all text will be automatically turned off during every cutscene or events, will it really be such a bother? Anyway, I'll see to have an option to turn text on map off. As for the crystal balls, that is essentially how they will work. However, I made it a point to make them interactable because I know there is a fair amount of people who would rather keep the freeroam events a surprise entirely, and having a visual hints that automatically pops up in their room -instead of having to touch it first- goes against this idea. Besides, you wouldn't have to interact with each four balls every time. Freeroam will only appear as you progress each character's storyline. As such, if you're progressing Haylen (the mom)'s storyline, you might only want to check on Haylen's crystal ball. It might just be an issue for the two main characters who are tied to the same storyline, but I'll try to make freeroams logical, meaning that if the focus is on one character during a cutscene/quest, it is more likely that any new freeroam(s) will be related to that character.
N_taii
2022-05-17 14:13:23 +0000 UTCA few thoughts: The room is a bit text-heavy. How much trouble would it be to code in an option to turn the text off permanently? I really like the crystal ball idea. It sounds like the plan is that interacting with each will make it glow if there's a freeroam event available, and give the option to give a hint. Is that correct? Would it be possible to instead simply make it so when there is a freeroam event, the corresponding crystal glows on its own, and then you can interact for the hint? That would be a lot more convenient than interacting with each of the four crystals every time. It might also be interesting if, when there's a freeroam event later in the day, the crystal has a faint glow - that way, you only need to check your room in the morning. As always, keep up the great work!
Varyon
2022-05-17 10:44:20 +0000 UTCGlad you do! This idea originated from the reasonable complaints of people wanting to see as many freeroam events as possible without having to rely on the walkthrough constantly : )
N_taii
2022-05-17 02:26:26 +0000 UTCLove the crystal ball idea!
Arty
2022-05-16 21:55:23 +0000 UTC
