DevLog: Ernie Item Interactions Before/After

Hey all,

So still working hard on v0.03 and it's coming along nicely. I'll go into more detail in the typical written DevLog before too long (probably after the weekend. I wanna see how far I can get, but I got a stack of images to render tonight).

But for today, we get to take another look at a change we'll be seeing in the v0.03 revamp, particularly in how items are used that we find in the story. I'm just going to jump straight into the screenshots to help describe more of the changes we'll see.

Image 1: So this is a screenshot out of the original game when you first get the cleaning supplies from Ernie. The old style game basically used a pop up window to show the item that you picked up. We didn't see this very often except with a few items that we got from Ernie so it was pretty inconsistent (in addition to looking like crap).

Image 2: Here's an example of the replacement style that we'll see. In the revamp, the items that you gain are going to be incorporated straight into the image like the screwdriver was in v0.02. You won't get a popup window anymore, in this case, you're seeing Zack get the tools to fix the lights in the shower from Ernie and immediately strapping them around his waist. 

Image 3: This is another revamp image that was specifically added to help flesh out the world a bit more, so I don't have anything to compare it to. We'll be seeing more interactions with Ernie in the hallway, such as actually giving Zack a crash course in how the lights work while Zack stares at the electrical work the same way I would.

Image 4: This shows a similar situation as the first example, specifically during the shower cleaning details for Ernie in the original game. Receiving the cleaning supplies had a similar pop up window to the screwdriver/tools and resulted in Zack doing the cleaning jobs in a dank, wet, dark room with lights that are pretty much coming from every direction while I desperately tried to figure out how lighting mechanics worked.

Image 5: In this final image, we'll see a shot from the revamp featuring a series of images that have Zack cleaning the shower. I actually had a lot of fun and kinda went stylized with these images. Just like the screwdriver/tools, you'll actually physically get the cleaning supplies and bring them into the shower rather than deal with the stupid pop up windows.

Image 6: So I really had mixed feelings about sharing these because I really like the way they turned out but I also don't want people to think I've spent like 2 weeks making tool belts and mopping floors. So here's something to wet your appetite. Remember that Chapter 1 is where the shower wall comes down so we'll be seeing that in v0.03. This is a shot from the original game after Zack fixed the lights. The image is still super grainy as well as somehow, Braden is able to levitate and is actually hovering above the shower floor. 

Image 7: Here's the replacement image in the revamp. Expect this to be the new standard moving forward. I'm really happy with how the lighting turned out here so feast away, there's gonna be a lot of these.

Hope you enjoy the teasers, stay tuned <3