Thyrian Defenders - 63

Hey folks! Got some exciting updates for you today. Well, mostly UI stuff, but that's kinda hot for a nerd like me. A solid UI just makes the whole game feel so much more legit.

The first 2 images show examples of the updated main menu functions. Previously, we just had one single list you scrolled through (image 3), which works okay and looks pretty good, but there are too many important features that felt like they got lost in one generic list. By breaking the options into 3 sub menus that are accessed with right and left directions, every feature has a proper home and feels important. Also it looks and feels more interesting. It worked out so each of the 3 sub menus has 3 options, so the navigation has a nice balanced feel with the game modes prioritized in the center. Only the options menu is not shown here, which includes, settings, controls, and a media player.

Moving on, the 4th and 5th images show an all new HUD for the survival mode. The survival mode is the VR mode I've explained in previous posts. With recent changes to the mode it has become a pure score chasing survival mode, so we refer to it as such now. Moreover, the kill meter and star system I proposed in the last post has already been thrown out, as the randomness of the procedural levels made these elements often feel meaningless. In the end, it's all about score. However, we thought it would be fun to show off any relevant stats that go towards score. Since you cannot use a wingman in survival mode, we use the whole right side HUD panel to display score and stats. Even with that we still had quite a bit of space to fill, so we decided to create a diagram of the titan that shows damage to your ship in more detail. This is purely cosmetic, but since the mode is about survival, it seems appropriate to emphasize your status. We're hoping it can also bring more tension to the experience when you're heavily damaged and on the cusp of a new top score.     

The final video clip is a scene from the intro. I know I've already shared this scene, but I've made some changes to it, as I rewrote the story board from beyond this point. The explosions were revised, I added the flashing effect, and now all 3 ships gets destroyed in one fell swoop. After this scene a new enemy will appear from a portal, and the alternate female character, Suri, will make and appearance before it's all said and done. The previous story board only included Taz, but for a game with such a unique cast of characters, I figure we got to at least include the two main characters.