PURE ONYX October 2023 Progress Update!

Hey guys!

The monthly Pure Onyx release will be ready later tonight!

This release adds the Splicer Brute as an enemy, further work on the visual equipment system for enemies, the next iteration of physics/collision improvements, and major improvements to the Onyx + Bunny DiIdo H scene.

We have a lot of new work on the Slime and Syndicate Enforcer enemies to show off, as well as progress on Ring Girl, Onyx's new gear, the Fleshpods, Motobiker, and Police Boss!

Check out all the topics below!

Topics for this Update

• October Release Details
• Slime Enemy Sculpt!
• Ring Girl Progress!
• Syndicate Enforcer Sculpt WIP!
• Splicer Brute Now In Game!
• Enemy Visual Equipment System!
• Onyx Tier 6 + Motobiker Sculpts
• Police Boss Progress

October Release Details

Tentative Changelog (** indicates items added since the October Inner Circle test release.)

• ** Fixed issue with weapon (gloves) durability running out too quickly
• ** Added more Brute spawns after wave 13 in the survival missions
• ** Fixed Brute leaping into undesirable locations
• ** Crawler no longer get stuck on barrels when knocked / spawning on top of them
• ** Added HP + mass to Brute so he isn't knocked back / pushed around so easily
• ** Increased movement distance on Brute' Punch
• ** Brute will no longer have random body parts not rendered when he's partway offscreen
• Added Splicer Brute enemy + portrait
• Added Chase, Leap Smash, and Counterattack; new enemy abilities for Brute
• Added revamped Onyx + Bunnies DiIdo H scene with full physics and animation fixes/improvements
• Fixed FemCop H engagement zone so that she uses her H attack again (had similar issue that  Wraxe previously had)
• Added FemCop to visual equipment system
• FemCop now has a random chance to spawn without visor, jacket
• Order of FemCop's clothing destruction is now randomized
• Fixed FemCop's nipples appearing flat when her breasts are bare
• Onyx weapon/gloves now receive durability damage when throwing attacks instead of receiving
• Fixed Onyx's turn animations missing their T2 clothes corrective morphs and unprocessed hide nipples morphs
• Clothing break FX now spawn at position of broken item
• Onyx's Slide attack and Dodge once again move her the correct distance
• Physics motion for attacks that push actors + abilities like dodge follow their designed motion much more closely and reliably
• Knockback has been re-enabled on certain player/enemy attacks
• Onyx is now pushed out of way if she clips with enemies after dodging / stands up underneath them
• H scenes with multiple enemies no longer result in the participating enemies stacking on top of each other afterward (was specific to Thug + Runt scene).
• Actors are now pushed apart properly / face correct directions after H scenes.
• Water splash sound no longer plays when water maps are loaded
• Improved Onyx's knockdown animation and physics.  She also no longer pops up on first frame or clips with the ground when hitting it.
• Reduced crossfading on Onyx's Hit animation to reduce visual lag on her reaction
• Thug's punches now trigger collision 2-3 frames earlier to reduce perceived lag on them landing.

Slime Enemy Sculpts

Demonu has completed the main sculpts for the Slime enemy!  Good character for Halloween I think :D.

This guy is a shapeshifter, and as such requires a more complex workflow than we've had up till this point for enemies.  He'll basically be comprised of multiple rigs, and will morph between them using a series of simpler animated meshes and 2D FX.

Limbo has already been doing some 3D sketches of the combat animations so we can plot out all the necessary models we need.  I originally was dreading working on this guy, but after getting a grip on the process I'm actually really excited to get to work on him :D.

Ring Girl Progress!

We have some new pose concepts for the Ring Girl character from Xxoom and Limbo :D.  There are a few sheets worth, and we've started knocking out poses and animations in Maya already.

I actually decided on short notice to add her to the game for the end of month release in a very limited capacity.  I've mostly (but not entirely) finished her textures and materials, and she'll simply show up in one of the maps with some basic animation loops to show off our progress on her :D.

Syndicate Enforcer Sculpt WIP

Kame has started on the Syndicate Enforcer sculpt!

This is one of the earliest enemy designs for the game, but he fell by the wayside since we hadn't implemented ranged attacks at the time and we simply never got back to him.  Waiting on him has actually given us time to refine stylization for male faces, so not all bad.

Kame still has the trench coat and gun to do, but he's getting there :D.

Splicer Brute Now In Game!

The Splicer Brute's been added as an enemy!

He has a lot of new abilities that make him quite unique.  The first is his Chase ability, which allows him to speed up over time as long as he isn't interrupted.  This makes him a greater threat than a lot of enemies, as while he is on the battlefield Onyx will constantly have to evade or crowd control him.

His second new ability is a Leap Smash -- similar to FemCop's relocation leap, but he will obviously try to target Onyx with it.  One unique feature of this is he can perform it from a running start.

Lastly, he has a Counterattack ability.  If he defends, then he will perform a counterattack soon after.  If Onyx however attacks him while he defends, he will counterattack immediately.  So, unless Onyx can break his guard, it's advisable to pay attention and stop attacking once he defends :D.

The Brute's portrait actually provided a solid opportunity to improve our AI network training skills, as his mask was simply too detailed to generate without a network that understands his character.  While it took a few days for me to learn the process from TK (our resident Maya pro and AI R&D tech), it was a very valuable experience that will be important for training future character models.  The portrait still required a lot of overpainting from Xxoom and I, but came out great I think :D.

Enemy Visual Equipment System!

AltairPL has made a lot of progress this month with adding framework for enemies to use the visual equipment system :D.  This is the system that is used by Onyx to conditionally change her gear visuals both in and out of H scenes. For enemies, some different considerations are needed.

Eventually, most enemies will utilize this system, and it will offer many benefits such as being able to change outfits in gallery.  Additionally it will be used to add futa variants of some characters such as the bunny girls to gameplay.

For this release, FemCop has been added to the system, and with it comes some features you'll certainly notice (check the changelog at top of this post for details :D).

This addition has also fixed some longstanding visual bugs -- one of which was that FemCop's nipples were always flat when her clothing broke.

Onyx Tier 6 + Motobiker Sculpt Edits

Kame has made some significant finalization edits to the Motobiker and Onyx Tier 6 outfits, and I wanted to show them off again :D.  Onyx's new leotard design here is more compatible with the clothing damage system and consistent with her overall style, and Motobiker's outfit and weapon (one of a couple probably) has been finished :D.

Police Boss Progress

Last but not least, TK has nearly finished the low poly model for the Police Boss!  This one's been quite a lot of work to optimize due to the complexity of his silhouette.  He still has the rig and LOD version to do after this :D.