November 2021 Progress Update!

Hey everyone!

The next Pure Onyx release will be ready for you at the end of the month!  You can check the tentative changelog out below.  We also have progress from the mid-month release to discuss as well as new artwork to present!

We have an especially large amount of concept art this month to show off, as Limbo has done a few reworks to rough character designs and progressed with even more outfit concepts for Malise and Neon. 

Kame has more sculpting work on the Ghoul enemy to show you, and TK has completed three low poly optimized character models for existing/upcoming enemies (Wraxe, Male Cop, and the Splicer Grenadier).  TK and I also have the Bunny Girl characters ready for animation, which I'll discuss more below :D.

Topics for this Update!

• November Release Details
• Bunny Girl Art and Prints
• Chests Added!
• Mr Black Concepts
• Ghoul Enemy Progress
• More Malise and Neon Concepts
• Xibalba Concept #2
• Attack Code Overhaul

November Release Details

Here's the rough changelog for this month's release!  We still have a few days before the release, so expect this one to change a little in the meantime. 

Tentative Changelog (** indicates items added or being added since the November 20 Inner Circle test release):

• ** Added early version of a Bunny Girl vs Bunny Girl H scene to the gallery.
• ** Reworked physics to prevent Onyx from jittering or slingshotting when colliding with objects and playing field boundaries.
• ** Fixed the wacky wavy inflatable henchmen (Runt and Thug no longer inflate/deflate during bystander idles)
• ** Improved chest open animations.
• ** Completed Interactions system overhaul.  Loot lying around now causes less of a performance hit + items are less likely to spawn on top of each other.
• ** Fixed an integer overflow issue that could result in the Wave # rolling over into the negatives if the player set the wave to a very high value via console.
• ** The setwave command can no longer be invoked with negative values.
• Added secondary motion (jiggles/physics) + fixed/improved animations for entire Onyx vs Cop Double Team H scene
• Added liquid FX and post H scene liquid to the Onyx vs Cop Double Team H scene
• Added loot chests!  Bigger chests = better loot.  These will get fancier in future releases.
• Added example events in Sewers and Skyline wave missions where chests become unlockable at certain waves.
• Completed partial overhaul of interactable system (allows for interaction cursor to appear properly on chests)
• Completed internal overhaul of all player and enemy attacks.  This adds attacks and related data to our game database, making them much easier to add/edit, but the transition is a major one and has the potential to create bugs with existing attacks, so please be on the lookout.
• Added optimized standard and low poly models for Street Lord Wraxe
• Added optimized low poly model for Male Cop
• Fixed missing helmet meshes / untextured eyes underneath helmet on Male Cop
• Fixed the color of Male Cop's tralala -- his ding ding dong.
• Added new FemCop grenade model + finished animations/FX for forcefield deployment during H scene

Bunny Girl Art and Prints

It took a lot more effort during the first part of this month than I had anticipated, but the Bunny Girls are ready for animations!  TK and I spent a few days early on optimizing and redoing textures to reduce memory requirements since the two share some elements.  We've added their weapons and serving tray prop, and since Penapsquat had made some poses last month I decided I wanted to make some unique artwork to show them off :D.  

I've included all six variants of the art in the attached zip file ^-^.  Also, any of the six are available as prints for the artwork print reward tier!  If you're already pledged to that tier and would like one just let me know.  

Chests Added!

We've added chests with this latest mid-month release :D.  We've also added example events for the Skyline and Sewer test maps where they become unlockable after passing certain waves.  In normal gameplay however they will usually be unlockable as you discover them.  There are currently two different models, with the larger representing better rewards. 

This is a pretty significant addition to the game, as aside from the shop these are the first props that can really wreck enemy AI, navigation, and our physics setup.  They are also a stepping stone toward destructible props/containers and environment traps.  They function quite well, but there are definite issues to work out, some of which we may have fixed by the end of the month.  I'll also be adding additional animation than what's shown here, including the lights blinking and some FX for the loot spawn.

Mr. Black Concepts

Some of you have asked about a replacement shopkeeper, seeing as our Robobooty's shop NPC is but a simple Runt.  The response I have to that is that we'll actually have multiple shops in PO, and we'll probably base the wares on the NPC running it.  Some will be in fixed locations, while some can appear randomly in stages like other procedural events.  APL even came up with the idea of having a rare shop spawn out of a chest like a greedy mimic (Bot-In-The-Box :D).  

What we have here though is a character that was originally designed for MATM, but hasn't made it in yet.  Meet Mr. Black!  He's a shady shopkeeper that you'll encounter in New Babylon throughout PO, but may be more than he seems >.>. 

The top concept is the original from MATM, and the next two are the detailed versions Limbo created this month!

Ghoul Enemy Progress

Limbo and Kame have made a bunch of progress on the Ghoul enemy this month!  As a refresher, this enemy has an outer shell that breaks away to reveal its inner skeletal design.  

Limbo did a more thorough concept of the Ghoul's outer shell, and Kame has been working on sculpts for both the inner and outer designs simultaneously.  He's finshed the rough blockout stage on the Outer Shell, and has a clean sculpt of the Inner Skeleton but it's still awaiting details.  In terms of quantity of art, it's effectively two enemies in one, so he still has a ways to go yet!

More Malise and Neon Concepts

Limbo has completed some additional sketches for outfits for Malise and Neon!  Limbo's been working on these when he doesn't have a higher priority task at my request, largely in the event that Malise and Neon receive a larger role in the game at some point.  The concepts also translate well to MATM, so yeah ^-^.   

Xibalba Concept #2

Limbo took a second stab at Xibalba, a character relevant to both MATM and PO.  He did an early concept of him late last year, but I think this one really turned out great!  Since it's been a while, I'll repost the brief description I posted for him back then.

Xibalba, meaning "underworld" in ancient Mayan, is kind of like a modern Rasputin.  He has influence over the Splicer Gang, and is even rumored to be connected to Null Sect, an occult faction we haven't yet explored in-game.   

Attack Code Overhaul

So, this is not the awaited combat overhaul we've spoken about, but it's an important part of it >.>!  

This month, Mr. Kittyhawk completed a major code overhaul of the player and enemy attacks in the game.  This transitioned attacks from pure C# scripts over to our game database, making it far easier to add new ones and edit standard properties. 

With this advancement, we can edit damage properties and hitboxes for all attacks in the game from a single location within the Unity editor.  We now have greater control over animations as well in that we can edit or disable crossfading for each animation in a character's moveset independently of the others.  We are also able to adjust physics-based movement curves in a single location, greatly simplifying an annoying part of the animation pipeline.