October 2021 Progress Update!

Happy spooky month everybody o.o!

The next Pure Onyx release should be available by tomorrow night, but as usual we have the tentative changelog and a lot to show you ^-^. 

We made a lot of progress this month hashing out details for the cinematic mode and improved scene unlock system, which we'll discuss more below.  

On the 3D end of things, Kame has finished the Splicer Pitbull sculpt, and we have in-engine screens of the final texture / materials test before we make the low poly model and rig :D.  I had hoped to have posed in-engine shots of the bunnies -- TK worked very hard on getting their rigs and texture bakes done -- but I simply need another couple days to work on their textures and materials.  

Lastly though, we have a mess of concept art for new enemies, and also two of our favorite ladies that will potentially return to PO in some capacity ^-^.

Check out the details below!

Topics for this Update!

• October Release Details
• Cinematic Mode Progress
• Splicer Pit Bull Progress
• Malise and Neon Early Sketches
• Larva/Crawler Improvements
• New Machine Enemy Concepts
• New Biomonster Concepts

October Release Details

Here's the potential changelog for the upcoming release!  Since last month, we've added a new H scene, greatly improved the Larva/Crawler enemies, fixed a few serious issues affecting some players, added Onyx's new optimized model during H scenes, and a bunch of other improvements.

Tentative Changelog (** indicates items added or being added since the October 18 Inner Circle test release):

• ** Added the second part of Onyx vs FemCop + MaleCop H Scene.
• ** Fixed runtime exception related to custom game resolution handling resulting in game being unresponsive at "Press any key" screen with certain display setups.
• ** Fixed stomach bulge shape during Onyx vs FemCop Baton scene.
• ** Fixed missing skin/geo on the Chain Splicer's LOD model (his junk was floating mid-air, spooky) 
• ** Fixed missing SFX when Onyx is impacted directly with Crawler's spitball
• ** Fixed issue where Crawler's spit projectile would freeze in the air before impacting the ground
• ** Increased Crawler agro distance (actually, fixed an issue that prevented him from agroing) and Spit attack range.
• ** Hitting a Crawler will now agro both him and his swarm.
• ** Fixed floating Larva/Crawlers during combat.
• ** Added louder Crawler projectile splash SFX.
• ** Added electrical FX when FemCop's forcefield spawns.
• ** Crawlers will no longer face backwards when spitting at Onyx.
• Added early version of FemCop + MaleCop vs Onyx H Scene to the Gallery.  Expect a significantly extended version + SFX and improved anims in the end-of-month release!
• Added optimized (LOD) model for Onyx (should be a solid FPS boost during H scenes).
• Changed key toggling in-game console to use key to the left from the 1 key on every keyboard layout.  This should resolve difficulties that AZERTY/QWERTZ (French/German) users had with finding the open/close console key.
• Surveillance disks no longer drop if you already have the scene unlocked
• Fixed critical issue that could bug out (heh) Larva/Crawler enemies, preventing their AI from restarting and making them un-killable.
• Added SFX to Larva/Crawler enemies
• Added splat FX when Larva enemies are squished.
• Added Bite animation + improved GroundHit animation for Larva/Crawler enemies.
• Larva/Crawler enemies will no longer "walk" backwards.
• Added Spit attack to Crawlers
• Added Ground Slam attack to Crawlers
• Added time system.  In-game time (shown in top-right of menu) now passes when Onyx travels between areas (distance-based), and after H Scene fade-outs.  Day/Night artwork hasn't been added yet.
• FemCop can no longer be hit while winding up to perform her Mule Kick counterattack
• Eliminated nasty flickering shadow artifacts that often appear at edges of shadows on Onyx and FemCop
• Improved Debug Viewer (F1 key) so that collider meshes are actually representative of the enemy's physics colliders + update in real-time.
• Console command history may now be accessed via the up/down arrow keys (while console is open).
• Console message log now scrolls using the Page Up/Down keys instead of up/down arrow keys.
• Console commands may now be autocompleted/selected via Intellisense with the Tab key.  Shift+Tab selects in reverse.
• Improved console text and color formatting
• Overhauled code services/subsystems; mostly backend benefits but performance gains are possible for lower-end hardware
• FemCop's forcefield now casts a reflection

Cinematic Mode Progress / Preview

Early this month AltairPL and I worked a great deal on requirements for cinematic mode, and from there we were able to take two big steps.  We designed a rough UI for the game database that, once added, will allow us to quickly set up cinematic mode scenes, and we also built a draft of the camera and lighting rig.  I updated the previous cinematic mode previews to work with said rig, and am currently using it to work on a new preview, shown above ^-^.  As you can see, having the camera rig allows for some pretty interesting possibilities, as we can now animate Unity's cameras for shots instead of relying on simple zooms and pans.  

There's still no date on when cinematic mode will be ready, but we're much closer to it now after this month's work.  

Splicer Pitbull Progress

Kame has finished the Splicer Pitbull sculpt!  It took a few tries to get the muscles stylized for our aesthetic, but it came out great I think.  We've done a final shading test in Unity (shown above), and the next thing is for TK to do the low-poly, at which point I'll make the final textures and transfer my materials tests to the final doggo.

Malise and Neon Early Sketches

Limbo and I have begun working on some early design sketches for Malise and Neon, who will likely appear in PO in some capacity ^-^.  Not a whole lot to say on this yet, but I figured you guys would enjoy seeing our early progress :D.  

We're probably further along with Malise here, as I've taken a first stab at tweaking her features and proportions to match PO's style. 

Larva/Crawler Improvements

The Larva and Crawler enemies have undergone a lot of work, and should feel far more complete in this latest release!  Here's a brief rundown of the improvements we've made to them this month:

• Added SFX for all animations.
• Larva now have splat FX when Onyx stomps them.
• The Crawler can now spit arcing projectiles at Onyx.  These will cause AoE splash damage if they hit the ground.
• Crawlers now have a ground slam attack.  
• Larva and Crawlers now have a Bite attack animation.
• Crawlers will become aggressive toward Onyx when she nears their swarm, most likely using the spit attack to harass.
• Attacking a Crawler will now agro both him and his swarm.
• Larva will no longer float or "walk" backwards. 

There's still some work left to be done, including adding splash FX for the Crawler's projectile, and additional liquid trails when they move and hop around.

New Machine Enemy Concepts

(Descriptions match the images from top to bottom)

Ghoul 

If you recall, the Ghouls are a robotic enemy largely found wandering in the Junkyard level.  They come plated with a human-looking shell, but once damaged their internal skeleton is exposed. Here's Limbo's design of that internal framework, as well as an early 3D sketch by Kame :D.

Unit 05 Types A & B

Another returning MATM enemy, Unit 05s are a low level machine class enemy.  With the exception of the Ghouls, I felt that many of the machine encounters we had designed so far were dominated by larger, strong enemies, and I wanted an enemy that wouldn't seem out of place if used throughout the game.  

Unlike in MATM, they will now come in at least a couple different flavors to spruce things up.  One type will spawn by raining down and deploying, while another can morph into a ball to evade or attack Onyx.  I'm also considering a third version with a tesla coil that emits electric novas in an area of effect attack.

New Biomonster Concepts

We've been working on additional concepts for bosses this month so that we can solidify the remaining level and enemy design necessary for the main game.  As a fitting Halloween treat, here are our ideas for the new section of the Labs level ^-^!  

(Descriptions match the images from top to bottom)

The Harvestman

Big boi here is a rough design for the first of two bosses we're looking at for the Labs stage.  We don't have a whole lot figured out for the boss fight yet, but there are a lot of options for making it interesting.  These include multiple targets, web attacks, allowing him to raise up to avoid the player character's ground attacks, and possibly even allowing him to walk on the ceiling (my favorite so far for making him unique). 

Brood Weaver

The Brood Weavers are the first type of minion that will appear in the Labs.  Descending from above, these guys specialize in web and ranged attacks.  They prefer to hang out and let their meatier counterparts commit to legs-to-hand combat on the ground when possible.

Mygalomorph

Mygalomorphs are the second minion we've designed for this new section.  They tend to charge and jump at their prey as opposed to hanging above them.  If possible, I'd really like to give them some specialty burrowing techniques that would allow them to evade or even surprise the player >.>.