July 2021 Progress Update!

Hey everyone!

We have a pretty hefty progress update this month, with a lot of work to show and details on the release coming at the end of the month.  

This release should contain a lot of improvements over the mid-month release, with additional skills/AI for FemCop, overhauled Wraxe animations so that his hitboxes are no longer all over the place, cue FX for (most) H attacks, and a multi-team version of the Chain Splicer's H scene.  Read on for details! 

Topics for this Update!

• July Release Details
• FemCop Added to Game + Updates
• Bunnygirl Enemy Model Progress
• Dominatrix Enemy Model Progress
• Optimized Character Models (Big Performance Boost!)
• Main Menu / Title Screen Redesign
• Splicer Bike Concepts
• Mecha-9 Pose Concepts
• APL's Mission / Map Progress

July Release Details 

We're squeezing quite a bit more in before the end-of-the-month release, including at least one new multi-team component to the Chain Splicer H scene.  

We had two major changes from the mid-month release worth mentioning here as well.  The first is that the initial version of FemCop has been added for combat testing :D.   The second is a big performance boost by way of greatly optimized enemy models.  I'll discuss this more below.

I unfortunately had to push back a couple things from this upcoming release because (our rigger) TK's PC blew up this week and he has to build a new one.  We however have a few additional things in the works that may make it in, so we'll see how it goes.

Tentative Changelog (** indicates items added or being added since the June 17 Inner Circle test release):

• ** Adding Runt multi-team animation to the Chain Splicer H scene
• ** Added "EyeShine" FX/SFX as a cue for Splicer Thug's / Street Lord Wraxe's H Attacks 
• ** Overhauling Wraxe's animations to fix garbage hitboxes (finally!)
• ** Fixed about a dozen cases of really ugly clipping with Wraxe's combat animations
• ** Adding Wraxe's death animation.
• ** Adding Backstep ability to FemCop.
• ** Adding Mule Kick ability to FemCop.
• ** Increasing FemCop's FlipKick hitbox size 
• ** Increased FemCop's health
• ** Added LOD (optimized) model for Charger
• ** Enemies will no longer instantly attack/continue combos after being interrupted.
• ** Wraxe should no longer dash attack in reverse >_>.
• ** Fixed an issue where enemies improperly enter bystander mode if Onyx breaks grapple quickly.
• ** Sparks FX during FemCop's Flip Kick now display correctly
• ** Fixing visual glitch where FemCop turns to face Onyx before her Strike attack fully completes.
• ** Adding FemCop's settings to the wave system aggression system
• ** Adding more/fixing/tweaking visual FX on FemCop's combat animations
• ** Fixed an issue where equipping / using an item that affected HP could wreak havoc on Onyx's stats/health indicator, given specific conditions.
• ** Kanji now mirrors properly on the back of Chain Splicer LOD (optimized) model
• Added FemCop enemy to the game for combat testing.
• Added highly optimized models for the Splicer Thug, Runt, Chain Splicer, Vioreaper, and Ball Drone characters at virtually no loss of quality.  Should result in big performance gains when these characters are on screen.
• Added a versatile new system for enemy repositioning.  Can work for jumps (see FemCop), teleport skills, etc.
• Implemented new workflow for improved enemy hitbox tracking (you can even knock FemCop out of the air).  Expect to see other enemies retrofitted with this soon.
• Fixed an issue that would break H scenes if Onyx escaped a grapple at the same time the enemy won the grapple.
• Physics system can now be interrupted to stop active forces.  This should prevent characters from misaligning during grapples / H scenes.
• Performed backend animation overhaul to more easily address common issues with the animation system.
• Performed major backend overhaul on actors / loot / pickups and map data in line with working toward complex multi-map missions.
• Made Chain Splicer more aggressive / increased depth of his attacks' hitboxes
• Optimized WaveSpawner enemy position determination.

FemCop Added to Game! + Updates

We added FemCop as an enemy for the $10 release last week, and haven't gotten any reports of bugs, so it seems to have gone well.  She's certainly the most agile enemy to date, as every one of her attacks includes movement.  This has prompted us to upgrade our animation workflow to improve hitbox alignment, and it's been a big success.  We're using this workflow now to overhaul Wraxe's animations to achieve similar results.

FemCop also was the first enemy to receive a jump ability.  More precisely, it's a versatile technique for repositioning the AI, which we can also use for things like teleporting.  

For the end-of-month release, she'll be receiving two new skills as well as increased health and aggression (faster stand-ups and reaction time at later waves).  The first is a backstep ability, which we've designed to work with Onyx as well for a later release.  The second is an attack from knockdown position, in which she launches a jump kick toward Onyx as she stands up.

Bunnygirl Enemy Model Progress

Kame has finished the first bunnygirl enemy model!  If you recall from the concept art, there'll be a second version incoming soon (he already has a solid start on her).  And for those of you that have been asking, we have also have started work on an optional futa version!  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 

Dominatrix Enemy Model Progress

The dominatrix enemy model is just about finished up!  Apologies for not having a full body and weapon render, but expect it next month, along with an updated version of Unity materials hopefully :D.  

We've made an alternate hairstyle as well to perhaps use for a minion version of the character, whereas Domino will act as the unique boss version (we aren't 100% sure on this yet).  

Optimized Character Models (Big Performance Boost!)

TK has nearly completed the first step of what will be the biggest performance boost / optimization we've had yet. 

He has vastly optimized models for most of the enemies (minus Wraxe and FemCop).  The full detail models will still be available during cinematic mode once it's added, but the new optimized models will be used for gameplay.  At the game camera distance there's virtually no change in quality, so it's basically a big, free performance boost.  Here's the difference:

• Splicer Thug: 32k -> 8.6k polys
• Splicer Runt: 20k -> 8.8k polys
• Chain Splicer:  38.3k -> 9.4k polys
• Vioreaper: 16.5k -> 10k polys
• Ball Drone: 23.4k -> 14.6k
• Charger: 23.2k -> 9.3k

After optimizing Wraxe's model, the next step will be to do the same for the females.  They have additional challenges, since they have a lot of corrective morphs that aid in making joint rotation look good.  They also have much more complex genital systems, but optimizing these models (Onyx especially since she's onscreen all the time) will be a great performance boost. 

Main Menu / Title Screen Redesign

Early this month I attempted some main menu / title screen redesigns.  The artwork isn't finished yet, but I don't expect these to be the final designs.  They are however I think a step up and more representative of the game's style than the placeholder we currently have in-game.  This new main menu will be animated by Brum, who did the loading and pause menu animations.

Splicer Bike Concepts

We have some more detailed concepts from Limbo this month for the Splicer bike designs! We're looking at making two different versions, as one will likely be for the "trap" type of encounter, where bikers ride by and try to knock Onyx over, then despawn (they can be dispatched in a single hit).  A second version will be more like a regular enemy encounter, where the biker will persist until defeated.     

Mecha-9 Pose Concepts

Limbo worked up a bunch of combat concepts for the Mecha-9 enemy this month.  We've jumped into the deep end a bit since this will probably be the most advanced dog type enemy in the game, and there's a lot to experiment with from an AI and combat standpoint.  We're considering giving them some similarities to dogs in the Resident Evil games, in that they transition between a slow, stalking mode and a pounce mode where they move quickly.  They would also circle the player, which would be pretty unique to a beat 'em up game.  

This enemy will additionally have ranged attacks, and I decided the Labs stage would be a better fit instead of the Junkyard, since the Labs are much later in the game.   The high tech aesthetic would probably work better there as well.  

APL's Mission / Map Progress

Not counting tasks like fixing issues, adding some stuff to game database, and some other odd jobs, I've spent pretty much whole July on implementing mission scenes, which to some extent are very similar to what's in the game right now, but at the same time, they're oh so much more. And that's kinda both good and bad - I had a working base, but I also had to be extra careful not to break anything currently in game in the process.

On top of additions/changes listed below, everything touched in the process was updated, tweaked, optimized, cleaned up, prepared for things to come, etc. Anyway, here are the gory (a bit technical) details:

• Designed and prototyped mission scene structure
• Overhauled map data structure to work in both old and new scenes
• Completely reworked initialization and cleanup flow of field scenes parts, like map data, follow camera, etc. to make them more organized and less prone to some errors and Unity's variable execution order
• Merged all separate static map object (actors, pickups, etc.) factories into one being an integral part of map data with additional static cache in case we'll need it later
• Unified everything related to map objects spawning, including prefab assets structure, to make it as coherent as possible
• Slightly changed pickups spawning to use in-game item, instead of creating one from scratch, which will allow us to implement dropping item to the ground from inventory and which allowed us to simplify and streamline pickup spawning flow
• Added to mission scenes support for transfer points, used to transfer player between two maps or even two points on one map
• Adjusted some pre-existing and barely or not used stuff dedicated to immediately move actor to certain spot, including fixing some related stuff, like correctly updating follow camera position, etc.
• Tied reflection system more to map data and optimized it as much as I could
• Implemented prototype for map events - basic structure, handling, etc.
• Implemented prototype for enemy map event designed to, among other things, to replace current wave system, which did its job, but is definitely not enough for what we have in store for this stuff
• Implemented prototype for visual enemy waves configuration - not as powerful as hard-coding it, but way easier to use and hopefully will be enough for our needs
• Moved some stuff around in project structure to make it more organized and easier to find