August 2020 Progress Update!

Hey everyone!

The major theme of this update is equipment, loot, power-ups, and how they mesh with the RPG framework we've been constructing.  It's taken a lot of work to prepare this update, so hopefully you'll find it insightful.

We're planning on an Inner Circle release by the end of the month, as well as a release for all tiers in the first part of September.   These releases will showcase basic elements of the loot / inventory / equipment systems and upgrades to the RPG framework, along with whatever else we can manage to squeeze in @_@.

Animation has unfortunately taken a backseat for me this month as I've been heavily involved with the art and design process of the UI and equipment system.  I did however get FemCop's low poly textures and materials ready to go!  TMX has nearly finished all of the Splicer Boss animations, but since I don't want to delay this post further I'll be adding those to the next post.

Topics for this update:

• Lowpoly FemCop + Materials Ready! 
• New Chest/Destructible Container Props 
• Loot Containers / Power-ups 
• Loot System in Action
• Equipment Details Part 1 (Function)
• Equipment Details Part 2 (Visuals)
• Loot Window Design and System Details
• WIP Equipment Effects List 
• Icon Artwork
• Police Boss Sculpting Progress 
• Police Boss Shader Test 

Lowpoly FemCop + Materials Ready!

Before getting into the equipment stuff, I wanted to show off the FemCop enemy :D.  TK is still working on her rig, so in these shots her butt and the joint bends aren't looking 100%, but they'll look much better once he gets joint corrections applied.  There are a bunch of shots above, so be sure to check them out.  

Also, I still have to finalize her alternate hair colors and skin/makeup tones as well, so expect those soon. 

New Chest/Destructible Container Props  

We have a whole slew of new chests and container assets that we'll be using as destructible props (thanks to Sergey Tyapkin for creating these models!).  

Aside from enemies, these will be another source of loot and power-ups.  Chests will contain the best rewards, while destructible containers have a chance of dropping items as well.   

Loot Containers / Power-ups!

TK and I finished the first batch of in-game loot container models :D.  There will be more for instant-use power-ups, as well as score and cash drops, but these should cover us for the first test releases that include loot, the inventory, and equipment. 

Here' s what they represent:

• Blue: Armor/Outfit
• Green: Consumable
• Yellow: Primary Weapon
• Red: Rare Equipment
• White: Instant Recovery

Loot Window Design and System Details

This window will pop up in the lower corner of the screen when Onyx is in proximity of a loot container.  The info in it is dynamic based on the type of container. 

Equipment has a Tier rating (shown by the star gauge), which indicates how the equipment stacks up compared to other items of the same type (identified by the item icon).  Tier is directly linked to the base name of the equipment, so in this example, Carbon Knuckles are a 4 star item and will always be (except for later in this update >_> due to inconsistencies with our images :D).  If Onyx finds a 5 star pair of knuckles, then the player will know that the base item is a direct upgrade.

Equipment can be upgraded, as shown by the +#.  I haven't decided the specifics on this, but it will most likely involve using items -- nothing overly complicated however.

The Rarity of the equipment is represented by the color of the name.  Rare equipment has more/better stat bonuses and effects.  

Consumables don't stack like in many games, but instead have a # of charges before they go poof.  Both consumables and equipment get an inventory indicator to show remaining space.  Power-ups have an instant-use indicator instead.  

The next section will explain this in further detail, with examples!  

Loot System in Action!

I made a short clip showing a lot of Mr. Kittyhawk and APL's hard work on the interaction and pick-up system this month.  Here's a high quality video of the clunky GIF shown above. There are still some fine tuning improvements to be made, but it works well.  

This system is not only for loot, but for any object Onyx may interact with in the game world, such as switches, event objects, doors, etc.

Not shown, but all currency and score drops are picked up automatically by Onyx when she walks near them, as opposed to requiring that the player presses the interact button. 

Equipment Details Part 1 (Function!) 

I figured the best way to explain the stats and loot aspect of the equipment system is to run through an example of what happens when equipment drops.

The above diagram shows just that -- some various possibilities from a single weapon drop (Carbon Knuckles).  It gets a +6 Upgrade level at initialization, and then the game rolls to figure out if its rarity (Common, Uncommon, Superior, Epic, or Legendary... names subject to change >_>).  

In this example, Carbon Knuckles can only have an item range of 30-60 (this is loosely based on the "Tier" indicator, which is always the same for a given base item).  Its rarity is determined by where the item level roll falls in that range.  Higher item level has a lower chance.  For each item in the database, we have full control over these curves and ranges -- so we could tentatively make an item that can only appear at item level 60, and will always be "legendary" if we wanted. 

After rolling for item level (and thus, rarity), the game then picks effects from the database based on the item type (Knuckles).  The bullets with the locks beside them are a rough idea we may go with, where those effects only unlock when the item reaches a certain upgrade level (upgrading will be performed by using certain items).  The question marks are unidentified effects that need to be revealed with an item. 

Equipment Details Part 2 (Visuals!)  

We've heavily refined our vision of the role of equipment visuals since our first look at the subject.  Instead of mix-and-matching different outfit types, equipment progression will keep Onyx generally looking like Onyx... just more Onyx-y.   More visually unique equipment will exist at higher tiers, as well as costumes that override equipment graphics.    This not only keeps our original idea of having unique outfits that change or offer new H animations intact, but gives the player incentive to seek out items late-game.  

Onyx will have the following equipment slots:

• Weapon
• Coat
• Top
• Bottom
• Footwear
• Accessory
• Costume
• Wave Shifter

Each slot will have equipment ranging from tiers 0-10, ideally with more variety at the far end of that scale.  There won't be a unique model for every tier, but we do intend to add visual complexity by adding additional colors/texture edits to gear in between model changes.  This brings us to the color palette system (suggested by our Inner Circle members!).

Onyx will be able to find "Wave Shifters" that can be equipped to change her color palette, with a result similar to what you'd see in retro fighting games.  To me this seemed like a great way to stylistically honor the genre while giving players reward-based visual customization.  Each piece of gear will be compatible with the system.      

WIP Equipment Effects List

Equipment will have a pretty broad range of possible effects!  This is an early WIP list that we'll flesh out and rearrange as mechanics come into focus (especially for H stuff).

Suggestions are very welcome here!  Keep in mind that more complex ideas are good too, but we may relegate those to passive skills, since they require extra explanation to prevent ambiguity.  In turn, we can add "+ Skill Effectiveness" as an effect for different skills. 

Armor-based Effects

• Attack Speed +%
• Attribute +#
• HP +#
• ATK +#
• DEF +#
• Kick Damage +% 
• Grapple/Throw Damage +%
• Power-Up Effects +%
• Dmg from Police -%
• Dmg from Splicers -%
• Dmg from Syndicate -%
• Dmg from Machines -%
• Dmg from Biomonsters -%
• Dmg from Traps -%
• Damage from Guns -%
• Temporary Weapon Dmg +%
• +% Chance Extra Weapon Use
• Knockdown Resistance / Poise 
• Parasite Resistance
• Shock Resistance
• Fire Resistance
• Gas Resistance
• SP Cost Reduced %
• SP Regen +%
• Struggle Effectiveness +%
• +% Chance to Dmg When Struggling
• Item Cooldown Reduced %
• Item Exhaustion Cost Reduced %
• Consumable Effectiveness +%
• Loot Find +%
• Money Find +%
• Score Bonus +% (increases score earned from items)
• Durability +% (increases durability of this item)
• Critical Rate +%
• Critical Damage +%
• Combo Bonus Effect +% (when we add combo counter)
• Revenge Effect +% (trained skill that increases stats post H scene)

Weapon-based Effects

• Attack Speed +%
• Attribute +#
• ATK +#
• Kick Damage +%
• Grapple/Throw Damage +%
• Dmg to Police +%
• Dmg to Splicers +%
• Dmg to Syndicate +%
• Dmg to Machines +%
• Dmg to Biomonsters +%
• Critical Rate +%
• Critical Damage +%
• Weapon Damage +% (*this* weapon)
• +% Damage to Objects
• +% Poise Damage
• +% chance to Slow enemies
• +% chance to inflict Burning
• Increased hitbox range +% in all directions
• Increased attack range +%

Icon Artwork 

While working on the design for the loot window, I also spent a while developing the aesthetic for the game's icons this month.  Some of these are placeholders, so there's some inconsistency with the quality.

Items and equipment will (ideally) be represented by tangible objects, while currency, power-ups and status effects will use abstract symbols (thanks to David Edwards for many of the retro futuristic icon designs).  

The icons have been designed to work with and without outlines, colored or not colored, depending on where in the UI they are utilized.   

I've included an image in the gallery up top with labels for the effects icons.  Icons will be listed in-game in the codex accessible via the menu.

Police Boss Sculpting Progress

Last but not least, Limbo made some great progress on the Police Boss sculpt earlier this month!  He's only helping on weekends at the moment, so a character as detailed as this is taking a bit.  He's finalized enough of the sculpt however that I was able to do the first solid shader test for this guy.

Police Boss Shader Test

Not much to say here other than I am pretty ecstatic about how the shaders and lighting are looking on this guy.   Check out the high res version of this shot above!

That's it for now -- expect those test releases soon!