Inner Circle Update for January 4 2020!

Hey everyone, welcome to 2020 @_@!

Apologies for not doing one of these updates in a while!  We've been focused on getting the next release out, but since Mr. Kittyhawk needs some more time to polish up the H system code we've been plowing ahead.  As such, there's some new progress worth showing!

Continue / Game Over H Scene

I started on the first game over H scene (it actually plays on the Continue screen), which you can see at the top of the post :D.  I'm designing these with the same vibe as retro beat 'em up games' Continue screens, where they always had some sense of peril for the player character as the clock counts down to Game Over.  I'm really excited to get a bit further with this one so it's more obvious what I have in mind here :D.

A lot of under-the-hood rigging progress from the past couple of weeks is also shown in this preview.   TK got the first iteration of the Splicer Runt/Looter rig up and running, and you can also see the latest (hopefully final) Onyx face and hair rig in action.

New Maya Preview Shaders 

Due to it not always being practical to export WIP animations to Unity, I share and post a lot of previews straight from the Maya viewport.  These don't give the best impression, so I spent a few days over the past week creating new shaders that are much more presentable. The result is what you see above and throughout this post :D.   

And no, these won't affect the game style -- they're strictly for a better look for animations before they go to Unity.

Low Poly Vioreaper + Combat Animations

TK finished the low poly vioreaper and combat animations last month, and over the past couple of weeks TMX has completeld the basic set of combat animations.  This means that as soon as this upcoming release is out the door,  Mr. Kittyhawk and I will be able to start adding this guy in to the game.  

I only showed about half of the anims here, and sorry that the GIF is such low FPS :(.  Here's a 60 FPS video of the animations :D.

RPG Mechanics

AltairPL has been getting up to speed with Unity so that he can help implement the RPG and score mechanics for Pure Onyx's Mission Mode.  His experience with MATM is really paying off here, and while it won't be pretty until we revamp the UI, he's accomplished a lot in a short period.  

Here's a summary of where he's at with it so far:

• Coded character stats and level data classes
• Created a custom UI editor for designing stats/leveling curves
• Implemented experience/level handling
• Implemented prototype for enemy reward system (gaining exp, score, money, etc.)
• Added stats tracking to the current characters
• Hooked up stats system to the HP/stamina gauges

Oh, and Pr0nz will not be the official unit of currency in Pure Onyx >_>.

The Void Slums - Tunnel Tileset

Uber's been continuing on the background tileset for the Void Slums tunnel,  and it's just about ready to begin final processing.  

The tileset-generated maps will be dynamic in Mission Mode, and as you can see here we've got a couple new mechanics.  One is doors/passageways in the background that provide a branching capability to the map system, and another is a dead end tile where we can place loot, an event, or require Onyx to backtrack.   Gates can also be locked, and may require a switch to be thrown in order to unlock them.  

I look forward to expanding on these ideas, and with the tileset system it'll be relatively easy to create new tiles and plug them into existing levels :D.

Mission Mode Map Configurations

I made this diagram for the design document, but I think it's the best visual example so far of how the map system will work in Mission Mode.  It shows some of the different map configurations for the first level of Pure Onyx (The Void Slums), and how certain "missions" may be arranged. This isn't an exhaustive list -- it's entirely designed to show the flexibility of the map system.  

As you can see, between dynamically editing events, reconfiguring maps, and even changing things based on time of day, we can get a lot of mileage out of a single level in terms of making varied missions/tasks (quests) for the RPG system. 

We will likely be able to develop the Mission Mode mechanics just using this level, and since we're nearly done with maps for it we will begin pretty soon.  In other words, PO will have an actual gameplay loop with progression, and start to feel like a game soon :D.

These are important features for making Pure Onyx an extended experience, as opposed to solely an arcade-style beat 'em up that once you beat you're done with.  

New Combat SFX

Now that we're finally producing content, I've been working with sound designer Lewd K for new and improved sound effects.  So far he's created a small library of H scene FX for us, as well as new FX for Onyx's attacks.  You can check some of them out in a video I made here.