June 2019 Progress Update!

Hey everyone!

The update is relatively short this month, but that's mostly because there's a lot of new artwork to show :D.   Also, we’re planning for the next Pure Onyx release to be on the 5th!

The content additions since the May 7th release will include two new enemies (Chain Splicer and Wraxe boss), a new H scene for the Splicer Thug (an updated version of the scene from the Inner Circle release), and updated artwork and animations for Onyx.    

Mr. Kittyhawk has been working on the AI system improvements we deemed necessary after the update last month, and hasn't gotten around to making the additions we need to the animation system for biomonsters to look good (more on that below).  Therefore, we made a push to get these humanoid enemies in ASAP so I can work on some H content for them this month.

Currently I'm planning priorities around Mr. Kittyhawk's progress, since we need critical systems for certain features.  After AI, the next big thing will be an animation metadata system -- something that will let Unity understand how we want animations to play.  This will enable us to use multi-track animations, which are necessary for the Vioreaper and new larva enemy, and basically anything dynamic that diverges from a standard loop (Onyx's face expressions, blinking, etc).  We also have to take some timeout to finish up environment stuff necessary for getting the new maps in, which we left hanging last week. 

And with that out of the way, on to some fun stuff :D.  Here are the topics for this update!

• Notes for the Upcoming June 5th Release
• Police / Babel Operative Enemy Concepts
• RoboBadCop (AKA Police Boss) Concept  
• New Enemy Preview #1: Larva 
• New Enemy Preview #2: Chain Splicer
• Boss Artwork -- Almost there @_@ 
• Mr. Kittyhawk's AI Update 
• Onyx Artwork Progress
• Pure Onyx Desktop Wallpapers

 Notes for the Upcoming June 5th Release 

The following are the changes / fixes we've made since the May 7th release (the last release that wasn't an Inner Circle release):

• Added basic versions of the Chain Splicer enemy and the first boss.  They currently have limited move sets and are not yet rigged for full animation.  
• Added a new H scene for the Splicer Thug.  
• Onyx's real skeleton has been added, allowing for Spine animations during regular gameplay.  There's still work to do to get animation blending behaving properly on her though, so we've disabled it for now.
• Added Onyx's Idle animation and updated the Walk animation. 
• Updated Onyx's move set artwork.
• Now that Onyx has a shadow, we've removed the colored markers from below the characters.
• Redid the services that reset game data when the level loads, and re-enabled 'Return to Main Menu' in the pause menu.
• Resolved some of the AI hang-up issues.
• Draw order for characters engaged in an H scene is now correct
• Input now works for keyboards on the Game Over screen
• Improved the code for spawning enemies to accommodate the new variety, and for enemy reinforcements mid-wave.

Police / Babel Operative Enemy Concepts  

Let's start off with some new stuff :D.  In between work on the new enemies this month, Limbo worked out some possible concepts for police and Babel (the evil corporation) operative-type enemies.  

The guy on the left would potentially be a stealth enemy that could cloak and harass Onyx from a distance.  In the middle is a design for a Babel biomonster control unit.  And on the right is a police-faction tank class enemy.  I'd like to give this guy a giant armored riot shield and require some special tactics for Onyx to take him out. 

• High Res Police/Babel Operative Enemy Concepts 

RoboBadCop (AKA Police Boss) Concept   

No, that's not his real name :D.  This is a very early design for a police faction boss concept.  Limbo's already working on a version that looks more like an armored human (which was the intention) instead of an all-out mech.  The idea for this guy is that he has jets on his back and can slide around Armored Core style (that's the best way I can describe it >_>),  He would switch between melee with his fists, but could go aerial and pop the tops on those bad boys and rain down some lead, requiring Onyx to either evade or attack with aerial combos. He might also come equipped with tow lines for making arrests o_O.  

• RoboBadCop Early Concept 

New Enemy Preview #1: Larva

We should be able to do a lot of fun stuff with this little guy :D.  The plan is for them to exist in packs, and when agro'd they will begin jumping up at Onyx like popcorn.   You can either hit them out of the air or stomp on them and watch them burst.  There's also a whole lot of potential for H attacks with these guys.  

• Larva Enemy Preview 
• Larva Enemy Preview 2 

New Enemy Preview #2: Chain Splicer

We had only mentioned this guy once before I think, and decided to make a big team effort to bang him out with the quickness so that we could vary up the H content this month.  Mr. Kittyhawk was busy with AI and we still need some extra features in our animation system for biomonsters to be compatible, so I opted for getting another human done.  This guy will be much more deadly than the Thug enemy, and will be a priority to take out when he appears. His attacks are long range, and he will make an effort to keep away from Onyx.   

Figuring out how to best go about his chain took some effort.  It's the first thing we've done entirely in 3D for Pure Onyx as far as characters go (definitely referenced Netflix's Castlevania), but hopefully it should save Limbo some of his sanity :D.  

As mentioned above, we still need to rig the character, so the animations will be much better once we're not restricted to the still frames. 

• Chain Splicer Pose Collage

Boss Artwork -- Almost there @_@  

I've split my time pretty evenly these past couple of weeks between helping with the Chain Splicer and finalizing the boss artwork.  There's a lot of it x_x.  I've mostly sorted out scaling / stylization issues, but there are a few poses that need work still.  We're leaving out the jump and tentacle attacks out for this release, which I think brings the number of unique poses down to 13.  This guy's turned out fun enough though that we might give him two separate encounters in the arcade mode -- the second being where he shows off his biomonster abilities. 

• Splicer Boss Pose Collage 

Mr. Kittyhawk's AI Update

We thought we'd be moving onto other stuff by now, but Mr. Kittyhawk ran into some new and unexpected work he had to do this past week with the AI. The core framework was finished up last week, and now he's been integrating a new system for how we handle animations.  

Once he stripped out the multi-threaded AI stuff and replaced it, it was apparent there were a lot of areas for conflict between the AI and animation systems.  The new system should allow him to prototype different AI behaviours faster, as it's much easier to see where things are going wrong.  

We were hoping to have the new system ready for testing for this release, but since we had to spend time making the actual AI behaviors for the new enemies we decided to use the old setup.  So far it's hanging in there :D -- we still have to finish getting the boss in-game, so hopefully that goes well.

Onyx Artwork Progress

Limbo and I have been continuing our work on Onyx's move set artwork, and you'll see the most up to date versions in the release this week.  We've updated her skeleton to handle non-rigged and rigged art simultaneously, so as the artwork becomes "Spine ready" we will set up the rig for the pose and animate it.  Anyhow, here's a peak at Onyx's finished landing pose!  Check the comparison out below!

• Onyx Landing Art Upgrade Comparison 

Pure Onyx Desktop Wallpapers

I finished some new promotional artwork this month and have made a few desktop wallpapers for you guys.  There are a couple different 16:9 crops and a 21:9 version.  I'll be making a print version available as well for anyone interested!

• 16:9 Wallpaper v1 
• 16:9 Wallpaper v2 
• 21:9 Wallpaper