davigo

ALPHA 3.5 OUT NOW: Custom maps are back, new game-mode, voice chat support and new art!

Hey all!

Ok, so this will likely be the last major update to the Alpha before we get the game out onto Steam and App Lab for Early Access. Exciting times!

Custom Maps:

Custom maps are back! They are now accessible via the map select screen, once players have logged into mod.io. Govigedit, the current map editing Unity package, is updated as well with a handful of new features, more on that soon!

New Feature: Voice Chat

You can now use voice chat in the lobby and in a match. Voice chat can be turned off in the Settings menu and other players or yourself can be muted.

New Game Mode: Capture

Capture is a new game mode where the warriors have embedded bomb(s) in the map. The warriors collect giant crystal pieces that are thrown at the bombs to charge them up. Once the bombs are fully charged, they explode and destroy the giant. The giant thus defend the bombs by blocking the thrown crystals and must destroy the warriors before they can complete their mission!

New Art

• Summit: This map has had a total art update. It now is the scene of an epic battle, frozen in time due to the harsh climate atop the world's tallest peak! There's a waterfall there now with ice floes, too!
• Giant's Head: Updating the giant has been a long-time coming, and we've found ourselves a bit attached to the old floating orange head. So we carved out some eye holes, updated the inner core to improve visibility and added some cracks to give the giant an intimidating look.
• And More: The rockets, hammer, and rocket spawners have all been updated, as well as VFX for a number of elements of the game, including the teleport spawn points. New sound effects are also in.

New UI

We've also done a ton of polish on various aspects of the UI, including the lobby, scoreboard and more.

Take a look and let us know what you think!

Cheers,
-Davidevs

Full Changelog (0.3.5A)

Major additions:

• Custom maps are back! Mod.io has been re-implemented, and players can start creating their own maps again using our map-making Unity package for DAVIGO called Govigedit.
• New Feature: Voice Chat! Players can now talk to each other in-game and in the lobby. Players can be muted and voice chat can be turned off.
• New Game Mode: Capture! Warriors must collect crystals shards and throw them at the giant bombs on the map. Once the bombs are full, they explode, destroying the giant. Maps can have multiple bombs and spawn points.

Design:

• Prototype maps return, including: Proving Ground, Acrophobia, Hell's Gate, Overture Overpass, and Sunken City
• Govigedit has had a major update
• Balancing tweaks

Art:

• Summit has had an art pass. The crystal-streaked mountaintop is the scene of an epic, frozen battleground. Includes a waterfall with ice floes, and frozen slain warriors.
• The giant's head and core updated
• New sliding animation for the warrior
• New VFX: Teleportation and teleport points
• New VFX: Giant's head now falls to the ground on death
• New VFX: Giant's damage effect improved
• New holographic rocket spawner art
• New rocket and hammer art
• Fissures now match color of surface that's impacted
• Impact effects improved when objects hit the ground
• A variety of new sound effects added, replacing some older ones

UI:

• Scoreboard updated
• Results screen now shows meaningful match stats
• Lobby UI updated to show voice chat controls, a map preview image and observers
• A bunch of polish on animations and screens
• Hosts can now kick players from lobby
• Sensitivity settings added to Pause menu

Stability & Performance

• Ready-up UI overlay not disappearing fixed
• Numerous other bug fixes and issues resolved (too many to count)

ALPHA 3.4 OUT NOW: NEW ART, NEW UI & MORE

Hello again!

We're ramping up production big-time and trying to get this game out the door as best as we can!

New Art

Riverguard has had a big art pass. It's now themed as an abandoned castle, and includes new throwables (statues and blocks) as well as a waterfall. The waterfall has unique mechanics, including spawning in objects that float down the river through the castle.

Kairos is now a foggy lighthouse map. It includes new throwables (crates and buoys), and a giant lighthouse. Water buoyancy has been added, meaning some objects thrown into the water will float (couldn't have buoys that didn't float haha). 

Additional art includes new Tower pieces, warrior backpack and grappling hook gun attached to the arm. 

New UI

• End-match screen has been added, which includes stats: Kills and Damage dealt.
• The scoreboard has been updated so it shows warrior lives and each player's username. 
• Additional animations on all UI

New Features

Rocket Ride Boost: When rocket riding, you can now boost by pressing Left Shift (or the West button on controller). Boosting will speed you up and increases damage to the giant when hit, but also reduces your turning ability when flying! 

We've done a bunch of bug fixes, miscellaneous features and tweaks, such as the ability to join in-progress matches as an Observer. Check below for all the updates!

Stay tuned for more 😁

Have fun!
-Davidevs

Full Changelog:

Art:

• Riverguard has had an art pass: Includes throwable statues and blocks, a functional waterfall and an abandoned castle theme
• Kairos has had an art pass: Includes throwable crates and buoys, a lighthouse and a foggy lighthouse theme
• New tower pieces added
• Warrior grappling hook charges, hand-mounted grappling gun and backpack in
• Waterfall functionality: Objects spawn in and move with the water current
• Water buoyancy and splash effects: Some objects will float while others will sink, and the warrior movement is slowed in water
• Revised Hammer effects

UI & Design:

• New Feature: Rocket Boost! When rocket riding, you can now boost by pressing Left Shift (or the West button on controller). Boosting will speed you up and increases damage to the giant when hit, but also reduces your turning ability when flying!
• End match stats screen added
• Scoreboard updated
• Pause menu updated
• Revisions to the rocket ride camera to make it more dynamic
• Additional animations added to UI
• You can now join matches in progress as an Observer

Bug fixes and other revisions:

• Warrior's camera will no longer pass through water/fog surface
• Grip teleport effect disabled when no teleport points in map
• Improved error handling for clients when host crashes
• Grappling hook visualization improvement
• Other tweaks and improvements

DAVIGO demo is free on Steam for a limited time

Hey folks,

We've made a demo version of DAVIGO available this week for Steam's NextFest (Jun 19 to 26). The demo is a limited version of the Alpha 3.3 build everyone who is a patron or pre-order pal has access to.

This means there will be a surge of players over the course of this week. Yesterday, for example, there were 10+ public rooms open and over 200 CCUs (concurrent users) playing the Steam demo. Thousands have downloaded it so far.

Anyone playing on the Alpha 3.3 build will be able to play against players on the Steam demo build, and vice versa. We've made the two builds intercompatible.

Have fun and let's show the demo players a good time :)

Cheers!
-Davidevs

ALPHA 3.3 NOW AVAILABLE

Hey folks!

What's this? Another Alpha update within a month of the previous one? Yep! We're speeding up development preparing for our Steam Early Access and App Lab launches.

This update features a major new feature for the VR players, a bunch of new maps that are in greyblock form, and some much-needed improvements to the tools and weapons introduced in Alpha 3.2!

Read below to see what we've got now.

Giant Teleportation

Yep, we finally have some VR locomotion in. On some maps, there are a handful of teleportation points, which look like floating green clouds. To teleport to them:

1. Point the palm of your hand towards one of the teleportation points, and then hold down the GRIP button.

You should see a glowing effect in the palm of your hand and a line linking you to the teleportation point. You'll also see a giant's head in the teleportation point showing you which direction you'll be facing.

2. Pull your hand sharply towards yourself while holding the GRIP button. You should then teleport to the new location.

Note that the teleportation points have a short cooldown so you can't go totally ham teleporting all over the place!

New Maps

We're gearing up to have a decent amount of maps in time for our Steam and App Lab early access launch. Here's a few new ones, to go alongside Kairos:

Riverguard

An old classic makes it's official entrance. Fight to the death on a cliffside castle above the clouds! There are three teleportation point for the giant on this map to take advantage of.

Chasm

A battle in a dusty chasm. This is a smaller map geared towards intense action. Watch out for falling rocks!

Plateau

Remember Proving Ground? Well, here's it's larger, more-squarey step-brother! This very large map might gives the giant lots of reason to teleport around to chase down those pesky warriors.

Revisions and Tweaks

A lot of revisions have gone into the latest features, for example:

• The giant's laser has new effects, kickback and more feedback
• The hammer and grappling beam have have been refined
• Tower building has been made more easy (no more having to orient the pieces)
• The warrior now actually holds rockets before firing them!
• The UI has had a big overhaul, including a 3d menu and new styling!

See the changelog for all the changes!

Cheers,
- Davidevs

P.S: NEXT WEEK, DAVIGO WILL BE PARTICIPATING IN THE JUNE 2023 EDITION OF THE STEAM NEXTFEST.

Steam promotes indie devs to host demos over the course of the week, and it can bring in a lot of players trying out the game. DAVIGO will have a demo available during that week, and that demo will be compatible with this Alpha 3.3. Have fun!

Full Changelog (0.3.3A):
New content & features:

• Giant teleportation added. Hold the GRIP button while holding your palm towards a teleportation point, and pull sharply towards yourself to move there.
• New map: Riverguard
• New map: Plateau
• New map: Chasm

Giant's laser improvements:

• Laser reliability should be improved
• Laser firing now has kickback
• New visuals for the laser, charged shield and impact explosion

Tower mode improvements:

• Tower pieces can now be stacked at any orientation
• Less comically magnetic
• Various bug fixes involving holding the tower elements fixed

Hammer improvements:

• Hammer health now shown with damage
• Larger hit radius and shorter wind-up time
• Added visuals and effects

Grappling Beam improvements:

• Reticle smoothed
• Visually connects to warrior's hand
• Bug fixes

UI improvments:

• Main menu aesthetic overhaul
• 3d lobby added
• Updated How To Play guide with some videos
• Lobby list refresh button added
• Rooms in progress are no longer selectable
• Removed one of the region lists
• Keybindings renamed

Other changes:

• Continued balancing and tuning
• Fixed hand-shield reflection being upside-down
• Warrior's tools re-arranged on warrior's back
• Fixed issue where warrior's camera would pass through water surface
• Killzone extended, so you should no longer hit an invisible killzone
• Warrior now holds rocket when firing (no longer fires from their chest!)

New Prototypes: Giant teleportation & 11 additional maps!

Ahoy there!

We've just dropped the latest prototypes for DAVIGO, building upon the features of the new 3.2 Alpha version. Some important design changes are being explored!

Here's what's included in the new prototype update:

• Giant teleportation! Yep, a long-awaited feature is being explored again.  Look out for small green gas clouds on certain maps, these are teleport points for the giant. To teleport, point your hand towards a teleport point, hold down the grip button and you'll see a beam connecting your hand to the selected point. Pull towards yourself sharply to teleport. Teleport points have a cooldown, so there is something preventing teleporting mania :)
  
  This is a big changes to the gameplay and affects map design considerably, so we would love to hear your thoughts!

• 11 prototype maps. Try out a handful of new maps, some familiar and some brand new. Our aim is to have at least 5 maps ready for the Early Access launch of the game, providing a variety of art and gameplay.

• Easier tower building. The tower in Tower mode now stacks more easily. There is no need to orient the individual pieces any more, they can be stacked on any side. The goal here is to make stacking easier when under a lot of pressure. In general, we find that the VR player's mechanics shouldn't be too fine and finicky, and that its better to stick with broad gestures.

• Tweaks that really shouldn't be in the prototype build (because they aren't prototypes that will be thrown away). We've made tweaks to the grappling beam, laser mechanics and other tools based on playtests and your feedback.

As always, let us know what you think! We read all the feedback :)

- Davidevs

MAJOR ALPHA UPDATE NOW AVAILABLE! [Alpha 3.2]

Hey everyone!

We're excited to announce a major update to the DAVIGO Alpha, which we believe will deepens the core gameplay and adds more fun content.

Our overall goal with this update is to enrich and expand on the game's existing gameplay mechanics, while also adding new content and improving modding capabilities. So, let's dive into the details of what's in this release:

New Tools & Weapons:

Warrior's Grappling Beam:

The Warrior can now fire a grappling beam from their hand, which allows them to traverse the level with greater ease. The beam latches onto any object that intersects it, leading to fun physics-based interactions that can be quite unexpected!

Warrior's Hammer Parry:

The Warrior now carries a powerful hammer that can be used to parry objects thrown by the Giant. When timed correctly, the Warrior can deflect these objects back at the Giant's head, dealing damage and providing a way to counter the giant's throws.

Giant's Laser Blast:

The Giant now has the ability to fire a powerful laser blast from their hands. To charge up the laser blast, the Giant must block one of the Warrior's projectiles with their hand shield.

New Game Mode, "Tower":

In addition to the new features, we're also introducing a new game mode called Tower. This mode is designed to put a new spin on the classic gameplay and is especially suited for multi-warrior battles. In Tower mode, the Giant is protected by an impenetrable head shield generated by a nearby tower. The Warriors must destroy the tower  before attacking the Giant, lest their attacks will be in vain. When the tower is destroyed, the Giant is vulnerable, and must rebuild the tower to power their head shield up again!

Improved Custom Map Integration:

We've also made an overhaul to our custom maps backend to include Mod.io integration. This means that all maps will now be more easily accessible via Mod.io (login required). This makes custom map development more accessible than ever before, and we're excited to see what creative maps you come up with!

The new weapons all appear in the new game-mode titled Brawl. If you prefer the regular tools (including the bomb and shield), we've also included a Classic game mode.

Overall, we're hoping that this update to the Alpha improves the gameplay considerably and provides another way to play the game. We hope that you enjoy the new features and improvements that we've worked hard to bring you, and we look forward to hearing your feedback as we continue to develop the game further. Have fun!

Cheers,
- Davidevs

Full Changelog (0.3.2A-37):

New Features:

• New Tool: Warrior's Grappling Beam   
• New Weapon: Warrior's Hammer Parry  
• New Weapon: Laser Blast
• New Game Mode: Tower
• Mod.io integration: Improved custom map browsing and access 
• New "Action Map" controls guide (replaces tutorial)  

Game improvements and fixes:

• Brawl and Classic weapons separated as different game modes 
• Brawl mode features a large tuning pass on a lot of variables (e.g. warrior run speed, giant hand regeneration time, etc.) 
• Fixed visual bug when the warrior would appear disconnected from the giant's hand when held (on client) 
• Giant's grab collider enlarged to make it easier to pick up the warrior 
• Added new explosion effect when giant's blocks with their shield 
• The bug where everything exploded on match start should not happen anymore 
• Added visualization indicating that giant is dead/respawning 
•  Game no longer crashes on Quest when the headset is removed 
• Warrior no longer gets stuck on small ridges and bumps 
• Warrior should no longer be phasing through environments geo as often 
• Additional default rulesets  

Menu & UI improvements and fixes: 

• Game Mode selection screen added 
• You can now set custom key bindings via the Settings menu 
• Removed visibility UI screen when making lobby (now set in lobby itself) 
• Settings menu now split into two columns for easier navigation 
• Warrior's armor now shows in the lobby 
• Menu lists can be scrolled with the VR controller joystick

New Prototypes: Five maps!

Hello!

DAVIGO design and content development is in full swing now. We've done an overhaul of some of the players' abilities, and now we're experimenting with new map designs to work with those abilities and the new game modes.

The prototype maps include:

Mystic Grove: Battle it out amongst giant redwood trees, complete with multi-level trees.

Arid Abyss: A chaotic chasm where boulders spawn in and roll down from above (ideally so the giant doesn't run out of things to throw).

Crystal Clearing: Our first enclosed map, complete with giant, probably very valuable crystals.

Hollow Hideout: A sinkhole in a calm forest, perfect for battles to the death.

Ancient Courtyard: Another enclosed map, this one with added spookiness!

Let us know what you think!

-Davidevs

New Prototypes: Parrying, Lasers & Grappling Hook in Brawl 2.0; Tower Game Mode

Hello Davifans,

A bit of a whopping prototype update today for you all to play with. It's the culmination of a design prototyping process we've undertaken over the past few months. There's a bunch of changes to the standard DAVIGO gameplay here, including new mechanics for both the giant and the warrior, as well as major tuning changes in Brawl 2.0.

Experimental features:

• Hammer Parry: The warrior has a huge hammer on his back, which is really a buffed shield. It works like the standard shield, however if you time the block correctly, anything the giant throws will be deflected back at the giant's head, dealing damage!

• Giant shield block and laser: When the giant blocks with their hand shield, their hand becomes powered-up. They can then fire a powerful laser out of their hand. To fire the laser as the giant, keep your fist closed once you've blocked a shot, and the push the hand forward and open it.

• Grappling Hook: The warrior can navigate the map much quicker using the grappling hook. This feature replaces the bombs. Press the standard bomb-throw button to hurl yourself into the air, or hold it to pull yourself to the location in the reticle!

Additionally, some new game mode experiments:

• Tower: Warriors must destroy the tower in order to lower a giant's invulnerability shield. However, the giant can rebuild the tower, so the warriors must be quick to get shots in! This mode scales with the number of warriors (more warriors, more towers)

• Hot Potato Goalie: This one's pretty rough, and intended for multiwarrior. The warriors can pass around a ball and shoot it into a net behind the giant. The more passes the warrior make without dropping the ball, the more points they get if they score. You can use the rocket-firing button in this mode to activate a vacuum to pull the ball closer to you, as well.

Let us know what you think!

-Davidevs

New Prototypes! Game Modes Galore

Hey folks,

Got a fresh prototype build hot off the build machine. We've made some major backend changes to make it far easier to experiment with game rules and player tools for new game mode ideas. 

These are related to some of our current development goals, including finding a couple game-modes that add a lot of fun variety, and exploring art direction for the game.

Game Mode Prototypes

We have a few new ones this time around, alongside Brawl (the regular DAVIGO battle mode) and Capture the Nuke (already included in the prototypes).

Giant Goalie: The Giant must defend the goal behind them as Warriors try to collect and launch balls into the goal! Primary button to throw. A timer counts down in the background.

Laser Blast: Armed around the map are heavy laser rifles holding 3 shots each which the Warrior must use to take out the giant.

Free for All (One Life): A last Warrior/Giant standing all out battle!

Free for All (Points): An all out battle as everyone races to be the first to get 5 kills!

MIW (Most Important Warrior): A randomly selected Warrior must collect and deliver 5 packages around the map as the others try to take them out! The catch? The Giant is also defending them! (3+ Warriors Recommended)

Warrior Waves: Warriors take a single hit to die but have unlimited lives, however every time one dies, the respawn time increases! The Giants goal is too have them all dead simultaneously. (3+ Warriors Recommended)

Art Exploration

The Art Gym has been updated with new experiments, include textures, grasses and design concepts for the giant's head.

Until next time!

-Davidevs

Alpha Update 3.1: New level and QoL features!

Hey folks! 

Just in time for your holidays, we've updated the Alpha. 

This update focuses on some quality of life (QoL) features and UX improvements, and also includes a new work-in-progress map! It brings us another step closer to our Steam Early Access release.

Here's what's included:

New level: Summit

This level is an experiment to make a close-quarters map.

Start match flow

When you start a new match, the VR player will be prompted to "get ready". They will start the match when they move their hands to a specific position, represented by two orbs in front of them. Once their, a countdown timer will run to start the match. The point here is to ensure the VR player doesn't "cheat" when the match starts by getting an advantageous position, and to make the start of the match more fair.

Custom maps UI/UX overhaul

Custom maps can now be browsed and downloaded without leaving the lobby. All maps are shown in a tab in the Map Select screen, along with descriptions and images. 

When a map is selected by the host that the clients do not have downloaded, we've added a button prompt for clients to press to download the map. We hope this makes it easier to explore and play our awesome and very creative community-made maps (check out Onslaught!).

What else?

• Added mouse and thumbstick sensitivity adjustment slider in Settings menu
• Added 3 regions to lobby menu (South America, Japan, South Korea)
• Fixed bug where online lobby would show the room-code ABCDEFG and not allow users to join
• We've made some improvements to our backend to make it easier for us to adjust level geometry and art on maps and to create prototype game modes. 
• We now have a cloud build machine which automates build creation and uploading, saving us a lot of time. 

The alpha updates is live now and available to everyone who has alpha access! Please update via the launcher and/or SideQuest.

Happy holidays!
-Davidevs

Prototype Update: Art exploration and 3 map variants

Hey folks, Davidevs here.

The latest prototype build is now available. It includes 5 (!) maps to explore, 3 for gameplay and 2 to demonstrate some art experiments:

• Summit: A variant of battlefield with elevation and a mountainside
• Summit v3: A far more vertical version of Summit
• Battlefield Islands: Added verticality to battlefield via floating islands
• Art Gym: Where are art experiments go to hang out.
• Art Gym (Kairos): Where we test our art experiments in a real map.

Let us know what you think! We love hearing from you here on in the Discord.

Adios! 

New Prototypes: Game modes & Battlefield

Hello! It's been a while, and we're gearing up our new development process, which will include way more regular updates here on the Patreon. 

Over the last few weeks, we've been experimenting with additional gameplay ideas and the prototypes are available to play now :)

Game Mode: Capture the Nuke

An experimental game mode with a number of features that differentiate it from standard DAVIGO.

• Warriors must grab nukes and deliver them to the launchpad to fire them at the giant. The giant is defeated once all 3 nukes on the map are fired successfully. The giant must destroy the warrior the standard way.
• The warrior has a new ability, the grappling hook, which is used for navigation and recovery. Tap to "hook jump", launching yourself towards the target point (to go farther and faster). Hold to "hook pull", pulling yourself towards the target point (to go to a specific spot).
• The warrior also has sticky proximity bombs can be manually detonated, automatically detonate when in range of the giant, and stick to objects. The giant enters a "stunned" state when hit by a bomb, drops held objects and can't grab for a short duration
• The warrior's shield defends against fissures and shockwaves, and the warrior does NOT have rockets in this mode.

Game Mode: Target Smash

The warrior and giant race to break moving targets scattered around the map. The player who destroys their set of targets firsts wins. The giant must destroy all the orange targets, the warrior must destroy all the pink targets.

Level: Battleground

A minimal map for intense, close-quarters combat. Built off of Proving Ground using the "Diamond Guide" standards for DAVIGO map design.

Prototypes are available on Quest and on PC for Earthbreakers and up. Check the launcher on PC and go to this link to get a Quest Prototype build key. 

NOTE: The alpha and prototype builds are not cross-compatible. Players need to be on the prototype build to play against each other.

Cheers!
-Davidevs

ALPHA 3 LAUNCH

🙌 DAVIGO Alpha 3 is available now, featuring online multiplayer and Meta Quest support!

🥽 Get access to the Alpha by joining our Patreon at any tier. No subscription required.

🎮 Battle against your friends with the free Warrior-only build!

Download the DAVIGO Launcher to get the Alpha or warrior-only build

Get the Quest build here 

Join our community on Discord 

Alpha 3 launches this Wednesday! 🙌 So, what took us so long?

Alpha 3 is finally launching this Wednesday, October 19! It's been a year and a half since Alpha 2. So, what took us so long?

Here's a short video explaining why online multiplayer and Quest support took longer than expected.

Thanks for your patience everyone! We're excited for you to finally play Alpha 3 this Wednesday ✌

Alpha 3 launches October 19! 🎉

Alpha 3 launches October 19 with online multiplayer and Quest support!

Alpha 3 also includes a new Warrior model, one new developer map "Sunken City", and custom maps in online matches.

We're stoked to finally share this update with you! We'll have more to show over the next few days, so stay tuned 🎉

Performance, performance, performance & new patron badges! [Prototype Update #59]

We're getting close!

Major performance improvement work over the last couple weeks, along with a bunch of little things as we gear up for Alpha 3.

Also, some cool patron badge designs to show off in the lobby!

Cheers!
-Davidevs

Full Changelog (0.2.34P)

• Major Improvement: The game now hits our performance targets for both Quest 1 and Quest 2. Quest 1's performance targets are 60fps+ with one warrior present on Sunken City. On Quest 2, the game now averages above 72fps with 4 warriors present, and regularly hits 90fps. Quest 1 now has reduced visual quality in the water and no rocket trails to aid performance.
• Added: New designs for patron's username badges 
• Added: Profanity filter added to username input field
• Improvement: Lights on Kairos are now baked and should look better on Quest
• Improvement: Dynamic and baked shadows on Quest now overlap correctly
• Improvement: Loading indicators added to login screen
• Improvement: Clean-up on Kairos and Sunken City (fixing ditherable mesh visuals, etc.)
• Improvement: Warrior colors updated
• Fixed: Dummy warriors now disappear correctly when moving through tutorial stages
• Misc: PC-only build now has it's own onboarding message
• Misc: Warning added when playing with more than one warrior on Quest 1 (as we can't guarantee good performance on Quest 1 with multiwarrior yet)
  

Our progress towards Alpha 3

Hi everyone!

A lot of you have asked about the game's status and when you can expect a release, so we wanted to give you an update, some background, and some exciting announcements.

Time flies. It's been a year and a half since we released DAVIGO Alpha 2. We've now had over 15,000 total patrons, and our community continues to grow. Thanks to everyone who has joined our campaign and made it possible for us to work independently on a game we're so passionate about!

So, what have we been working on the last year and a half? The short answer is: online multiplayer and Quest compatibility.

When Alpha 2 released last year, it only supported PCVR headsets and local multiplayer. We encouraged people to play online via the streaming app Parsec, but we knew the best version of DAVIGO would have its own networking system and be compatible with standalone VR.

There was just one little problem: DAVIGO is a physics-based action game, and networking physics is notoriously difficult, especially when running on limited hardware like Quest. We needed a solution that could support mobile devices and keep up with the game's action.

Fortunately, just when we were hunting for solutions, Photon released an alpha of their upcoming Fusion Engine, a high performance networking library for Unity. It looked promising, so we started running tests. And in May 2021, just a month after the Alpha 2 release, we had a working prototype of online DAVIGO.

It seemed like great progress! Then we began the arduous process of adapting all our existing code to run on Fusion Engine.

This took longer than expected…

We essentially had to rebuild DAVIGO from scratch, and after working on the game intensely for over two years, we were burnt out. So, we hired some good folks to help with porting the game to Fusion.

Progress was slow, but steady over the next few months as we became more familiar with the challenges of physics-based networking (on mobile devices!).

We hit milestones along the way, like a working server browser, finally porting the majority of DAVIGO's gameplay code, and hitting Quest performance targets.

These updates have been steadily added to our Prototype builds over the past year, which patrons at Earthbreaker tier and above have had access to. And very soon, all our patrons and pre-order pals will be able to download the new Alpha and join the fun.

Thanks to everyone for your patience and continued support as we work towards the best cross-reality battle game out there. This update is a huge milestone for us. We believe it will expand the community, make the game more accessible, and lay the foundation for a solid online experience that we'll continue to build upon.

What's next for DAVIGO after this Alpha 3 launch? Our next major milestone is the Steam Early Access and Oculus App Lab launch!

With the hardest work behind us and the online foundation set, we will focus on improving art, polishing gameplay, and adding content in the form of maps and character customization options to prepare the game for an official release.

We're looking forward to hearing your feedback on Alpha 3! As always, you can share your thoughts with us on Patreon, Discord, Twitter, and TikTok.

Peace!

The Davidevs

Sunken City Art Update and more! [Prototype Update #58]

Hello there!

Big update to Sunken City: we've updated all the art from the old greyblock. Other updates include a revised water effect that is supported on both Quest and PC. Check out all the details below!
-Davidevs

Changelog (0.2.33P)

• Added: Major art update to Sunken City! You can see this in the level Sunken City (Art Update)
• Improvement: Water effect improved to support Oculus Quest
• Improvement: Menu legibility improved on Quest 1
• Improvement: Duplicated custom maps removed from custom maps download menu
• Improvement: Respawn warrior camera interpolates from where the warrior dies to their start location
• Improvement: Spectating camera in multiwarrior no longer follows dead warriors as the fall through the killzone
• Fixed: Controllers now work correctly in the pause menu

Quest Prototype Access

Please use the from below to get access to the Quest prototype build. Both Quest 1 and Quest 2 are supported.

Steps:

1. Set up a SideQuest account (sign up here) if you don't have one already. 

2. Make sure you are signed in to SideQuest before continuing.

The Sidequest key you will be given will be linked to the currently logged-in SideQuest account.

3. Set up sideloading in SideQuest (see how-to documentation) if you haven't already. Use the Advanced Installer.

Once that's done, you can get SideQuest key by following this link:
Quest Prototype Key Access 

As usual, if you have an issues, message me via DM or on Discord (Rob).

-Davidevs

New warrior model & armor [Prototype Update #57]

This one is has been a long time coming, folks.

The warrior's model has been updated with a look based on some concept art done last year by Jane Winters. We're excited the model has finally made it in and replaced the old Mixamo model we had their since the beginning!

The new model and armor improves the visibility of the warrior's health state, which is represented by the amount of armor they have on. The armor now fully covers the warrior and there is a lot more color contrast between the armor and the clothing underneath.

As with everything, it's a work-in-progress and we hope to expand on the colors, armor styles and skins in the future.

-Davidevs

Full Changelog (0.2.32P)

• Added: New and improved warrior model and armor!
• Improvement: Giant helmet art improved to make it appear more like a part of the giant's head rather than a helmet
• Fixed: Tutorial controller icons should no longer glitch out
• Fixed: Observer UI vignette should disable along with controls UI when toggled off
• Fixed: Small trunk variants of trees fixed in Govigedit
• Fixed: A couple other bug fixes, UI tweaks and stability improvements

Patron badges in game, server browser UI, smoother experience on clients [Prototype Update #56]

Some unique changes this week. We've added some simple badges to reflect your active patronage in the game itself with a badge in the lobby. Right now it's just for active patrons, but it can later be expanded with badges for patronage length, tournament roles, VIP status, and such.

Also, big update on the server browser UI, and more improvements on jitteriness on clients and other bug fixes and small improvements.

-Davidevs

Full Changelog (0.2.31P)

• Added: Refresh of the join match and server browser menu
• Added: Username badge system. This system will add badges to your lobby username if you are an active Patreon member. We intend for this functionality to be expanded in the future
• Added: Builds now collect anonymous analytics data
• Improvement: Icons added to lobby players to indicate their network connection quality
• Improvement: Giant's hands motion is now less jittery on clients
• Improvement: Various improvements to the warrior's character controller, including tweaked jumping mechanics
• Improvement: VR player's pause menu now overlays the game world
• Improvement: Rocket ride prep flare effect now plays correctly
• Improvement: Tree trunks no longer stick through the upper level in Kairos
• Improvement: Additional characters and symbols added to VR keyboard

More bug-fixes and adjustments [Prototype Update #55]

The tweaks and fine-tuning continues!

With these updates getting smaller, please let me know in the comments what kind of content you'd like to see on the Patreon.

-Davidevs

Full Changelog (0.2.30P)

• Improvement: Warrior ragdoll view stability improved on client
• Improvement: Warrior camera pulls closer to the warrior when they are looking up
• Improvement: OFF appears for observer when UI has been toggled off
• Fix: Issue where ditherable component not working correctly on staircases in Kairos
• Fix: Jittery camera on warrior POV as observer
• Fix: Poor ping notification doesn't show up correctly
• Fix: Observer camera no longer follows warrior after hitting killzone
• Fix: Battle camera isn't framing the action on observers

Bug fixes, improvements and clean-up [Prototype Update #54]

Another week, another step closer to Alpha 3. The bug-list get smaller, the improvements get more subtle. Check out the latest below :)

-Davidevs

Full Changelog (0.2.29P)

• Added: Height settings for the VR player. These can be set in the Settings menu and will offset the start location for the giant, ensure they are in a comfortable position relative to the ground beneath them.
• Improvement: Warrior now maintains velocity after jumping off the rocket ride, rather than falling straight down
• Improvement: Laser used on VR keyboard no longer passes through the keyboard
• Improvement: Poor connection notification now appears during a match
• Improvement: Default rulesets updated
• Improvement: Fissures no longer pass through the bell tower in Sunken City
• Improvement: Most level geometry now dithers instead of obscuring the warrior camera in Kairos
• Fixed: Fixed visual issue where bombs and other objects would leave a long trail when predicting their position on client
• Fixed: Bug where matches would start with camera shake
• Fixed: Loud explosion sound no longer occurs when leaving the tutorial
• Fixed: Giant boundary visuals now show correctly
• Fixed: Giant hand recovery effect now plays on observer
• Fixed: Bell tower pillars can no longer be destroyed, which would cause the top of the bell tower to float mid-air
• Various other UI fixes, improvements and clean-up

Bug fixes and various improvements [Prototype Update #53]

Hey folks,

This build is mainly fixing a number of issues with the previous build. The big fixes being custom maps and local play work correctly again :)

-Davidevs

Changelog (0.2.28P)

• Fixed: Custom maps now work correctly again 
• Fixed: Local battle lobby now works correctly again 
• Fixed: Rocket ride turn speed increased on controller 
• Fixed: Warrior can now properly roll off of ledges 
• Fixed: Giant helmet now reflects in hand shields 
• Fixed: Observer controls in split-screen no longer overlap each other 
• Fixed: Local battle defaults to include one warrior
• Fixed: Issue where clients couldn't see the rules 
• Fixed: Various networking improvements, UI and bug fixes 
• Improvement: Observer UI now highlights which camera you're on 
• Improvement: Giant observer camera field of view increased

Public lobbies, improved networking stability, and much more [Prototype Update #52]

Hi! Today's update features some big changes:

• We've added a server browser, which means public lobbies are available, so it should be easier to find matches. Note that this is limited to the prototype playerbase, so I don't expect a ton of lobbies.
• Improved networking stability. We're no longer using prediction for things like other warriors, so overall the experience should be much smoother for clients!

As usual, all updates below!

Cheers,
Davidevs

Full Changelog (0.2.27P)

• Added: Public match browsing UI. When creating a lobby, you can now set whether it is public or private. Public lobbies will show in a list and anyone with the prototype build will be able to join the lobby to play with you. Note that currently, we don't expect a ton of public lobbies, given the userbase is limited to active patrons with prototype access.
  
• Major Improvement: Observers no longer use and prediction, meaning they show a representation of the game that is much smoother.
• Major Improvement: Other warriors now display far more smoothly, also due to no longer being predicted.
• Major Improvement: Giant is more stable / less jittery visually on client
  
• Improvement: Select rules screen updated
• Improvement: Observer UI added
• Improvement: When a warrior dies in multi-warrior, they now get some observer controls
• Improvement: Moving platforms now report issues in Govigedit
• Improvement: Battle camera POV is now higher, so it functions to make warrior gameplay easier, as it did in local
• Improvement: Default custom ruleset now initializes with default values
  
• Fixed: Join/leave lobby UI removed on Quest
• Fixed: Giant hands now "wiggle" correctly 
• Fixed: Custom rulesets display name correctly in lobby
• Fixed: Tutorial camera now starts in correct position
• Fixed: VR cursor now hidden in menu if no VR player is present locally
• Fixed: Menu controller inputs no longer turn into white squares when VR player is active
• Fixed: Tower roof in Sunken City works correctly again
• Fixed: Clients can no longer enter rules/map screens in lobby
• Fixed: Fissures now have the correct strength
• Fixed: Rocket ride / boost effect for other warriors now plays correctly
  

Aim assist fix, UI and stability improvements [Prototype Update #51]

The latest update! Major fix to aim assist, which has been broken recently, amongst other stability and improvements.

Also, I'm doing some playtesting tomorrow with the community to gather feedback and instights. If you're interested in joining, please click the event link below:

https://discord.gg/dJNNdSnD?event=996851507712503809

Cheers!
Rob

Full Changelog (0.2.26P)

• Major fix: Aim assist for the giant's throws now working correctly again
• Improvement: Preset rules screen UI updated (currently does not allow creating new rulesets)
• Improvement: Accuracy of cannonball visuals improved on clients
• Improvement: Menu can now be navigated by both the gamepad and keyboard
• Improvement: Custom map ruleset name changes in menu (currently not on client)
• Improvement: Fix visual bug where sometimes the giant would grab the warrior but the warrior wouldn't be touching the giant's hand
• Improvement: VR keyboard added to PC build
• Improvement: Various menu updates
• Fix: Bell tower destruction no longer glitches out
• Fix: Fixed issue where warrior would sometimes not recover from ragdoll
• Fix: Apply recommended rules removed from client's lobby view
• Fix: Warrior's walking animations no longer plays when standing on a moving platform
• Fix: Preset rules UI no longer selectable on clients
• Fix: Giant hand regeneration now works again

Updated warrior animations, rulesets and UI improvements [Prototype Update #50]

Big number 50! Check out the changelog as usual for the latest!

A note for this one, Legacy Battles has been removed altogether as it was based on the old codebase that did not support online play. The mode was removed because it is deprecated and started to become buggy, and it simplifies our build process to remove old code. 

-Davidevs

Full Changelog (0.2.25P)

• Added: IK-based poses and animations for rocket and bomb aiming
• Added: A new get-up animation for the warrior
• Added: Multiwarrior rulesets
• Added: Custom Quest keyboard which now prevents the input fields from being obscured when typing
• Improvement: Lobby UI updated with new warnings, ability to toggle multi-warrior rules
• Improvement: Recentering now shows a graphic indicating progress
• Improvement: Pause menu now includes controller layouts (currently only the Oculus controllers in VR)
• Improvement: Rocket ride turn speed has been reduced
• Fixed: Resolved an issue where the dodge roll didn't use the correct velocity
• Fixed: Corrected observer camera to only dither objects when using in the warrior's POV
• Improvement: Sunken City v9 includes planks for the warrior to run around on, improved destruction on the tower, and more
• Removed: Legacy battle as been removed to simplify our build process, as it is no longer supported anyway
  
  
  

More warrior animations, jump improvements, and more fixes [Prototype Update #49]

Here's the latest!

-Davidevs

Full Changelog (0.2.24P)

Online Networking / Quest

• Added: Warrior's head now faces giant when the giant is in camera view
• Improvement: Warrior now falls faster once Jump button is no longer held
• Improvement: Warrior's knees now bend when landing from height
• Improvement: Warrior now cannot jump as high when in peril (matching local)
• Improvement: Sunken City's buildings no longer obscure the warrior's camera
• Improvement: Rocket boost height lowered by half
• Fix: Players must now be on the same version of the game to play together
• Fix: Warriors can no longer boost / rocket-ride after they've hit the killzone

More control when jumping, Sunken City v7, Giant "helmet" prototype for multi-warrior, and more [Prototype Update #48]

Another week, another update! See the changelog for the details, and see below the changelog for some additional screenshots.

-Davidevs

Full Changelog (0.2.23P)

Online Networking / Quest

• Added:  Improved jump control for the warrior. Tap the Jump button to do a short jump and hold to jump higher.
• Added: New Prototype feature. Giant can now enable a shield on the back of their heads. This is designed to help balance out multi-warrior battles, so the giant can only take damage when hit from the front. Can be toggled on/off in the Rules screen.
• Added: Onboarding flow when game boots up the first time
• Improvement: Sunken City updated to v7. Shingles can now be torn out and thrown. The tower pillars are now destructible. Water level is lowered.
• Improvement: Login screen UI cleaned up
• Improvement: Fixed foveated rendering removed from menu and tutorial screens
• Fixed: After completing the tutorial, you now end up on the main menu screen
• Fixed: Objects in front of the warrior are no longer dithered erroneously
• Fixed: Rocket ride is more stable
• Fixed: Pause menu & victory screen now displays when it should on PC
• Fixed: Restart the match no longer breaks input when having multiple players

Giant "helmet" prototype (protects the back of the giant's head from damage)

Sunken City v7

Preset rules, giant health rule, custom map object builder and more! [Prototype Update #47]

Here's the latest!

Note: The custom map object builder is a useful tool to create interactible objects that should save a bunch of time for our map makers!

-Davidevs

Full Changelog (0.2.22P)

Online Networking

• Added: Giant health can now be set in the Rules menu
• Added: Preset rules system. You can now define and save rules in the Rules menu.
• Improved: Warning now shown when a client doesn't have the host's map downloaded
• Improved: Updated lobby UI
• Improved: Map metadata added to indicate room-scale or standing, 180 and 360 degree play styles
• Improved: Host no longer crashes when their internet connection is lost during a match
• Fixed: Rocket riding warrior is now the correct color
• Fixed: Rocket riding warriors can pick up rockets
• Fixed: Ragdolled warriors can now pick up rockets (unless they are dead)
• Fixed: Giant can catch bomb correctly again
• Fixed: Exiting the tutorial now leads to the main menu
• Fixed: Giant can now grab multiple objects in tutorial

Govigedit (Custom Map Editor)

• Added: Object builder tool to create custom interactible objects much quicker
• Added: New component to create moving platforms