davigo

Alpha 2 Launch

Today, we're launching a major update, Alpha 2, which is available immediately to all our Patreon supporters!

Thanks to everyone who has been helping us test Alpha 2 over the past week. Now, we're finally ready to launch!

Alpha 2 refines the core giant-versus-warrior gameplay seen in the Public Alpha. New features include:

• A "physical" health system for both players represented by destructible armour
• New warrior mechanics, such as flying, dodging, and shield to block giant attacks 
• A new map called Kairos and the ability to build and play custom, community-made maps

With your support on Patreon, we can continue working towards the ultimate vision of the game, which includes online multiplayer, matchmaking, and Quest support! While apps like Parsec allow you to play Davigo online, native networking will be more user-friendly and opens up the possibility of Quest support. It’s a unique challenge given the physics-based gameplay and technical constraints of mobile VR, but one that we’ve gotten tremendous community support for. In the meantime, you can play online multiplayer using Parsec and find players via the official Davigo Discord server, which now has over 24,000 members.

We've trimmed and adjusted our Patreon levels for clarity. Now, supporters with a lifetime donation of $25USD or more will become a "Pre-order Pal". A Pre-Order Pal receives a copy of the game at launch and gains permanent access to Alpha updates.

Thanks everyone for your support so far!

Andy, Rob, and Erik

Preview: Closed Alpha (Alpha 2) [Prototype Update #23]

Hey!

It's been a bit since the last prototype update. This is because we've been working on the Closed Alpha release and all the marketing that goes into that. It's been exhausting!

However, we're getting close to releasing it, and have a lot of the development ready to go and included in today's prototype update.

New UI and Menu

Andy has been busy upgrading the menu to be more user-friendly and represent where we want the menu to be at launch. It's fully navigable with the gamepad, mouse and keyboard, and VR controllers* (not an easy feat!).

*except dropdowns, for now

Environmental Art

Greyblock is now Kairos, which means "moment of truth." We thought it sounded like a cool name for a level.

Kairos is the first map to move beyond a prototype, as its had a lot of iteration and work done on it (30 iterations or so altogether). It's also the only map to have had an art pass done on it, so you'll notice the background and level has more detail than previous maps.

New Tutorials

Both the warrior and the giant have tutorials now. This is mainly for new players (so assuming none of our patrons!), but is part of our upcoming Closed Alpha push.

Some Closed Alpha info

The features above are the last main elements we needed for the Closed Alpha, which we expect to launch soon. The Closed Alpha will be referred to as Alpha 2 from now on, since it's not really "Closed."

The prototypes and Alpha 2 will still be different builds, with the prototypes containing the latest features and a lot of stuff that won't make it into the Alpha (or the final game for that matter). For example, The Alpha 2 release will not contain any of the prototype maps except for Kairos.

Stay tuned for news about the Alpha 2 launch!

-Davigo Devs

Full Changelog (0.2.0P)

• Menu overhaul! The entirety of the main menu has been redone to improve the look and feel.
• Map Greyblock has been renamed Kairos!
• Added entirely new art added for Kairos! Also added birds.
• Added Warrior tutorial!
• Improved and expanded on Giant tutorial.
• Add new effect for Giant's head explosion.
• Improve effects for when the Warrior takes damage.
• Menu now displays error messages when Davigedit maps fail to load or config fails to save.
• Fixed issue where rocket ride camera would jitter when mounting the rocket.

Davigedit (Initial Release F)

• Add new field to MapSettings, PlayType, to indicate whether the map is intended for standing or room scale play areas.
• Add new field to MapSettings, PlayAngle, to indicate whether the map is intended for 180 or 360 degree tracked setups.
• Fix issue where maps would silently fail to export correctly if the preview image was not correctly configured.

Quality of Life & Davigedit Level Editor updates [Prototype Update 0.0.22P]

Hey Davifolks,

This small update adds a handful of tweaks, quality of life improvements, and map-making features.

This includes:

• Improvements to the rocket ride, including improved transitions and mouse/keyboard controls.
• Some art updates, including shading for the trees and giant shields which reflect the entire world.
• And more, see the changelog below.

Davigedit

For the mapmakers out there, the Davigedit Unity tool now supports:

• Hiding objects that block the warrior's view. Use the DitherableSurfaceComponent on any objects that require this functionality.
• Custom preview image. Preview images will appear in the Stage Select screen. You can add your preview image in your scene's MapSettings object. Images should be 1920x1080 resolution, please.
• Download the latest Davigedit release (E) here. 
• See the Davigedit readme here.

So overall this is a relatively minor update as we work on larger features that are not quite prototypes yet :)

Cheers!

-Davidevs

Full Changelog:

• Rocket Ride transitions and MKB controls improved.
• Fix cinematic camera rigs. Press N to activate split-screen and 1 and 2 to cycle between cameras.
• Half as many shields spawn from giant damage.
• Map selection and match settings persist between scenes.
• Giant Boundary toggle added to game settings. (Note that the only map that currently has a boundary is Greyblock.)
• Warrior can no longer use shield and roll simultaneously.
• Giant hand shields now reflect entire world.
• Trees now use occlusion maps to add soft shadows to the leaves and trunk.
• Giant tutorial is currently broken as it is being updated.

Davigedit

• DitherableSurfaceComponent now available. Placing this component on objects with cause them to be rendered transparent when they come between the Warrior and the camera.
• Custom preview images are now supported and will appear in the Stage Select screen.

No death when falling (and other gameplay improvements), emotes, impact effects [Prototype Update 0.0.21P]

Hey Davigo Friends,

We did some play-testing last week in the Discord (thanks all who joined!). It was very informative and shone some light onto gameplay issues we wanted to sort out.

No more falling to die

That's right, the warrior no longer dies when they get thrown off the level. 👀 

Instead, the warrior will take damage and return to the spawn point when they hit the killzone. Their health will be reduced by a set amount (currently 15%). 

We don't exactly know yet how we'll contextualize the damage/respawn (dying when falling off kinda "made sense"). But either way, this is one of the final issues we were having trouble balancing with the new health systems.

Giant boundary

Some maps, like Greyblock, for example, are designed to work for VR players with small playspaces. These levels are intended to be played standing-only. However, VR players with large playspaces can take advantage of the level layout to overwhelm the warrior.

Now this is fun for the VR player but not-so-much for the PC player, so we're putting a boundary back in. 

But don't worry, large-playspace folks, we do want to create levels designed to take proper advantage of the extra room. First, however, we need to balance this with the needs of the PC players.

Warrior emotes

Ever want to wave or point and laugh at the giant? Now you can.

We tossed a few emotes in for the warrior so they can be a bit more expressive (almost as expressive as big G). Currently we have wave, point, sit, and break-dancing emotes. Use the D-pad on the gamepad, or the 1, 2, 3, and 4 keys on the keyboard to activate them.

New effect when rocket hits giant shield

Defending against incoming rockets with the giant's shield will result in a new impact effect!

(Yes, this was secretly put into a revision of the last build late last Friday, but now it's official) 

Miscellaneous

• Grayblock is now updated to revision 20
• Game settings are now set to one life for each player-type

That's it for this week. Have a great weekend!

Cheers,
Daviteam

Full Changelog:

• New feature: Emotes! Warrior can now perform emotes by either pressing the 1-4 keys on the keyboard or any direction on the gamepad's D-pad.
• Added a boundary to Greyblock that constrains the total area the Giant can move around (the total area is quite large, only preventing players with very large playspaces from walking to the back of the stage and overwhelming the Warrior).
• Added an option called Warrior Killzone Damage. When this value is less than 1 and the Warrior is knocked off the level, they will take a set amount of damage and respawn back on the stage. (When this value is set to 1 they will be immediately killed, as before.) Default value is 0.15.
• Defaults for game modes now allocate a single life to both the Warrior and Giant. Warrior default health has been increased accordingly.
• Rocket ride sound effect has been improved.
• When the Warrior is holding a bomb and the fuse begins to run low, it will burn slightly slower and play a small warning effect. Once the bomb is thrown the fuse will again burn at a regular speed.
• When the Giant is holding the Warrior and damages them, the Warrior will now automatically be dropped from their hand.
• Refined Greyblock's layout.

New art for shields, map and balance revisions [Prototype Update 0.0.20P]

Hey pattytrons!

Smaller update this week. We've replaced the placeholder art for the reflective Giant's hand shields with mesh that fits the hand more snuggly. The Warrior's shield also has some new art, and plays a satisfying diiiiing sound effect when it is struck. As well, we've done some balance updates and quality of life improvements.

Till next update,

- Davidevs

Prototype Update 0.0.20P

• Revised the design of Map_Greyblock.
• Rocket ride can now be destroyed during the transition phase when the Warrior is preparing for liftoff.
• Reduced health of Warrior shield.
• Reduced fissure speed from 30m/s to 23.
• Shields that spawn when the Giant takes damage or has their hands destroy now persist for a minute, up from 15 seconds.
• Added new mesh for Giant back-of-the-hand shields.
• Added new mesh for Warrior shield.
• Added visual and audio effect for when the Warrior's shield is hit by objects.
• Rocket will no longer explode when it collides with an object in the first 30ms after it is fired. This is intended to prevent the rocket immediately exploding after it is fired and collides with an object the Warrior is close to.
• Updated some smoke effects.

Devlog 04: Giant Health Visualization

A common design challenge for VR games is how to best display the player's health. This challenge is doubly true in Davigo, as the Giant's health must be clearly conveyed to both the VR and the PC players.

Early designs for the VR player's health involved a health bar placed at the top of their, perpetually attached to the headset.

Health bars are excellent in that they are a tried and true design solution that takes minimal effort to get implemented—perfect for validating quick prototypes. Beyond that, they come with a few drawbacks for Davigo.

• Attaching a floating health bar to the peripherals of the headset can feel aggravating to the VR player, as it is always present if your field of view, even when you don't need the information.
• Health bars only give information about what percent of health you have remaining. This may be less useful than information like how many hits to do I have remaining or will the next hit kill me?

We had previously done some prototypes where huge chunks of the Giant's head blow off on impact, and thought this would make a neat—and satisfying for the Warrior!—way to display the Giant's health.

This came with a couple challenges. If the Giant had half health, would that mean half their head would simply be blown away, making their face totally unrecognizable? And how would health, a percentage between 0 and 100, be clearly conveyed via a broken head?

To the solve the first problem, we decided that only an outer shell would get destroyed as health was depleted, leaving behind something that resembles the Giant's face and silhouette. You can see our first pass on it below.

However, this still did not clearly answer the above questions—how much health do I have? A lot, a little? Will the next hit kill me? Impacts would blow away chunks of the head, but the amount of pieces remaining didn't necessarily correlate with the amount of health.

To solve this, we creating a system that would specify exactly how the destruction would take place. Instead of pieces blowing off arbitrarily, the Giant's head would be subdivided into three chunks, each taking a single hit to destroy (on default settings, anyways), with the fourth hit—contacting a totally unprotected Giant—being the killing blow.

The goal here being that the Giant's health can be quickly inferred in the same way one would read a pie chart, or health systems in games like Super Mario Galaxy.

Mario's health is split into three segments. Image from SupperMarioBroth.

Of course, up until now we're skipping an essential part—if the Giant's health is displayed on their face, how do they see their own health? Here, we made use of an existing mechanic to create a solution. For a few updates now, the Giant has had metal shields on the back of their hands that can block incoming projectiles. We came up with the idea that these shields could be reflective, allowing the Giant to inspect their reflection using the shields, and therefore determine their health.

This allows both the Giant and the Warrior to see the same visual representation of the Giant's health. As well, it ensures that the Giant's health is not distracting or in-view when the VR player is not looking to check it. As with any new feature, especially one as essential as health visualization, this is likely to undergo further revision to ensure it works well for everyone.

Roystan

New map, accurate giant health, dodge roll, and more [Prototype Update 0.0.19P]

Hi patrons! 

It's been a few weeks since our last prototype update, so this one is packed! Let us know what you think of these updates. We love hearing from you all!

New  Map

We're working to bring together our prototype maps into a single level. The goals with this new map are:

• Make sure the giant can always attack the warrior (no warrior camping)
• Add some verticality like in Acrophobia and some covered areas like in Overture Overpass
• Keep the action close the the giant
• Provide areas for the warrior to fly through using the rocket ride
• Add variety to the level structure
• Ensure it's playable in small playspaces

It's currently called Map_Greyblock. We'll think of a proper name soon!

Health-accurate Giant Head Shattering

As the Giant takes damage, their face will break off in three distinct chunks, one at a time. Once all three pieces are broken off, the next impact is guaranteed to kill the Giant. No more health UI.

Having the head's damage subdivided like this makes it easy for the VR player to check their reflection and quickly determine their approximate health, as seen below. This reflection was also improved to more accurately reflect the world around you. 

Dodge Roll

Evade the Giant's throws and grabs with a nimble dodge roll!

Improved Jump Animation

The Warrior now has an improved jump animation that behaves dynamically as they leap upwards and fall downwards. Definitely an improvement over the previous static pose!

Rocket Ride Damage Boost

When the warrior flies directly into the giant's head, the giant now takes 3 damage (regular rocket attacks currently deal 1 damage). Use this power wisely!

Warrior Shield Pickups and Damage

The warrior's shield is now destructible. Currently, it takes 5 impacts from the giant to destroy the shield.

The warrior also has a way to collect a new shield by damaging the giant. Here's how: When the giant is hit in the head or hands, their shards will contain objects that can be used as shields. Right now, we're using the generic shield geometry, but you could think of these pickups as pieces of the giant's shield or giant's head that the warrior is now using as a shield themselves.

Miscellaneous:

The default game options have been changed to use giant health. Other smaller improvements are listed in the changelog below!

Have fun!

-Davigo Dev Squad

Prototype Update 0.0.19P

• New map: Map_Greyblock. This map is a simple, refined battlefield designed for fast paced action. 
• New feature: Health accurate Giant head shattering. The Giant's will now break off in three distinct chunks, making it easy for the VR player to accurately tell their remaining health. After all chunks are blown off, the final hit will always result in a kill. 
• Warrior can now perform a dodge roll when pressing the West button on a gamepad or Left Shift on the keyboard. 
• Warrior's shield will now break after a certain amount of hits. 
• When the Giant takes damage or has their hand destroyed, the resulting explosion will send out metal chunks the Warrior can pick up to use as a shield (if their current shield is damaged or broken). 
• Shields on the back of the Giant's hand now have more dynamic reflections. 
• When large physics objects (like the rocks, trees) are between the camera and the Warrior, they will now be rendered semi-transparent. 
• Default game presets have been changed to use Giant health. 
• Turn sensitivity has been increased when using the gamepad on the rocket ride. 
• Rocket ride now deals three times as much damage as a regular rocket when it is directly crashed into the Giant. 
• New, more dynamic jump animation for the Warrior. 
• Warrior's feet now use inverse kinematics to correctly place them on sloped surfaces. 
• Warrior's armour art has been slightly improved.

Giant Health Visualization (Prototype Update 0.0.18P)

Hey folks! Another small update to the prototypes incoming.

We're working on ways to visualize the giant's health with something other than a health bar. One of our goals with Davigo is to keep much of the UI physical. You can see this with the warrior's armor, which effectively represents the warrior's health.

For the VR player, we're experimenting with representing the giant's health with damage on the giant's head. The warrior's attacks will damage the giant's head, shattering pieces of it off. More damage means less health.

This works to show the giant's health to the PC player, but how does the VR player know how much health they have?

For this, we're trying a combination of ideas. For one, there is a red, pulsing vignette when on the VR player's display when the giant is at low health.

In this update, there is also a reflection that's shown on the giant's hand shields. The VR player can use the shield as a mirror to see the current state of their face. This will give them an idea of where their health is.

This prototype is still very much a work-in-progress. Currently, the damage shown on the giant's head doesn't actually match their health, so we've kept the health bar UI to make the giant's health clear. Also, the reflection doesn't really reflect, but just shows the giant's head straight-on. We'd want it to be more of an accurate reflection in the future.

You'll also notice that the warrior's shield is now equipped on their hip. This is part of a system that we're implementing where the shield can be picked up and destroyed.

Until next time,
Davigo Team

Full Changelog:

• New feature: Giant head shattering. When Giant health is being used, damage taken by the Giant will break off pieces of their head.
• To allow the Giant to view the state of their own head, the shields on the back of their hands are now "reflective", displaying an image of the Giant's head.
• When in VR, the scoreboard will always display directly in front of the VR player (previously it was in a fixed position in the map).
• Warrior's shield is now carried on their hip when not in use.

Camera dithering, Giant health visualization (Prototype Update 0.0.17P)

Heya! Small update this week.

Camera Dithering

When a structure is between the Warrior and the camera, it will be rendered partially transparent (this kind of "noisy" transparency is called dithering). This ensures the PC player doesn't lose sight of the action when running through tight spaces or in front of large objects. (So far this effect has only been applied to Overture Overpass and Acrophobia).

Other updates include a visualization for the VR player when the Giant takes damage (when Giant health is enabled). When the Giant is damaged, the screen will briefly display a red vignette and blur effect. Ideally this makes it immediately clear to the VR player when they've been hit!

Changelog (0.0.17P)

• New feature: Dithering. When a structure is between the Warrior and the camera, it will be rendered partially transparent (or dithered). This currently has only been set up for the maps Overture Overpass and Acrophobia.
• Objects the Giant blocks with their back-of-hand-shield will now bounce off instead of explode.
• When playing with Giant health enabled, when damage is taken by the Giant the VR player's screen will briefly display a vignette and blur effect.
• Fix issue where extremely large forces would inadvertently be added to the Warrior when struck by fast moving objects.
• Fix issue where the Warrior would sometimes die when not in peril.

Giant hand shields, "Horizon" level [Christmas Update 0.0.16P]

Hey! A few new things before we all take a few days off to relax during the holidays.

Giant Hand Shields

The Giant often gets bombarded by the Warrior (especially in our current version of multi-warrior battles). We working on health and defense for the giant now. Here the giant can create a shield on the back of their hand when they make a fist. The shield will block all incoming projectiles.

In it's current form, it's indestructible. We're also thinking of why the giant might want to choose to block rather than to dodge (dodging is often easier than lining up your fist with an incoming projectile). Perhaps blocking with the shield will create a powerup for the hand?

New Level: Horizon

With the advent of Warrior health, maps no longer are required to be floating islands surrounded by bottomless pits to allow the Warrior to be defeated. Though it can be quite fun to score a kill by knocking the Warrior off the map, this map goes to the extreme other end of the spectrum by removing all boundaries.

Also included is a minor change to how rockets are fired when the Warrior is using the lock on camera. Since it can be overwhelming as the Giant to have rockets that are auto targeting your head immediately fire (especially at close range!), rockets fired in lock on mode now have a short delay before launch.

Tally ho from the Davipals

P.S. Merry Christmas! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STsbCytEvoU 

Changelog (0.0.16P)

• New feature: Giant hand shields! When the Giant makes a fist, the back of their hand is now covered in a metal plate capable of blocking incoming projectiles.
• New map: Horizon.
• When the Warrior's camera is locked on to the Giant, there is now a short delay when firing rockets. Rockets are still fired immediately when using the free aiming camera.
• Crosshair is no longer visible when camera is locked on when firing rockets or throwing bombs.
• Fixed issue where the Warrior's arms would fall off when riding the rocket.

Ragdoll Impact Damage, Warrior Shield, Giant Lightning Powerup (Prototype Update 0.0.15P)

Hello Davigo fans,

We're currently working on adding more depth the the game, giving each player-type some different attacks and ways to defend themselves. We want to add more strategy to the matches so there is more variety to the gameplay.

Warrior ragdoll takes impact damage

Throwing the warrior as hard as you can into a wall should deal some serious damage. Now it does, and it's pretty satisfying.

Warrior Shield

The warrior can now whip out a shield to defend against incoming thrown objects. Holding the shield when a rock or tree hits the warrior will reduce the impact force drastically. Hold left bumper or the middle mouse button to use. This could end up being a pickup that the warrior can find in the level, which maybe can take a few hits before breaking. 

Giant Lightning Powerup

We think powerups for each player could be a lot of fun. In the level PowerupPickup, each player can activate pickups from the yellow orb. The giant can activate the lightning powerup by reaching out to the orb until they see the transparent line between the hand and the orb turn yellow, then making a fist and pulling toward themselves. To fire lightning, release the fist and push your hand forward. The warrior will get a random rocket powerup by picking up the orb.

We're also doing some preliminary testing for our online networking requirements. To experiment with how much latency is acceptable as an upper limit, we have a test level called ExperimentInputDelay. Here we simulate latency by adding an input delay to the warrior's controls. Anything above 60-70ms and it might start affecting your experience. Play around with it and let us know when it becomes annoying.

We also fixed some bugs and added other tweaks, check the changelog for details.

Happy Holidays,
The Merry Davigo Devs

Full Changelog:

• Warrior ragdoll now takes damage on impacts (e.g. when thrown at ground or walls while in ragdoll).  
• Giant powerup: Push Lightning. In PowerupPickup, the yellow orb can activate powerups by either player. The giant can activate the lightning powerup by reaching out to the orb until they see the transparent line between the hand and the orb turn yellow, then making a fist and pulling toward themselves. To fire lightning, release the fist and push your hand forward. The warrior will get a random rocket powerup by picking up the orb.
• Warrior Shield. The shield reduces the impact force of incoming objects thrown by the giant. Hold left bumper or the middle mouse button to use.
• Improved consistency of the amount of force that's applied when slapping the warrior.
• Improved MKB rocket ride controls.
• Improved autocam controls: Now tap the autocam button (Left trigger or left shift) to enter battle camera (hold this button to activate the autocam temporarily and release after a few seconds to return to the standard orbit camera).
• Ping Test: We're researching online networking latency. The ExperimentInputDelay level lets us set an input delay to simulate latency, so we can get a better idea of what online play would feel like. Let us know what amount of latency becomes noticeable and annoying.
• Fixed bug where multiple warriors couldn't use the Rocket Ride.
• Fixed bug where camera would get lost in multi-warrior battles.

Auto camera, VR pause menu, Powerup Playground and Hammer experiment (Prototype Update 0.0.14P)

Hello friends,

Today's update features some ease-of-access upgrades and some new experiments. Happy December!

Warrior auto camera

We're working to make the controls of the warrior more accessible to players that aren't as familiar with dual-analog gamepad controls. The PC player can now choose to automate camera movement and targeting.

The new camera feature automatically keeps the giant in the PC player's view at all times by rotating with the warrior as they move around the map. This way, the rockets and bombs automatically target the giant's head, so the PC player no longer has to work the camera at all. 

It also makes attacks from right below the giant possible, whereas the standard camera currently cannot point straight up.

The warrior's auto camera can be toggled on with the Left Trigger on the gamepad. The camera is toggled off if the player uses the camera using the right joystick. On keyboard and mouse controls, this camera makes using the mouse optional when running. The camera is toggled on with Left Shift and off by using the mouse. Attacks have been mapped to the keyboard as well, with Enter firing rockets and Right Shift firing bombs.

Players comfortable with dual-analog or mouse and keyboard still can directly control the camera as before. Since the auto camera only targets the Giant's current position, rockets fired in this mode can be predictable to dodge for more skilled Giants, while free aiming allows for leading of shots.

VR pause menu

The VR player now has a functional pause menu, which means they can now fully navigate the game UI on their own.

Powerup Playground

We want to add a lot more variety to the game. We're exploring powerups for the warrior that allow for more options to attack with. This is an upgrade from the Rocket Types experiment, and features a basic selection tool shown in a UI overlay. Use the D-pad or the up and down arrow keys to cycle between different powered up weapons in this prototype. Use Right Bumper or Left Mouse Click to fire.

Hammer Experiment

Multi-warrior matches can be extremely chaotic, so we're thinking of ways to make the giant more powerful in these games. Here's an experimental attack for the giant where his hand is now a giant hammer. The giant can crush the warrior with extended reach. 

Other less visible improvements are listed in the changelog below.

Peace!
Davigo Dev Sqaud

Full changelog:

• New feature: VR pause menu. The giant now has their own gameplay pause menu. All of the menus in Davigo can now be navigated in the VR! 
• New feature: auto camera. As the Warrior, press Left Trigger on the gamepad or Left Shift on the keyboard to enter auto camera mode. In this mode, the camera will always face towards the Giant's starting position, and rockets and bombs launched will target the Giant's head. Using the mouse or right gamepad stick will exit this mode. Developer's note: this is designed to help players less experienced with dual analog (or mouse and keyboard) controls play as the Warrior.
• Rockets can now be fired with Enter and bombs can be thrown with Right Shift.
• Added Prototype: Powerup Playground. Use the D-pad or the up and down arrow keys to cycle between different powered up weapons in this prototype. Use Right Bumper or Left Mouse Click to fire.
• Added Prototype: Hammer. Squish the Warriors with a giant hammer for a hand! Developer's note: this prototype is designed with multiple Warriors in mind.
• Warrior now takes damage and plays effects when hit in ragdoll. 
• Warrior now cannot perform a rocket boost for one second after being grabbed by the Giant. 
• Fixed bug where Warrior would sometimes recover from ragdoll in mid air. 
• Made improvements to the mouse and keyboard controls for the Warrior rocket ride. 
• Fixed bugs in Disc of Death...again. 
• Fixed bugs where the VR player could not select some UI buttons.

Local Multiplayer Lobby, Post Match Menu, UX improvements (Prototype Update 0.0.13P)

Yo!

We have some quality of life features in this prototype update.

Local Multiplayer Lobby

We've upgraded the Local Battle menu to make it easier to set up your input device via a button press on the gamepad or keyboard. This makes it easier to ensure that everyone who is playing has their input set up correctly before the match starts.

Post Match menu

There is now a menu once the final kill has ended the match. Here you can restart or return to the menu, or even better, jump right into a replay of the match you just had. This also means no more press 'P' to restart or 'M' to return to the menu. Hooray!

Also, the freeze that happens for a few seconds once the match ends has been fixed. This freeze was due to the replay being saved to a file as soon as the match ends. While the replays are still saved in the same manner, the process is now threaded to avoid freezing the game.

There are a number of other small additions and tweaks. The warrior will now flash red while he is vulnerable to being kill (as state we call in peril). There's also visual and audio effects when the warrior enters the peril state. Other changes are listed in the changelog below.

Once again, thanks for the support!

Cheers,
Erik, Andy and Rob

Full Changelog

• New feature: local multiplayer lobby. To join a multiplayer match, players can now press a button on their gamepad (or Shift on the keyboard). Previously, player input devices were assigned manually via a dropdown. 
• Added a post match menu that appears after a game is over, allowing the player to exit to the menu, restart the match or watch the replay. 
• When the Warrior is in peril (i.e., the next hit will kill them), they will flash red in addition to limping. 
• Impacts that cause the Warrior to enter peril spawn a visual and audio effect. Developer's note: this effect (and the above flashing) are designed to make it much more clear to both players when the next hit will kill the Warrior.
• UI sliders have much larger hitboxes, making them easier to select in VR. 
• Projectiles thrown at the Warrior while they are riding the rocket now have aim assist applied. 
• All levels now contain a light, ambient wind sound. 
• The game will no longer freeze at the end of a match. Developer's note: this freeze was due to the replay being saved to a file—while the replays are still saved in the same manner, the process is now threaded to avoid freezing the game.
• When the VR headset is far away from the in-game Giant's head (due to the head being cause behind an object), the head will be display transparently to the VR player. 
• Disc of Death has been slightly tweaked.

Rocket riding, VR menu, etc: Prototype Update (0.0.12P)

Hey!

Back at it again with those prototype updates. Here's what's new:

Warriors can fly on rockets

Yes. Rocket boosting is something we want to refine, and this is our experimental solution.

Rocket boosting has a few issues. One is that the boost usually leads to too much uncontrolled airtime (about 4 seconds total, two seconds up and two seconds to fall back to the map). So, in this crazy prototype, the warrior can grab onto the rocket and fly it wherever they like. Good for traversing the map and for attacking the giant.

Here's how to do it:

• Enter into a normal boost by pressing Jump while in the air but this time, hold Jump down. You'll enter the rocket ride mode.
• You'll hover for a second or so, which gives you time to direct the rocket.
• The rocket will boost in that direction and you can fly.
• When you release Jump, you'll hop off the rocket, and the rocket will continue on it's journey (possibly into the giant's face).

VR menu first pass

No more "Use your PC to start match" anymore.

Our first pass of the VR menu is just the regular PC menu visualized in VR. It's the usual laser pointer interaction method. In the future, we'll likely expand on this. 

Warrior limping state

With the warrior armor in place, we've found that warrior deaths can happen quite suddenly when the warrior has no armor. We find that this isn't as exciting as it could be, so we've created a solution that put the warrior in a vulnerable state. 

When the warrior is hit with no armor, they'll enter a "limping" state. If the warrior is hit while limping, they will be killed. However, the limping state lasts about 12 seconds, so they giant has to be quick to hit the warrior in this state to kill them.

Giant hand explosion

Slowly but surely we're adding more destruction. Here's the giant's hands being obliterated.

Miscellaneous

We did some code improvements which will make levels load much faster, and we've tweaked a number of forces for balance.

Peace!
-The Devigos

Full changelog (0.0.12P):

• New feature: Rocket ride! Press and hold the Jump button while carrying a rocket to ride around on it (tap the Jump button to perform the standard rocket boost). 
• New feature: VR menu! The main menu can now be navigated in VR. 
• When the Warrior is on their last hit, they will now run slightly slower (displayed by a limping animation). After 12 seconds, the Warrior will recover from this state (and again take two hits to kill). 
• Added a new, fancier explosion effect for the Giant hands. 
• Audio systems have been heavily refactored. This results in significantly faster load times. 
• Disc of Death map has some new code to prevent Warriors from being constantly knocked off by rocks and trees embedded in the disc while it is spinning. 
• Fix some physics issues where objects that barely hit the Warrior would not cause any knockback. 
• Tweak all force amounts. 
• Impacts (being struck by objects) now deal more damage to the Warrior than other forces (fissure, shockwave and explosions).

Limiting Fissure Spamming. Cosmos Support. Bug Fixes. (Prototype Update 0.0.11P)

Hey!

Small update for y'all this week, just a few things we needed to get in.

We've known for a while that it's way, way too easy for the giant to spam the fissure, which can be frustrating for the warrior. Here we have a very rough experiment where when the giant creates a fissure, their hand is temporarily damaged, reducing the effectiveness of subsequent fissures. The hand returns to normal after a short cooldown.

We also have a few important bug fixes. The bomb doesn't activate at the start of the match and the warrior can no longer walk up trees, making our job of capturing GIFs that much easier.

Also, Vive Cosmos support is in. 🤙

Peace!
– The Davelopers

Full Changelog (0.0.11P):

• New feature: Giant hand fissure damage. The Giant's hands now take "damage" when fissuring. The amount of damage taken results in fissures travelling shorter distances. The hand's "health" recovers after a short cooldown.  Developer note: this is an attempt to reduce the Giant's ability to spam fissures, which can be frustrating to the Warrior.
• Vive Cosmos is now supported.
• Warrior can no longer walk up trees.
• Fixed issue where Warrior would light bomb if the user clicked the mouse immediately at the beginning of the game.
• Fixed issue where Warrior would incorrectly maintain some velocity when boosting out of ragdoll.

Warrior armor and small playspace levels in latest prototype update! (0.0.10P)

What's up!

Latest update is out on Steam today. We've got some new game design mechanics for you to try out.

Warrior Armor as Health Indicator

The warrior's health system is now visualized with armor.

As the warrior gets hit, pieces of the armor will drop off, reflecting their health. When the warrior has no armor left on their body, they will be killed on the next hit. 

Small Playspace Level Mechanics

Many of the new prototype levels work best with larger places that allow the VR player to walk around. Locomotion systems have been considered, but each has their downsides when it comes to immersion, nausea, etc. We're working on a few ideas to allow the giant to close the distance between themselves and the warrior, and make the game suitable for standing-only playspaces.

Giant can rotate level.
For example, we have a rotating Disc of Death that the giant can grab and spin. This level is listed as Experiments_RotatableLevel.

Lava giant can duck under level.

This is a new teleportation mechanic. In a lava arena, the VR player can duck their head under the lava, and will rise to appear on the other side of the stage. Check out Experiment_DuckToTeleport.

Also, hugely important, birds now sing! The most consequential experiment of all. Someone update the bird-facts bot on Discord.

As always, let us know what you think in the comments or on Discord! 

Cheers,
-The Davicrew

       Full Changelog (0.0.10P):

• New map: Experiment_LevelRotation! The main play area for this level is a huge, rotating disc. Grab and spin it as the Giant to pull the Warrior towards yourself!
• New map: Experiment_DuckToTeleport! In this map, the Giant can duck his head under the lava he stands in and re-emerge on the other side of the map.
• New feature: Armor! When using Warrior health, there is now the option to have health be represented by physical armor pieces, rather than a floating health bar.
• Birds will now periodically sing.
• Fixed a bug where the Warrior would sometimes recover while mid air, or just while being dropped by the Giant.
• Fixed a bug where, when using Warrior armor, the Warrior would not respawn with all their armor pieces after death.
• Fixed a bug where the Warrior would get ragdoll''d when running over small objects, such as the tree trunk pieces.

       
      Davigedit (Davigo Level Editor)

• Davigedit Unity package has been updated to Initial Release D. Please download the latest package from the Discord.
• Birds!
• New component - Angular Motion Component: makes a rigidbody rotate with a continuous velocity.
• New component - Massive Rigidbody Component: massive rigidbodies can only be grabbed by themselves. Useful if you have a very large rigidbody that others sit on.'

Prototype Update 0.0.9P

Prototype time!

The main addition of this update is a health system for the warrior. When the warrior is struck, their health is reduced based on the force of the impact. Greater forces deal more damage. This is probably the biggest change we've made to the core gameplay since the alpha release. Now, the warrior can die either by falling off the stage or by their health depleting. The goal here is to reward the giant for each impact they deal to the warrior.

Health is displayed by a small healthbar. On PC, it is fixed to the bottom of the screen. On VR, it hovers just above the warrior. We're currently exploring different ways to display health, including physical armour that breaks and falls off as health is reduced. We want to keep UI elements to a minimum during gameplay, so the healthbar will likely be replaced in a future update.

Now, the giant can chip away at the warrior's health by striking them. 

Grabbable cannons are also playable in this update. In the map Showdown, the giant can pull and break cannons once they have been activated by the warrior (similar to how trees can be unearthed). This is to help the giant counter cannons that the warrior has placed close to them. You can read more about this experiment in the devlog we wrote on it.

Blue homing rocket pickups can be found in the scene Experiment_RocketTypes. Homing rockets will rotate towards the giant's head automatically when fired. You can read more about them in this devlog.

There are a few more goodies to explore in this update!

Here is the full changelog:

• Warrior health: The Warrior now has a set amount of health that is reduced on impact. The idea here is to reward the Giant for each impact they deal to the Warrior, even if the resulting force does not knock the Warrior off the stage. Health can be disabled by setting Warrior Health to 0 in the Game Options menu.
• Add birds to prototype maps.
• Updated positions of cannons in multiple maps to make them more flush to the ground.
• Warrior should receive large forces from small objects (light broken tree trunk) significantly less frequently.
• Experiment_RocketTypes has been updated to include blue homing rockets and a view to show the currently selected rocket ammo. Use left bumper to switch between rocket types.
• On the Showdown map, the Giant can now pull firing cannons out of the ground.

Davigedit

• Davigedit Unity package has been updated to Initial Release C. Please download the latest package from the Discord.
• Cannon controller buttons and cannons will now be positioned correctly when a map is loaded.

Thanks so much for your support! We're excited to hear your impressions on these updates. You can leave us messages here on Patreon, on Twitter, or on Discord.

Peace!

The Davidevs

Devlog: Grabbable Cannons

We know some of you complain about cannons when playing as the giant. Well, in this prototype, you can rip them out of the ground and chuck them at the warrior!

You're welcome.

This week we experimented with grabbable cannons.

The idea came out of a previous prototype that allows the warrior to pickup, carry and place cannons. With the warrior able to position cannons so close the giant, we wanted a way for the giant to better defend itself or even use the cannons against the warrior in some way to keep the game balanced. This experiment allows the giant to pull cannons and rip them out of their sockets, similar to how trees can be pulled out of the ground.

From the giant's perspective:

The grabbable cannon is actually a separate GameObject. It is invisible, but with an active collider, and follows the visible cannon during its animation (see the green wired object below). When the giant breaks the invisible cannon's joint, it becomes visible. The giant can then use it like any other rigidbody, as a shield or throwable ammunition.

In another experiment, we keep the broken cannon connected to the button and allow the giant to trigger the button with one of their hands. It resulted in an amusing interaction (see video below), but will require a lot of additional design and feedback to get right.

This experiment will be available in the next prototype build, so we would love to hear your feedback once you get a chance to play it.

'Till next week!

The Davigo Devs

Prototype Update 0.0.8P

Hey all! This update includes Rocket Types, an early experiment in expanding the warrior's gameplay, and additions to Davigedit, making it easy to improve the lighting and add custom rigidbodies in user-generated maps. We had a blast playing your maps in our last Twitch stream, and we're excited to see what you create next!

Changelog: 

• Added Rocket Types in the Experiment_RocketTypes map, featuring homing rockets that can target the giant's head or hands. Note that multiplayer and replays will not function correctly for this map. To cycle between rocket types, use the mouse wheel or left and right on the d-pad. You can learn more about the experiment in this post. 
• Fixed bug where inverting the camera pitch wasn't working. 
• Light wind sound added to Proving Ground.  

Davigedit: 

• Davigedit Unity package has been updated to Initial Release. Please download the latest package from the Discord. 
• Updated Map Editor to allow for custom rigidbodies. 
• New maps created in Davigedit now have the option to use a Davigo lighting preset. 

Prototype builds are available to all patrons in the Earthbreaker tier and above.

Devlog: Rocket Types

Heyo!

We've started posting weekly updates on Patreon to showcase gameplay experiments and briefly discuss our development process.

Last week we showed off Spreading Fire, a system that allows fire particles to ignite flammable objects on contact - a step towards making fire a more consequential gameplay mechanic.

This week we've been exploring rocket types!

In this experiment, the warrior can cycle between three rocket types, each with different behaviours. We modelled these initial types off of the shell types in the Mario Kart series.

Green rockets behave identically to the standard rockets you're familiar with. When launched, they fly forwards as gravity slowly pulls them downward.

Red rockets will seek towards a set target. While aiming a rocket, the warrior can target the giant's hands or head by touching them with the reticle. 

Blue rockets will seek towards the giant's head regardless of the initial launch position or direction.

We're hoping rocket types will add variety to the gameplay and open up new offensive strategies for the warrior. 

The next step for this experiment is to figure out how the warrior collects and / or  assigns various rocket types, while keeping the gameplay fair and balanced. If you have any ideas, let us know in the comments!

This experiment will be available in the next prototype build, so we would love to hear your feedback once you get a chance to play it.

'Till next week!

The Davigo Devs

Devlog: Spreading Fire

Heyo!

This is the first in a series of weekly posts where we show you behind-the-scenes experiments and talk a little about our process. 

This week we've been playing with fire.

If you've played the prototype maps, you've probably used the flamethrowers to spew fire upwards at the giant. Fire can ignite and immobilize the giant's hands, and obscure the player's vision when their head touches the flames. 

We've been exploring different ways that fire can be produced and spread. In our most recent Prototype Update, trees are ignited when hit by a rocket. Here, we've added the ability of fire particles to ignite any flammable object, which allows the fire to spread. As the giant, you can light a tree on fire by touching it with your flaming hand, but let your hand burn too long and it will explode!

The effect uses a combination of particle systems and a custom emitter that produces individual "fire particle" objects, seen as blue spheres in the image above. These objects will ignite any flammable object on contact. We're inspired by games like Breath of the Wild, where these kinds of elemental systems can result in interesting or surprising gameplay. 

In this experiment, flaming trees produce an explosion on impact, making them more dangerous and giving the giant a new way to weaponize them.

There's still a lot we'd like to explore regarding fire, such as:

• What happens when the warrior is lit on fire?
• What other ways can the giant and warrior produce fire?
• How can fire grow and spread naturally in a way that creates interesting gameplay? 

Let us know what you think of this format. Is there anything you'd like to see regarding our development process?

'Till next week!

The Davigo Devs

Developer Battle: Custom Maps - streaming Sept. 14th, 5pm PST

We'll be playing some custom maps from our Discord community on http://twitch.tv/playdavigo, Monday the 14th, 5pm PST!  

Post your map on our Discord before the stream and we'll try to play them all. 

You can learn more about how to create and share custom maps on our Discord: https://discord.com/channels/602960684870926386/739992703109955624 

You have two weeks! Make something awesome! 

Prototype Update 0.0.7Pb

Updates include:

• Warrior physics are now more consistent. All forces (from rock impacts or explosions) have had their values tweaked.
• Improved some visual effects.
• Fixed bug where warrior would be pushed much harder by rock impacts as was intended.
• Fixed bug where shooting rockets are certain angles would cause them to hit yourself.

Prototype Update 0.0.7P (Bug fixes, art)

Hey all! Quick update this week as we continue to work on some new game mechanics. This update fixes a few glitches in the last build and adds a few new visual effects.

 Updates include: 

• Improved graphics for damaged rocks
• Added new visual effect for rocket trails
• Added new visual effect for bomb fuse
• Improved visual effect for the burning trees
• Warrior will now trigger cannon buttons when in ragdoll
• Fixed issue that caused bombs to randomly immediately explode after being caught and thrown by the Giant
• Fixed issue where performing a rocket boost while ragdoll'd would not function correctly
• Fixed issue where Warrior would not correctly flicker white to denote the brief invincibility granted after respawning
• The Warrior's camera will now face in the direction of the Warrior Start Position in custom maps
• The Giant will now spawn at the Giant Start Location in custom maps

Custom map editor, new map and more—now available in Prototype Update 0.0.6P!

Next prototype update is out! This is for Earthbreakers and up: 

Prototype features include:

• Import custom maps!
  Players can now build and play custom maps using the Davigedit Unity package. Please see the community Discord for more information on how to get started. You can also read the documentation here. 
• New map:  Acrophobia! This is a large, room-scale map that include very high and low areas.
• Added option for split screen gameplay to toggle between a horizontal or vertical split. 
• Trees will now catch fire when struck by rockets. 
• Minor improvements to Warrior physics. 

Excited to see the maps the community builds! 

Custom map creator goal now at 250 patrons

Hi!

We've updated our Patreon goal for the custom mapmaker.

Once we reach 250 patrons, we'll release a first draft for the community to use! 

Since this is a community tool, we figured it'd be best to focus on growing the community so we can get it into the hands of more people, hence the switch to a patrons goal. Hopefully this will get us there faster. We want to see what the community can build, although there is still work for us to do to get it ready for everyone. 

Alternatively, the previous goal of $2500 is still applicable—whichever we hit first!

Check out our original goal post here for more info on the map creator and our plans for it:  https://www.patreon.com/posts/first-goal-map-38204730,

Cheers!

Davigo tournament sign-up; Twitch stream tonight!

Hey folks!

We've been experimenting with hosting a tournament for patrons, streamed weekly on Twitch. 

It's been going very well thanks to the efforts of our awesome mod team and volunteer hosts over on the Davigo Discord! Here's last week's Twitch stream. 

The next stream is TONIGHT at 7:30 pm PST (10:30 pm EST). Subscribe to the Davigo Twitch to be notified when it starts up! 

To be considered for the tournament, fill out this form. (Currently patrons only.)  You can play as either the giant or the warrior in one-on-one matches. It's a great way to play with new people and brush up on your Davigo skills.  

Here's the current standings:

More details here. 

Prototype update 0.0.5P now available!

Hey Earthbreakers and up, we've updated the prototype builds. The update is available on Steam right now.

Updates include:

• New map: Showdown!
• In Showdown, warriors can pick up, carry and place cannons by pressing X (Gamepad) or E (Keyboard).
• When the warrior is ragdoll'd while aiming a rocket, the rocket is dropped onto the map and can be picked up again.
• Minor improvements to the UX of the Local Battle menu.
• Can now control menu music volume through the Settings menu.
• Gamepad navigation should (mostly) work on the menu again.
• Added ability to view the changelog by clicking View Changelog in the bottom right corner of the menu. This contains changelogs for the current update and all previous updates.

 Let us know what you think!

The Davigods

Our explorer sees a towering statue dedicated to three Davigods: Bahl on the left, Seivelun on the right, and in the center is the Davigiga Machina.

Huge thanks to our Davigod patrons (and all other patrons!) for supporting us. Helps motivate our development and inspire the direction of the game and the world.

Development Livestream Schedule

Greetings Riftmakers and Davigods!

The first official Development Livestream will be on Tuesday, June 23rd, from 1:30 - 3:00pm PT. 

I'll be building a new map, testing some new game mechanics, and answering your questions on Discord. 

To join the livestream, just connect to the Patreon Dev Stream voice channel, where I'll be sharing my screen. If you have any questions during the stream, just fire away in the #patreon-dev-stream text channel and I'll try my best to answer. Periodically, I'll invite random viewers to play the new map and features using Parsec. Make sure you download and install Parsec if you want to play!

I'll also be starting spontaneous, unofficial dev streams from now on, so keep an eye on the Patreon Dev Stream voice channel if you want to join.

The official Development Livestreams will be on the last Tuesday of each month. So, next month's stream will be on Tuesday, July 28th, 1:30 - 3:00pm PT.

Hope to see you on the next stream!