Devlog. 6: Final week of Production Sprint 1

Introduction:

Welcome, everyone to another iteration of the devlog. We'll be going over all of our progress that we have achieved within the last week of the first production sprint before the easter vacation had rolled in and we could all take a break. See that was joke because in DAE we don't get vacations, we get a free pity weeks.

The focus for the overall week was finishing everything that was needed before we jump into the second production sprint. Meaning, we tried our best to finish off the core gameplay that was needed before we can start adding the further complexities that will make the game really settle into something of its own. As well, we started populating our level more to better outline the overall gameplay, soon we can begin some more gameplay testing and fine-tuning the previously made mechanics of the game. 

In this build of the game, compared to the previous ones, you should really see the gameplay loop starting to peek its head out. Along with this, you should start seeing the game feel that we are trying to create as well as the experience we want to bring over to you. So, if you still haven't, please feel free to try out the builds, I don't put them into the attachment for no reason. Okay, that was a lie, I put them there so our course coordinators don't take away points for my daily work but that's neither here nor there.

Art Section:

For this week, our artists Matteo and Tommy had been working hard on finally making our level more presentable for all of you by filling some of the rooms with decor and interior assets. Adding couches, tables, chairs, etc. As well as, differentiating the rooms a bit more so they don't look to samey. A common critique we have gotten up to this point, on account that everything was still empty rooms with common gray materials for unity. God knows during testing, I found myself confused on the location of just added game objects within level. So in this example, the artists have done a huge service to us programmers.

Isn't now starting to look like a decently decorated manour. Of course, there's still a lot of rooms that will have to be decorated. For now it's the foyer as well as a few rooms sprinkled within the level. The artists have promised all of you that in the coming week you'll see a lot more of the rooms decorated, along with a few special rooms with very unique decorations but I won't spoil it just yet. Something that is definitely to look forward to.

Together with decorating the rooms, our artists we're also busy making block-outs and then finally models for some of the traps within the game. For instance, in the vault (the room at the center of the map) you should find the marble trap which has been fully implemented. You should now have fun living out your dreams of being Macauly Culkin and tripping up the bad guys around, I have no idea why this would be a dream for you but it's here. Also, the trip wire trap's model is also finished so you should see this trap's implementation appearing soon in the coming weeks.

Please do not worry about the invisible line on the trap, Matteo has assured me that using his masterful skills of technical math art he'll put a very pretty effect on it and personally, I trust that german whole heartedly. For now though, we're still deciding on whether the model might be a bit too small so this may be subject to change.

Speaking of Matteo, he was also nice enough to update our lighting after a feedback we have gotten that found our level still being too dark and visibly sometimes a mess to look through. The level should now be a bit brighter as well as visually more accessible, Matteo also promised he'll look into changing some of the colours of the lights around which should help to once again visually distinguish some of the level more. You should see the result of this hopefully by the next devlog.

With all of these changes, we're hoping that this will bring forth a better idea of how visually the game will look and what it will be like to traverse through the level. As well as, using these new visuals, make traversing through the level feel less like a bore and reduce the chances that you will get lost within it. Of course, we still got a lot of work in front of us, the level isn't finished by a long shot but we hope you will see a lot more progress being made in the second sprint.

Programmer Section:

On to the programming part, our focus just as stated in the introduction, was to finish the most core gameplay elements before we move on into programming the more detailed gameplay aspects such as traps and other obstacles. Of course, where possibly, we've already began working on this during this week. A lot of good progress was made though I can't say it wasn't without struggles, our poor Raphael certainly had trouble with his part. Guess giving hearing to a computer AI isn't the easiest thing to do.

Cristian, for his part, busied himself on making some of the first traps within the game. Mostly the more stationary ones such as the marble trap and the camera trap. So when you grab the bag of marbles if you use it (pressing the X button), a little circle of marbles gets dropped in front of you, ready to screw over whoever dares walk over it. However, don't start maniacally cackling too fast because this trap believes in polyamory and will extend its lovely trip behaviour to you as well. So be careful where you step from now on, tripping makes you also drop your loot and be very easy for guards to catch you.

Now on to poor old Raphael, for this week, he lost his mind trying to implement the guard reacting to sound triggers that happen within the level, using my noise maker as a primary tester. As I understood it, the biggest trouble was getting the guards navigation to the sound trigger as well as him returning to his standard patrol behaviour. These troubles have plagued him from the previous week, totalling to the hours spend at this to 23. This might sound not too bad, but believe me, in the context of programming, this is a nightmare scenario. Be sure to give your condolences to Raphael as well as a big congratulations for finally finishing it...I think.

Now on to my part, I was tasked with finishing off the main gameplay loop by adding the deposit points which working along with my previously made point system. Rewards the player with a number of points when they deposit a valuable item there like a diamond or any future added valuables. For now, we still need to play test how we will do these deposit points, the main idea now is to have two doors at opposite ends of the level where any player can deposit their loot. Hopefully causing you to clash with your friends in the future as you try to return sadely with your valuable.

Together with this, you might have noticed that your controller is rumbling, well you can thank me for that. We found that sometimes its hard to understand when there's a guard close by or when you are spotted by them. These vibrations should help you clue in, if you notice that the controller is gradually starting to vibrate that means your distance from a guard is becoming closer, and if the controller vibrates like a heart beat it means you've been spotted and you better get running. So make sure to listen to your controller and play with one that has a vibration function, it might just save you from getting caught. 

For now, that was it. We're all exited to dive into the next production sprint before the final polish sprint waiting for us at the end. There's still a lot of work to do before we can officially call this something resembling a finished product but I'm certain that we will get it finished. We thank you for all the support you have shown and interest in our project. Just seeing that people take the time to read through the devlogs help to motivate us to work on this. Also the marks that we will be getting at the end of this are wonderful motivators as well.

See you soon, everyone!