DEV BLOG 0.1

Update 0.1 June 9th 2023 (akragas)

This is the first major update to be detailed online. From now on, development blogs will be posted here to keep a log of changed features and upcoming intrigues. This update introduces a plethora of new features, bug fixes, repurposed systems, and performance upgrades.

Reworked Title Experience and Gun Integration

The UI flow and features before entering the temple are a work in progress. Previously, the player would have to sit through 2 - 3 loading screens while the backend database connected to their client. This has been temporarily removed (including the custom loadout and black market screens) to provide a more streamlined experience when jumping into the game

To balance the disabled loadout and black market functionality, all of the guns (and some of the skills) have been added to the default temple. This will create more variety of content and gameplay while in-game. There are now many different firearms to fool around with, go crazy.

The Shop Table

Call it a WW2 Care Package radio or something...whatever floats your boat. Without the black market in the main menu, the gold/treasure is without function. This is remedied. with a two-option shop at the start of each tomb. The quality of the items (which cost treasure) will increase with the price as the player descends deeper. This adds value to the treasure hunt and an element of strategic choice. Do you go for the powerful weapon or the brighter torch? This choice may make or break your playthrough.

Send in the LODs

A fair amount of time and energy has been poured into lag combat over the years. I think it's safe to say that we've won the latest battle with the help of a new weapon in the arsenal, LODs. LOD stands for Level Of Detail, and it is a very important aspect of 3D game development. It basically reduces the polygon count of 3D meshes based on the player's proximity to them. While this has significantly reduced the lag on high end CPUs, we are far from the end of the war.

Post Processing 2: Electric Boogaloo

There's been a lot of overhead generated by the previous Post-Processing Volumes set up. The latest version greatly reduces lag and, (my favorite part), gets rid of that annoying "drunken cameraman" feeling after finding Sun Sight or the Black Locust Torch (excess brightness). Have fun shedding some light on the situation.

You've Got Something in UI

I am experimenting with a new type of visual feedback. Gathered ammo will now be represented by little bullet and box animations in the bottom right. Just for kicks. I have removed many of the Grenade types for simplicity. Your grenade count will now show up beside your hand when throwing them. The tomb integrity will also be displayed here. The new guns are also represented by unique weapon icons and increased ammo count text size. This will hopefully take care of the confusion regarding ammo and grenade collection. Happy exploding.

Its a Jungle Out There

The end is new. I don't want to spoil anything. Gotta make it there to see what's new. Its much cleaner, more detailed, and distinct. Watch out for lizard people...