Hey, it’s SnakeF8!

Time for another sprint update! I took the week off to focus on college finals, so now I’m fully rested to continue work. These next three weeks will focus on revamping the cutscene system that’s in the full demo branch. However, there will be a 0.3.7 update this Saturday, May 13. My planning process uses a militaristic method called the rule of thirds. Check out this devlog for a more in-depth explanation about this in case you’re a developer that wants to try a new workflow.

0.3.7 Plans

As talked about in the last devlog, 0.3.7’s development will enhance the user experience, update the feel, and overall polish the tech demo’s technical aspects. A lose condition will also be made, and there will be a restock station just in case ammo runs out. Although there is more than enough ammo for the tech demo, it’s a test case that may be needed for the full demo. For enhancing the user experience and feel, new UI elements will be added. Certain controls are not explained, so camera controls, button popups, and anything which may seem confusing for a new player will be added. There used to be something like that in older demos, but I’d like to add them back with a more aesthetically pleasing look.

The cutscene system is the most critical problem that I will need to solve again to clean up the editor space and improve efficiency when playing and working. Suffice to say, the current cutscene system is not good. I built my system over a year ago, but it’s just too difficult to work with. I’m also concerned about performance because a single scene may have multiple cutscenes loaded into memory even if they are disabled. If the full demo becomes a full game, the hub world might have dozens of cutscenes which will greatly affect performance. I already have a general idea on how I want to fix this, but I need this sprint’s planning phase to draw diagrams and research. I’m a much better programmer than I was a year ago, so using what I’ve learned, I’m hoping this new system will be much better.

In the executing phase, I will be working on implementing the cutscene system as well as miscellaneous tasks like music, new models, animations, and textures. By doing these other tasks, I will be preventing personal burnout when focusing on one task.

As each weekend approaches, I will be posting a devlog to talk about my findings, plan changes, and more. I’m aware I didn’t do this last sprint, but I will be more proactive with that because I’m on summer vacation.

WE’RE LOOKING TO BUILD A TEAM

We’re still looking to establish a team! Right now, it’s just been me writing the code, story, and art while SirDiesALot helps with any contributing code. I’ve been working on this game for two years doing all this work on my own, so development has been slow. I want to change this because doing all of this takes way too much time. We’re looking for artists, animators, and maybe an extra programmer on the team! Our plan is to have a small team, about 4-6 people, where each of us will specialize in something. We’re hoping to collectively be me (project lead dabbling in all aspects), SirDiesALot (co-programmer, co-writer), an artist, animator, modeler, and/or texture artist. Feel free to blend these roles together because the pipelines are similar. I would be absolving myself from doing a lot of the art and animations to prioritize programming and music, but I don’t mind helping out with all aspects.

If you’re interested in joining the team, join the Discord and message me!