Hey all, Corey here.
It may be the mid-semester holidays, but that doesn't mean that the group gets any time off. We've all been working extremely hard, taking advantage of the extra time we've got. Here's just a quick look at some of the work that I've done:
The Cathedral map has undergone some MASSIVE changes. From our many testing sessions, one of the reoccurring notes was that the terrain, in particular the hills that lined the edge of the map, didn't look realistic. A few solutions to this problem were thought of, but the final solution was to flatten the hills and redo them completely, and rather than to have the hills as the edge of the map, a town fence has been erected. Hills are can still be seen in the background, but are much more 'real'. The ground textures were also noted in testing sessions, with people saying they looked very similar to that of a pastel drawing and that they detracted from the map. These textures have been taken out and new textures added, which are gradually being layered onto the map. It's still a work in progress, but it really brings the map together.
Some new models have also been added to the map to give it a bit more substance. The first major addition is of course the fence, as well as the entrance gate which would serve as the primary entrance/exit to the town. Only a minor addition, there are now small drain hatches around the town. It may seem insignificant, but these draw attention and help other seemingly boring textures become more interesting. A few models have been created to go inside the Cathedral too; a podium and rows of pews. Not only do these make the Cathedral feel more like a Cathedral as opposed to just an open room, it also adds obstacles for players to hide behind and dodge around.
I've also been busy making sound effects to go into the game. We realise now that this should have been done much earlier, but there's not much we can do about that except learn for next time. I've only gotten about two-thirds of the way through them all, some of which still need more work on before they're ready to be considered worthy of release. As well as this, I have been in contact with DiViNiTY (Found him on the IndieDB forums) and from the looks of things, he may be providing us with most of, if not all of our backing tracks for the game. Fingers crossed! (DiViNiTY's music will, once confirmed, be uploaded to our IndieDB page for everyone tok have a look at)
