There been quite a few things happening this month included a viewing of our initial work as two gaming developer events, and one of our members fortunate enough to meet Jay Wilbur, the Epic VP and have a chat about Hostile Takeover and Epics relationship with Indy dev teams.
Team Changes:
None to announce presently, but hoping to announce another few modellers and artists for next months update, we very much in need of more talent, so if cyberpunk is your style and you wanting to get your hands stuck into something in-depth and exciting look no further then us. Visit our website www.hostiletakeover2050.com and definitely apply. WE NEED YOU!
Character models:
Well with the completion of the CorpSec guard alpha model, we have got an initial skin and had the models included in our first view inside HT2050 last week. It was nice to see both the infiltrator and Corpsec running around blasting at each other, although they are a long way till they are finalised and polished. It still a milestone in this area.
Coding Changes:
On the general front, we have some new additions too.
- The firing mode for our ballistic weapons (infiltrator rifle, corpsec rifle and corpsec smg) now replicates properly and works in multiplayer games.
- We have added sprinting functionality to both teams so they'll be able to get a quick burst of speed for a short length of time.
- We've added graphical improvements to the menus. However, they're still Programmer Art and really need an artist.
We've been devoting time to the infiltrator and have made multiple additions towards a team side that is diverse and fun to play.
We have added the three core infiltrator abilities:
- Body index refers to the amount of cyberware you're allowed on your body at any one time.
- Stealth sets how visible you can become.
- Ability refers to improving skills in weapons such as a lesser recoil.
Another addition to the infiltrator team is the cyberware. Initially, we have implemented three types of cyberware.
- System nanites: Constant health regeneration.
- Dermal plating: Lessens the amount of damage taken per shot.
- Cyberlegs: Increase your jump height, sprinting and your default speed.
We have made improvements on the dart gun as well. Now when an infiltrator scores a successful hit on an opponent, he goes into a drugged state leaving him very vulnerable. When you score another hit on a drugged enemy, they'll fall down to the ground and sleep for short period of time.
Another addition to the infiltrators is the stealth effect. We have made significant improvements to its presentation. Instead of a simple distortion material with a visibility parameter, the infiltrator will now properly fade in and out along with the distortion material applied to the top of it. We've been having some difficulties with it as the two materials abruptly swap the drawing order but hopefully we'll have it fixed in the coming weeks. Look forward to a video on this soon.
Last but not least, we have included one of our first random objective types, which is "Sabotage", with an exfiltration volume that Infiltrators will need to escape, once the objective has been completed.
Map:
Arcon Research, this is our first map of hopefully three before beta release.
This month's video is really three smaller videos showing not only the updated software wing (video 1), but a more detailed look at the entry-foyer section (video 2) and the administrative wing (video 3). Now available on .
These videos compares a set of 4 recent builds with each other. All are set to Hostile Takeover 2050's very own music. In keeping with our "warts and all" presentation, you will see our least complete build 19 and the successors builds 22, 24, and 26. Arcon Build 26 is quite literally 99% custom content with much of it polished, however there is still much work to be done in some of these sections. Watch the progression in these videos.
The team has been working hard on models, textures, and placement and the above video proves that. A lot of polish has been accomplished working up to a BETA release for next year. This month's three videos shows we have come a long way. Hopefully you like the direction from the team.
Game Note:
This months game note is about the Infiltrator Character options;
Before starting in a Hostile Takeover game you will be allowed to generate and customise your infiltrator attributes which will really affect how you play as a infiltrator. The first part of the process is to adjust the sliders of your Cyberware, Stealth and Ability bars. Each of these play a crucial role in the game.
Body Index - How much cyberware can be installed, such as cyberlegs for higher jumping, dermal plating for increased protection against bullets and various other cyberware piece we have in mind for the game.
Stealth - Your stealth ability affects you fade times as well as your visiblity limit to the CorpSec, in time we hoping to show you the distinctions around this area and how stealth can be used.
Ability - This is to do with natural player abilities, such as gun control under recoil.
Once you complete the bar adjustments, you can then go on and pick your cyberware enhancements, these can also come in 3 different grades, although the higher the grade the more "cost".
You will be able to save you infiltrator character as one of a few presets, that way when you start a map you be able to pick a preset for that map, this will allow you to play the map in the style you wish. A sneaky hidden infiltrator who uses stealth and cunning to slip past the guards, a heavy hitter that uses superior body armour and natural ability to neutralise the Corpsec or a support role that uses his special cyberware enhancements for distraction and observation.
Q and A:
There has been some comments made about our the mod and Deus Ex, although there is some similarities with Deus Ex and Hostile Takeover, there is some very key differences as well.
Of course there would be similarities as the genre comes from the same series of games, being a huge Tabletop RPG gamer from way back I was heavily into Cyberpunk and Shadowrun games, which is the very core to Hostile Takeover and Deus Ex.
So although we enjoy being compared to Deus Ex as it was a great game, hopefully you guys will take Hostile Takeover for what it is and it is definitely not going to follow the Deus Ex model of gameplay and design, it will stand on it own core of features.
