Update 02 news - Midnight Animal mod for Hotline Miami

Where the mod stands right now

The core gameplay is essentially complete now, and I'm doing bug-testing and optimisation at the moment. Again, the only programming left is just adding in new and probably optional features (weapons, masks, enemies), and is largely contingent upon how quickly sprites get drawn.

The main menu and score screen are complete, as can be seen below. Note that these are both slightly outdated by one or two builds; but they represent what the menus essentially look like, just before a few cosmetic tweaks.

Note about the scores: I've added the much-requested S-rank, although the requirements to get it are a bit more varied than just getting a full combo (though that's still one way to do it). Also, in-game, the upper-right score display has been removed after I spoke to several people about it, since very few people even look at it anyways; and the scores which pop up after each enemy is killed have also been removed in favour of having a clean, non-cluttered visual display.

In terms of bug-testing, the most major bugs are the player car not working on the interlude levels (I'm trying to figure out a way to merge objPlayerMouse and objPlayerMouseHouse, since there's really no need for two separate player objects), and surface errors, which are responsible for transitions, interface, and UI/UX. I've been having some trouble with interface and surfaces either not rendering or outright not displaying at all, which is problematic in terms of the overall experience, but ultimately doesn't affect gameplay much.

In terms of level design, about half of the gameplay-based levels have been created. I'm opening up a user-based submission contest for whomever can design the most suitable maps. There'll be more details on this in a later, dedicated post, along with criteria and whatnot. I've dedicated my level design time now to tweaking current maps, and designing the player's home, and the interlude sequences.

This brings me directly into the story. I've dedicated 80% of my development time to working on writing the script, and as of yet, it's about three-quarters of the way complete, but still rather unorganised. Once it's finished, I'll begin implementing the dialogue and object interactions immediately.

In terms of general matters, the game itself has been rendered into a widescreen format, allowing support for widescreen monitors (up to 1920x1080, as far as testing has gone), although I'm still trying to find out a way to implement customisable window size in GameMaker (so far, it's not been possible). I'm looking to eventually add gamepad support for Xbox 360 controllers, though currently this isn't possible since I don't actually own any, and likely won't for a while.

Things to be done

• Finish the script, and then script in dialogue, world interaction, NPCs, pretty much all story elements.
• Add in new weapons, including executions (crossed out ones have already been finished).
  • Any similarities with HM2 in terms of weapons are indeed the weapons from HM2.
  • Otherwise, any weapons that are not listed should be assumed to carry over from Hotline Miami (the first game).
  • • Circular saw
    • Tranquiliser gun
    • Shovel
    • Garden shears
    • Crossbow
    • Heavy machine gun
    • Taser
    • Thompson submachine gun
    • Hunting rifle
• Finish levels.
• Finish transition levels.
• Optimise gore and game in general.
• Fix errors with surfaces.
• Animate masks for the executions.
• Finish spriting and coding masks (w. respective abilities).
• Code AI for boss battles.
• Code AI for special enemy types.
  • Sniper enemies (shoot very fast and very accurate bullets, can spot the player from a significantly longer range)
  • Armoured/shielded enemies (bullets will only stun, must first be knocked down then executed)
  • Sentries (alert enemies to position with radio, like gang leader in HM2's subway)
  • Heavy weapons enemies (wield very powerful weapons, either the automatic shotgun or heavy machine gun, take two shots to kill, like the movie producer in HM1)

Some previous iterations of the menus, for demonstration purposes

The original score screen, before any edits. As you can see, it's just a purple version of the Midnight Animal credit sequence from HM2.

Some conceptual design I did for one of the backgrounds, it's a sunrise against a mountain and a forest the main character drives by every morning on his way back home. May still be used.