It's been a while since I originally posted this game and I thought it was time for an update! There is a good amount that I finished so I'm just going to list the progress:
- Added Item/Inventory System - There are 3 inventory slots (Primary weapon, secondary weapon, and light source) and then additional slots for quest items and things like that. The player can pickup items along the way, but depending on the items in the slots only one or two can be equipped at once. For example, you can equip only a pistol and the player can use 2 hands resulting in the highest possible accuracy. However, you can also equip a lantern and use one hand for the pistol which results in a light source for the player to see but lower accuracy. Some items can be changed using the environment like the lantern. The lantern can be lit using fire source, without lighting the lantern it is useless. However, if you unequip the lantern then it will be extinguished but if you drop the lantern BEFORE unequipping it then it will remain lit and will provide a stationary light source for the player. So in dark areas of the game some strategy will be required to see and kill enemies effectively.
- Graphical Style Change - The first change was the removal of the Bloom effect. The effect looked cool but it did have a pretty large hit on performance. I also decided that I didn't want the dreamy sort of look and instead wanted a more gritty and sharp feel (Think silent hill). The next graphical change was the shading. Originally I was going to keep everything a solid color, so trees were a dark gray, the background was a light gray, etc. Now I'm adding an Ambient Occlusion look to the sprites (pre-drawn, not real-time). This way I can keep the gray-scale color scheme but still add some texture when I want it. However, for now I'm still keeping the player black and the ground black. I think this adds more mystery to who the player is. The final addition to the graphics is I'm adding some color to specific parts of the game. As seen in the preview the fire has a natural orange glow to it, and I also plan on making the blood its natural red color. Basically, not everything in the game will be gray-scale.
- Expanded Story - I introduced the first character of the game who, without spoiling too much, explains more about the area that the player is in. I wrote more but didn't implement it in the game yet so I'll wait to talk about the rest.
- Bug Fixes - There were a good amount of bugs and general workings of the game that I fixed and made easier to use. Not really important for you to know until a demo is released, but I thought I would mention it.
Here is one of the new areas, the Abandoned Shack:
I also added the forest area, but it's still a little bland in terms of scenery so I'll wait to show that one. Well, that's about all that I've done. Keep in mind that this is a hobby project and I'm not working on it all day everyday or even everyday for that matter. I'll try to post weekly or bi-weekly updates for now on. Thanks for reading!
