Spyra - December Update news - Shavra - Renaissance

Time for a larger update.

I have built 2 somewhat decent testmaps to illustrate this update. These levels aren't completely done yet as designing the new higher quality visuals takes some time and implementing the more complex gameplay takes some nerves However! I do believe that they show some progress and I haven't shown any direct screenshots in quite some time.

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New implemented improvements

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^{* More interactive environments with more dynamic effects. (Water, fog, wildlife, NPCs etc.)
Thanks to s4's mod, dynamic (movable) objects will react far better with light now so you can pick some things up and throw them around now without them looking "out of place". :)}

* Higher quality in both design and textures. An improved engines and better understanding of optimising textures made me abandon the old washed-out look. I keep the colorful style though. :)

* Improved visuals using an extensive shader library. (its not UDK's
material editor but its still pretty potent for FPSC resources Fellow UDK developers might laugh at some more crude effects but hey! What matters is that its fun to make.)

* Player-body and real time reflective surfaces.

* Improved collision and optimisation. It won't run on a toaster but you will certainly get more FPS on a regular computer.

* Improved introduction plot... with less textscrolls.

Furhter improvments... or perhaps drawbacks will manifest along the way

To be honest, working on this game doesn't feel like making an FPSC game for quite some time now and I hope you are as fond of the results as I am so far.

Activating these arcane glyphs allows the player to spawn hidden objects. From items to passages. The architecture of this room is still a little incomplete but this is close to what it will look like in the
full version. Some of this specularity will also blend in better in the
full version.

I have added female necromancers to the lore. She does not have a proper shader yet which is why her stomach and hands look a little choppy. I can assure you that the final version will look a lot more lively.

Dungeons will often vary in architecture and design. I want there to be caves bordering in architecture aswell as in - to outdoor segments.

This hall should look like its "carved in" the rock. I'm still working on that but its an explanation as why there are stalactites hanging down from this ceiling.

I find that the caves have a neat "wet" feeling to them.

As you can see I have given objects varying effects to boost immersion and trying to tame that overly glossy FPSC shader effect. I think that I have made decent improvments. That book for instance uses bond1's static "tangentbasis" normalmapshader. The metal parts have a specular effect yet it lacks all of its "signature" gloss. (often seen in other FPSC games if you have no idea what I'm talking about here)

And now a look at the player body from the previous update In-Game

Comments are warmly welcome as usually :)