Blogs - MeerkatGaming

A big HELLO to all you Klepto-maniacs! It's time for our January development update.

The Oculus Rift will be shipping to consumers in March and this news has really energized the Klepto team! We cannot wait to show you Klepto in VR!

And since we're already on that topic, let's start off with...

VR

We've added various head mounted display (HMD) options for fine tuning camera position and we've set up HMD checks at runtime to optimize various settings (adjustable via game options).
Since they're the frontrunners in high-end consumer VR, testing is being conducted with both the HTC Vive and Oculus DK2. We fully expect to have support for both of the leading consumer HMDs at game launch.

Also , to ensure that the game remains fluid in VR, we're working on optimizing many of the more complex materials that use large numbers of shaders. Since those extra visual enhancements are not quite as noticeable in VR, swapping them to less complex materials when an HMD is detected will free up valuable resources.

DESIGN / ART

Welcome to our first neighborhood, Murky Meadows! The Meadows is an older inner-city neighborhood which will feature 60+ houses to... er, "explore". It's hard calling a run-down urban neighborhood "pretty", but Apothis, our newest 3D artist, has done a truly jaw-dropping job. The man definitely has skills.

Full-body inverse kinematic rigs have been added. Inverse kinematics simplifies the animation of our game characters and allows for advanced animations with less effort by allowing the animator to position the last bones in a character's "bone chain" while the other bones are repositioned automatically. An example of this would be the animator positioning the character's fingertip and having the rest of the hand and arm following naturally. This will take some time to fully integrate into our existing 2bone IK rig. Feet have already been setup and Nate is now working on hands. We're also working on integrating the full-body IK change to character's arms with the HTC Vive motion controls. We'll be doing the same with Oculus Touch.

interaction icons - These new 3D icons are designed to worked with both VR and non-VR gameplay.

This is a big one... Nate completely blew us out of the water this week when he added dynamic weather effects to the game. I've played a lot of games in my time and the weather effects in Klepto are among the best that I have ever seen. You're a black magic voodoo wizard, Nate!

GAMEPLAY

Glass breaking - Get your crowbars ready because door and window glass in the game is now fully destructible allowing a quick but noisy method of gaining entry into homes.

Loot / Heat system - Look for a Feature Topic article on this Soon(tm).

Random Mission Generator - In addition to unique missions, a random mission generator has been added which will offer bonuses for certain items at the start of a round.

AI

More AI improvement have been made to police response. AI cop cars will now identify and pursue suspects. This was originally limited to the dispatched officer, not the random police that spawn with the AI traffic system. If you're lurking in the shadows, keep a watchful eye out for patrols because they'll be watching for you!

Finally, to end this month's update with a bit of a bang, we'd like to introduce you to our three newest player characters!

That's it for this month! Be sure to keep at least one eye on our Twitter feed @MeerkatGaming for more Klepto news, updates and images. We'll see you in the shadows!

Steam Greenlight Page: Steamcommunity.com

Happy Friday, Kleptomaniacs! This week marks the first dev blog update on our new Greenlight page. It probably goes without saying that this week's focus for the majority of the team has been preparing for today. It was a rather hectic week to ensure we had a smooth campaign launch but the team did a fantastic job pulling it off.

Trailer

I hope you all enjoyed our latest trailer. In case you missed it, here's a link.

All the footage was recorded in-game with both single player and multiplayer. Logan's music and dialog really helped pull things together. For those of you who prefer more of a standard gameplay video, don't worry - we've got that in the works for both multiplayer and VR in stereo to watch from your HMD.

Vehicles

The lower tier (cheaper) van and small moving truck are now in game and Nate already has them driveable. Dmitry is currently working on the PBR materials to replace the current, lower quality textures.

These vehicles will play a big role in Expert and Professional tiers of your characters skill progression. I'll be putting together an article and possibly dev video to detail their role in the Expert tier with the game's disguise mechanics. I expect to have this posted on Tuesday so be sure to check back.

Loot System

I spent the earlier part of the week making some improvements to the loot randomization mechanics along with getting the recently completed game-ready assets added into the loot arrays to be placed in the levels. Additionally, I integrated Imani's new loot bag into the inventory management system that maintains track of the loot's weight, size, value, etc.

Now, when the art team brings in new lootable assets, they simply have to drop it in the appropriate array and the loot system will populate it in the world where appropriate.

Animations

Nate did a lot of cleanup work on the player animations including facial animations for the trailer's dialog scenes using FaceFX live in-game along with retargeting several of the existing animations to adapt to the loot bag while equiped.

Merchandise

Kleptogame.com

We've got some official Klepto gear available! Sorry, no lockpicks (yet...). Our initial plan was to use TeeSpring to keep prices at a minimum but because nothing ships until x amount sells (per design) we opted for RedBubble instead.

Additional designs and options are coming soon. Let us know if there's anything you'd like to see added.

IndieGoGo

We only have a few days remaining on the IndieGoGo campaign. It looks like we may not hit our goal but that doesn't mean our development will slow. We opted for IndieGoGo's "Flexible Funding" model because our development doesn't depend on the goal amount to be completed, it simply helps us accelerate the timeline. Because of this, anyone who backs the campaign will still be getting their backer rewards - regardless of if we hit our goal next week.

There's still plenty of time to become a backer and unlock exclusive rewards like the backer hoodie in the picture above (lamp not included), filling our countless amounts of picture frames with an [appropriate] image of your choice, having your dream home in the game or even putting yourself in the game. Visit the campaign page for the full list of backer rewards.

IndieGoGo Page: Indiegogo.com

Happy [belated] Friday. The team's been in crunch mode this week as we gear up for the Steam Greenlight launch that's only 2 weeks away. It will be a quick update today so I can't get back to work on VR improvements.

VR Support

A big focus is currently on VR improvements. Expect to see a video in the near future on the current state of Klepto's VR support. A lot of adjustments have been recently put in place to better optimize frame rates. We are targeting GTX970 systems as a baseline for medium graphics settings in VR mode. Fortunately, the changes we've made to level streaming and culling have us there for the DK2. Further optimization work will continue to ensure solid 90FPS at the higher resolutions of Oculus CV1 and HTC Vive.



We've also been experimenting with various movement controls to ensure the player has the freedom to explore the sandbox neighborhoods without impacting comfort. Since comfort can be a subjective thing, we will have a couple of control options available for VR movement and interaction.



(I've got to admit, I felt a bit too much like a creeper when I was peeking inside the window)

Neighborhood

Lots of new houses going up in the test neighborhood. House Manager now tracks unique house addresses and passes them to the Neighborhood Manager for various functions such as police dispatching and missions providing house address to player to loot specific items. House numbers are now displayed on house and mailbox.



A lot of work has gone into testing various methods of allowing larger neighborhoods with minimal performance hits. The neighborhood is now setup with each house contained within it's own streaming level while visability culling is used to reduce draw calls of interiors without houses looking empty through the windows as you pass by.



Art Team

Alex recently completed the modeling and texturing of some mobile devices



and the much anticipated toaster.



With advanced toaster physics!



He's also wrapping up the 3D model of another much desired lootable item (Shrek not included).



Dmitriy is hard at work on the first player vehicle used for the disguise system and hacking mechanics (when upgraded with necessary components).



Imani's loot bag is in engine. It's now integrated into the inventory management and Animation work is nearly complete.

IndieGoGo



Only 3 weeks remain on the IndieGoGo campaign. By becoming an early backer, you'll not only receive exclusive rewards and early access to the game, you'll help us shave off a couple of months worth of modeling work for the lootable assets that populate the neighborhoods of Klepto.

Happy Friday, Kleptomaniacs! We're posting this week's update a bit later than usual. Earlier this morning, we decided to start on facial animations and we wanted to have a bit of that progress to show in today's update.

Indie Game Magazine

Earlier this week, Klepto was featured in an IGM article! Be sure to check it out and tell them how excited you are about Klepto's development in the article's comments section.



On the Job Training

Nothing like spending the work day learning the fine art of lockpicking. A valuable real-world skill that all kleptomaniacs should have.



Animations

Face

We've just integrated FaceFX into the project and started testing the facial animations. You'll see the full thing in action in the Greenlight trailer next month but here's a clip of the work Nate did today:



Window Entry

Animations and functionality for window entry are nearly completed. All that remains is a bit of polish.





Music & Sound

Logan spent a lot of time playing with his feet this week. He informs us that it's to record new footstep sounds. He's also record and setup new audio tracks tied in with the AI alert levels. As the players suspicion level increases, so will the level of musical intensity. If that wasn't enough, he also recorded and integrated all new ambient audio mapped to the time of day mechanics to provide a smooth audio transition from day into night.

Loot Bag

The new and improved loot bag is nearing completion. Imani is now finishing up the texturing (with assistance from our texturing guru, Alex) and additional blend morphs for the pockets. Work on the loot storing animations is already in progress.



Van

Dmitriy started on the van this week. This will be one of the upgradeable player vehicles available in the game. Not only will player vehicles play a key role in the disguise mechanics, players that advance to The Professional skill tier will unlock a variety of high-tech upgrades to convert their vehicle into a mobile command center.



Safe Cracking



In case you missed this week's Feature Topic, here's the video:



IndieGoGo

Only a few weeks remain to become an early backer and help us expedite certain areas of our development. Be sure to visit us on IndieGoGo to find out more!

Players will encounter a variety of different safes in the houses of Klepto. While not all of them can be cracked, a skilled player will be able to determine the secured valuables are worth their time and/or trouble by visually inspecting the safe to assess type and vulnerability.

Dev Video

Combination Locks
Skill: Expert
Tools: Stethoscope

Time: Slow - Quick (Dependent on lock difficulty and tool quality)

Many combination locks in Klepto are vulnerable to cracking via audible cues. A player equipped with a stethoscope begins by rotating the dial clockwise until a slight variation in the click sound is heard. At that point, they will rotate in the reverse direction and repeat the process until the full combination has been discovered. If the dial is rotated too far past the correct location, the lock will reset.

The difficulty of this safe cracking technique is determined by the following variables:

• Range +/- combo number: Easier locks will allow a greater range of motion past the value before resetting the lock.
• Audio amplification: The volume of the clicks is determined by the quality of the tool (stethoscope or similar) being used.
• Audible variation: The difference between the sound of a normal click and a click when a number is discovered. Easier locks will have a more distinct difference between click types.

Digital Keypad

Skill: Expert
Tools: Magnet
Time: Quick (If vulnerable to magnetic bumping)

Lower end variations of these all-electronic locking systems are vulnerable to bumping the locking pin with a Neodymium magnet.

Brute Force

Skill: Amateur - Expert
Tools: Drill / Hammer / Sledgehammer
Time: Slow - Quick (Dependent on safe type)

Some of the weaker safes are vulnerable to brute force methods of opening. However, this extremely noisy technique is likely to draw a lot of attention and not always an effective method of gaining entry.

Theft

Skill: Expert (Requires vehicle)
Tools: None
Time: Quick

No time to fiddle with pesky locking mechanisms? Smaller, lighter safes not bolted to the ground can be physically removed from the house if the player has a vehicle in which it can be transported.

Multiplayer

Lots of work this week on the multiplayer code. Here's some footage from our first co-op multiplayer session.

New Websites

We launched our new websites for KleptoGame.com and MeerkatGaming.com

Music

Logan completed the first track of the game's score. Listen to the music and his sound design work in our recently released trailer.

Vehicles

Alex and Nate finished up the police car this week.

Complete with strobing lights.

And here's a peak at the first concept art for the high-tech vehicle upgrades (joke)

Interactive Furniture

Dmitriy completed another piece of furniture with plenty of places to store potential loot.

Loot

Alex is currently modeling a VR headset.