Today marks the one-year anniversary of when I first started work on this game, when the idea first came into my head to when I started throwing things around in the engine. And sometimes when I get discouraged, I can look back at how much progress I’ve made since the start to see how far it’s really come.
The main goal at the moment is to have a clear path to the end of the game, regardless of how rough or buggy it is, but to at least make it playable from start to finish. Once that’s done, then I’ll go back and polish everything.
Scope has been a constant issue throughout the process, since I don’t have a GDD (unless you count a bunch of scattered text documents as one) and have been winging it for the most part. The main gameplay loop has changed quite a bit, what the player’s goals and options should be have changed a lot, and how much content I want to fit in the game while still keeping a reasonable release date has been difficult as well.
So with all that being said, the tentative release date for the game is October 2026.
The Steam page is still a work in progress, but should be coming out soon once the art and other assets are ready over the next couple of weeks.
I’ve also decided to reduce the devlogs to once per month so I have more interesting things to talk about and explain how they work a bit further. So here are a few of the highlights:
Scaling
One feature that was present in my earlier devlogs and the first playable version of the game was an attempt to add depth to a top-down 2D game. This was done through layering nodes on top of each other so that they existed in the same space but made it appear as if you were traversing to another floor, either above or below where you currently were. I tried my best to make it work, but it got to the point where half my time was spent on this, while knowing most players wouldn’t think twice about it. By the time NPC navigation became involved I decided to just scrap it. Mostly.
With the newest level, this feature is back with two important changes: the levels no longer overlap with each other, and navigation for NPCs is restricted. It’s still a bit tedious to get working, but it works.
Guards
It’s easy to laugh at how stupid enemy AI can be in games. But you’ll shut up real quick when you realize how tedious it is to even get them to recognize an enemy and behave the way you’d expect them to.
If a guard sees you, would it make sense if they immediately formed into a congealed mass of guards and made a beeline straight towards the player, guns blazing regardless of if they’re shooting their fellow guards instead? I don’t think many armies would get very far if this was their only strategy. So thinking about how to make guards behave in a way that makes sense has been difficult, implementing it even more so. But the general idea is this:
- Guards will investigate a noise if it’s loud enough and within range
- If the guard spots the player, they’ll pursue them while alerting other guards in their patrol area to take up defensive positions. All other guards not in the immediate area will be placed on alert and move faster.
- Guards on alert will have a faster default speed and patrol between areas faster, while occasionally turning around to make sure nobody is sneaking up on them.
Story
John Romero said that stories in video games are like stories in a porno: it’s there, but not important.
There’s nothing wrong with little or no story in a game. Just give the player a gun and tell them “shoot bad guy” and that’s enough for most games. Too much story can be a problem. If I’m watching cutscenes more than playing the game, I get bored very fast and would rather watch a real movie instead. Like Underworld.
But sometimes the story is what keeps the player going. If they keep playing because they want to see how the story unfolds, who they’re playing as, their history, what they’re working towards, then story can be a large mover in games just as much as the actual gameplay. And in this case, when dealing with branching storylines and multiple endings, where the player’s actions can influence later events, plot does become important. Especially if the player pays close attention at how their actions have consequences.
So to sum all this up, the main goals right now are:
- Have a complete path to the end of the game, no matter how barebones it is
- Make sure the core gameplay loop is fun
- Ensure the player knows what they’re supposed to do at all times
Happy anniversary 🎉
Can’t wait to play it!