DEV DIARY #20 - Character gear, stats sheet and more

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hope you enjoyed your holiday. Some much needed time off has helped to recharge our team and with our New Year resolutions made, we are ready to tackle this beast called DEICIDES.

We are aiming to attend at least one major game show this year (EGX, GAMESCOM, etc..) with a vertical slice for the game. Our goal is to start a conversation about future funding for the project.

We are developing Deicides in our spare time, and the more we progress, the more we believe this is the game we hope to play one day.

We are still looking to recruit for several positions, and you can see all the listings at our JOBS page.

If you would like to help us with the development of Deicides, or just want to say hello and keep track what we are working on, you can find us at our DISCORD channel. 

Let’s kick off 2020 with a video summary.

CHARACTERS

The character team brought to life few more textured gear sets.

Sage Personal Shield GEAR SET(TECH)

The Sage personal shield gear set is a low tier energy based armor designed for TECH Specialists that require light wearable armor with boosted stats for hacking.

WIP - Stalwart Composite Armor GEAR SET(TECH)

The Stalwart composite armor is a low tier set for TECH characters seeking extra power, strength and durability. This heavy armor is the best choice for any heavy hitters, either melee or ranged heavy gunner.

(WIP) EXOSKELETONS progression

Exoskeletons are the first parts of combat equipment. Your character will wear them up until any augmentations take place. There will be 3 tiers of exoskeletons to aid you with early levels.

ENERGY RIFLE

Energy rifle. Basic low tier weapon ideal for specialists.

ANIMATIONS

We have been pretty busy with animations. Specifically working on combat skills for the security guard and mutated variant. Additionally, locomotion animations for the mutated scientist has been a real pain and we might have to come up with some easier solution for how to animate something as complex as this.

Next in line we are working on death animations for enemies, along with the player roll, dash and jump movements.

ENVIRONMENTS

We spent some more time with design and workfow exploration for our environments. Our artist worked on improving materials and some basic assets for the vertical slice.

LABORATORY COMPLEX

Laboratory bridges will be one of the interior parts of the level. We will create a more polished version of the shopping mall arcades in the future. This is mainly exploration of playable areas to find out if the gameplay here will be interesting and fun enough, before the main production starts.

Underneath there are few examples of untextured assets for the medical bay.

ASTEROID MINES

There is no real progress in this level, as I mentioned we are focusing on the laboratory for now, but we played a bit with light, color grading and overall mood to have clear distinction between levels.

CODE

The code department was pretty busy with lots of smaller but equally important tasks.

AI

We made a kit for creating AI behavior and skills for melee and ranged characters, so with bit of a tweaking we can create different set of reactions for each enemy if needed.

PLAYER MOVEMENT SKILLS

Mobility skills are important for having responsive character control, and a smooth combat experience. The previous roll had some elemental issues with replication so we decided to spent more time on it and this is the result. On top of that, the animation was improved as well.

RPG system and character sheet stats

Currently we are working on the connection of character sheet and gear stats. Primary stats are already done, secondary stats are still in progress. Once we will have full system ready we can start implementing combat formulas to reflect your gear and stats in gameplay situations.

OTHER TWEAKS AND TOOLS

We have now implemented camera shake, level minimap generator, improved inventory system and loot generator.

DESIGN

SKILL TREE

A complex skill system is one of the major pillars for great replay-ability. Players require a system rich in variety, with endless playstyle possibilities that will have them returning time and time again.

We have 5 different nodes in the skill tree. Hero Nodes, Skill Nodes, Specialization Nodes, Payload nodes and Support Nodes.

Support Nodes are small and provide general player stats and improvements. Support nodes will appear in the skill tree more than on one position in the tree and are not unique.

Hero Nodes are visually bigger and provide bigger benefits. This node can be invested with only one skill point and is unique.

Skill Nodes are visually bigger and provide new skills for the players choosing. Each skill has its own mini skill tree consisting withing Payload nodes, Specialization Nodes, and Support Nodes. Every skill will offer more Payload nodes and the player will have to carefully pick what suits his character and playstyle.

Skill Nodes are available based on level and some skills will required higher tier Skill Nodes so players will have limited skill selection at the beginning, for more controllable power curve.

Specialization Nodes are connected to Skill Nodes only and enhance skill power.

Payload nodes are always connected to Skill Nodes. Each payload has its own chance to trigger and it can be potentionally increased by items. This node can be invested with only one skill point. Payload nodes are unlocked with invested skill points in Specialization Nodes. The whole system is designed to be less overwhelming and at the same time complex for players to explore. After the first Augmentation your skill tree will expand with BIO or TECH sections based on your decisions.

Example of beginning of the skill tree (before augmentation).

The skill tree system is very much in early development and any feedback opinion are welcome. We have a general idea for which direction we want to go, but the right path will be shaped through rigorous playtesting and feedback.

BONUS

Our AI coder ZUE has been in Hong Kong “the mecca of cyberpunk”. Even that Kowloon walled city is not standing anymore there is plenty of inspiration on those pictures.