New this week

This week I created the model and animation for the shovel as well as conducted some playtesting. The results of the playtesting informed some balances changes and additional mechanics.

Weapon Model and Animation

I added the model and animation for the shovel. The animation is fairly plain but serves its purpose fine. By making the animation longer than the swing time it also allows a built-in holding animation between swings. I am also fairly happy with the model for the shovel. Having a slightly crooked handle really helps break up the monotony.

Hit Indicator

One of the observations/pieces of feedback made the player was unaware of where they were getting hit from. I knew this was going to be a problem due to the game’s current lack of sound. I had already planned on creating hit indicators to show which direction damage was coming from, but the feedback pushed this feature further up the priority list. The hit indicator is almost as generic as it can get. This is intentional as for basic mechanics like this it is best to not confuse existing muscle memory and transferable skills from other fpses. The damage indicator also indicates roughly how much damage the player took.

Melee Deflection

The feedback received both from the first playtest and this one was melee was too difficult. After the first playtest I added a mechanic to make melee easier however it seems I accidentally made it more difficult. Turns out people’s first reaction to being shot at by a projectile is to go further away, thus starting a vicious cycle of getting shot at, running away and being at a range to get shot at. I have added a new intrinsic ability to melee weapons that gives them the ability to deflect projectiles. Projectile deflection is handled in the same way as in the game neon white. Where the projectiles, upon being deflected, go towards their firing source/firing enemy. This was chosen due to the flicky, twitchy nature of melee. The skill sealing of this mechanic should be found in the timing rather than the aiming.

What’s next?

Next is to change how enemy spawns and drop items. The current system has all pre-determined enemies spawn when a room is entered. I want to change it so different enemies can spawn from the same spawn point and only a percentage of enemies spawn at really early rooms. This is based on feedback that some rooms are extremely rough to start out on.

Changing spawn items is to prevent the player from picking them up in the middle of combat. The whole picking up items in the middle of combat isn’t really a problem. It is more that the high stress scenario causes players to not read items that could be detrimental to their build. Showing the items after the room is finished also encourages moments of respite after combat where the player can collect themselves and make decisions better.