Greetings Hackers!
No release for you at the moment.
Shocked? Don't be. Life gets in the way of projects at times. I have had a lot of late nights at work, disrupting business trips, and other personal matters
get in the way of achieving as much on this project as I would have liked by this point. Not to mention that I have had little support from other developers in
creating all of the 3D models needed. I would like to give a tremendous shout out to bastardrodent, however, since he has made half of the enemy models for
Citadel or at least the base unanimated versions. Bastardrodent, if you read this, please know that you have been extremely helpful and thank you for all that
you've done!
Even so, I have a completed a large amount of work on Citadel this year in spite of life getting in the way. Now to get on to the juicy status updates...
Items: Done! Modeled, textured, prefabs made in Unity, code done for using in-game. Items are anything that can be picked up by the player such as hardware,
medkits, and weapons. Whole lotta goodies!
Objects: Done! Modeled, textured, prefabs made in Unity, code done for using in-game. Objects are anything that can't be picked up but that don't make up the
level geometry. For instance, chairs, crates, switches, cyber port, force bridges, etc.
Levels: Initial un-enhanced version done! Base geometry, lighting, level transitions, dynamic object handling code, and saving code are done. Levels are
currently made up of temporary flat cards that will be later enhanced to the higher-poly 3-dimensional level chunks. The enhanced level chunks will cull better,
react with physics more reliably, and allow for enhanced AI pathfinding since they can double as node points. These reasons should offset the impact on
performance from having a higher level of polygons on screen (most graphics cards are optimized for handling large amounts of polygons these days anyways).
Below you can see the subtle yet tremendous impact this will have on the level. This is just the first room to give you a taste of the eventual enhancement:
Having modular level chunks also will enable the creation of an easy to use level editor, likely to be a modded version of the Unity editor using Editor scripts.
UI: The in-game HUD is almost finished. The only areas that are incomplete are the data tab of the email reader, in-game minigame player, automap (this will be
nigh on impossible without the above mentioned level chunks, at least for custom levels anyway), and creation of a mirrored righthand MFD panel. Code is
complete that allows for proper handling of which MFD side to use, lefthand or righthand, such that when an action hijacks the MFD (e.g. keypad or puzzle) it
will return to showing the previous data such as weapon stats or automap.
Also, the main menu is nearly complete as well:
Enemies: Enemies are nearing completion. The only enemies left in need of 3D models are the Cyborg Enforcer, Elite Cyborg, and Security 1 Bot. There are a few
enemies that still need texturing done, such as the cortex reaver, cyborg drone (low res at the moment), zero gravity mutant, cyborg Diego, and a retouch of the
Exec bot. Current status in image form below! All pictures shown are subject to improvement!
The work continues! It will be done "when it's done".
SALT THE FRIES!
Links:
Source code and content: Github.com
Dev blog: Systemshock.org
Task tracker: Trello.com
Future enhancment plan footnotes:
Weapon view models (not just flat cards)
Muzzle tracking for view models in Inventory mode
Enhanced level chunks for each texture type used in the original game
Touch up some doors that are too flat by adding more reliefs, details
Better stylized particle effects for some weapons and enemy explosions
Impact sounds to objects when dropped or bumped (e.g. crates)
Extra debris models to litter the station
Implement the music system (Denhonator has some great enhanced mixes!)
Add leaning
Add cyberspace, but make it more easy to control. Will also be taking some inspiration from Geometry Wars for glow and effects.
Add screen effects such as emp grenade rolling, subtle shaking for large explosions, etc.
Optimizations for performance
Level editor
Trainer for stats and data (e.g. weapon damages, enemy health, etc.) or at least easily editable external text/.csv files
Ability to override and add models and textures with custom ones
Ability to override and add sounds with custom ones
In-game custom level loading
Testing testing testing.
Looks really great!
I cant wait for this to be released! :3
Amazing work!
Wish I could help with the 3D models, but that's not my area of expertise.
This is gonna be awesome!
Really well done !!! What the game really needed.
fascinating
This is my most anticipated game. Thanks for keeping up the awesome work. I'll wait patiently for the release
Looks great, keep on.
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