Reworked Interactions news - Epsylon

The work done focused mostly on player feedback received so far. This includes various bug fixes, improvements of interactions and reworking/cleaning up script code to get it into a good shape for a release later on. Especially the interaction improvements is worth a section on its own.

One of the main issues players had with the game interaction had been the complexity of the key bindings and when you can do what with objects in the game world.

These issues have been addressed now by removing various key bindings. They have been collapsed into a simple primary action (left mouse button) using Interaction Prompts.

Furthermore various interactions (both in-world and in-hand) have been modified to give prompts for the important actions at all times. Now it should be way easier to play without guessing or trial-and-error.

Also added Foreign Property marking. If an interaction shows up in red this means you can get into troubles if you do certain things. If an interaction shows up in green then it is save. Sometimes it is possible to use red stuff. In general foreign property you can not put in your inventory. You have to put them back where you found it.

Another point of players had been that it is not always clear you hold a prop in your hands. To help there Wield/Use Interaction Prompts are shown on the left side if you wield a prop. For some props these prompts change depending if you just wield them or use them. Your smartphone or memo pads are such props.

Also crouching or sitting on chairs confused some players so prompts for these have been added to. They are located also on the left screen side.

For computers the button to leave has been also marked with an additional "Exit" text to make it clearer how to get out of computers.

Some players wished for wield props (like your smartphone) to line up with the view so they are always visible. This has been done now with props following horizontal rotation but not vertical. In addition the "Take Picture" mode of your smartphone now sticks to the player view using IK. This should make taking pictures much easier. Taking pictures is not for show so you can use them for different purposes in your investigations. See if you can find them all.

All in all the various changes make game play more fluid and easier to pick up for new players. The video demonstrates the various changes in the test map.

Feedback on the changes are highly appreciated.

Next up will be the work on the game mechanics revolving around Sean.