Welcome back, Kin!
v0.0.3 is on the way!
It's been a while since the last Dev Diary and the reason for that is updates have been keeping me busy. Very busy. Not only for the alpha demo, but also for the full game. ManneKin: Hessler Storage managed to gain some traction with it being featured in a YouTube video on Channel13Horror, showing some of the streamers and YouTubers who have played the alpha demo in its recent build. Watching the Wishlist count rise on Steam has been very motivating.
Anyway, onto the updates! Firstly, there's been a few improvements to the level and look. I was thinking that Hessler Storage was a little too... clean? The renovation team did the upper floor and they're working on the lower first floor -- but after that? Things should be getting a little worse for wear. They did, however, establish maintenance rooms on every floor they could get to. This will be your saferoom -- if you can make it safe.
New lighting and updates to textures should optimise things to a much better level. It's incredible how well it seems to run, but I had noticed a lot of people getting screen tearing, some loss of fps, and overall, the want of an options menu. So, I spent three hours making one. Yes, it looks incredibly basic right now. But it does work, which was what I wanted. I'll make it pretty later, the main thing is the functionality is there.
And yes, in the bottom left you can let the game do a quick hardware check and pick the optimal settings for you. You can set Fullscreen or Windowed, turn VSync on or off, change your resolution, and change the FPS limit. I'm sure a lot of people will be looking forward to getting their hands on these settings. Audio settings aren't on the way right now, but something I am looking at.
Another thing to note is that I'm working on giving Professor Shaw his body! Here's another look at our protagonist.
New scares and updated scares are coming too, though I don't want to give the game away on those just yet. Some of the mannequins have had upgrades as to what they can do and how they react to players' actions. Some are more simple than others, but it's just another something that should leave players wondering what they can get away with.
New sound has been added to the game as well, for effects and scoring. Thanks to a recent purchase of a new audio library, I'm able to really ramp up the tension. I can't wait for you to hear it in action. The mannequins have also had a small update to their audio SFX, with them being made from wood and not being disturbed for a while, I've added creaking to their motion. This should make you feel a bit tenser when they start moving.
I've started building the lower levels, things are beginning to expand for the full game, but once again, I don't want to give too much away. There's a lot to get through and we're still in the alpha stage while I get things ready. But I'll give you a peek at one area.
You can follow me for more updates on Twitter or join the community Discord, and don't forget to Wishlist on Steam!
Steam: Store.steampowered.com
Twitter: Twitter.com
Discord: Discord.gg
Awesome additions and changes, can't wait to see it all in action!