Cogs and Cowboys
Hotfix for 0.4
There were some issues with 0.4 not starting and the main menu not working. Those are fixed in this hotfix. Enjoy!
UPDATE 0.4!
Hello everyone!
I apologize it has been so long since the last update.
I added quite a bit of features under the hood and then got caught up with things outside of development and never pushed the update.
That said, I’m now doing it a long with some other things I just added.
Here’s the breakdown of this update:
- Skill tree - Your watch now has a skill tree that you can use to upgrade various stats, such as how fast you can shoot, your reload speed, your health, shield, etc.
- New loot system - The new loot system uses a lot of math and probability to make loot drops better so you can’t run out of all your ammo and lose.
- New shot effects - The .gifs don’t show it well, but they have a cool distortion and particle effect that looks awesome in VR.
NORMAL/FIRE WEAPONS
ACID WEAPONS
(Sorry for the gif artifacts, can't get rid of it)
SHOCK WEAPONS
Play the game to see plasma :)
- New models in survival map - Replaced the old buildings with better ones, redid all the collision, and added some props and trees. Preview at the top.
- New holster location - Nobody liked the lower back holster, so I moved it up front. You’ll see a little box highlight when you can drop your gun in it
- Ammo count displayed on belt
- Short (4 minute) story mode playable teaser - This is a prototype level I made before redoing the story. Since there isn’t any story stuff for this game, I thought I might as well put it out for those that want to try it (it’s nothing special though).
- Enemy health reduced - Enemy health was reduced and now increases based on the leveling system the previous update added, so enemies will get more difficult as you continue on. You’ll need to find new guns to be able to keep up the fight against them at later levels.
- Elemental kills Elemental kills (the element burning kills the enemy, not the bullet) now result in the enemy yelling and dissolving in front of you. Your character sometimes laughs in response.
- Added pointer - You can now activate a pointer by slightly pulling the right trigger. Pull it all the way to select. You can also use this to pick up objects from a distance - just point and click the grip.
- Touching a gun with your hand or pointer now displays its stats and the stats window resizes based on your distance so you can still read it from a few feet away.
- Bunch of little bug fixes with various things.
I apologize for how overdue this has been. I always told myself I would never be one of those developers that released an Early Access game and never finished it..I just got a little too carried away with my ambitions and it got to the point I was overwhelmed with what I wanted to make this game as a single person working on it. I've since stepped back a bit. Most of the mechanics are in now, so I can begin on making the single player and making it something actually manageable.
Progress Report - Element Burns and Skills
Yet another progress report!
Today I added a burn effect for when enemies are killed by elemental burns.
They essentially scream and disintegrate based on the type of element burning them. In the future I'd like to add actual animations for each element type, but for now this will do.
Today I also implemented a basic skill tree. You get skill points with each level up and can increase things like weapon fire rate, reload speed, pistol damage, rifle damage, weapon accuracy, and in the future even more options.
At some point I created a bug causing the large enemy to not actually shoot towards you, so once I fix that and finish setting up the basic skill tree I will push this update for you all to try.
Thanks,
Nick
Progress Report Part 2 - New gun in progress
This is the Steam-Powered Gatling Gun Glove.
Imagine having a gatling gun as your hand, and that's what this will be like when you grab it and put your hand (controller) inside.
The canisters on the bottom are water tanks that are used to create steam and make the gun start firing.
The things on the sides are train whistles.
When you start shooting, it'll spin up to speed and the whistles will blow as it unleashes it's firepower. It sounds like being plowed by a train because that's what it feels like.
Progress Report - Systems and Story Mode
Just a quick progress report on what I have been working on.
- The radar issue (as far as my testing has shown) is now fixed and the radar no longer stops working randomly.
- The level system is now fixed, xp wasn't caculated correctly between level ups but now is.
I have a new map that's roughly half done. I need to finish adding details and collision boundaries and then set up enemy spawns. I have another enemy type I will be adding in the near future as well.
I have also been working on setting up systems for the story. I have added a watch to the left hand that can be used to open the Character, Quests, and Pause menus. They aren't fucntional yet though.
As far as the story mode goes, I've been working on setting up the opening level and will be recording the dialogue shortly, I think you'll find it pretty funny.
From there I will be making more levels and quests and just expanding the story in general.
Update .35 - Map expanded, leveling system
Map Size Increased
This update makes the map roughly twice the size. There's still the same amount of enemies, but you are now free to roam the map as you fight them.
Level/XP System
In addition, I've added the basics to the leveling system, allowing you to earn XP and "Level Up," increasing your health with each level. You'll find this info on your left hand with your radar (tilt it palm up).
Slight UI Update
I've moved the UI on the left hand with enemy count, wave number, and points to be attached to the radar so it doesn't clutter your view when you don't want it. I've also fixed it incorrectly saying "1 enemies remaining." It now says 1 Enemy Remaining and Area Clear when there are no enemies nearby (look at the picture above).
Update 0.3 - Overhaul Weapons, Elements, Damage System, and more
Hello! This update adds many features and fixes many of the things broken with the previous version.
Check out the new video on the store page to see this stuff in action! Or, just try it yourself!
Weapons
Weapons now behave like physical objects. Pick it up, drop it, throw it, holster it, no more clunky menus. Holsters have been brought back on your hips, behind your back, and behind your head.
Weapons now have elements and a random chance to be explosive.
Elements
Weapons drop with a random chance to be elemental. There are four element types:
- Fire
- Electricity
- Acid
- Plasma
Elemental weapons also drop with a random chance of causing an elemental event, causing burn damage over a couple seconds (look at the images above).
Damage System
The damage system was redone. There are now three types of targets
- Flesh
- Armor
- Shield
These respond differently to elemental weapons:
- Fire = Very effective against flesh, not very effective against shield/armor
- Electricity = Very effective against shield, not very effective against armor/flesh
- Acid = Very effective against armor, not very effective against flesh/shield
- Plasma = Very effective against everything
The code is also ready to add in weapon-specific modifications to critical hit damage and skills/perks that modify the damage of weapon classes.
Radar/UI
The radar was redone again, it looks much nicer and auto-hides until you turn your wrist face up
Other UI changes:
Right hand:
- Added shield circle progress and text
Left Hand:
- Added Enemies remaining circle and text
- Added Wave number text
- Added points
Control options
You can now change between arm swing sprint and touchpad sprint. More features like this will come to allow players to find what works best for them.
Hands/Animations
Hands were added and fit all the weapons.
Known Bugs
Radar stops tracking - working closely with dev for last week trying to solve, should have solution soon.
Message from Developer
I want to apologize to all of you for dropping off the map for a while, especially after pretty much breaking the controls. I couldn't balance development with school and life and all the commitments I made. I'm now working full time on Cogs and Cowboys and will be the next couple of months as well!
Please give me feedback and let me know what works, what doesn't, and what you would like to see.
MostWanted Game Development
Nick
BETA UPDATE .3b
Elemental weapons
holsters
shields
throwable weapons (literally you can throw your guns)
Progress Report - Health system revamp
(a little teaser I made for a class project)
Hello!
I've been able to work full time on this project again (I haven't been able to for months) and progress has ramped up dramatically.
The health system has been revamped. This needs testing, but there is now normal health, armor, and shields. These are affected differently by the elemental weapons.
Normal health is affected most by fire damage.
Armor is affected most by acid damage.
Shields are affected most by electrical damage.
Plasma damage is just all around better than normal damage.
If the other updates haven't tipped it off, Cogs and Cowboys is moving much towards an RPG style game than a sit and shoot waves game. This was my long term goal but I've completely dived in now. Weapons are set up so their traits can be randomized when spawned, in later updates physical attritbutes and names will be randomized as well allowing for many, many combinations of weapons.
If people end up wanting a more stripped down Cowboy meets Steampunk with some scifi things shooter like it originally was I can do that though, I've designed everything so I could use it for other games if I decide to so it won't be a waste of time for me. I'd love to keep moving forward in this direction though, I don't believe there is anything like it yet for VR. It may be a few weeks before I have some areas to explore with quests and the like, but that is the goal.
Thank you,
Nick
Progress Report - Elemental weapons, loot drops, and more!
No update pushed yet, but lots of progress has been made!
Elemental Weapons
I now have elemental weapons working. There are 5 types of damage currently set up in Cogs and Cowboys: normal, plasma, electricity, acid, and fire.
In the future, different enemies will respond differently to these. For now it just changes the color of the damage text that flies out from where the enemy was hit.
Burn Damage
Burn damage is also working now, meaning hitting an enemy with a plasma weapon causes the plasma to stick to the enemy and continue to do plasma damage for a few seconds. Hitting enemies with fire weapons or explosives has the same effect, causing them to recieve fire burn damage for a few seconds. This will also apply to electricity and acid weapons when they are added.
Burn damage works against the player too, and getting hit will reduce your health over a few seconds.
Loot drops
More loot is now dropped by enemies including weapons. You will now start with only two weapons - the small pistol and the shotgun. Enemies will drop pistols (large and small), shotguns, leveraction rifles, plasma rifles (small robot's weapon), and explosive launchers (large robot's weapon). Yes, you can now use the weapons they are using against you and they are very fun, especially because one does plasma damage and the other fire damage.
UI
Radar is back and reworked, it looks nicer and now also shows where weapons are around you.
Health display was reworked a little.
Level stats display added, showing you how many enemies are left for that wave with a progress circle and text, what wave you are on, and how many points you have.
Tutorial was updated to reflect the new changes, such as weapons being stored on your body, ammo collected on your belt, weapon reload button changed, and movement now being done by both controllers.
I won't be able to push this update for a couple more days, but everything is mostly working, I just need to work on optimization (the fire burning effect on enemies drops the framerate too much) and balance (the game is much more difficult now that you can catch on fire from explosions).
-Nick