Main Menu, Introduction, Elemental Updates and more
Recently
Since the most recent update, I've began working on a few key aspects that'll be implemented in the game with further in-depth. But before I start listing the more serious things outside of gameplay, I'd like to go over the recent small gameplay mechanics that'll be more abundantly useful in the game.
Main Menu
The introduction and main menu blend in together very well and work together very fluently. With the randomized Spickles jumping about and the camera floating around a giant sign that reads "The Best Game Ev..." I mean "Darkness and a Crowd." It can't get any more beautiful then that.
Gameplay Additions
So simple yet so satisfying nonetheless. When hitting enter, you get a beautiful close up of the ground and a cutscene of you being dragged to your new home, a cage dangling by a nearly abandoned camp. Thus introducing you to your best friend and companion... "Pestle" (came up with that one on the spot but I think I'll use it)
In continuation, after defeating your first few enemies you'll have access to the new element of fire and the story can continue afterwards. Now being introduced to all 3 elements and the simple gameplay mechanics. You should be ready to start your adventure to save your world from the corruption, that could be the start of a new period in time for the lands of Darkness and a Crowd.
EVEN MORE CLEAR
A lot of tiny aspects have been fixed and changed as well. When you highlight over interactables such as growing stems or burning logs, they begin to ping on the alpha scale, clarifying that it is indeed, intractable, as that's been a complication in the past. But on the topic of clarification, with this minor, annoying pop up, it should become very clear how your controls work in the first place, when the task bar isn't clear enough....
With all of this clarified, it should be VERY hard to STILL not know the controls or gameplay mechanics.
And Still...
I still need to align all of the story, add more the main menu with clickable additions, screens and animations. I also need to fix/make a few more gameplay mechanics such as leaving and entering an area to respawn enemies for farming.
Afterwards I think I can REALLY focus on making the game much much longer. Without looking at the list, im sure im forgetting a few smaller things I need to fix or add, but right now my main priority is to get the first level to blend very well with the introduction.
Oh! and a working map....
NOT CERTAIN
Just thinking of some more ideas. It'd be cool to have some randomized, neverending "Missions" that are simply meant to help you farm before going on your next quest. More or less picturing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon styled story with my gameplay and art style.
It would give me reason to constantly update too with more dungeon types, or small cheap DLC with new dungeon areas or missions or rooms, missions, creatures, abilities, etc.
Might or might not be in the future....
UI Graphical Update
Although this might not be the craziest of the updates, it is a few small changes that I am quite proud of with the short amount of time that it was accomplished.
What's been added?
Really almost nothing but a few small items such as a new font in different areas such as the chat systems and Task/Upgrade centers.
It really doesn't sound huge but it helps clarify what's interactable and whats decoration in a major way.
Continuation
Not only that but when chatting with enemies, the text is much more pleasant when up against a green background with lighter green text. It just simply pops out so much better in its own ways.
The new font is: World of Water
I'm really going to work on blending the UI a bit better in the future but for now I'm quite happy with what's been accomplished. Although so little, its still an accomplishment on its own.
I'm also putting up this update to in the news to list off what's to be added in the future with greater detail.
What's to be added in the future?
There is indeed a long list of what's to be added and I know I covered this in the last update but not in total depth. I also tend to go back on these updates to remind myself on what to work on next and I figured a clear and simple list laid across the bottom of a news article can't get any more abundantly clear. So without further ado:
Completed
Pause and go tutorial (to ENSURE no one misses the controls for certain).
A main menu
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Working On
Clarified story (Intro, talk over, etc.)
Saving functions (IMPORTANT)
More music possibilities (got some in store that sound pretty awesome!)
Experimentation with the fire ability and its possibilities.
A set of new enemies and a boss (1 or 2 enemies)
Longer closed beta to experiment with more possibilities in the story
Even better graphics enhancements to the UI.
Continue to make the game longer until December 14'th
Not a list...
If I'm not mistaking, that's all I really have left to do.
There is a possibility I'll release in early access to just make sure there are no bugs or broken features before the actual initial release, but in this scenario, that would mean the REAL release would be later in 2018. I want SOMETHING worth buying by December 14th at the bare minimum.
That doesn't mean I'm going to slack however.
I'm nothing like the countless amount of developers before me that got a chance on Steam and blew it with simple 15 minute walking simulators claiming to be the next generation's horror games. I'm nothing like those cheesy games with terrible graphics and hours of repetitive, boring gameplay.
I really want this to be at the best of my ability and I want to show off what I really am capable of.
I also want to know what the community has to say for these small changes and see what else they want added, removed or changed. This is not just my game but the rest of yours too. I'm making this for YOU which means it should be revolved around your opinions and suggestions.
Closed Beta Players
Don't expect the update to be playable quite yet. I still want to finish the tutorial and the main menu. After that I'll publish the updates and work on the save functions. I've never done a saving feature in a unity projects however so that's going to be some fun to figure out or find a way to avoid....
Finally
Thanks in advance for reading this long, boring news update. These should get to be more fun to read when you're all playing the game some time in december...
I hope your all as excited as I am for the final product.
With that being said, I'll try to update again in the near future about what progress has been made!
Thanks in advance!
Seth Albertus
Delayed Update
Currently, I'd like to address the my delay in posting an update. It's been taking forever and I do acknowledge that. It's been to the point where friends at school have punched me on the shoulder asking "When's the next update!?" (Thanks Donald).
Well recently I have taking a little while (2 weeks) of a break before working on the game with current arising issues in my personal life and lack of inspiration.
I'm about to get back on track but I just wanted to address some stuff before I forget about everything else and get engulfed in work again.
I also wanted to state that there is a youtube channel to keep track of some small fun updates as well.
and just a heads up, I am by no means advertising my account or trying to get views, I really just want my community to stay informed. I could careless if anyone clicks on the link or watches a single video.
What I really need to work on at the moment is a different font than the default unity fonts, a new button, better GUI layout, clearer tutorial, clearer story and most importantly, better controls.
So this is all expected within the coming week, giving school has started, progress is bound to slow down, but it doesn't mean the game will be any less amazing then as expected.
Thanks in advance!
- Seth Albertus
Progress in the making, Update 0.12.0 Closed Beta
I've been borrowing many ideas from many different RPG games and turning them into my own for these games, but I'm quite curious what you guys have to offer as well in terms of ideas. So in that case I'm 100% open to ideas, as I like to elaborate on constantly.
But otherwise, I'd like to go over what I've most recently added and ask what the beta tester think of for the difficulty. I'd also like to explain how the movements of these enemies work.
What's been added
I'm dying to tell you how the systems I've added work but in order to do that I need to explain what systems were added.
For starters, there are now two types of Spickles....
Default Spickles & Large spickles
Visible strikes upon hitting enemies
Camera animation for using the Growth ability
Fixed mission so you can see what happens after defeating your first spickle.
Default Spickles
Default Spickles are much easier to damage as long as you're not right up against them. They will just simply jump towards you. However they have a jump delay of 2 seconds, plus or minus 1.5 seconds. This is to prevent them from just casually jumping in unison, and upping the difficulty. This also helps add to the real time RPG experience in which each enemy has a specified speed and attacking order. Except as I said before, this is in real time movements.
Other than smaller range and quicker movement times, these enemies have a large sight, so It's quite hard to get away from them in tight spaces and is much easier to just fight them. However their health is miniscule compared to other creatures. The Spickles health is stated as 5, compared to the Large Spickle with a health of 20.
As miniscule as those health ranges are, they will vary depending on your current level in game. But to give you an idea of how powerful that still is compared to your damage. The current player deals 0.3 points of damage per hit with a refresh hit time of 0.2 seconds.
Large Spickle
Large Spickles have the same hopping movements as default spickles, except theirs are much more dramatic, higher, and longer. If one lands on you, you can expect to be crushed. However they have a delay of 3 seconds with the 1.5 plus or minus addition (or anything in between) before there moves. They deal 3 damage out of your totaled 4 to begin with. These creatures also max out at 20 health points which take them forever to actually kill, but very worth it by being rewarded 120 exp for the kill.
Describing the systems
So as I mention and remind more than enough, this game will be very revolved around the RPG experiences. For the enemies, this means they must choose between hitting you with an attack or moving up towards you. So with there jump delays, they have a chance to hit you rather than actually move towards you. They also have a 1/10 chance of missing this hit, giving you double the time to continuously attack them again. This goes with anything from Large Spickles to Default Spickles. So if an enemy doesn't move or attack you for a long period of time, you can consider yourself lucky. There will of course be a sign that shows whether or not the enemy has missed and a bar to show you what there health is at and what there current level is.
Now
I'd like to elaborate once again on posting ideas down below. Giving suggestions and watching them actually appear in a game is the best feeling ever and giving our tiny community at the moment, It'd be hard for me to miss them.
Recent Additions in the DEV Build.
Recently, I've been working quite hard on Darkness and a Crowd but haven't had much to show of it. So instead, I'd like to give you some spoilers of what's to be added in the near future. But I don't think I want the post to be so much as a stylish one with tons of formatting additions but rather an informative one.
Enemies
On the grounds of enemies, you will notice upon playing the closed beta, this is indeed an interactive creature, but not one that causes harm of any sorts but just a slight annoyance. This enemy will go by the name of a spickle.
Currently, as you can see, the enemy has tracking at a certain range, but what's behind the scenes is a randomizer in its jumps and the players ability to detect if an enemy such as the "Spickle" is within range of the character along with its ability to be facing the spickle. When the fighting additions are implements, this will be an easily edited feature that levels up as you do. So a level 1 spickle will not be nearly as hard as a level 30 spickle but the rewards are heavily boosted as well. For those who do not have access of the closed beta, I'd like to show off my abomination.
Introducing the Spickle
Customization
A few pending features are set to be added as well as the upgrade menus.
By studying the current picture, you will notice the 3 different tabs, ranging from the basic Task Menu or Task Center, to an upgrade system dedicated to the character. This is not to be mistaken with the Spirited UG Menu by pressing {G}. The Character UG will be specified for upgrading character based abilities such as damage, health, stamina, mana and all those other generic RPG additions. This also includes a map section, which won't be fully functional until the game is close to released. Calculating the locations of where the character is in a separate menu outside of the game will be quite difficult and annoying, but none the less, possible, thanks to built in Unity UI features.
I'm so excited to show you what's in the next installment of the Darkness and a Crowd Updates.
DEV Panel
The Dev panels are clearly marked and constantly flooding the bottom left of the screen with errors. If this is an annoyance, it is always quite easy to turn them off with the close menu button. This just makes debugging for me easier. And if something were to happen with the player, it'd be very easy to find out what's going wrong with them.
The Dev update was installed to simply show that things ARE being worked on, just not ALL systems are in place to make any major progression.
Simple fixes and additions
aaaaand of course, with every update comes bug fixes and easier additions. So why not tell you what's been fixed.
- Some random crashing is now avoidable.
- Buying tornado jump actually GIVES you tornado jump!
- Objective arrows show you how to complete the first missions, I know physics are confusing...
- The missions are more clear! Even though it shows you how to activate your side missions, people still get confused when it comes to finding out how to use their powers. (There is STILL a sidequest going over THIS)
- A few missions were re-written for even MORE clarification. It should be hard to get lost, while keeping the feeling of a puzzle game still alive and well.
Ending
I know this is very exclusive to those who do not have access to the closed beta, but it's a little sneak peek as to what's going on behind the scenes of this extraordinary game. In the future, these announcements will remind me how everything was put together and in what order. It might even help future developers with taking steps like these to making games like this. I also really hope to provide closed beta access to those who supported me through the groupees bundle sale. As mentioned before, by becoming a closed beta tester, you will receive some pretty special features upon its release that should make the boring testing worth it...
Thank you all so much for your time in reading this, and I hope you stay tuned in the coming weeks for the planned updates I have ahead. Just 3 and a half more months!!!!!
- Seth Albertus
Battle System
Currently
Before I implement the ideas I have in store for Darkness and a Crowd; I wanted to run it by the community. I don't expect many suggestions but if there is a feature heavily disagreed upon,of course it'll change.
First Unlockable Attack
The beginning abilities will be quite easy to unlock and part of a mandatory process. Very much limiting the RPG experience while helping the player get a grip on how the game works. You're first attack will resemble a bow and arrow like shot.
Upon completing the first few puzzles, you'll be rewarded with a “Level Up” and an unlockable skill point; only to be warned about upcoming enemies. That would be the best time to unlock your attack..
Keep in Mind
This is not your only attack throughout the entire game. Constantly you will be leveling up and unlocking new abilities to either bypass certain puzzles, or find new, effective ways in destroying your enemies. There will be a way to save your location at checkpoints and re-fight the enemies to earn some more experience. A way to grind and level up so you can fight new creatures and/or progress. This will add to the RPG experience allowing a choice of abilities to either help you grind or assist your progression.
This system of re-fighting enemies is indeed inspired by the Darksouls ‘genre’ but very different from the game itself.
How YOU Can Help
As assumed, I don't have all things planned out for the game. A suggestion for other types of attacks or abilities would be very helpful towards the games creation. If you want to see your ideas in Darkness and a Crowd, or if you have a complaint regarding the current idea for The Battle System, simply comment in the announcement or make a discussion. Ill try my hardest to implement every one of the ideas into the game and find a way to grant credit to those who helped.
This is just as much the early communities game as it is mine.
Thanks in advance,
- Seth Albertus
Questions and Comments?
As I've been working on Darkness and a Crowd, I've been very curious as to what my fanbase was interested in before I added things that might be seen as unexpected or confusing for the giving theme.
So in that spirit, I would like to answer any and all questions regarding the game and myself under this announcement.
I love hearing what others have to say and ask about this my game. Clearing confusion is part of my job and a fun way for me to interact with my community.
So shoot em at me in the comments or post to the discussion.
Happy 4th by the way! :)
Thanks,
- Seth Albertus
Suggestions for updates
I've come up with a few ideas for the project Darkness and a Crowd that I would like to run by the community before incorperating and begining work on. And giving the game is still in its very early stages I would also like to ask for the communities suggestions and features that you would love to see in DAAC.
Suggestions
This is a list of ideas ive compiled but have not yet decided if its worth investing in.
Steam inventory usage: I feel as the steam inventory system could be used to help connect the community for Darkness and a Crowd. Adding some extra value to the players experience to the game. It might even add some replay value to the game.
My idea is to add extra characters to the game to possibly play as. Dependent on the addition and its effect, it could change the way the character moves making it easier to navigate through the world, or simply just be a decorative hat. The items would drop as you play the game and invest more time into it, but the items would be entirely random and drop with a rarity chance. The player base can decide what they like better and what they feel like pricing should be...
Steam Workshop usage: Another way to help incorperate the community into our creation process is a steam workshop system. Players can create theyre own skins to the game or possibly an entire level to attempt. That is, if I feel confident in releasing some of the project out to the world to play with and edit. Creating entirely new areas to work with. This would however be hard to moderate whether or not a mission is actually completable.
Multiplayer: Multiplayer would take a bit of time to actually set up. I would need to buy servers or try to find ways to incorperate player ran servers. This wouldnt be done until a month or two after the initial release of the project. But if players are actually interested in this idea, It wouldnt be hard to create a kickstarter for the project.
I want the game to be based around the community and making an enjoyable experience. Something worth investing your time into. But in order to do that I'll need time and money.
The way the multiplayer would work can also be decided by the community:
A system I've recently considered looking into would be co-op based. Using eachother to complete tasks; as done in portal. Press a button to build a platform and hold it open for players to cross.
Fighting would be quite an interesting concept too. Competing together in decently sized maps, dodging attacks or summoning bolts of energy at one another to strike down your foe-riends.
But I want to hear what the community has to say.
In Conclusion
I am very dedicated to this project and I want the gameplay to be worth investing in. But also being the only developer and at the age of 15, I need to hear what a larger group of people have to say. My opinion is very biased for being the developer. So I'm putting a lot of this up to suggestion.
Im also going disclaim: there is only one of me. It'll be very hard to get this done with the deadline I set for myself. So some of this might be in future updates if it seems popular to the community.
I want to be as honest as possible.
Please feel free to comment your suggestions.
Thank you for taking your time into reading this....
