It's been ages since we posted an update here about the "Project N". Partly because, the game is a big departure from FS and we didn't want to bombard you with irrelevant information.
So, why arew we posting irrelevant info now? Well, we believe that there might be a handful of people who are interested in our work regardless of the genre, and as it's getting closer to a release date, it would be unfair to keep them in the dark.
If you only interested in Frozen State you can stop reading here, otherwise let me show what "Project N" has turned into.
"Project N" is now called Mist Hunter and it's fats-paced, colorful, FPS roguelite with magic weapons and weird enemies.
Currently, we've made two absolutely different from each other modes:
The Summoning
- endless arena mode where you can practice and hone your skill in quick fights, and compete for the highest score on the leaderboard.
Nexus
- is a dungeon crawler and it has completely different flow with labyrinth-like levels, secrets and bosses.
Any feedback is much appreciated, and if you want to stay tuned you can follow the Mist Hunter page. We'll be posting frequent updates there.
Cheers, Alex and Anton
Linux is working again.
Hi all,
The linux version is playable again and works fine. We've updated the game for every OS. There is no significant changes, just fixed a few small things here and there and compiled it all with a newer version of unity.
Thank you for you patience and understanding,
Devs
Linux is working again.
Hi all,
The linux version is playable again and works fine. We've updated the game for every OS. There is no significant changes, just fixed a few small things here and there and compiled it all with a newer version of unity.
Thank you for you patience and understanding,
Devs
Progress Update "Project N"
Hey guys,
Apologies for a rather long gap between the updates. It’s been so much work that I didn’t even notice how the time just flew by. I’ve been throwing some gifs on reddit pretty regularly, but haven’t given any updates on where we are and how everything is going.
The progress
As the core idea gradually taking up a more defined form, we are cutting down things that we think might not work together or just simply too ambitious for us. Yeap, we’ve learnt this lesson the hard way.
After many discussions we decided to drop the 4-weapon slot system. I think, with this loadouts, where you could sort of define your own character build, we wanted to bring something new, but in reality it would clash with the fast-paced nature of the game. Any kind of interaction with the inventory to swap the gun in the middle of a fight would inevitably slow the pace or, what in my opinion even worse, would require you to be more defencive. We want you to feel powerful, reckless and be in control of the battle. You are a hunter and your enemies is your prey.
Besides, to justify the loadouts we would need a big variety of weapons, otherwise it becomes pointless. And as I said in the beginning, we know our limits. It takes me about 60-80 hours to make a gun model, from a concept stage to its final, textured model with vfx and animations. Even twenty guns would be roughly about 1500 hours. In days it’s almost two months of ceaseless work without sleep and breaks. In real life those 2 months will easily stretch into 4-5 in the best scenario. And it’s just weapons. For a game you need enemies, levels, environment art, vfx and so on and on and on. That’s why many indie games take years to make.
Knowing all that, we reduced the number of weapons to seven. Each with a secondary fire mode and a distinct role in the gameplay.
This is what we have so far:
1) The basic handgun: Primary mode - rapid fire, not very accurate, close to mid range.
Secondary mode - large, relatively slow projectile that can slow enemies.
2) Shotgun: Primary mode - slow, large spread, shot to mid range. Secondary - a fast projectile that explodes spawning bouncing shrapnel.
3) Machine gun: Primary mode - very fast, good accuracy, mid range. Secondary - grenade launcher, explode on impact, average damage.
4) Railgun: Primary mode - slow, perfect accuracy, long range, projectile can bounce of the surface and change direction. Secondary - scope.
5) Plasma rifle: Primary mode - slow projectiles, high damage, close to mid range. Secondary - energy beam, fast, instant hit, gradually builds up damage with time.
6) Rocket launcher: Primary mode - fast projectile, high direct and splash damage, large radius. Secondary - grenade launcher with bouncing projectiles.
7) Plasma shotgun: - huge spread, high damage, close distance. Secondary - heat wave, very close range, massive damage.
As you can see, many of the models are untextured and don’t have animations. It helps to iterate quickly and change design without being too attached to your work.
These is our first iteration and I’m sure the guns’ firing modes will change as the first feedback starts to come in.
Enemies
Designing our enemies we’re trying to follow a simple design principle inspired by chess.
In chess every piece has its own, unique set of move/attack patterns. If you look at each piece by itself, their patterns pretty simple and straightforward. Yet the game is very deep and complex due to a massive number of possible combinations those pieces can occupy the board.
If we translate it into the dimension of video games, with clear patterns and in the right combination even a simple AI can create interesting and complex situations.
So, for the last few weeks, my priority has switched from guns to enemies.
I’ve fully finished two more enemy types: the Oracle and the Knight. And just started a new one, which I call the Restless Sleeper. Though it is more an environmental hazard, than an ordinary enemy.
Oracle - is a slow flying head that casts large orbs of energy.
The Knight - has two types of attacks. Her main is wide, rapid sword slashes. And If you gain a large distance there is a chance that she’ll toss a grenade at you.
And the family photo
There is some lore behind each of them and how they all come together, but I want to keep it for the game)
Meanwhile, Anton has re-written and optimized the code for our procedural test levels, which will be our playground for testing the core mechanics. The system is relatively simple. It uses hand-made rooms and put them together in a particular order. Similar to Spelunky.
However, it’s NOT a rogue-lite. This procedural part will eventually become a separate mode where you’d be able to generate a level for a quick play.
Ok, what else…. Oh, yes! We’ve made gibs!
It’s actually pretty fun, gory, and maybe slightly over the top, but it completely changes how the gunplay feels.
This gif is a bit old, and we’ve already changed a few things, but it gives the idea)
I think, this is all for today.
Thank you for sticking around and making it to the end)
Devs
Mac & Linux missing files
Hi guys,
If you have missing files and cannot start the game, try a new build in the beta branch. It should fix the issue.
Thank you,
Devs
Small Update
Hey all,
A small update is up, you can find it in the beta as always.
There isn't a lot of changes, but we added several crafting recipes. You can now craft matches and empty flasks.
We have also made some changes to the overall balance and items spawn rates, based on your feedback.
Changelist
New crafting recipes: matches and empty flask
Spawn rate of matches and paper ( including books) has been reduced
Gun Powder and Weapon Upgrade kits has become less rare
Weapon upgrade kits can spawn in cars
Enemies can drop upgrade kits too, though it's a relatively small chance
Carabine spawn chance has been increased
Thank you,
Devs
"Project N" and more
Hey guys!
Frozen State
Finally, have time to give you an update. There have been several interesting suggestions on the forum and I'm going to implement them in FS. The suggestions are mostly about re-balancing certain stuff(drops and items spawn) and adding a new crafting recipe. I'll try to make it all done by the next weekend.
"Project N"
The development of the new game is moving at a good pace. For the last couple of months, Anton has been working primarily on a pathfinding system and its editor. If you don't know what the pathfinding is and what it does, the bast way to explain it would be a thing that helps AI (everything that isn't directly controlled by the player) navigate on the level. In other words pathfinding is one of the most fundamental technical things in many games.
Unity, like many other third-party engines, offers its own buit-in solution, and it's quiet good. However, it has some limitations that make this, pretty much a one-click solution, unusable for us. So, to make the game we want, we need to start with the tools.
Anton did a great job and came up with a node-based pathfinding system. It's very cool and gives me, as a level designer, a lot of freedom and control. Instead of relying on generated navigational mesh, which to be honest isn't particularly precise, I can paint/erase the paths for AI on the level where I want. I can also edit every node and its parameters to fix problematic areas, or to simply add some variety to how enemies move around. Besides it also allows to make paths for flying AI, which can navigate throughout any level efficiently. This is how it looks in the editor.
A pathfidning layer for the ground types enemies
And another one in exactly same room for the flying types.
There are a few disadvantages though. One of the most significant is time. All paths on each level must be drawn by hands. It's not as bad as it sounds, but it takes time nonetheless.
A small stress test for the system
On my side, I've been working on the visuals, designing, modeling and animating. Simple primitives like cubes and spheres are indispensable for quick prototyping and testing, but at some point you need more complex 3d assets to see how it comes together. These are our first enemies, which you'll be seeing quite a lot from now on.
A Zbrush concept
And the actual in-game model inside Unity.
This fella is still in the concept stage
We intentionally chose a more stylized, cartoony look. Firstly, because it's a bit faster/simpler in production and as I'm going to make all the assets alone speed is very important. The second reason, I just really enjoy working on something like that. Saturday morning cartoons and anime are a big source of inspiration.
A few guns, which I'm pretty sure change with time
I know, it's not much and everything isn't final, but it should give some overall idea about the art direction.
Don't forget to follow us on twitter https://twitter.com/Flox_Studios or reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/FLOX/
Thank you,
Alex
New Patch in Beta
Hey guys!
The "controller" bug has slowed us down, but a new patch has just been uploaded. It's in beta branch as usual.
The controller seems to be working fine for the most part of the game, however when you in a dialogue window sometimes you can't switch between the answers. We're still not sure what can cause it. We've fixed a few things but we have some inconsistency in our results. If you have a controller, please try whether it's working or not, particularly in the dialogues.
These achievements should be working properly now.
-Animal Friend
-Doesn’t count
-Adventurer
-Pacifist
We also fixed a few bugs with animals' AI.
Thank you,
Dev
"Project N"
I intended to post this update a week a go, but it took me way more time to finish than I had expected.
[H1]BACK TO WORK[/H1]
While we were on holidays, we received several bug reports mostly regarding some broken achievements( one of them is "alpha" which should be available to everyone), and issues with controller in FS. All those issues will be fixed soon.
Actually, most of the achievements are already fixed, but we’ve found several more bugs which need extra time to fix. I hope we release a beta update next week.
NEW PROJECT
In the last FS update, I mentioned that we had started working on something new and it wasn't related to FS. So, what's the new project?
If you follow us on twitter or reddit you definitely could see some 3D models that would give you a hint. Naturally, you may already figured it out, but if you didn’t, the next genre we’d like to work on is first person shooter.
I know, this is quite a departure from our previous games and a whole new uncharted territory for us as developers. Making our next game in a genre we’ve worked before would be much safer, but as indies we have a luxury of creative freedom and willing to take the risk. Besides, I think with the help of community we can make a great game in any genre.
So, what kind of a fps? Well, the concept is slowly shaping up. Its details will certainly change and evolve over time, but the core is a fast-paced, reckless action with a high ceiling for mastery. All other mechanics are going to be built around this core. The main focus will be single-player, with a high chance of co-op, though much later down the line.
If it’s still vague, try imagine borderlands (minus its gazillion guns and rpg-ish elements) and quake 1 had a baby. It’s not very good to use other games to describe your own, as it may lead to a certain misconception, but at this stage it should give you at least a rough idea of what we have in mind.
GAME DESIGN AS EXPERIMENT
OK, we’ve already established that fps is a new genre with a bunch of unknowns for us. To tackle those unknowns, we want to take a slightly different approach this time and share every process and design ideas from the get-go. That means you’ll be seeing lots of unfinished and unpolished stuff, including our design thoughts and prototypes. The purposes of which is with your help discard bad ideas and design decisions as early as possible.
Scientists very often use experiments as a tool to test their hypotheses. Game design isn’t a science, but I think we can employ this method to design better games.
In our case, the hypotheses would be certain game elements that require a playtesting in order to understand how they contribute to the gameplay and whether they are fun or not. Such elements can be : enemies, guns and fire mods, controls, etc. .
However, before we start discussing our hypotheses, I need to say a few words about our main design principles upon, which we will be generating them.
-Easy to learn hard to master - simple, transparent game mechanics, orthogonal enemy design
-Exploration - nonlinear levels, secrets, key hunting
-Fast, aggressive combat - no reloads, no health/shield regeneration, high player mobility
In order to test the hypothesis, without actually building a whole game, we need a test environment. Currently we are developing a playground which we call “Arcade Mode”. These mode will allow to generate semi-procedural levels and test new features. We haven’t thought how we’re going to distribute it to the testers, but I think we will use itch.io or a similar platform.
HYPOTHESES
Even though our testing environment is very much in progress right now, I have a hypothesis to discuss.
-Hypothesis #1
Many contemporary shooters have a two-weapon loadout system without any inventory or very simplified one. In Borderlands you have quick access to up to 4 guns ( + inventory). Destiny offers 3 gun slots + inventory. The old school shooters used to have an impressive arsenal of 9-11 instantly available guns.
While none of those systems isn’t inherently bad or good, each offers a different gameplay experience. For our game we want to make around 12-15 unique weapons each with it’s own role, playstyle, and upgradable firing modes. All weapons can be found on the levels and carried in the player’s inventory, but you’ll have only three-four gun slots available to switch on the fly.
One might argue that it can limit the strategy in a fast paced game. The more weapons you have at you hand the quicker you can react and change your strategy in the combat. Which is obviously true, however, in my opinion most players always have a handful of either favorite guns or the guns that better suit their play style, and they switch to other weapons when they can’t or don’t have their favorite.
So, if you have any thoughts on this, please leave them in the comments.
Please subscribe/follow on
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/FLOX/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Flox_Studios
Thank you
Alex (satori)
Future Plans
Hey,
We'd like to thank everyone for playing Frozen State, for your love and support, for the good and bad comments, for your help and encouragement.
It's been a long journey on which we've made a ton of mistakes that almost every new developer makes. Frozen State was our first baby and even though its development wasn't always easy and fun we still love it and proud that we managed to finish it. Despite all the rough corners (like controls for example) and difficulties we have faced during the development Frozen State is a pretty unique game with its own charisma and atmosphere. I think the world we've created and the ideas we planted in it deserve to be carried forward in a more refined form. There are many aspects of the game that I would like to give a redesign: controls, story, survival elements and crafting. I would also like to change the camera to a first person perspective and shift the game into a more story-driven experience.
However, jumping back into development of a new FS right now would be another big mistake. We need time to thoroughly analyze what went wrong and how we can avoid the same pitfalls in the future. Besides the post-apocalyptic theme has been done in so many shapes and forms in other very cool games that if we want to bring something innovative to the table we need our heads fresh. A break form FS will help us get new ideas and replenish our creativity. That’s why Anton and I have decided to begin a new, unrelated to FS project. It’s too early to announce it properly. All I can say it’s way different from anything we have ever done before. But it’s exactly what we need in order to clear our minds, before we start working on the next part or a reboot of FS.
Considering that now we have more than one project and there are only two of us. It’s getting a bit hard to maintain constant presence on all the forums and social networks. On top of that, I don’t always receive notifications from the Steam forums. I was thinking about setting up a dedicated forum on our website, but then I remembered why we closed the old one. Nobody really wants to register and check yet another website.
As many of us already use Reddit, I decided to resurrect one of the old subreddits I started awhile ago, and turn it into a place for our community. It doesn’t mean that we will stop monitoring the Steam forums, but if it works as planned, you’ll be able to get in touch much quicker. So here is the link REDDIT please subscribe and feel free to comment, post bugs and so on. I’ll be posting a lot work-in-progress stuff from the new projects too.
Have a great time and happy holidays! See you next year!
