Just Death
Voice Chat/VOIP & Road map for "Update #2"
Good news - I've integrated Voice/VOIP directly into the game. I know this was something people wanted/requested. I just coded it and tested it "Yooooo!", "Yo!", "Yoooooo!", lol. Was not quite Marconi, but I'll take it! This feature will be included with the next update, "Update #2".
This means you can chat via voice in-game, I will code the following features in the next few days:
1) Filter out voice for 'only people in your gang'.
2) Obviously a mute button, for squeekers, $%^#'s, etc.
3) Disable all voice button.
4) Add a "VOIP Settings" menu to the option, to make sure the game recognizes your voice.
So, should voice be location based ? Integrate a cell phone ?? Lots of ideas... let me know your thoughts.
"Update #2" will include mostly gameplay, and options menu enhancements, super exciting stuff. Well the voice is, but .. yea, options menus rock. Anyways. Most of these additional items I'm working on, all apply to the "Online / Open City" mode. I want as many of these in the "Update #2" as possible.
1) Gang / Team selection. Initially there will be a number of gangs that can be created on the online servers, but the first Workshop integration will be custom Gang / Team artwork.
2) Adding more persistent aspects to the game servers - such as storing the SteamID of the player who last captured a piece of territory/turf online, and display their avatar/name even if they've left the server? Then I could have persistent values such as cash accrue even when you're not in the server? I'm just sort of wrestling with how much of this to make persistent - but I will start with small things like this.
3) The concept of each player having a persistent per-server “stash”, each gang has a per-server “stash” as well. A stash is just a collection of guns and drugs. Money can also be shared in gang persistently. Also what if player’s cant see other gang members' stash? They would only be displayed an approximate value of it, backstabbing, etc.
4) An order creation system, which would be persistent, where players can create bounties on other players or gangs. We may be off in the weeds here, but I'm just putting ideas out there - I think this would give incentive and allow players with more cash to naturally rise to a position of power in a gang or persistent city.
5) When the drug market place is integrated into the game, I'll first start by simply randomizing the values players get for purchasing the drugs, widening the spread as volume increases, and then in a second phase of integration - code a true market/economy simulation based on the numbers of drugs being sold to civilians in an area, etc.
Those are a few ideas I'm kicking around, we'll see what ends up getting integrated in the next update. I'm also working on fixing bugs, improving the camera/aiming system, and re-reading all the feedback I've received so far - a week after the game's first Early Access release :-o
Thanks for the support to people who've picked up the project! Any positive/helpful feedback on the above stuff would be appreciated, thanks!
- Dan
Just Death Update #1 - Fixes, HK G3, HiRoller, and Drugs.
This is the first update of Just Death since the Early Access release a few days ago! I appreciate all the positive support I've received from the community so far! I'm excited about what the future holds for the game. I plan on making weekly updates such as this one, with new content/features/fixes being pushed out to you guys each week - for another year, or until the game is "done". Future updates will be more gameplay centric, I'm still trying to catch my breath from the game's Early Access release.
In this first update I'll talk about the new vehicle just added to the game, the "HiRoller" Luxury SUV. I've added a new weapon into the game - a .308 HK G3. In addition I've added drugs into the game, they are in the Headquarters purchase menu. There are 5 drug types I've created for this first pass. Also I'll talk about the fixes and additions made to the game :-) I appreciate the detailed feedback left on the Steam Community forum, and the clever finding of bugs I would have never thought of by some members of the community. Ok let's go ...
New Vehicle - "HiRoller Luxury SUV"
This is the first of about 12 more vehicles I have to integrate into the project, so expect them to be sprinkled throughout the upcoming updates. I'll also be adding more uniqueness and tweaking handling features of all the vehicles on each update, I don't necessarily log all of these types of things.
New Weapon - "HK G3 .308"
This weapon is one of about 40 more weapons I have already created that just need to be integrated, I can't integrate the weapons myself, I need my animator to make a few unique animations for each new weapon so in future updates there may just be batches of 4-5 weapons released at once. When the game progresses further and we start to nail down the balancing issues, I'll try to add equal "spread" of weapons, not just 4 new shotguns at once, for instance.
Buying/Selling Drugs - First Integration
I've taken the first steps of integrating drugs into the game, you can browse all 5 kinds of drugs in the HQ purchase screen. There are basically two types of drugs, gameplay-wise... Pain killers, which heal your character (previously there was no way to regain health)....and Cocaine, Weed, Heroin, and Ecstasy, which you (and/or your gang) can sell to civilians for a profit. There will be a finite amount of money available to the civilian population in an area, and some areas will recharge faster. So this will put importance on controlling territory in the game world. I will also integrate a per-server/per-game instance of a supply/demand marketplace simulation, so you can't just sell the same drugs over and over.
Please keep in mind this is the first build with drugs in the game, so only the painkillers are working at this first iteration.
Noteworthy Fixes/Improvements Since Last Week's Build
- Remove smoothing transition from character’s orientation -> goal aiming orientation, should remove “warping” effects when aiming.
- Fix Melee killing people in spawn Online.
- Don’t open “store” while chatting Online, cancel all interactions while chatting Online.
- Only show stationary jumping animation for now, until final jump code is in. Remove jump code -> Bunny hopping ?!?
- Spawn in random HQs online, not always same spawn location.
- Show vehicle’s top speed, weight, and more information on purchase screen, still need to hand-customize the values shown to player.
- Make it so you can’t exit vehicle if you’d be outside of world.
- Make it so you can’t exit your vehicle if you’d collide with a building [ perform raycast on vehicle exit request ].
- Pill bottle sound when you use painkillers.
- Fix bug with >= not being in weapon purchase code Online (now you can buy a weapon if you have exact cash).
- Fix some issues with the 'use' animations of the HK G3, Tec9, AUG, and AK47 - should look a lot better online & offline now.
- Fixed bug with shooting/use animations don't 'loop' constantly online.
- Painkillers should work Online.
- Damage is reduced and randomized Online, if you're inside a vehicle, to simulate the limited protection a vehicle offers from bullets.
Highlighted Screenshots from Community
I'm really happy to see some cool screenshots uploaded by the community, I'll share a few of my favorites here!
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=631933965
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=635966993
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=632205806
Thanks a lot guys, I appreciate your continued support while I finish this Early Access product. Patience is definitely a virtue of anyone who will want to purchase this game, so please keep that in mind. Otherwise, if you've already picked up the project, and you appreciate my work or enjoy the product so far, please leave a nice review below, e-mail me, or post on the Steam community forum.
- Dan