Nock: Hidden Arrow
Where does this road lead?
On a more Nock-specific note, after much deliberation, I've decided to officially cease development. Just like I could never have predicted that getting my Vive would lead to Nock, I couldn't predict that making Nock would lead me to be a part of the wonderful VR studio I've been with for the last couple years. I was able to keep up with updates for a while, but it's gradually become clear to me that I'm just not going to be able to give Nock the attention it deserves. This realization left me with a new problem, though: What do I do about it? Leave everything as is, so people see it in their lists as "just another abandonware project," maybe hoping the developer will come back one day and "complete" the game? Remove it from the store? Pretend I finished everything I wanted to do and slip it into "released" state, hoping more people buy it?
I don't like any of those options. Leaving Nock in early access would imply that it's still being developed, which wouldn't be entirely honest. Removing it from the store would mean nobody new gets to experience it, no matter how much they might enjoy a bit of barebones dungeon-crawling action. And slipping quietly into release with no comment wouldn't be fair to new people who have 2019 expectations of a 2016 VR release. And so I've picked a sort of middle ground. I've decided to graduate Nock to release and manually set its release date to its initial early access date. I'm also permanently reducing it to half its original price, which I think is much more in line with today's VR landscape (this last part may take a while - Valve needs to approve the price drop).
I want to thank you all for helping me on this wonderful journey. I've had an absolutely amazing time creating this experience for you guys, and I hope you've had fun on this journey too. I can't wait to see where this road leads.
ːsteamhappyː
Update 11 - Locomotion
Yes, that's right, the long-awaited locomotion update is here!
I've added three locomotion variants, and a comfort feature called FoV Reduction. Here are the details:
New Locomotion Methods
- Touchpad: This is touchpad locomotion similar to what you'd see in other games like Onward. Touch the touchpad to walk in any direction. Move your thumb, or turn the controller, to change direction. The farther from the center you touch, the faster you move. Touch to walk, push down to run.
- Armswinger: Another popular locomotion method, for this you push down on the touchpad and move your controllers up and down. You'll move in whichever direction you're pointing. The faster you move the controllers, the faster you move. This allows a lot of control, and feels very natural with a bit of practice. Moving your head up and down adds to your movement too (though it's not necessary).
- Headbob: This is an armswinger variant I thought felt very natural and sneaky. As with Armswinger, press down on the touchpad to enable movement. Bob your head up and down to move. I like to use a slightly exaggerated Ace Ventura-style sneaking motion - makes me feel very stealthy as I creep through the halls to shoot goblins in the back.
FoV Reduction
By default, a vignetting effect now dims out the edges of your vision while moving. This helps many people with comfort while using artificial locomotion methods. If you don't want or need this, you can turn it off in the menu.
Adding these locomotion methods required me to rebuild all the game levels with new collision geometry. It was a lot of work, but I think it was worth it. I know some of you have been waiting for this for a long time. Please let me know what you think - I want to make sure I'm giving you guys the best experience possible. Movement direction is determined by the controller you push the touchpad on, so you can move your other hand freely without affecting your movement direction.
Cheers!
Update 10
This update is mostly bugfixes. Several bugs (may introduced in update 9 - oops!) have been fixed. I now know to test things extra thoroughly after API updates. ːsteamfacepalmː
Details
- Upgraded to SteamVR 1.2.1
- Decoys should no longer spawn for a single frame and disappear
- Decoys and arrows won't fade out while still being held
- Goblin sling stones hit the player again (they'll be much harder now - sorry!)
- Teleporting in combat isn't free anymore
- Menus are working properly again
- Dropped DirectX 9 support (everything is DX11 now)
- Enabled error reports for enhanced troubleshooting
Thanks to those who reported issues so I could fix them. Hope you enjoy!
Update 9
Devlog: https://youtu.be/7ifFAC8PaDM
Details:
This update brings a new activity - the practice range! The practice range is accessible from the main level, and becomes available once you're finished the tutorial.
Brush up on your archery skills while you try for a new high score, or just practice bouncing arrows off the floor into a goblin's face. Whatever you decide to do, the practice range will give you a chance to see the creatures of Nock: Hidden Arrow in a new light.
As always, I'd love to hear what you think. Try it out and let me know what I can do to make it better!
Update 0.1.1.1
Devlog: https://youtu.be/PHlm4IMYCq0
Details:
<*> Movement changes. Unlimited teleporting when exploring. Movement limited in combat, especially if you enter melee range. This should make exploration feel more free, and combat feel a bit more tense and interesting.
<*> Arrow tracers. Optional trajectory prediction lets you see where your arrows will go. Options are off/on/on demand. Enable in the menu if you want it.
<*> New enemy type (Finally!) Ranged goblins give a sort of archers duel experience and give you more to think about if you're in combat with a mix of melee and ranged enemies at the same time.
As always, please let me know what you think. I want to make Nock the best game I can, and your feedback helps a lot.
Cheers!
Update 0.1.1.0
Check out the update video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENWho3cjUJA
Details:
- AI has been completely rewritten. Moved from behaviour trees to Utility AI. The most noticeable difference so far is enemies are a lot smarter about how they approach. As a result, they're a lot harder to hit when they're aware of you. Smaller enemies tend to be more maneuverable and harder to hit as a result. You have to work for your headshots now. Overall this change makes stealth a more attractive option in many cases. The new AI is still a bit rough. Please report any oddities you encounter in your adventures.
- Enemy numbers have been reduced in Outskirts and Foothold to compensate for their increased difficulty.
- Ingress has been removed from the campaign, as I think the sudden shift from adventure to unforgiving dont-be-seen pure stealth gameplay was a bit harsh. For those masochists who enjoyed this, you can still play Ingress in free play mode.
The completion of the AI conversion frees me up to work on content. Over the next while I'll be adding enemies with different behaviours, that will require different approaches to take down effectively and hopefully make for a more engaging experience. I'll also be working on new maps and missions.
Enjoy, and please let me know what you think. Your feedback helps make Nock better.
Cheers!
Update 0.1.0.4
Here's the update video: https://youtu.be/FL1L9IzkfFI
I've mostly been working on background AI stuff this week. While that doesn't bring any visible changes, I do have a few things for you.
Details:
- Combat music. When you enter combat now, action music spools up. Play in your own game trailer! Volume controls for this will be coming in a future update.
- Improved grab zones for bows, arrows, and decoys. This should feel much more natural now. If you have any troubles grabbing these objects, please let me know!
- Improved haptic feedback for bow and arrow. The feedback you get will vary in strength with how fast you pull, and how far you've drawn the string back. I welcome feedback on how this feels.
- Haptic feedback for levers (and, later, other objects). You'll now feel it when you pull levers. As with the improved bow feel, this will vary with how fast you pull.
That's it for this week. There won't be an update next week due to the holidays, but I'll be working in the background. The next update will include the completion of the AI overhaul, and see the beginnings of different NPC behaviours. It should be good times.
Have a great holiday everyone!
Update 0.1.0.3
Here's the devlog: https://youtu.be/42y3bGG8UlM
Details:
- New play mode Free Play - allows you to play whichever missions you want without completing the story. Choose your favourite mission types.
- Completely replaced hit detection system. Meshes are used for collision instead of hitboxes. Much more accurate, and allows better handling for things like hitting flesh vs armor.
- Ricochets! Send me your craziest trick shots.
- New monster: The minotaur. Much tougher than orcs and goblins. Look for them in Foothold and Not Another Wave Shooter.
That's what we've got for this week. Next week I'm going to start an AI overhaul, which will be the first step toward more interesting monster behaviour than "run toward hunter and swing."
Update 0.1.0.2
Details:
- Changed default graphics settings for improved performance. All the same options are there, but the defaults are more sane. In particular, Ambient Occlusion is very costly in VR, so it's disabled by default for all profiles except Extreme.
- Campaign discoverability improvement. Once you've completed the tutorial, you'll always spawn into the level select screen facing the campaign teleporters. I'm going to completely rework the level select process (the current setup kind of sucks), but this change should help for now.
- Added FXAA Antialiasing (and options to disable/change quality)
- Added Mixed Reality support (Forward Rendering). You can enable this in the menu. Note that there are performance considerations, as forward rendering is not as efficient for large numbers of lights. Only use this if you need it. I also recommend disabling bloom when running in mixed reality mode, as it will resolve issues with arrows and decoys having weird halos when in the foreground.
- Made bow grab/release require a trigger pull. You shouldn't accidentally put away your bow or swap hands every time you touch your face now.
- You can now put away a decoy without throwing it. If you release the trigger button while your hand is motionless (or moving very slowly), the decoy will just disappear instead of being dropped.
- Initial work on a new monster (to be included in the next update).
That's it for this week. Next week will be our first content update. I'm planning to add a new monster, new play mode, and maybe even a new mission.
Thanks for your support everyone! You're all helping make my dreams come true.
Trello Board
The Trello board for Nock: Hidden Arrow is up. In addition to being a place you can make suggestions and whatnot, this will soon be a place you can go to see what's coming up.
Please go there to vote on what you want to see next. Leave a comment if what you want isn't already listed (public comments are enabled - please use your power wisely).
https://trello.com/b/TQhDbo3b/nock-hidden-arrow