Ouroboros: Prelude
Ouroboros: Prelude Update
Ouroboros: Prelude Update
Minor visual updates to environment.
Added a visual effect to one enemy to make avoid it easier.
Fixed issue where particles would sometimes flicker or disappear at certain camera angles.
Ouroboros: Prelude Update
-Rebalanced collectables.
-Removed tinderbox item.
-Simplified ending level.
-Expanded hint system.
-Expanded story content in notes.
-Overhaul to lighting system.
-Minor audio system overhaul.
-Overhaul to madness system.
-Overhaul to AI navigation system.
-Overhaul to animation system.
-Overhaul to physics computations.
-Major overhaul and alterations to level design and spawning system.
-Alterations to AI.
-New hazards.
-New props.
-New visual effects.
-New madness effects.
-New puzzles.
-New mechanics such as swimming.
-New level and room designs.
In addition to:
-End level redesign.
-Current level redesigns.
-Removed a monster type.
-Adjusted movement speeds of player and creatures.
-Procedurally generated hazards.
Ouroboros: Prelude Update
Ouroboros: Prelude draws nearer to completion.
I spent some time to try to rebuild as much as what was lost. I got most of it and added even more new things.
I had to axe a few levels that were causing problems. I will try to add them back in at a later date. Spent a little more time and and added back in some room and level designs that were in the previous version but must have been lost during one of the data loss episodes because checking in the current project they were not there. I do want to try to re-add some of the lost room, level, and puzzles designs that were lost after the previous build that never saw it to the public version.
As stated before... this game itself is an Ouroboros, uncreating itself as it is created. I could swear this project is haunted.
So much has been retooled, rebuilt, changed and added that I am not even sure where to begin in terms of an update list but I will try to cover as much as I can recall since the last build:
-Replaced most textures.
-Rebalanced collectables.
-Removed tinderbox item.
-Simplified ending level.
-Expanded hint system.
-Expanded story content in notes.
-Overhaul to lighting system.
-Minor audio system overhaul.
-Overhaul to madness system.
-Overhaul to AI navigation system.
-Overhaul to animation system.
-Overhaul to physics computations.
-Major overhaul and alterations to level design and spawning system.
-Alterations to AI.
-New hazards.
-New props.
-New visual effects.
-New madness effects.
-New puzzles.
-New mechanics such as swimming.
-New level and room designs.
Ouroboros: Prelude Upcoming Update
Thanks to technology upgrades I have been able to resume progress on the game and at much greater speed than when I started.
As stated some time ago I would give people advance warning in case of price increases as the project moved further away from Early Access and closer to completion and I suspect that I may increase the price from $7.99 to $9.99.
If all goes well, the update should come within the week.
Stay sane. :)
Development Updates
As the last update hinted at I had to rebuild the game from the ground up. Unfortunately the project suffered data corruption for the third time in the row. How or why this keeps happening is beyond me but alas, here we are. I am thoroughly convinced this game is doing everything it can to uncreate itself - as though the corrupting madness concept of this game has bled into the reality of its development. Regardless, ever shall I endure to work on this game until it is remade, reworked, and released properly as I envisioned it.
There is however a unforeseen plus side to this as it has given me the opportunity to rethink how certain systems are handled and to optimize code and such - which has already shown some positive results. :)
The rebuild is already in its working stages and is almost looking like it did before... with a few visual enhancements. ;)
One of the things I have noticed is that though there already is quite a bit to this game not many get to see it due to the pure randomness of the game, the similarity of some of the levels, and its innate labyrinthine nature of the its style. So, I am going to be reworking each level to feature one major puzzle/obstacle, one major environment theme, and one major maze type - this last one probably only really makes sense when viewing each level while editing but I felt necessary to mention regardless.
As life has not exactly been accommodating towards my development schedule I do not have an ETA for the next release but I would like to say in about a month you all should see the rebuild. It took a LOT of patience just getting this thing back to the way it looked before so hopefully the added bits make up for that.
Things in the pipeline:
- Lighting rework.
- New environments.
- Scare system rework.
- New scares.
- New environmental hazards.
- Madness system rework.
- Texture rework.
- Level layout rework.
- Introductory level - for those who I noticed refuse to read the help section.
- Hint system additions for actions.
Hope you all get to see the fruits of my madness soon....
Stay sane! :D
(Minor Updates)
11/08
The nav-system that creatures use seems to be totally scrapped. Going to have to rebuild this as well. Thankfully, this did not take long to implement to begin with.
1/07
Holiday season is over with and I am back to work. Nearly all my particle systems and materials were compromised. I am almost done repairing most of them but at least three crucial effects have been lost entirely. This will take a short bit to recreate. Something has gone wrong with the physics system (might have something to do with moving to a newer version of Unity) and this more than anything else will determine whether the next release will be sooner or later. I will update as soon as I have news to update with.
I am also considering a rework of the key system which will be explored soon.
For positive notes:
- Player's sanity systems are restored, tweaked and tuned.
- Added a new sanity effect.
- Added a new zoom/FoV narrowing feature that will allow players to examine things far ahead before traversing ahead.
- Added a distance blurring effect that works in conjunction with the zooming feature and the lighting. (Yes, the "narrowing your eyes to see further ahead" feature will not be just for show.
- Tweaked the head movement while moving and standing still to be more "life-like."
- Added some rather creepy-snazzy lighting effects.
- Fixed a bug where sometimes the player would not turn towards a specific direction during a scripted event.
- Fixed and tweaked lighting to where I am fairly positive it will not need tweaking anymore. No more "too dark" areas/bugs and lightning transition from darkness to lighted areas should be nice and smooth.
- Designed a new level type (yet to be implemented).
- Designed a new hazard/puzzle type (yet to be implemented).
1/14
I was able to recover most of the original room configurations. The materials and objects in this configurations need fixing or replacing but this takes a quite a bit off of the "remake-from-scratch" list.
1/17
Physics system major issues have been rectified. The game itself is now back in full working order but with a few of the planned additions. Barring any other oversights or surprise inconveniences the new build will be coming soon.
2/13
Quick update:
Finished replacing the textures and materials that needed replacing. Created a new visual effect for one of the badies that makes them look creepy AF - though it may need some tweaking. Finished designing one of my new environments. Fixed a clipping bug with one of the scares. Fixed a bug where damage sounds wouldn't play. Removed a handful of unsalvageable levels. Just found out that my newer scares and levels from the last working build are all completely lost so I'm going to have to rebuild those.
3/23
- Made the leaning motion feel more natural.
- Added a feature with the dungeon randomization that will probably screw with player's heads a little. You'll all see what this means when I release this build. ;P
- Adding sounds to previously soundless actions (such as climbing).
- Starting to work in scripted events.
- Might have found a way to decrease overall game memory size.
- New monster variant.
- Worked on sound design. Each room and area should have proper echo/reverb/ambiance/etc.
- Greatly expanded the hint system.
5/23
So, my computer decided to go bluescreen... again. I have said it before and I will say it again, this game is actively trying to uncreate itself. I was able to get my computer operational again and thankfully no data was lost this time around - main files or backups. I am going to be launching an update within a week tops before something else "mysteriously" happens. It won't contain all my planned upgrades but considering the amount of time I spent fighting against technology, rebuilding the game, and even adding more on top of that I would think this will be a decent update. I will finish this game no matter how long it takes....
Updates I was able to manage before the bluescreen:
- Remade some particle effects.
- Remade the water rendering system.
- Refined swim. Swimming should be much easier now.
- Created yet another level sub-type that essentially functions as one giant um... let's call it a surprise. ;)
- Tweaked physics engine yet again to reduce calls (IOW, smoother gameplay).
- Adding floating physics for play and objects.
- Added water sound effects to items.
- Added a new level type that utilizes the water system more predominantly.
- Added a cave system level.
To date there are essentially 4 main level-types, each with varying sub-types, that utilizes anywhere from 20 to far over 100 room-types, and each of those room-types having their own numerous sub-types/settings, of which each of these have their own object-spawn-randomness. I am almost tempted to run out the calculations just to see exactly how many permutations an average single level potentially has.
As it stands the game is playable from beginning to end (and according to Steam Stats some of you have even managed to beat it! Congrats!), but I want to add some degree of polish to this monster before I am ready to call it finished.
6/25
Something wicked this way comes... this weekend.
Updates
-However-
I have been working on some side projects - one of which has already been posted to Steam.
As for Ouroboros: Prelude, I have been working on level overhauls, reworking the randomization and generation algorithms, introducing and playing with the aesthetics, tweaking the controls, and so much more. It may be very likely that I end up rebuilding this game almost entirely from the ground up. This game has made a habit of trying to uncreate itself as I create it. It has a life of its own it seems. So, we shall see what an overhaul will produce.
Ouroboros: Prelude - Version 0.9.5.0
Changes in 0.9.5.0
- Upgraded to new engine version.
- Scares added: 1
- Obstacles added: 1
- Room types added: 2
- Level removed for repair and editing: 2
- Added a new potential starting area.
- Fixed cave-ins not triggering properly.
- Fixed issue where player would not stick to ladders properly.
- Fixed texture issue on plant.
- Fixed issue were a hidden door in one level was not being triggered properly.
- Fixed issue where restarting the game after dying was prevented.
- Fixed issue where breakable environment would break too early or easily.
- Resized some intractables' colliders to be more precise.
- Fixed issue where some enemies would cause the the cross-hair to change.
- Fixed issue where a ladder in one level was not being recognized as such.
- Fixed issue where Alt-Tab would unbind the cursor from the game.
- Resized player collider to be more precise.
- Fixed environment overlapping environments caused by dungeon randomizer.
- Decreased geometry and amount of objects of one of the randomized rooms to be more streamlined.
There is much more I wish to add to this game but life is making it rather difficult. I'll try to add as much of the planned content on my list as I can. We shall see.
Have fun. Stay sane!
Ouroboros: Prelude - Version 0.9.4.9
- Dust particles fixed.
- Room spawn placement fixed in one level.
- Pathing spawn fixed in one level.
- Mesh colliders for environment streamlined.
- All levels reinserted into build.
Enjoy. Stay sane!
Version 0.9.4.9 Incoming
- Dust particles fixed.
- Room spawn placement fixed in one level.
- Pathing spawn fixed in one level.
- Mesh colliders for environment streamlined.
- All levels reinserted into build.