I want to apologize for the complete lack of communication. I was just going to reply in the forums, but figured this was worth an actual news update.
The question seems to be, “What’s the status of development on Punch Bomb?” and “When will it be updated?”
And the answer is...complicated. And it’s a long story.
If you’re reading this post just to find out whether the project is dead or not - rest assured that it’s not dead. It’s just been on hold in my life for a while. I have no intention of officially killing the project or never working on it again.
If you want the whole story, I guess I’ll start at the beginning.
None of this is an excuse. It’s just how it is.
Punch Bomb, originally, was supposed to be my first experiment with game development. It is, was, and always will be an experimental game. My specialty (and career) is visual effects and computer graphics, and I wanted to make a VR game. This was a learning experience, and I am a 100% solo developer. Everything in the game (barring music/sound I got from royalty free databases I subscribe to) has been created by me. From scratch. In Blender and UE4.
It was supposed to be a quick, simple project that I got out the door so I could make more projects. It was supposed to be a learning experience, and I was having a ton of fun.
I released the game in December 2016 in Early Access after having spent a year working on it, and I wanted to finish it within a year. That obviously didn’t happen. Developing a VR game while working a 40 hour per week job that pays the bills is very draining.
A mixture of burnout, self-doubt, and the creeping, constant reminder that my passion project for the past two years was a complete financial failure that almost no one cared about definitely made development slower than it should have been.
However, in spite of all of that, I was still working on it. I had made promises, and I had a game to finish.
2018 came around, and development was still moving but slowed further as I got sick. Really sick. I was exhausted 24/7, and I was having constant night sweats for the entire first half of the year. I was misdiagnosed with the flu multiple times, and then mono. The eventual truth was that I had infective endocarditis caused by strep bacteria on my aortic heart valve, and I had open heart surgery to replace the valve at the end of May in 2018.
Recovery was a long process. Three months for physical recovery (I wasn’t allowed to move much or lift anything heavier than 10 pounds), but the depression lasted a lot longer and still seeps in occasionally.
During the physical recovery, I couldn’t do much other than sit around and either watch TV or play non-physical (read: non-VR) video games. During that time frame, I got really invested in Fortnite and actually started streaming it on YouTube (later moved to Twitch) because I had the time, and it was something that made me feel like I was being at least somewhat productive in my current state.
While recovering, I managed to build a small community around the stream and continued to grow that throughout the rest of 2018, 2019, and the first half of 2020 (still going strong).
My schedule for 2018 and most of 2019 was 40 hours a week at the full time job, streaming for 4 hours 5 nights a week, and improv classes on Wednesday nights.
I also spent a large chunk of time and a lot of late nights in 2019 chasing after/being there for a suicidal girl who struggled with alcoholism. (She got help, she’s doing much better now, we still occasionally keep in touch)
After Twitch Con in San Diego last year, I moved my stream schedule back to 3 nights a week to focus on production value and stream graphics in my new off time. Then, at the beginning of 2020, I made it my new year’s resolution to upload one video every week of 2020 to my new channel that offers stream advice and tutorials. So far, I haven’t missed a week.
I guess the long and short of it is that I got caught up in life.
With everything going on, I couldn’t find a lot of time to work on Punch Bomb, and I didn’t even realize anyone still cared about it.
I also never could figure out what to do next with Punch Bomb. As an experimental game and my first attempt at game development, I was making it up as I went along for the new game mode, and I hit a “developer’s block” of sorts. I didn’t really have a solid vision, I ran into a lot of performance issues with UE4 and my old PC (eventually figured out the issue was one line in a notepad document), and a lot of what I had originally planned just...wasn’t fun…
I think I honestly just needed some time away from it before hopping back in to finish what I started. I was drained.
But throughout ALL of that, I’ve had the constant nagging voice on the back of my neck telling me that I need to finish Punch Bomb. I need to get in there, and I need to finish it. It's my passion project, it's my baby, and I've neglected it.
I think the time for that time is now.
So what’s the current state of development? It’s about where the current early access build is...plus a few experiments and additional enemies I’ve tried in my free time for the tunnel mode.
What’s the plan going forward? For the time being, I’m going to start dedicating at least one live stream per week to working on Punch Bomb over at twitch.tv/oraclefishlive.
It’s not much, but it’s a start towards easing myself back into development. One step at a time.
This week will be Saturday Morning (4/30/2020). Feel free to stop by and tell me how much you hate me for not finishing the game yet.
A lot of what I had planned for the tunnel mode (high quality robot boss battle, etc) is out of scope for one person to handle, so I’m going to simplify the mode and make it an endless mode with leaderboards - putting the focus back on fun, solid mechanics.
The time off has given me a lot of solutions for problems I did have.
I realize that I’m going to upset some people by saying I haven’t really worked on it for the past two years, and I’m genuinely sorry for that and the lack of communication.
But you also bought a fairly polished, fun game with great art for the price of a large cup of coffee. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - I’ve always priced the game for what I think it’s worth at its current state of development.
So I’d appreciate your patience.
I will finish this game.
TL;DR - I haven’t worked on Punch Bomb in a while because my whacky life got in the way. I’m going to get back into development, and I will finish this game.
2018/06/06 - Not the update I wanted to give
No, I'm not abandoning the game - I just don't have anything to show yet. However, this is an important update concerning the pace for development for a while.
I was hoping and planning to spend all of Memorial Day weekend and the next week working on the game, but sometimes life intervenes.
I had started having 101 fevers every night for the week leading up to Memorial Day, and the doctor heard a heart murmur, so he took a blood culture. The culture came back positive, so I was immediately sent to the hospital.
Turns out I had Infective Endocarditis on my aortic heart valve. Fortunately, this explains a lot of the medical issues I've been going through this year. Unfortunately, the bacteria did a fantastic job destroying my valve, so I had to undergo open heart surgery to replace it a few days ago.
I survived the surgery - I'm okay - I'm currently recovering. I just wanted to let everyone know it might be a month or two before I'm capable of working on the game again - recovery is a long, difficult road after literally having your chest sawed open, and I didn't want to leave you all hanging.
I'll get back to it as soon as I humanly possibly can, but I need to focus on my health for the immediate future.
I will finish this game if it's the last thing I do...
2018/05/20 - Not much to talk about - 4.19 Beta is now Main Branch
Hey Everyone!
Last time I posted, I said I'd post a progress report every two weeks whether or not I had anything. It keeps me accountable.
Unfortunately, I don't have a lot to talk about this week - I've been mostly at work or in bed getting over being sick for the past two weeks - it's been really rough.
That being said, I went ahead and made the 4.19 beta branch the main branch. You can view all of those changes/updates in the previous post!
I should have more to show in a couple weeks - the current goal is to focus on more varied enemy design for the Descend game mode and fleshing out the boss battle for the next month or two.
If you have any suggestions for Descend, as always, feel free to leave them in the discussion forum!
Until next time - hope you all have a great evening!
2018/05/06 - New Beta Branch and Progress Report!
Hey Everyone! It's been a while, and it's been a rough year. Between getting the flu, mono, and a busted up foot (one hindrance after the other), I've been pretty slow-moving. I'm really sorry for being quiet, and I take full responsibility for that - that's not cool of me.
The goal from here on out is to post a progress report at least every other week whether I have a new build or not. I AM working on the game, and I am posting progress pictures and videos on Instagram (@oraclefish) fairly frequently as well as live streaming on YouTube (chrisfolea) when I can if you always want the latest!
---In terms of new builds---
I was waiting until I had a bit more done, but there were compatibility issues with Windows Mixed Reality and Unreal Engine 4.18 - so I updated the game to Unreal 4.19 and added it as a beta branch titled "publicbeta" (not public beta as in "free" for people who don't own the game - I didn't really think the name through when I created it...) - I don't want to make it the main branch until I've had time to thoroughly test it better.
However, if you want to try it out, all of my progress on Descend is now in the publicbeta branch
Just right click the game in your library, go to properties, go to the betas tab, and select "publicbeta" from the dropdown. No password necessary.
---What progress have I made?---
1. I re-wrote the map generator to be more efficient and much easier to work with.
2. All 3 zones are in the game now! The blue zone and the green (plant) zone were already in, but the destroyed zone is also there now!
3. Energy Pods - you now have to collect energy pods to keep your fuel levels up (don't worry - it's not super punishing, and there are plenty of pods to be found!) Also, if you collect all of them on a stage, you gain one health.
4. I've added end of zone stats showing a variety of details - and if you collect all of the energy pods, you gain a health. It'll eventually give you a score bonus if you collect all of them and have full health. You can also lose the game now by running out of fuel or health.
5. Controls have been swapped from pressing the touch pads to pulling the triggers to increase or decrease speed. You have 3 speed levels - slow, medium, and fast - medium being the default.
6. A VERY VERY early version of the boss battle is in. I've spent a LOT of time modeling, rigging, and animating this guy, but there's still a LOT to do here (sound design, more varied attacks, better pacing), but if you can make it far enough, you can see what it's like to interact with him. Just keep in mind he's still VERY heavily in progress.
---What's next?---
The next focus will be more enemy design - I really want each of the 3 zones to feel individual and unique - right now there's too much overlap. For example, this weekend I've been working on a door with a popout spring mechanism for the green zone - you have to punch it back into place to open the door before you smash into it:
And of course the boss battle is a high priority. I'm hoping to make some significant progress here over the next two weeks in terms of pacing and sound design.
After getting the first "full" build of this mode done, there are still some clean-up/"nice-to-have" items on the other modes I'll be tackling...as well as more unlockables before leaving early access.
Stay tuned - I promise the next progress report won't be as far off - and thanks for bearing with me!
No new build, but I've been busy at work on the game - here's what I've been up to!
Hey everyone!
I know it's been a while, but I'm still hard at work on the game - things just take time when you're working alone in addition to freelance and a full time job! No new build quite yet - I'm waiting until I get the boss for Descend done before I push the next build. I promise I haven't gone anywhere!
So what have I been working on, and what do you have to look forward to?
Zone 3 artwork! If you're on my instagram, you might have seen some art - well I've got the Zone 3 artwork in place!
Making a destroyed section of the map was a really fun challenge!
I've also been working on new enemy segments - there are some new laser patterns in the mix (among other things)!
And I've also been working on getting the boss robot in place:
He's huge, and he'll be the first enemy in the game to punch back! I'm really looking forward to getting him finished up.
Speaking of which - to keep myself focused, I've started live streaming the development progress - so if you've ever been interested in the game development process or just want to stay up to date on Punch Bomb development, come hang out on the stream sometime! My YouTube is:
https://www.youtube.com/chrisfolea
Other than that, I was sick with the flu for a while, then with a cold a couple weeks after - with a vacation in between. I'm back to work on the game in my free time, though, and I'll push updates as soon as I can!
Anyway - that's what I've been up to! Thanks for bearing with me, and I'm sorry it's all taking so long! Games just take time to make - who knew?
Hope you all have a fantastic day, and stay tuned for future updates!
It's been a while! Here's a new build!
Hey everyone! It's been a while, and MAN have I been BUSY! (I promise I haven't gone anywhere or abandoned the game!)
The new build focuses primarily on "Descend" - and there's still a LOT to do, but I'm proud of the progress!
So here we go! I'm going to split it up into sections.
---Art---
1. New art! I was told the old art was ugly, so I replaced it - unfortunately, nice art takes time. I have zone 1 and 2 art in place - now just Zone 3 to do - and then more variety. Here are some screenshots of the new art:
2. New art = better performance (for a number of reasons):
All map pieces are now instanced static meshes! On the old art, each piece was 8 tiles - 8 tiles
80 map pieces = a TON of draw calls. Now each TYPE of piece is a draw call - so 6-ish types of pieces
80 map pieces = 6 draw calls. (It's more complex than that, but that's the basics) - should perform MUCH better now
The map now destroys and constructs itself as you round corners to improve performance. This one was tough to work out - but it helps a lot!
---Enemies---
I reworked the existing enemies and added new enemies - with more to come!
1. The bomb canons were just not working the way I wanted - so I ditched them and replaced them with bombs that appear on the map and fly towards you. (They spawn in just like in Classic Mode)
2. Now there are laser canons! (Same art as Grav Bomb)
3. More laser variety (with more to come) - now in addition to the straight lasers - zone 2 introduces peace sign lasers to dodge. More laser patterns in future builds.
4. Mines have been reworked to start on the walls and fly towards random locations when you get close! (In the picture below, the ones in the foreground have been activated - the ones in the background haven't):
5. Magnetic Bombs! These ones fly towards and stick to your platform railing - you have to punch them off before they explode!
---Classic Mode---
I also added a 120 degree option to Fitness Mode in Classic Mode as requested (sorry it took so long!):
---Engine!---
I updated the engine to 4.18 from 4.17 - this fixed a lot of issues with Instanced Static Meshes and introduced new features.
---The FUTURE!---
Let's talk about the future a bit!
I've been working on this game for over a year now, and the current goal is to finish the game up early 2018 and release it out of Early Access.
This DOES NOT mean the game will stop being supported. It just means I can also focus on cool new projects simultaneously. But I will still try to update the game semi-frequently with new unlockables and holiday events.
The final game will include the finished "Descend" mode and some more unlockables. I realize the early access goals were aiming for 4 total unique modes - but the new unplanned/requested content (fitness mode, 180 mode, etc) - in addition to Descend being a BIG mode and the game being inexpensive - balances that out I feel.
There may be new unique modes in the future post-early-access if there's demand for it and if sales warrant it, though! (In all honesty, though, sales have been ridiculously low - haven't even turned a profit on equipment - this is really a passion project for me)
I hope this is alright with you all! I really want to deliver the best game I possibly can and keep you all happy. ːsteamhappyː
NOW! What's left in Descend?
1. Zone 3 art. The game currently loops between Zone 1 and 2 (3 levels each)
2. Boss Battle! The mode will go through 3 zones (3 levels each) - then conclude with a boss battle.
3. Scoring! Right now, there's no scoring or anything, and health is meaningless.
4. Powerups! I need to implement health powerups (and potentially play around with some other powerup ideas)
5. More enemy variety! I need to add more zone-specific enemies and more laser patterns.
6. Instructions - there needs to be a panel with instructions - or possibly a small tutorial of some sort.
Anyway! That sums things up for this update - I'll try my hardest not to take so long on the next one - lots to do. Let me know if you run into any issues or have any suggestions! Until next time - hope you all have a fantastic evening!
Hotfix build is live!
Hey everyone!
The hotfix build I promised is live!
Notes:
The game now uses Unreal Engine 4.17
Fixed an issue where the game's performance would tank if the SteamAPI/Leaderboards weren't found
Fixed an issue where sometimes one fist would punch multi-punch bombs twice
PLEASE let me know if you run into any issues or if either of these issues persist in the forums or on this post, and I'll get on them ASAP!
Now I'll get back to adding content and features to the game!
Hope you all have fantastic evening, and stay tuned for future updates!
An Update Concerning Where I've Been
Hey everyone!
It's been a while since I've updated you on what's going on. There's no new build quite yet (and I apologize for that) - I just wanted to let you all know that I absolutely HAVE NOT abandoned the game and give you an update on what's going on. I haven't gone anywhere, and I'm still actively paying attention to the store page and forums on a daily basis. If you ever have any questions or issues, don't hesitate to bring them up.
SO - what have I been up to? A couple weeks ago, I was in LA for Siggraph (a gigantic technology and CG conference my day job sends me to), and the few months leading up to that, I was focused on getting marketing materials (website, shirts, stickers, etc) and a new, better trailer together (it's live on the store page now!) This, embarrassingly, took much longer than anticipated.
The unfortunate truth of being a solo dev is that you just can't focus on everything at once, and taking the time to focus on getting marketing materials together was an important step towards raising awareness of the game when I'm ready to do so. The old trailer was mediocre at best, and the new one better shows off what the game is about and has higher production value.
The unfortunate truth of working in VR is that it's very difficult to even make back hardware costs at this point, so I've also been working my day job and picking up freelance work to pay the bills.
None of these, however, are excuses. I just want to be completely open with you all. This is a passion project of mine, and I owe you all a final game. I'm not one to break my promises. (I also can't wait to get things I'm working on in your hands!)
SO - where do we go from here?
I'm in the process of getting everything updated for Unreal Engine 4.17 (the last build was on 4.14 - lots of changes to the engine since then that will allow newer, better things and performance improvements). I want to make absolute certain nothing broke before I get it in your hands, and that takes extensive testing.
One of you also pointed out a glaring issue with the game where performance can tank when the game can't find the Steam API or leaderboards.
I have a hotfix for this working, and I should have the 4.17/hotfix build up later this week.
After that, it'll be all about focusing on getting new features and unlockables in your hands (or...uh...fists? ːsteamhappyː) and finishing everything I promised during Early Access.
Those are the plans, and I really appreciate you all bearing with me while things have been slow. There ARE updates coming.
I hope you all have a fantastic week, and stay tuned for future updates!
2017/05/21 - The Fitness Update!
Hey everyone!
It's been over a month, but I've got some things to show (and a new build)!
1. The new FITNESS mode!
The first implementation of the new Fitness Mode is in the game! Check it out, and let me know what you think!
Fitness Mode is like an "endless punch" mode in Classic with some options.
You can turn lasers and red bombs on/off:
You can set the angle to either 360 or 180:
AND You can change the speed at which the bombs spawn to customize your workout! (HIIT, anyone?):
ALSO Notice how you have a "workout timer" instead of a score! There's no score in this mode, and you can't die. Instead, just hold both triggers to end the game!
The bomb fists are also now animated a little bit (and explode/retract when you punch bombs!)
3. Two New Unlockable Fists!
First and foremost, you'll notice a "fist page selection" interface - now I can add as many fists as I want to the game, and not have to worry about space! This will also allow me to do limited time Holiday Event fists in the future!
As for the new fists, there are now pirate hooks (unlocked by upper-cutting and hammer punching the half-and-half bombs)
And there are also some new "Fitness Fists" to accompany the new fitness mode! (Get these by working out for 5 minutes!)
I've moved the rusty, grungy art to zone 2 (levels 4-6) of Descend and have zone 1 artwork in place! Now just a zone 3 and a boss level! (art-wise)
I DID have to take a break from Descend, however, to focus on Fitness Mode and the new unlockable fists - I will get back to work on it now, though! Lots of enemies, powerups, etc to come!
ANYWAY - That's all for tonight! I hope you all really enjoy the new fitness mode and burn some calories :D (I set the speed up to 10 and lost my breath recording footage for the update video coming this week)!
Keep on punching! And, as always, PLEASE feel free to leave feedback on the discussion boards!
2017/04/17 Update! Behind the Scenes Work, and Descend Progress!
Hey everyone! It's been a while since an update - so here are some things I've been working on (and a new build)!
1. Oculus Compatibility!
I went ahead and tweaked some things Oculus users suggested, but there were no major issues overall in testing! Going to mark the game as Oculus Compatible officially this week!
2. Demo Switch!
For the Oculus compatibility, I had to update the demo build - they WERE seprate branches, which would have been a pain. To get around this, I went ahead and implemented a "switch" in the engine, so I can easily swap between demo and regular builds in the future. This one took a long time, and was a good amount of work...BUT now demo players can help test the new mode in development as well (will get more voices involved to create the best possible game mode)
3. Quit Confirmation!
Now when you hit "quit," it asks if you're sure. This was to prevent exiting the entire app by accident (suggested by an Oculus tester who would pick controllers up from desk and accidentally hit "quit" - I thought it was a great suggestion) - this also exposed some serious issues with the menu system that I spent some time fixing.
4. Optimizations!
I was ready to hop in and work on the new mode, but my controllers weren't charged, so I spent a good amount of time optimizing textures in classic mode and on the fists - more texture optimizations to come. You shouldn't notice a visible difference, but much less should be loaded on RAM now.
5. Updates to Descend!
----------FIRST---------- Previously, Descend was a straight mode. It went from point A to point B in a straight line, then Descended to the next stage. I thought to myself, "This is boring."
SO - NOW movement is based on a generated spline - the map can now turn! Here's an image of two procedurally generated maps from a bird's eye view:
Here's what that looks like in the game (Turning around corners definitely livens things up a bit and keeps you on your toes!):
This one was tough, and I'm quite proud of it!
In addition to this, I've removed being able to spin around the tunnel for two reasons:
1. Current implementation no longer works with the corners
2. It was causing motion sickness in local playtesters
Still some tweaking to do, but the map generation algorithm will only get better over time!
----------SECOND---------- There are now voice clips for the first and second stages - there will be a (small...very small) story associated with this mode! Get down and destroy the parasite boss!
----------THIRD---------- There's now new map art (with more to come) - each map segment is now generated from a circle of 8 randomly selected tiles - to add some variation in the art. There are currently 4 tiles for the game to choose from with more to come - here are some example images:
This is 100% aesthetic, but important.
Each ZONE of the game will also have completely different art when all said and done. (There will be 3 zones, each consisting of 3 levels (for a total of 9 levels)) before the boss fight!
----------FOURTH---------- The framework for stage progression is now in place, so each level can have its own set of enemies/challenges! Each ZONE will have different enemies and obstacles when all said and done!
Still LOTS to do in this mode, but hopefully this gives you a decent idea of where I'm headed with it!
That's all I have for tonight - stay tuned for future updates, and keep on punching! Also, I'm loving the feedback you all are providing! It's a huge help!
