Redswood VR
Graphics Update, Performance Improvements, Nav Mesh fixes.
Today's update is a small or big one, depending on what you place importance on in gaming:
-After quite a few comments and reviews stating dissatisfaction with the resolution and visual design of the game, I've made efforts to improve on both. It's still a work in progress, but I've made pretty substantial improvements to ground textures, rock textures, and the overall look of the environment. Things should now look far more natural and realistic, hopefully improving on immersion.
-Fiddling with the occlusion, I've managed to increase performance, which should improve jittering for some systems.
-Fixed a nav mesh issue that was causing pathing issues on the Huntsman level for NPCs.
Please leave feedback if there are any issues, in the Steam forum preferably.
-P
Devlog 3 Patch Notes: Wolf Fighting and Level Direction
-Updates and changes to the level design, small things to help guide the player in the "right" direction. I say that in quotes because in the end, the forest of Redswood is a playground, and the story only ends the game, not the gameplay.
-Changes to the wolf attacking behavior. They should now circle, move back and forth to attack, and evade your attacks. It's not perfect yet (what is?), but it should provide slightly more interesting mechanics than bopping them on the head as they stand there and attack.
-Code cleanup.
So.
The VR community is very small right now. Very niche. Among that community is a solid percentage of people who are prone to VR sickness, and thus there is a percentage who are not. Perhaps I underestimated the percentage of people uncomfortable with uninhibited artificial locomotion, or perhaps Redswood just isn't the game for a lot of people. I can understand both. I don't at all expect people to buy into something they're not interested in or can't physically handle.
However, the fact remains that the game is simply not sparking enough interest in the VR community to continue to put the kind of passionate time I would love to put into to it, and so I'm back to devoting most of my time to my professional art and animation freelance work.
In my spare time, when I have it, I will continue to develop Redswood and move towards final release, but I foresee that being a relatively quiet and uneventful transition. I will also continue to be around for bug fixes, performance issues, and general feedback.
I should also mention I've taken some of what I explored and learned in making Redswood and am incorporating that into a future game some of you may be interested in. Action/combat-oriented open-world superhero fun. A game that's as much for me as it is for anyone else. That game (which is *technically* another fairy tale adaptation and thus part of this "series") needs more time to bake, however, and is still backseat to bill-paying work. Details to come when they come.
Patrick
Redswood VR Devlog Week 2: New Wolf level, new and improved enemies, and pesky bugs.
Happy Wednesday everyone! Today's update comes with a few more improvements to gameplay, performance, and a few a brand new mechanics.
-Bunnies! Evil bunnies!
-Plant enemies now move around, presenting increased challenge.
-Bug fixes regarding climbing, it should be a smoother process.
-Bug fix regarding the door to Granny's house not properly opening when collecting the necessary apples.
-Added in a walking slider on the in-game menu. This adjusts the walking speed for the arm-swinging movement, with the default set at medium speed. Turning it all the way down turns it off, for those that wish to avoid it altogether.
-Tweaked the Redswood map to allow for more natural swinging and grappling rhythm.
-Fixed bug that caused the player to jump when throwing an axe.
-Added a bit of flair to the axe model.
-Fixed sound issues related to enemies and enemy attacking.
Oh, and, I added a level where you get to play as the Wolf, unlocked when you unlock the other bonus level. Unleash your inner beast.
Redswood 1.06 Week 1 Devlog - Colliders, controls, and coffee.
After opening up the game to Early Access last Thursday, I received a great deal of fantastic feedback. I took a lot of suggestions to heart, took a step back from my own playstyle to see how others were trying to play the game, and made a variety of improvements to both gameplay and comfort.
For those of you, who have bought and played Redswood, THANK YOU! It has been an amazing experience watching people respond to this whole video game thing I made, and I only want to make it better and better. For those who have played it but found issue with previous bugs, I encourage you to try it again and see if it's any better of an experience. And for those of you who haven't tried it but are curious...well... it's only natural to be curious.
To get up to speed, updates I have made since last Thursday:
-Player walking fixes when encountering any collider, to prevent accidental clipping.
-Finished intended monster behavior for the plant creature, so that they can attack from range with a spit attack that the player must dodge. http://imgur.com/a/84PBG
-Added functionality to the mushroom checkpoints, so they now save your place in between game sessions and can be reset from the menu, while still serving the same purpose of being able to reset player position.
-Changed Huntsman Axe controls from menu button to trigger button. Reach behind your back, pull the trigger. Feels good, man. http://imgur.com/a/84PBG
-Changed overall game font to something more fitting and readable.
This weekend, minus Sunday where I took a much-needed break to watch Voyager finales, I spent bringing you the following updates, delivered in today's build:
-Massive collider overhaul and scripts rebounding the player even if they somehow manage to get through the wall. Also improved teleport functionality on steep surfaces. A backup to the first clipping prevention mechanism. http://imgur.com/a/84PBG
-A safety net for falling from the level that transports you back to your last checkpoint. A backup to the backup.
-My crossed fingers people can play my game uninterrupted by clipping and falling. A backup to the backup to the backup. http://imgur.com/a/84PBG
-Further control changes, moving teleport to the right menu button to prevent hitting it with your axes out, and eliminating many cumbersome button combinations in general. Controls should feel much more streamlined.
-Spinning axes now also correctly does damage.
-Improved ease-of-use for the menu system. http://imgur.com/a/84PBG
-In-game live adjustable quality level, accessible from any level in the wrist menu. Hopefully this helps for anyone who may be having issues hitting VR performance marks. In the future, I want to add more customization to the graphics options, but for now this should be a good band-aid in allowing more people to enjoy better framerates across more systems. http://imgur.com/a/84PBG
-(Hopeful) minor performance improvements.
-Added and tweaked wolf animations.
Assuming all goes well, I want to start moving into finishing the rest of the planned content and towards full release. If you're still running into bugs, performance issues, or just have a suggestion or overall feedback, please, please feel free to share here or in the Steam forums!
Patrick
Update: Update Tomorrow
Patrick
Save Points!
Now, in addition to being able to reset to them when using the "Checkpoint" button on your in-game menu, they serve as save points! Exiting the level or the game and coming back allows you to continue from where you left off, instead of starting the level over entirely.
You can also reset each level's checkpoint in the main menu screen, under "Options".
Please drop a note in the Discussion forums if anyone has issues!
Patrick
v1.025 Control cleanup
-Axes now work differently, as the Huntsman. Instead of using the menu button to "summon" one in each hand, you must reach behind you, and pull trigger to "unsheathe" one from your back. You can do this with either hand. You will feel like a badass mammajamma.
-No more holding multiple buttons down and clicking awkwardly for the menu. Instead, just hold the left menu button as either Red or the Huntsman. Select with right trigger button.
-Lightened a couple of too-dark areas.
This is all in continued efforts to consolidate controls and use as few button combinations as possible.
Patrick
v1.02: When Plants Attack!
Also, plants should properly attack now! Too close, they'll chomp at you. Too far though, and they'll now spit acid balls your way. Duck, dodge, dip, dive, and dodge out of the way, they do a ton of damage!
Patrick
Release Day Patch Notes 1.01
-Changed UI font and added in cursor pointer for clarity.
-Fixed issues with the Daytime Huntsman level.
-Minor object placement adjustments and missing climbable collider fixes.
REDSWOOD VR RELEASE NOTES v1.0 EARLY ACCESS:
Redswood VR is all about choice. Not choice in story, but in gameplay. I want to make it as clear as possible that if you are in any way susceptible to VR sickness, you can use teleport to enjoy the game just fine from beginning to end. However, if you have the legs for it, there is really no veritable ceiling to the way you can move around these woods.
Notes regarding the build as of release/known issues:
-There will be bugs. Please report anything you find, don't leave it in a review! I'm want this game to be everything you and Daniel Day-Lewis want it to be.
-Colliders are funky in VR. There is no way to prevent your physical hand from going through a virtual object, not yet anyway. Pushing your virtual body back creates disorientation, like doing a pushup into nothingness. This shows itself especially when climbing, where if you push your hand too far into a mesh, you'll lose collision and thus your grip. Go too far through, and you'll fall into the rock. This is very much a priority for me, and something I'm actively working on.
-The hookshot sometimes misses. I blame shoddy craftsmanship.
-I am attempting to implement single pass stereo rendering to hopefully gain a performance boost and some breathing room on draw/set calls. Right now, it just breaks my camera with double vision, but I'm hoping I can get that in soon. Also high priority. If anyone has any suggestions, get in touch through the Steam Community forum please!
-Frankly, I need more people to test it just to make sure it's running at proper frame rates across compatible hardware configurations.
Where I want to go/Why Early Access:
-I want to improve performance and give myself space to add even more life to the game. Things like falling dead leaves, more interactive wildlife, better texture resolution.
-I want to flesh out more of the stores behind Red and the Huntsman by paying the voice actors what they deserve to come back and record more.
-I'd like to improve on the wolf animations. That is absolutely nothing against the folks at Shop3DSA, they do fantastic work. However, I'd really like to be able to take the time and make them truly come alive in the way I imagine.
-More to explore, like a deeper cave system with it's own content and a forest that truly plays with scale while allowing the player to fulfill all manner of spider-dreams.
-Ideally, I want to add in a final (fun) level where you play as the Wolf, and explore with movement mechanics meant to best simulate canine movement and interaction.
-Most importantly, I want to ensure you end up with the product you all want: a good VR game.
I'll be keeping in touch with the community, which is something new for me since I'm much more of a lurker at heart, and this is my first game. Regular updates will come with detailed change-logs, and I'll work to respond to problems as they arise and not disappear into the ether. This is now your thing as much as it's my thing.
Oh, and if you're wondering where the second hookshot is, watch the trailer, and listen to the Huntsman in-game. Hints abound.
Patrick