This month has been a month focusing on Episode 3's art and some level design.
Level Design
For Episode 3 the art direction for the levels is that the first 2 maps which are fire themed are the most recently built, most maintained parts of their society. They house most of their every day places, like bath houses, treasure rooms, food preparation areas, etc
The blood themed maps E3M3/4 are a bit older and have some minor dilapidation, their focus in Morsgoroth society is to test Neophytes, to see if they are ready to become warriors.
The blood themed maps are bathed in a bloody mist, which is the remains of fallen warriors. The Morsgoroth can pray to the mist, allowing them to communicate with the fallen.
The Swampy themed maps, E3M5/6 are the oldest parts of their society, so you'll see even more run down ruins, and toxic swamps. We wanted the player to feel a sense of progression as you play through the levels for how old Morsgoroth are.
E3M1 has had more work applied to it, detailing, placing all the new props that were made recently.
Textures
E3M5/6 got a new trim sheet, we wanted to give each theme its own trim sheet so it stood out a bit more from the previous levels.
A small bronze doodad kit sheet to help making bronze parts a bit easier and not rely on specific trim sheets from different themes.
The crack sheet was updated with better looking cracks and wear, which is meant to be used generally around the levels to provide a little wear and twear
Gameplay
Destoyable walls have been added to the game for Episode 3. So if you see a wall that looks a bit more on the crumbly side, you can use your explosive based weapons or find a nearby lava barrel and move it over to the wall and blow it up.
A Rejuvenation Fountain, which is similar to the Health Station has been added. It has infinite healing, but it heals a little less per gulp when you drink from it.
Vegetation
For E3M5/6 it is fairly vegetation focused. But we wanted to have some of it placed around in the previous levels, to give it a bit more of an organic feel along with all the rock work.
The main vegetation sheet was created which will feed about 20 different models.
Work started on the larger flora as well. There are about 6 to be made, only 2 shown here. Some of these plants can attack or produce toxic gas, so you'll have to be careful as you make your way through the levels.
Thanks for reading
-FBS Team
Development Update #11
Hello everyone,
This month has been a busy and exciting month.
Publishing
We have exciting news to share, we have teamed up with the publisher Perp Games!
They are a good fit for us as they focus on horror/atmospheric titles, and they are supportive of the vision and plans in place for Retchid. We're happy to be working with such an amazing publisher!
Optimisation
We are pretty happy with how the GPU optimisation turned out, there isn't much left to do other than minor tweaks in the levels and maybe an LOD here and there.
We opened the hood and had a stab at profiling and adjusting the CPU side of optimisations across various aspects from the AI, skeletal mesh use, weapons, HUD, and any actors that seemed to be costing too many milliseconds.
Skeletal meshes are always being processed, regardless of if being rendered or not. Since we use ragdolls for our dead bodies throughout the levels (which can be up to 50+ dead bodies), so we put in some fixes to stop the skeletal from being processed on the AI and dead bodies, which gave good amounts of FPS, up to 30% in some levels, depending on your CPU/GPU.
Some AI components were always being processed even though the AI wasn't active like the movement and the meshes. We optimised it a little bit for now to they don't tick until they are active and they stop ticking when they are dead, there is still some refactoring to do there in the future
Weapon systems over all had some tweaks, we realised that all the weapons are always "there" at once so we're going to refactor that in the future to optimise that as well.
The HUD had a few place holder systems that were moved to event based updates instead of tick, this helped save a few MS of processing.
An on going thing is collision optimisation so we took a look at a bunch of models to see where we can get some minor gains there, for example if the object is simple we use the box collision for the simple and complex collision, which is used by weapons for hit detection. And turning some collisions in to query only instead of physics and query.
Over all it was a nice first pass, and there are some more gains to get in the future.
We always poke a stick at keeping the game optimised as we work so we don't have to pull out all the wires at the end and figure everything out all at once.
Game Art
All the episode 3 props that are small and fragile enough looking had breakable parts made for them. If you enjoy breaking pots, you're gonna have a fun time in episode 3!
The physics push on explosions has also been tweaked to make stuff fly away more forcefully as well.
The thoughts room (save room) for episode 3 also got a small update to make the space bigger and a bit more interesting.
Game Logic
This month we got all our episode 3 supporting puzzle components built and in to the levels, they compliment the existing main puzzles in the levels.
Rotating stones where you have to match the symbols
a multi-ring door where you have to use switches to rotate each ring to line up the symbols
A system where you have to shoot or push buttons in order
Pushable stone blocks where you have to push the stone block on the correct pressure plate
Thanks for reading
-FBS Team
Development Update #10
Hello all,
Retchid has a 20% discount for the Steam Summer sale.
This month we released 2 patches which contained a some new features such as the compass to help with player navigation, optional item high lights, and some minor balancing and AI perception fixes for Episode 1.
You can join our Discord if you like and talk to the developers and other community members
Work still continues with Episode 3 maps and art work.
A small exterior section of E3M3
Some boxes to hold objects and pick ups
Effigies of some of the wild life and inhabitants of Morsgoroth
The hot spring bath house kit
Bathroom kit
Thanks for reading
-FBS Team
Small Patch #15
Hello All,
Today's patch is a small one, it mostly focuses on tweaking all the AI perception in the levels across Episode 1, plus some minor fixes and tweaks.
List of adjustments:
Adjust Perception for all AI in Episode 1 so they respond properly to combat and the player
Increased the damage of the shotgun projectile from 12 to 16
Tweaked placement of environmental hazards and placed more in some levels
Added a handful of health packs across Episode 1
Fixed some progression Blockers in Episode 2 maps.
Thanks again for everyone's support and feedback for Retchid, it's helping us making a better game.
Thanks for reading.
-FBS Team
Small Patch #14
Hello Everyone,
Today we have a small patch that includes a few fixes, some new features, and optimisations.
The Compass
At the top of the HUD is now a compass that can help players get their bearings. Later on development we'll work on adding points of interest to the compass.
Item Highlights
An optional item highlight system has been added to the game for those that might have some difficulty seeing items in the world.
Map Debug Menu
For those of you who are curious about in development maps, you can go to the Debug menu and select any of the available maps to load. It's under Single Player.
You'll be given a basic load out for each map as well. Do note that Episode 2 and 3 maps are not completed, so expect some bugs, and the AI are not fully developed.
Here is the list of items in todays patch:
Fixed FOV not being restored properly on game load
Added a compass to the top of the HUD
Added optional pick up item outlines (enable/disable in the video options menu)
Lighting optimisation for Episode 1
Added debug menu to play Episode 2 and 3 maps
Shotgun damage increased slightly
Explosions have a bit more physics push, to make explosions have a bit more oompf
minor optimisations to some character models
Thanks for reading.
-FBS Team
Development Update #09
Hello All,
This month we worked on some smaller tasks while still working on the Episode 3 environment art.
The Compass
A compass has been added to the HUD to help player orientate their direction in the levels. Further in to development this will be changed to a player upgrade that you'll find in either E1M1 or E1M2.
We're looking into expanding on the compass functionality in the future by adding important nearby objects as markers on the compass.
Item Outlines
An optional feature has been added to the game for those who might struggle to see Ammo, Health, and Armor in the levels, it's under the Video Options.
Music
We have a new music track for E2M3 called Marching Gears by Neurological
Episode 3
The focus at the moment is building a kit that allows the creation of dilapidated sections of the Morsgoroth world.
We wanted to have areas of the map that could've been built long ago or not really maintained, along with giving it some organic shapes by having the floors undulated and so on.
In the shot below damaged/wear and tear decals were made to be placed on the corners of bricks.
In Blender we have a corner/edge decal kit where it's designed to easily place these where we need them on the corners/edges of bricks etc
Thanks for reading
-FBS Team
Development Update #08
Hello All,
This month the remaining Morsgoroth related props were worked on, and we start prototyping the ruins kit for dilapidated areas of the levels in Episode 2 and 3.
Around 60 new props were created this month ranging from key interaction points, doors, statues, and various generic architecture parts.
Buttons and Key interactions
General use doors
Elevators and moving platforms
Various light sources
Dining Set
Various multiple purpose props
Statues of various warriors
Thanks for reading.
-FBS Team
Retchid is on Sale for the Steam FPS Fest
Hello everyone,
During the Steam FPS Fest Retchid has a 20% discount.
What is Retchid?
For the uninitiated, Retchid is a gory, atmospheric first person shooter that challenges you throughout without holding your hand.
The first episode currently available in early access contains 7 hand built non-linear levels with some light puzzling, shortcuts, collectibles, and secrets.
Use the PDA to read about what was happening at the TEC complex, track your objectives, statistics, weapon/suit information, and read about the collectibles you find.
Fight against various life forms ranging from humans to creatures from the abyss using various weapons like the ARC-Tool, SMG, Shotgun, TEC-Nade Launcher, and the Mining Laser, which discoverable upgrades scattered throughout the levels (not 100% fully implemented yet).
Join our discord where you can also talk to the developers about Retchid
Improvements
Since release we've provided a few patches that fixed various bugs, visual improvements, optimisations, and improved the gameplay experience:
Improved Hit Feedback when shooting enemies:
Player Shadows:
Flashlight:
Improved gibbing, if enemies gib with a close enough ceiling it rains down blood:
Environmental Hazards that can also affect enemies and objects in the levels:
Future Content
The Team has been hard at work on Episode 2 and 3:
E2M1 - Garbage Disposal
E2M2 - Sub Station
E2M3 - Toxic Sludge Refinery
E2M6 - Lazarus Labs
E3M3 - Blood Pits
You can also read about the game's updates in the monthly developer posts:
March's update includes a look at the final art work for E2M6 - Lazarus Labs and a small look in to Episode 3's world.
E2M6
The remaining work on E2M6 included the central elevator area, which seems to be blocked by a large mass of growth that the player needs to figure out how to remove, and the highly restricted Aamon Labs(optional secret area), where the TEC kept a lot of specimens from the excavation site(E2M7).
Episode 3
Episode 3 takes place in a completely different part of the universe in another galaxy on a planet called Morsgoroth, an ancient primitive race who don't hold humans in very high regard.
When designing Episode 3 it was important to maintain the design philosophies from the previous episodes while changing things up to feel familiar but different. For example PDA Backup machines don't exist, instead you save inside of Shrine Rooms, there are no medic stations, instead there are rejuvenation pools, and the layouts aren't governed by human needs, such as repair bays, offices, etc so layouts and design are a bit more abstract, but the over all design philosophies still exist for level layouts and connectivity.
The levels themselves are themed in 3 major themes: Fire, Blood, and Earth, and in each of these themes players will encounter various hazards, enemies and art styles.
As you explore the environments you'll come across paintings of various types that tell minor stories. You can use your PDA to translate and learn about their history and how they have a connection to the Abyssals.
Fire: E3M1(block out phase)
Blood: E3M3 - Blood Pits(almost art complete)
Earth: E3M6(block out phase)
In March Episode 3 props were the focus, and all the existing prop and world textures were also updated to make them pop a bit more.
Various props belonging to different rooms, such as bathing rooms, food prep rooms (Morsgorothians are mainly meat eaters), storage and teleporters.
A Brutoroth taking it easy in the bathing room after a hard day of stomping humans.
Thanks for reading.
-FBS Team
Development Update #06
Hello everyone,
Todays update includes a change to production and updates on some of the content we've worked on since we came back from vacation at the end of January.
Episode 2 release change
We decided to delay Episode 2 to release alongside Episode 3 to keep production quality high.
We will however release the levels in the beta branch as they are completed starting with the completion of E2M6 so those of you who have been looking forward to Episode 2 can have an early preview.
The reason for delaying Episode 2 is due to the nature of being a small team and the dynamic demands that come with having only 1 person who creates all the art in the game. Workflow and overall quality are much higher when we can streamline processes to avoid shifting our focus unnecessarily (e.g. working on levels, then changing disciplines to character development, then gameplay logic/scripting, then to weapons, then back to levels) as there is often a prolonged lapse of time between these changes which disrupts workflow and affects the flow and satisfaction of the gameplay.
We want to be as transparent about our plan as possible, so going forward this is our plan for the order of completing things in the game:
Finish the environment art for all 3 episodes
Finish up the remaining enemies, models, textures, vfx etc
Finish enemy animations
Finish weapon animations and vfx
Polish level scripting/events with finished AI
balance the game, near final optimisation
Release Episode 2 and 3 as a big update, get feedback and tweak, bug fixes etc
Retail release.
Molding Expectations
Retchid is a game we love making, more than any other game any team member has worked on (between everyone on the team we've worked on over 20 games over 25 years).
We wanted to make a game that doesn't hold your hand, promotes and rewards exploring via interesting non-linear level design, as well as an interpretive story where it's up to the player to figure out what's going on in the game. Going forward this will basically be From Beneath Software's style.
No waypoints, no map, no NPCs telling you how to solve puzzles before you get to the puzzle, non-linear worlds, challenging combat, no quick saving (you save by using a terminal at any time like Dead Space/Resident Evil) so you can save scum your way through the game.
We are passionate about our games and we make them because we love them - and we want to translate our passion into new and exciting games for people like us. That drives us and makes us happy.
Art Update
Levels E2M4 and E2M5 have a somewhat shared mining theme, E2M4 being the mining complex that houses things like employee living, admin, repair bays, and E2M5 being the actual mines. We'll show these levels a bit later.
The props that were made for these levels are a bucket loader and a dump truck, along with a remote controlled heavy jack hammer and various smaller props like a generator and some hand tools.
The idea is that they are AI/remote controlled, although there has been rumors of some of the loaders going a bit haywire due to the extreme coldness on Titan.
Level Design
In February the environment art began for E2M6 - Lazarus Labs. It was built specifically to research and learn about the ancient Morsgoroth Temple at the back of the Labs (E2M7).
Only a handful of top employees know about the Labs which has a secret entrance via the mines in E2M5.
E2M6 is one of the bigger levels with a non-linear flow throughout the level, you can access various areas from different routes. 1/3 of the level is completely optional and is somewhat of a secret.
E2M3, E2M6, and E3M3 were the first levels we built to a somewhat final stage a few years ago. They basically set the standard for what we wanted to do the with the gameplay, level design, and aesthetics for the entire game.
Thanks for reading, stay tuned for our next development update.
