Seacurity Breach
First YouTube videos!
Well, we got you covered! More precisely awesome Lady Shelab and LForward is here to help you out. Here are a couple of their videos.
First levels (Pre-release build)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPz_VZyXTZo
Still beginning but different levels
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F59930z7OPQ
Launch of the official Discord server
Greetings everyone,
We are happy to announce that not only we are launching Seacurity Breach today but we are also releasing our very own Soaphog Community Discord!
So if you want to meet likeminded people or you want to be the first one who hears about updates to our games click here.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
Everyone might have noticed that we have been really quiet for a while now. That's because we have been working really hard on improving the game. And now we are EXTREMELY happy and proud to announce that we are going on Early Access on Monday.
In less than 72 hours you will be able to get your hands on Seacurity Breach. Hype!
Art Style Progression
That's why this time we are giving your eyes a treat. We will showcase you how Seacurity Breaches art and overall style has progressed, starting with the basic concept.
Without further delay, enjoy the first image.
The first concept
As you can see, it looks 'slightly' different. Extremely minimalistic and clean. All in all, still a strong look. But that's not all. In the beginning, it was still the good old fantasy setting (luckily we have moved on to a more interesting idea).
Heavyweight Orcs vs Puny Humans
More concept images even show us that we were also doing the tried and true method of Tower Defense games. Made popular by giants like Kingdom Rush. You would be forgiven if you said: It looks like a low-poly version of it.
A simple plan of making maps more decorated, realistic feeling.
Now let's take a look at some early enemy and defender ideas. We still think that they are awfully cute. Knights vs Cactus Orcs!!!
Like you can see, no fish in sight, yet. But we knew, to stand out of the crowd you need to have something extra. You can't be just like everyone else. There is an 'indiepocalypse' happening after all.
And that's how we ended on idea about islands with verticality. We haven't seen anything like that before, so let's do it!
Now, this looks like a floating island in the sky.
So we have these island and you can still see that our defender units are humans. That didn't feel right. You could say that they didn't fit the setting. After some deliberations, we decided that fish 'people' (Aquator Tribe) will try and attack native islanders bird 'people' (Aerians).
First concept for Aquators and Aerians
Now that everything was in place our first REAL island was ready to be created. At that point, we were still using props that were made for the concept and wouldn't end up in the final product. But this was the 'blueprint' for the future of our game and it's graphical style.
"Blueprint" island
See you next time!
Don't forget to follow us on social media.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeacurityBreach https://twitter.com/soaphog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeacurityBreach/ https://www.facebook.com/Soaphog/
Code Week EU
And this is where we and our game Seacurity Breach comes into play. Some of you might remember that we had a chance to showcase our games level editor tools during European Researchers night. While the audience for that particular event was on the younger side, it was a valuable experience for us. We received a lot of valuable feedback. So when RTA (Rēzeknes Tehnoloģiju Akadēmija) offered us a chance to participate in Code Week EU, we were more than happy to do it.
This time we were better prepared, we had already done this before! We are happy to report, that it was a smashing success. A lot of workable levels were created, some minor issues found, everyone had fun and, most importantly, we got screenshots for you! But one thing before we show them to you. Keep in mind that those levels are created by people who are not necessarily gamers, who haven't had any real experience when it comes to creating levels or they might not even know how a tower defense game works. And that's the main point for Code week EU, to educate people about code, software and technology in general.
And now enjoy our top 3 favourite levels and a collage with the rest of them.
This looks like a nice, safe island, we could just sit and chill there.
An island that's split in half!? That's new.
We see GOLD!!! We are rich!
See you next time!
Don't forget to follow us on social media.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeacurityBreach https://twitter.com/soaphog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeacurityBreach/ https://www.facebook.com/Soaphog/
We are Back! Home Again!
This year it set a new attendance record for attendees at both halves of the trade show. 76,199 fans from all over Europe made it to the Arena this year to check out games in 11 separate pavilions including three pavilions dedicated to the GIC conference.
Thats a lot of people!
And somewhere in there was an AWESOME Latvian Game Developer Association stand where we were showcasing our game Seacurity Breach alongside our friends Coldwild Games (Lazy Galaxy: Rebel story) and Nils Jakrins (Flashing Lights). During the 3 day period, hundreds of gamers had a chance to try out Seacurity Breach and give us feedback on it. Praise the game or offer critique about some elements of the game. All of it valuable, to some degree. Oh, we can't forget bugs, best Q&A service in the world! It was a fun and enjoyable experience for everyone, even if at the end of those days our legs/feet were in shambles.
We might have said it before but there is a special feeling when you see someone enjoying a game you (your team) have spent countless hours working on. We wouldn't be lying by saying that this is why we (at least some of us :D) are in this business. Most importantly, it all was worth some hurt feet, legs.
Setting things up.
People enjoying our game ːsteamhappyː
We, also, had a chance to meet a lot of industry veterans and other awesome people in our industry during the GIC 18 meetings. Those talks were filled with creativity and a mutual love towards the gaming industry, business and games themselves. During them a lot of valuable lessons were learned, new business contacts created and new friendships made.
And that was PGA in short. Three hectic and busy days surrounded by gamers and developers all celebrating the same hobby. Creating lasting memories and meeting new and old friends alike. If you have time to visit PGA next year, we fully endorse it and who knows, maybe we will meet you there.
See you next time!
Feel free to follow us on social media
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeacurityBreach https://twitter.com/soaphog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeacurityBreach/ https://www.facebook.com/Soaphog/
Poznan Game Arena
A quick update for everyone.
Next week, during 12-14 October, we will participate in Poznan Game Arena expo (PGA and no, we are not talking about golf). Where we will showcase our newest game Seacurity Breach. Some of you might have a question, what is PGA? What is it all about? The short answer. Poznań Game Arena is Poland's biggest and most important video game and entertainment expo. With nearly 73.000 visitors, 1100 Polish and foreign journalists, 1500 game booths and 43.000 metres of exhibition space.
Currently, we are really busy preparing for it so everyone there can have an amazing time and they fall in love with Seacurity Breach. But don't you worry. During the expo we are planning to be active on social media (mainly twitter) and when we get back home there will be a decently sized blog post about our experience.
Keep your eyes open on our tweeter feed, you might see something interesting there. ːsteamhappyː
Level editor showcase
Majority of you might not know this but on October 12-14 we will participate in PGA (Poznan Game Arena) expo but more about that next week. So this was an important chance for us to receive an extra round of feedback before we fly to another country and showcase our game to THOUSANDS of people. And feedback we received. While, in general, people really enjoyed their time with the game and our level editor tools, there were some issues. Starting with some UI elements, general ease of use, level editor issue etc. There were aspects of our level editor that people understood instantly, some things we needed to explain and some stuff just broke. Well, that's the risk you take when you are showcasing an unfinished product.
Was it worth it? Of course! Let us teach you an important lesson. If you are planning on developing a video game or you are already doing it. GET FEEDBACK FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES. Don't just ask opinion from your friends and family. Often enough they will go easy on you and that's not what you need. You need to hear constructive criticism, the truth about your games state. Sometimes it will be painful, other times it will bring you a clearer focus. But you definitely can't just skip on feedback. There can be things that you have overlooked for some time thinking, ehh that isn't important, yet. This looks fine to me. UI is acceptable, I understand it. Or something similar. And that's the issue. You know your game, you understand the mechanics of your game BUT can a new player understand everything? And that's a question for a fresh set of eyes.
But as with everything in life, don't overdo it. Don't just create a game dictated by test groups, keep your vision alive. Achieve a balance. Like Thanos would say. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
See you next time!
Feel free to follow us on social media
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeacurityBreach https://twitter.com/soaphog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeacurityBreach/
A new enemy approaches!
In our promotion materials, you can already see some of the enemy units that are in the game. Like Barr Racuda, Priest, Assassin and others. But today a new enemy approaches!
An enemy that isn't the smartest or the toughest one out there, but he sure is fast. And what will happen if you can't stop him? Simply put, he will be more than happy to throw your plans in a disarray. Meet our very own Suicide Runner!
Isn't he a cute puffer fish!
And because we are awesome, a little bonus. A sketch portraying how our puffer fish will haunt your dreams!
See you next time!
Feel free to follow us on social media
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeacurityBreach https://twitter.com/soaphog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeacurityBreach/
Unity NavMesh and Pathfinding
And now let's dive into some sexy talk about Unity NavMesh system! Don't worry! If this isn't something you are interested in, there is always the next week.
What is Unity NavMesh? Simply put, it's a navigation system that allows your created characters to come alive and move around your beautiful maps. It creates pathways and shows your units all the obstacles in their way, so they can go around them, jump over them etc.
Now let’s use our newest project as an example. Wait, before that we should explain a thing or two. Seacurity Breach is a Tower Defense game with an increased focus on map verticality and PUNS. We can’t forget those glorious puns. Now back on topic. Like in every Tower Defense game your ultimate goal is to stop your enemy before it reaches its target. So, using the NavMesh system, during level loading, your enemies plan the shortest way to their target and off they go! March towards a potential booty.
Cool stuff, right?
And this is where it gets interesting. In the grand scheme, for a TD game, it's all you need. A path from point A to point B. But it felt too static and we weren't just gonna stop there. Our goal was for a player to make meaningful decisions, interact with enemies. Plus, we got all this map verticality untapped. The first step we decided on is to give enemy units the MIGHTY ABILITY OF JUMPING. The great thing about Unity engine’s NavMesh system is that it can automatically map multiple layers of your level as walkable objects.
As you can see, right now our enemies can walk on an elevated ground, but they can’t get there. And this is where jumping comes into play. But for the unit to jump somewhere you need two things. First, an Off-mesh link that shows the AI that it can move from his current location to another mesh if a gap between them exists. Secondly, a proper jumping animation, we don't want to see a static seahorse flying. That's a scary sight.
o we link both layers together as pictured by the red nodes and our unit knows that it's ok to jump on and off it. With that jumping is done.
Now some units can jump (one block high)! Open the champagne! Ok, it's not that impressive, jumping was already a thing when Atari ruled the world. But that's how a game gets built. Small things stacked one onto another.
Our next idea was, what if a unit had an ability to wallcrawl and reach places that a player might not account for. Honestly, we don't know any other Tower Defense game that has done it. And that's how an assassin character was born. Like we stated previously, Unity is great at automatically making NavMesh on multiple layers. The issue arises when it comes to walls. Then it's a little bit different story.
In the early stages of development, we went with the optimistic, naive approach. NavMesh is built (generated) everywhere and units have a path from point A to point B. Everything should be fine and work as intended. And it did, it was beautiful! But everyone wants for their game to look pretty, have a particular art style, so do we. So you add decorations, buildings, plants etc. And that's when we hit a small snag with NavMesh generation. Who would have thought that making a game more pretty would create technical problems. The issue was that some of our decorations ended up creating 'holes' in the NavMesh, particularly on walls. Thus prohibiting assassin units from traversing those blocks. One way of dealing with that issue is to remove colliders on decorations. But we weren't fans of that. Units clipping trough world objects isn't a good look. Like always in life, the simplest solution almost always is the best one. If a block isn’t used for the assassins wall crawling ability or it has objects attached the engine will automatically skip NavMesh generation for those walls. Unless we have manually tagged particular walls/blocks, then it's just business as usual for the engine (which is great for performance).
This time focus on the green nodes. They are indicating to the engine that it needs to generate a NavMesh on the tagged surfaces and to also create an Off-mesh link (on first and last 2 nodes so the unit can step on the wall and step off it on the top.
As you can see the unit can reach places on a map that a player might not think at first. That adds an extra layer and planning aspect to the game when the player knows that he/she will have to deal with that particular unit.
Now let's see both of those units in action. Quick prototype 'island' to show off how it works.
http://soaphog.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/test1.gif
And that's the 'short' version about our experience with Unity engines NavMesh system in our latest project. We had some issues, some things we had to learn. But for everything to work and look like you want it, well that takes a little bit more work and knowledge.
See you next time!
Feel free to follow us on social media
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeacurityBreach
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeacurityBreach/
P.S. For regular blog posts on other things besides game development visit Soaphog.com. We are planning on adding weekly blog posts about all kinda topics there.