I'm gonna get straight into the devlog as there's some important info to unravel and some explanations for why we're choosing to do things in that way.
Miami Series Debut
As you all know, we've been working hard on getting the Miami series done. In the last devlog we pointed out we're putting more effort into the level design in an effort to make each chapter feel unique from one another, due to this change it does increase development time and we've already spent a LONG time trying to get this new update done (almost 7-8 months of no updates to the official branch, minus the Test/Beta branch).
Not having an update out for almost a year honestly makes me as a developer feel extremely guilty as I always strived to have consistent updates (we started out doing weekly updates with new mechanics almost each time), due to this guilt it definitely got in the way of me as a lead developer to function properly and get things done in a respectable time-frame. As a way of lifting up that guilt and hopefully getting into a more productive groove, we'll be shifting into a new release schedule for the Miami series.
The Miami series will Debut with 3 of the first chapters, all of the mechanics we've been working on, including a lot of changes and upgrades to animations and existing systems. We're kind of starting a "Season" of sorts (I guess, I wouldn't want to consider it as like, a game-as-a-service structure but more of our own thing).
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The video above shows a little sneakpeek of what we've been improving ranging from our character's suit cloth physics, recoil animations, and improving trickposing. Lots more to come!
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So I suppose we're introducing the Miami Series as a season of updates, once the debut begins, we'll work hard on resolving any bugs and issues you have. Before pushing the Miami debut to the official branch though, we'll have a important test session for 2 days on the Test/Beta branch to gather any important bug reports and issues that players are having so the official branch is smoother.
We'd appreciate anyone who's willing to test and break the sh** out of the game to try it out and provide feedback either through our Discord or the Community Hub, we want to make sure this big update runs smoothly (the Test branch isn't updated just yet).
After the debut of the Miami series, we'll be working hard on the additional chapters and releasing them at specific periods, we'll be aiming at semi-weekly but we can't promise that just yet. The goal for the Miami series is to of course have 7 chapters including some fun replayable ones like a Survival mode.
These updates may also come with new weapons, enemies, and more! So there's a plethora of things that you can look forward to as we do these new update sprints.
I'd like to personally apologize for not having this update done way earlier, like I stated earlier, it definitely has been eating at me the fact this update hasn't been released yet and I understand anybody's frustrations with the lack of content, etc. I'm hoping with this adjustment we'll be able to release things at a steadier pace again.
That means we're hoping to release the Miami series very soon (not like a developer soonTM, but like an actual soon)!
We'll have more details in a future announcement post as we begin the urgent testing for the update.
Let us know what you think, we hope you have a fantastic week, we'll be here working away on the game and reading any of your comments/feedback!
Devlog #4: Creating better chapters (and more progress!)
Hey everyone!
Hope you're all doing well, my apologies for the overdue update here on Steam, we've been busy at work on the new chapters and a few other things shown on Crimson's YouTube channel (fun behind the scenes videos of the Miami series development), I've also been streaming on Twitch if you want live updates and/or want to ask any questions/provide feedback.
In the last Devlog, I mentioned a development schedule that was waaaay too ambitious, but alongside that our overall ideals and goals for the new chapters took a turn. Our workflow adjusted to try to make them more unique, fun, and levels that make you want to come back for more. As developers we're always striving to improve the game and make it the best it can be, we're never settling for something that seems "okay", we want something that people can look back at and think "damn, that was a fun level".
New Intended Update Release
That being said, the Miami update has been pushed back to December (hopefully, we're working hard to have it all done by then), before then we'll have the Miami series- or at least the blockouts of the chapters uploaded to the Test Branch to gather crucial feedback and bug reports ASAP.
The Test Branch is still live if you're interested in trying out the new mechanics and features that we've been working on.
Now, onto the progress!
We've made tons of progress on 2 more chapters and almost finalizing the Shipyard, we also have another chapter in early blockout phases (one that I think many of you will enjoy), we'll show that one off in a future devlog.
The two chapters after the Shipyard are the Cathedral and the Art Exhibit.
The Cathedral is split up into 3 different sections/floors, the Lobby/Atrium, the Upper Rooms, and the Catacombs- a place that originally was used for religious activity is now used for illegal activity for gangs, an interesting twist.
The Art Exhibit is big and has a ton of unique mechanics that we begin introducing from this level and onwards, things like destructible walls and specific enemies holding a keycard that you have to hunt down to progress should change up playstyles and make things feel a bit more fresh.
We're super excited to bring these new chapters to all of you, and we're doing our best to take what we learned in the Campaign and applying it to the new series. We'd love to one day revisit the Campaign to bring it up to par in terms of quality of all of the new chapters, that should be fun.
If you're curious about the new wall destruction, check out this video showing a technical breakdown of the details we've added.
Thank you everyone for your patience and support these past few months as we work on this update, even though we're a super small team (3 people), I personally feel bad that the update has taken so long, but we're certain it'll be worth it once it releases.
The Team
I'm not sure if I've ever gone in-depth on Steam about Godmode Interactive and its ever-changing numbers. Currently we're 3 developers all focused on different things:
Crimson - Lead Developer (that's me), I focus on gameplay, environments, level design, sounds... basically most of the game except for music Tallowahh - Music, handles all of the music and parameters run through Fmod Reckless - Level Designer/Environment Artist, relatively new to the team but contributing a ton to the blockouts and levels of the game (he's also the one working on the 4th chapter that we'll show off in a future devlog!)
That's the team currently, we used to have an animator but the team is always changing (that's just how things are), a big shoutout to Kyle Style who was handling the animations and is the past developer who worked on a ton of the execution animations you see in the game today!
Anyways, I'm sure not many of you would be interested in the team section above but I wanted to point it out anyway for those that are interested.
That's the Devlog for this month though, thanks to everyone for their bug reports and feedback as we work towards finishing this big update, we're reading all of your messages spanning from the Discord all the way to the Community Hub.
See you in the next one!
An Update on the Miami Series
Hey everyone!
I wanted to post a fully fledged devlog but with how tight our schedule is, I sadly don't have all that much time to make a full devlog.
That being said, I'm really excited to show some screenshots of the Miami series so far, of course it's still the Shipyard but we've been blocking out all of the other levels behind the scenes.
The Shipyard is the very first level introducing the player to Miami and its series of chapters that the player will undertake, and wow, it's a long and exciting one.
I'd like to note that the screenshots below are all WORK IN PROGRESS, some images may have been taken before other ones, etc. but we're working on it!
This is just how big the Shipyard chapter is- you start out in a shipping container, almost as if you've been shipped to this new land far from Toronno. You work your way through the shipyard, going through hidden away regions surrounded by cargo containers all the way to being atop of one of the cranes.
This chapter should be super exciting for players, we're doing our best to take everything we learned from the Campaign and putting it all in this new series.
I'd like to apologize for how long this update has been taking, it's been around 5-6 months since the last major update, and that's definitely unacceptable. We're a new development team and sometimes planning out our time, priorities, etc. can be difficult. We're hoping that the Miami update is one that you've all been waiting for, we appreciate your patience as we work on it.
If you're curious what our current development schedule looks like, take a look:
- Miami Series (finish by 21st of October) - Shipyard - (Sept 19-22) - Cathedral - (Sept 23-26) - Tower - (Sept 27-30) - Art Exhibit - (Oct 1-4) - Club - (Oct 5-9) - Yacht - (Oct 10-14) - Drug Condo - (Oct 15-19)
We're trying our hardest to reach all of these dates so the Miami update can finally be released once and for all.
While you wait, there's the test branch that includes all of the new gameplay mechanics like grappling and customizing your weapon loadout. Additionally, you can tune into our development stream to watch Miami grow.
Thanks and have a fantastic weekend!
Devlog #3: Test Branch and Update Plans
Hey everyone!
Welcome to another devlog, this time with more details on the Grappling mechanic, loadout system, and more.
Before we get started, I'd like to announce that we've opened up a Beta/Test Branch, we wanted to be able to test the new features/mechanics we've been working on without causing issues on the live version of the game so this was the perfect way to do it. If you want to get an early look at the grappling mechanics (and in the near future, the loadout system), feel free to follow the directions below:
To enable the Test Branch, go to your Library > Suit for Hire > right-click and click Properties... > Betas > Select the dropdown and select the Beta branch. From there, let the game update and you now have the Test Branch! To go back to the live version of the game, just do the same steps but set the dropdown branch to None.
Currently the Test Branch includes the grappling mechanic, and will soon get a patch that'll include the Loadout system to play around with the new primary weapons.
Please post all bug reports and feedback to this thread, we appreciate any help to make sure the upcoming update is stable!
Thanks again to anybody who submits bug reports and feedback, it helps us a lot when it comes to improving the game!
Additionally, the game is currently 30% off for the Steam Summer Sale, give it a look or wishlist if you haven't!
The grappling mechanic has gotten some more work done to it, we've adjusted how the player tosses enemies around and can include a few different velocities based on how you're throwing them. Additionally you can now grab enemies from behind, knee them and punch them while grappling them. Some of these animations still need adjustments so bare with us as we continue to improve the mechanic.
As we mentioned above, the grappling mechanic is now playable within the Test Branch, we'd appreciate any feedback and bug reports to make it as good as it can be for update release!
Loadouts
This past week or so we had the chance to start work on the newest loadout system, for those that don't know what the loadout system involves- it allows you to change your primary weapon to exclusive guns like a Revolver, Nailgun, and a Silenced Pistol.
We started work on the Revolver, since we felt it would be one of the harder ones to develop since it involves an actual cylinder with separate bullets and slots. This means that if you're not keeping an eye on your cylinder, you may come across some empty slots that you need to reload individually.
Of course the Revolver also has its own unique sound effects, Ultimate, and more to make it a unique weapon of choice.
You may also notice that the gun has been textured, all of our previous weapons had a solid color since we had to cut corners to save on time. We now had the chance to add some more textures to the weapons to make them pop a bit more.
Miami Series
Now you're probably wondering where we're at in terms of the new series of chapters, the Miami Series. Unfortunately we'll have to push the release of the Miami Series to another update since there's quite a bit that we need to do on the environment and level design side.
Don't worry though, we have other content plans for this upcoming update, we'll be working on the Simulation Series (which we've had planned for an extended period of time). The Simulation Series is similar to that of a challenge mode or Virtual Reality mode from other similar genre games.
We'll have more info on the Simulation Series in a future devlog- we appreciate your patience as we work on this update though, we've got lots coming to Suit for Hire and we're excited to have you all trying it out. For those who are curious, the Miami Series is still being actively developed by our Environment Artist, so it's not being paused whatsoever.
Thanks again for your patience, we're working hard to get this update ready! Let us know what you think of today's devlog on Discord and the Community Hub.
Have a fantastic day!
Devlog #2: The Miami Series and Grappling
NOTE: Everything below is extremely work in progress, we appreciate your patience as we work hard on the upcoming mechanics and content. Hey everyone!
Happy summer (or well, to some), we hope June is starting off strong for all of you- we've been hard at work on the next update for Suit for Hire, because of how big of an update it is it'll unfortunately take a bit longer than past monthly updates but for now we wanted to keep everyone up to date on what the team is working on so you know we're not staying idle!
Miami Series
We've been working on a whole new series of chapters and levels, the Miami series: focused on a warmer climate filled with tight CQC (close quarters combat) and more action-packed sequences.
Learning from the Campaign series and how people loved the club level, we're taking what we can and applying it to future levels. Additionally utilizing more of the new goodies that have been added in the past updates like diving, glass, destruction and more to make the game feel more like an action experience.
Our goal is to have a minimum of 6-8 new chapters (comprising of multiple levels in each chapter) for the Miami series, that being one of the reasons why this update is taking longer.
Above you can see a super early blockout of one area in the Shipyard chapter, a level filled with shipping containers, fighting on top of a crane, and taking on enemies on one of the ships. We're hoping to show more progress in a future devlog so you can see more of the Miami series.
With the addition of a new artist on the team, we've had to take some time to show the new developer the ropes, but from here on out things should be a lot quicker so expect another devlog in the upcoming weeks!
Curious what else we have planned for the Miami series? A few include an art exhibit, a cathedral, another Club and more.
Enemy Grappling
Melee combat always felt like it was missing a few things, with this update we're aiming to improve the melee combat further by adding the ability to throw enemies around by grabbing them. Use them as a bodyshield, push them over ledges, or throw them into enemies- get creative with the new mechanics!
Alongside grappling, this will also replace the counter attack key which should make things a bit more intuitive, instead of having to use the Interact key to counter attack, all you'll have to do is grapple an enemy at the right time.
Tapping the grab key will result in a push, we're still heavily working out the grapple mechanic so please note the above video is super work in progress!
There's more that'll be included alongside the grapple mechanic, such as being able to disarm enemies and kneeing them.
We'll try to show off more of the grappling mechanic in the next devlog.
Loadouts
Another big addition coming to the game is Loadouts- something we've talked about and had on our roadmap for an extended period of time. The goal of Loadouts is to give the player new ways of taking on levels by allowing them to pick a different main weapon. Maybe a western-style revolver interests you, or perhaps a silenced pistol, or maybe my favorite: the nailgun.
On top of all of the new chapters we have to develop, Loadouts is one of the things we're still working on but we're hoping to touch upon in a future devlog.
I'm excited to bring these new goodies to all of you, let us know what you think or if you have any questions in the comments.
New Enemies and Behavior
Since new chapters and levels are coming, it also seems appropriate to add new enemies. On top of new enemies, we also want to improve enemy behavior further by adding the ability for enemies to take cover- them having unarmed states will also need to be added so they may scramble around finding a new weapon, run away or attack with their bare fists.
We're hoping that adding more randomized enemy behavior will make the game feel more alive to provide a more replayable/fresh experience for players. This being our first game release, we're learning a lot about what players look for in a game that they purchase. Thank you to everyone that has submitted feedback and ideas through Steam reviews, both positive and negative and on Discord and the Community Hub- we're taking everything we can to improve both this game and Godmode Interactive's future games.
We're looking forward to showing off more of the new update (and hopefully releasing it this month), thanks for all the support so far- let us know what you think on Discord and the Community Hub, we'd love to talk about the game (or other games) with you!
Thanks for reading and have a fantastic weekend.
Patch #17.2 - Enemy Improvements and Bugfixes
Hey everyone!
We released a small patch that includes an improvement for enemies, aim-assist and bugfixes.
FIXED: Auto-aim on barrels feeling clunky
FIXED: Throwing weapons at the Elite's body would spawn multiple AR weapons
FIXED: random/sporadic aim-assist through walls, etc. now it checks for solid surfaces in the way
FIXED: Enemy queuing has been fixed to a certain extent, enemies should attack more often rather than standing around
FIXED: Auto-aim while diving/on the ground missing/being inaccurate (may still have some issues with objects like barrel/fire extinguisher)
FIXED: Issue with diving through windows (like the ones in the 2nd floor of the warehouse), crouch pose is active while diving now
FIXED: Decals on the Club Rooftop causing issues on objects/enemies
FIXED: Weird slow roll issue when rolling into walls/objects
Thanks to everyone that submitted bugs thus far, let us know if you have any issues with this patch and we'll resolve it ASAP.
We're working towards a new content update that should hopefully be released in June, see you then!
Patch #17.1 - Bugfixes
Hey everyone!
We've received a few bug reports revolving around Update 17 so we wanted to make sure they were fixed ASAP.
As always, thank you so much to those who took the time to report bugs, provide videos and information so we could reproduce and track down the issues.
FIXED: Dying after hitting enemy with a melee weapon (like Katana) caused issues on respawn
FIXED: Infinite roll bug (might not be entirely fixed, please report if you experience this bug)
FIXED: Sounds in Mansion level were not tied to Ambiance
FIXED: Being able to throw a weapon during an execution
FIXED: AI vaulting over would sometimes cause them to start floating/flying
FIXED: Laser not showing up after melee weapon breaking
Let us know if you experience any additional bugs or issues- we'll get to them ASAP.
Thanks and have a great week!
Update #17: Melee weapons, new AI behavior, and more!
Hey everyone!
Hope you're all having a great start to the month so far, we've worked hard in April to create new features that brings Suit for Hire closer to 1.0.
In this update, you'll find the newly added melee weapons, AI behavior, adjustments to levels and more.
NEW: Melee Weapons
We've added a new way to engage enemies by getting up close and personal with their own melee weapons. Instead of ammo, the weapons have durability that can withstand a few hits. Currently there's the bat and katana, more weapons are planned for the future.
Let us know what you think of this new feature, we'd like to polish and improve it a lot in the months to come.
NEW: AI Behavior
Alongside melee weapons for players, we've given the enemies a few goodies of their own. Now they can hop over obstacles (which is a fix for enemies not being able to reach areas like the bars in the club), they can dodge roll away from grenades, and they also have a spotted effect when they spot the player.
We hope these new additions improve the way that the enemies act around the player and improves the overall gameplay loop. Let us know if you experience any issues with these new features.
Here are some additional fixes, additions and improvements:
Added melee weapons
Added new level additions to the Underground level
Added new spotted effect and sound effect to let the player know when they were detected by an enemy
Added the ability for enemies to vault over obstacles into areas that only the player could access
Added AI behavior that allowed them to dodge out of the way of grenades (random reaction times)
Added a ledge execution
Added a shotgun enemy
Added the ability to swap secondary weapons without having to throw/drop them
Added hitmarker when shooting/hitting enemies
Game will automatically fix any saves if they don’t have a chapter selected (old save issue)
FIXED: bug with replay button (in results screen) causing issues in main menu
FIXED: legend mode brought the player back to a checkpoint rather than the very beginning of the chapter
FIXED: bug with enemies falling through floor in courtyard when ragdolling
Improved doors by allowing them to be 2-way openable
Improved a lot of the walls in the game to be more performant and properly see-through for better player vision
FIXED: sometimes player got locked into crouching after rolling
FIXED: trying to execute an enemy while another enemy is nearby the player caused a problem with collision and refused to execute
FIXED: Ultrawide FOV not being set in the main menu
FIXED: some collision walls not having proper collision in the Mansion
We hope you all enjoy this new update, please let us know what you think through the Community Hub or our Discord!
Patch #16.2 - Small Bugfixes
Hey everyone!
We released a small patch that should fix a few issues for past players and new players. You can find the notes below:
Fixed audio in certain areas not affected by master volume slider
Fixed Legend mode bringing player back to checkpoint/beginning of level rather than beginning of chapter
Fixed replay button (in results screen) having odd issues (e.g. breaking continue button in Main Menu)
Game will now automatically fix any saves if they have missing information (specifically a fix for players that played before Update 16.1), this may not completely fix past saves though as we save information about level completions in a different manner now- you may have to start from Chapter 1 to setup scores, etc.
Thanks a lot for submitting bug reports, you're helping make the game better every day.
If you experience any issues, crashes, or have feedback, let us know through Discord or the Community Hub. We read everything!
Update #16.1: A complete overhaul
Hey everyone!
A new update has been long overdue, after updating all of you about the new goodies in our first Devlog, we're happy to finally announce that Update 16.1 is live and ready to play.
Regarding the random patches released in the past day or so: You may have noticed that an update went live yesterday night at around 2AM EST, what was supposed to be Update 16 ended up being quite the disaster causing immediate crashes for everyone (including myself), I'd like to apologize to anyone that tried the game during that period, since it was so late and I wanted the update to be out I made the mistake of not play-testing it before pushing it to Steam. I'll make sure not to make that mistake again and hopefully the crash no longer occurs for players.
- Crimson, Lead Dev
If you're curious about some of the major changes, definitely check out the Devlog where we go into detail on the menu changes and how levels are selected from now on.
This update is BIG, we've made a lot of changes to things like the save/load system, loading levels, reloading the level after death, etc. so we're looking for as much feedback and bug reports as possible. If you see something, please let us know and we'll make sure to get it fixed ASAP. This update may not seem like much to people upfront, but it was a necessary update to the overall foundation of the game so it can pave way to new content (more levels!).
In terms of future plans, we'd like to make it so Challenges reward the player in the future, and preferably adding a friend's leaderboard for each chapter to encourage some internal competing between friends on Steam. Additionally you may see the Loadout screen after selecting a chapter, this menu will get more updates in the future such as being able to select different main weapons.
Other than those major things, here are some more changes and patch notes- there may be a few things we're missing in this list as well:
Patch Notes
Added additional music in Chapter 2
Added specific areas that play different music (like the timed section in the Subway)
Added challenges, personal record score & time, ratings
Added new main menu and end chapter results screen
Added new sound effects when picking up weaponsr
Adjusted sound effect for enemy pistols
Cleaned up main character a bit and added some more detail
Loading times should be sped up between deaths
FIXED: Aim assist should no longer target fire extinguishers if they've already been hit
FIXED: can no longer pause the game while holding the button in Level 2 to open the gate
We've got more to come and we're super excited to bring it to all of you, thanks for all the support thus far. Now get out there and get some S rankings!
Again, please feel free to let us know how you feel about the current state of the game (and the new update) including any bug reports or feedback through Discord or the Community Hub.
