Greetings, tentacle-headed mop wielders of legend!
We thought we'd give you a quick update on what's happening right now.
Short answer; lots with only a little to show.
Long answer:
We've been hard at work on two things at once.
(1): "The Project"
(2): Viscera Cleanup Detail UE4 Port
"The Project"
This one, as you might expect, continues to prove tricky.
Still too early to tell if it's gonna make it through the whole process. It's being dissected, analyzed and re-focused as we speak.
We still don't have "it". The hook, the feeling, the *whipcrack* that makes it all come together and feel like how it's supposed to. But it is certainly making progress.
Currently it's undergoing a fresh start to see if its redesigning holds water, and can be put together more solidly.
All of this sadly, comes in the form of words for now.
We don't have any pretty little pictures to show yet, or a concrete way to describe what it is we're making(it is still morphing), other than to say: It's not like VCD at all, yet a decidedly interesting specimen all the same.
So rather than say when we'll have something to show, or when we hope to reveal it, or give any other dates, It's better to maybe just say: We're working on it, and prefer not to force it out into the wild without its poncho.
It feels somewhat pointless to say what we're doing if we can't show you anything, but sadly that's just how the process works. It's a lot like a sculptor giving you a running commentary whenever he lands a chisel blow. Not even he knows how the nose is going to look until it hath been cleft.
Side-note: If you have a cloven nose, you'll have to start over. Unless a mutated renaissance abomination is what you were going for.
Better that than we say nothing at all, so...onward with the prattle!
VCD Port
Luckily, this one does come with some imagery. Albeit somewhat drab and barren. Like a mop that's been left out in the blaze of a red dwarf for too long.
Work proceeds well on this. However at this point it's largely just in the form of rebuilding basic game mechanics. Most of which are in.
- Mops
- Hands
- Buckets
- Bins
- Splats
- Physics Objects
- Incinerator
- Machines
- Janitors
- UI
- Networking
We've also been making sure to do networking early this time around, so everything you see here works in Multiplayer too.
Some blessed improvements have been made to how objects are synced between players now, so(although it's early days) the movement of objects is much smoother on clients.
I think this area, predictably, is going to need a lot of work, and may necessitate a far more individual approach to object networking than the more generalized system VCD had before.
As you can see in the images, things are extremely raw.
Some of the old content no longer works correctly in the newer engine, and that poor worker there has joints that bend the wrong way. Although that could also be why he died.
Most of all, the level is an engine template, and has basically no VCD architecture.
Also, there's a crosshair!
Ooof, it hurts just looking at it...
Soon though that should change. As the basic mechanics approach full-functionality, there will be time for the environment, sounds, effects, etc.
The new engine also necessitates certain improvements to the content(assets). So some stuff may have to be changed or re-made in the end, which opens up some opportunities.
Time will tell.
It's too early to know how the port will go.
We'll keep working on it when we can, and get it as far as it'll go, but it's no sure thing.
Side-note: I managed to get bins to fuse and dance around, so that's good.
What would VCD be without the little things, eh!
That's it for now, folks.
We'll keep you posted as we go, even if there isn't much new too say.