Greetings custodial crusaders! ːvcdjanitorː
We thought we'd take some time to give you an exciting update on how things are progressing with VCD's UE4/5 future, lift the curtain of secrecy somewhat, and reveal something new!
Progress has been consistent, but we're still climbing a mountain.
At present we have incorporated most of the fundamental mechanics(and while they are still rough drafts), they are largely just lacking a nice shiny coat of content to dress up their appearance.
This includes:
- Tools (Bins, Buckets, Mop, Broom, Welder, Shovel)
- Decals(Blood Splats, bullet holes, etc)
- Sounds(So many missing sounds... it's very quiet)
- Camera movements
- Networking
- Physics Objects
- Basically everything else...
That process will be relatively quick, so we've not yet given it a huge amount of attention.
One needs a solid skeleton before you can give it flesh.
The latest major change to the fundamentals is that we've tackled one of the biggest hurdles for the User Interface; a generative system for creating Options and Rules menus.
This, while not strictly necessary for the main game, is important in both modding and making it easy for us to add to the growing list of system settings as we go.
It is finally working now and can begin to be used, so the rest of the UI for the game will be much quicker to develop. That being said, it's still basic at this point and needs many things, not least of which is a style change!
That can't be it...
It's been months! Surely you've been doing more than that, you lazy bugger.
Funny you should ask, because yes!
As it turns out we have actually been very busy with another side of this project, and that is entirely new stuff. It has taken most of our time, so it's doing well.
We're at present working on something big to showcase to you guys, but like with anything big, it takes time. We need to create quite a few new systems and content.
"But why?" I hear you ask. Well to develop a concise package we can fully capture our intent with.
"What are you on about? That didn't help at all!"
Fair enough. Truth is, we're mashing together a lot of new design ideas, mechanics, content, and plans for a hypothetical VCD Sequel and then using that as a demo that you, our noble janitors can judge.
The purpose of which is to try and capture our vision going forwards, and readjust based on your feedback.
"Wait, does that mean...?"
Yes, it means we're committed to making VCD on UE4/5, and that we're generally testing out the overall shape of what a sequel would look like. We already have a well-developed vision of what that looks like in our own minds, but the final demo will be its proving ground.
"So it's a sequel, right?"
Hush now, young Padawan.
As a taste of what's to come, we can now show you a little of what we've been up to on that front.
This is all of course subject to change, and the content is not final, but it's definitely on its way.
That's a lot to take in, anything else?
Why yes, there is!
As mentioned previously, we were looking into rolling out a new plushie with the folks over at Makeship.
Soon you'll be able to get your gloved hands on it!
The Administration over at Aerospace Sanitation have already begun using the poor fellow as a dartboard!
For some reason they seem to have a deep hatred toward this one in particular...
We however, are very pleased with how it turned out, so keep your eyes peeled for a couple more announcements coming soon.
And that's it for now, everyone. We're very much looking forward to having a fleshed out package to put into your hands, and to do a full rundown of our plans and design once we have a demo ready!
Until then, keep cleaning and scrubbing, and burning and finding ways to impress/harass your corporate overlords.