Season's greetings, noble mop wielders!
Another year is coming to a close, and with it a lot of work.
It has been an unusually taxing year for us with some unexpected(aren't they always) set-backs, but we're finally taking our annual break to cool-off and refocus our efforts for next year.
With the work put in so far, VCD 2 remains underway and is as ever nearing a solid early showcase version.
So, here's a quick run-down of what's new and what's next.
(It may not look like much has changed since last year, but it has...if not always visually)
The New
We've made significant improvements to the core parts of the game, and have finally found time to add some particle FX and the like. Although it must be said that most of these are re-creations of the old ones for now. We will be continuing to improve upon them as time goes on.
We have done lots of optimizations and balancing, bringing the game more in line with both a better performance and the 'feel' of a VCD game, from your character's movement, to the way objects interact, mop physics, and so on.
We've been adjusting the mechanics of our first level to make it more engaging, and to improve the interconnectedness we envision for VCD's new design. Much of this you'll only discover as you play the game, so it's hard to really show it.
Beyond that, much has already been mentioned in previous posts, or in our development thread on the forums if you're hungry for more info.
The Next
Next year we'll be diving into much more of the office personalization mechanics and features, fleshing out the office overall, and laying the ground-work for the narrative and interconnected nature of the various levels and your office, especially when it comes to personalization.
We're also going to be finishing off the last bits of our first major level, which has been used as a bit of a proving ground / test-bed for both the mechanics we have planned and the optimization of the game overall, so it's been in flux a lot more than future levels will be.
It will also be receiving some much needed background elements and sounds to liven it up, as well as some 'weather'.
Once those major elements are done, we'll be moving on to incorporating the save-system we've made, more narrative meat and potatoes, sounds and eventually some networking functionality, which has fallen behind a bit with all the new mechanics.
Beyond that, once we've got a concise package with at least one level, an office and all the connective tissue in-between, then we can start to put it out to the public in some capacity and get some feedback.
Then further down the line(after some refinement), early access if all goes according to plan!
And that's pretty much it, folks. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but it'll all become clearer once we can slap the little bugger into your filthy gloved hands!
For now, I wish you all an amazing Christmas and holidays, and look forward to picking VCD up again with some renewed vigor in the new year. Until then, keep those mops wet and those buckets burned!