tl;dr Big update to The Cortex and small updates everywhere else
Summary:
The Cortex is shaping up, as the structure is almost entirely done and some new areas of the biome have been added for you to explore; however, you now have to find the way inside... And that is how I'm introducing the baby steps of the main objective system, so now we know why we're on this stupid planet to begin with. Grimridge has also been improved slightly with a new NPC (plus her accompanying cutscene) and a bit of polish on the shopkeeper (we still don't have a name for him). Also fixed a major lighting issue that's been in the game for a while, so dark rooms look a lot better. There's also a secret, let's see if anyone finds it
Changes:
- The Cortex has been expanded to include some new areas and a new enemy encounter
- Main objective system has begun implementation. You can see the early stages of this if you go to Grimridge and talk to Elna
- Updated the shopkeeper in Grimridge. Some new items + now he has a little shack
- Some new NPCs, one of which is introduced in a small new cutscene
- New icons for map for entrances to other biomes (like The Cortex), chests, and more
- Shield Trooper buffed and improved visuals + bug fixes
- Fixed spawning issue for the robot spiders
- Save system now saves which rooms you've visited in a saved run, more to come
- Improved lighting system, we no longer have the grid or checkerboard looking pattern on a lot of the lights
- Improved Laser Rifle secondary fire, feels more powerful (still not 100% to my liking)
- Various small fixes
Known Issues:
- Raider strikers (the guys with the shotguns) fight pretty awkwardly
- Shield Trooper missiles still not behaving as intended all of the time
- Some sounds aren't playing, for instance when the robot enemies explode you should definitely hear an explosion
- There may still be an issue after the door opening cutscene after the roach wave fight, but I've added proper error messaging so I'll have an easier time catching it in the Unity Analytics Dashboard
- I'm in the middle of writing new dialogue for the common NPCs so none of them say anything besides test dialogue
What's Next:
- Wrap up on The Cortex, we're almost done
- More cumbersome save system that saves more data during a run and between runs, such as saving the completion of the roach wave fight so you don't have to repeat it 30 times
- A complete re-write to the permanent progression system, we need something to augment gameplay a bit
- Implementation of an actual pause menu with better UI, including settings, a better map, and information about your class, objectives, gear, etc
- An ending to the official demo. You'll find it here first in a few weeks
Thanks, enjoy, and I look forward to everyone's feedback