DOG-VI
Introducing DOG-VI, the final update to the main character. DOG has been through a number of iterations from the original game jam submission, to the first public build, to a version that was actually textured :), and finally the current style...
Epic Game Jam Submission
First Public build
DOG-V - Textured
DOG-VI Final Version
Animation Improvement
There were a lot of limitations to the animations the previous version of DOG could use because of the simple bone structure. Some of the new features include height adjustments for the engines to give better feedback from the terrain you’re on.
The clipping problem was also solved similarly by adjusting the engines horizontally.
There’s an assortment of improvements but, in general, the character should feel a lot more responsive to controls and reactive to the environment.
Release Date Delay
If you haven’t noticed, the release date has been pushed back from May 26th to August 11th. The main reason for this is to fix some of the aspects of the game that still bug me. Here's an idea of what need to be done:
Bridge collapse – The logic behind the original version was this:
- Spam particle effects (burn up the GPU)
- Enable physics collisions on each part of the bridge (burn up the CPU)
- Spam radial impulses to kick all the pieces around (make sure they're fried)
Obviously, it was a mess. The new version (still a work in progress) makes much better use of the particle system as well as more optimized objects like destructible meshes and physics hinges.
There are also some map placement issues. These aren't game breaking but they lead to a lot of confusion about where to go. The Base level has already been remapped and should be a little more intuitive. The Surface level will also get remapped.
Lastly, there's some key audio segments that will really help try the story together. I know there's a lot of androids now... but we need even more!!! Why are you in space, then a cave, then back on Earth?!?
VR
Part of the reason for the redesign of DOG was to create a sort of "platform" for a VR character. The perspective will be a ~enclosed 3rd-person, like you are in a mech. I've gotten very positive results from the Android character and the DOG character but I'm still working on the cat character. I hope to at least have a fully playable prototype available for testing by the release date.
Project files
We live in a totally different type of game development world than we did even 5 years ago. There's a much more mutually beneficial relationship between developers and users. If you’ve been following this game, it’s pretty obvious I've gotten a lot of help from the community and I want to try to repay some of that with more than just free keys. I’m going to start releasing the project files used in CAT Interstellar. I'll start with the DOG character (skeletal mesh, animations, and code).
DOG isn’t animated like most video game characters. Instead of multiple frames making up an animation over a set amount of time, DOG uses single frame animations and linear interpolations between them during runtime. This allows for DOG to react to her environment much more realistically. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of information in animating a character this way so hopefully these files will help.
I’m currently putting it an easy to read UE4 project file and should have it up as DLC in the next week. I'll keep the DLC updated as I add more boring things like shaders and loading screens.
TL;DR
Updated DOG model and fixed map layouts. This update probably doesn't warrant a fresh play-through if you've already been through once.