Hello everyone, welcome to our third Dev Diary! July and August have been so busy that we decided to cover all our progress in one single post. During these past two months, we have completely reworked the game's UI and implemented new features like Bodycams. Let’s jump into it!
As we kept adding new mechanics and features, we realized our Ui could not support them all in its current form. It was also clear that we needed to make information much easier to access the player and provide ways to interact with various game mechanics through the UI instead of just using hotkeys. So, we decided to rework the entire thing from scratch. Unit cards were moved to the bottom of the screen and expanded with extra intel about each operator's armor status. We added an equipment menu that shows the selected operator's inventory on the right, while the new top bar allows you to access the RoE menu, Planning mode, Scanner mode, and much more! Basically, all features are now accessible from the on-screen UI, which makes it much more accessible and easy to read. You can check the images below to see the difference between the old UI (1st Image) and the new one (2nd image)!
Moving on to the next big addition: Bodycams! We felt the game was still lacking something in terms of visual impact. Sometimes, the drone view is not as cinematic as we would like it to be, and often it takes time to go from one operator to another if they are not close to a drone. So, we decided to implement a Bodycam view! You can switch to it at any time and observe the action from your operators' POV. You can use it to quickly check on a distant unit, or simply to experience a pre-planned operation in first person! You can check the video below if you want to know more about it!
With all these new systems being put in place, we also felt the need to improve the AI behavior around core gameplay situations. It’s still far from what we want it to be, but it’s gradually getting there. Hostile units now have a chance to hear grenades when you throw them, and might attempt to run away from the grenade’s impact location. We also massively improved their spatial awareness. When they hear sounds, they now properly consider the environment layout to predict which door or corner your operators may approach from. Based on their different ‘personalities’, they will try to keep these locations under overwatch, to push them, or take cover with respect to them.
Along with the gameplay additions, we are also hard at work to complete our fourth Operation, which is set in an abandoned construction site. The narrative elements and character models are still in the works, and we will showcase them in the next Dev Diary. The environment, however, is almost finished and already fully playable.
Finally, over the last two weeks, we have been running a closed Alpha playtest for our Discord members! Three operations were fully playable and have been thoroughly tested. The amount of feedback and help we received has been amazing and incredibly important, and we are extremely grateful to everyone who decided to join! We will still be handing out keys on Discord until the end of this week. You can check out some unedited gameplay in the video below!
And this is all for July and August!
If you want to follow us more closely and get more frequent progress reports, sneak peeks, and behind-the-scenes content, feel free to join our Discord or to follow us on YouTube, Instagram, and X!