Zetheros
Developer
Hey Exanimates,
We've made good progress on making procedural weapons functional in game. We're generating working weapons inside the game, which are then persistent, they have quality and condition and we have development UIs to configure their randomisation. We've also updated some of our weapon specific procedural materials as the whole system has evolved since we first made these. There's only a few small things left to do before we can start introducing some in the beta and get some feedback. Once the core systems are smoothed out we'll be looking at gameplay implications more closely, how components and deformations should affect stats, possible weapon traits, updating some aspects of the damage model, and of course multiple grips on weapons where appropriate.
Here's some screenshots of some in game procedural swords:
The way we've approached the implementation this is more a general procedural object feature, not just weapons. Some obvious examples could be books or keys. This isn't just a tool for randomisation, it's a way to make each item feel unique, to add a huge variety that wouldn't otherwise be possible and to design specific items in just a few clicks. This has huge applications in content design, and in a future where we make content creation tools available, people will be able to quickly design high quality unique items and themes to fit their narrative.
For some time now we've been talking about overhauling the UI, to get away from that PC software look, make it more immersive and fitting. Our more recent thaumaturgy UI was a step in the right direction, we want to do something similar with the skills, and also remove the paperdoll in favour of a hybrid inventory / inspect mode which simply zooms into your character and immediate surroundings. Recently with all the graphical improvements, especially the upcoming weapons, we've also been looking for ways to see items in more detail.
We've been through various mock-ups and concepts for a new interface look, with the insiders giving us feedback and contributing their own ideas. We haven't been too happy with anything until now. We need something simple and clean, that fits with other UIs and still supports more complex interfaces. We've been through a few more iterations this week, and we think we may have finally found an aesthetic we're happy with. Here's a mock-up of a description window:
We think this is a versatile look we can work with, let us know what you think about the planned changes.
Those are the main things this week, but we're working on some other stuff too and fixing some things up for another beta patch to go with the first procedural weapons, hopefully in the next few days.
Have a great week!
-the BM team
We've made good progress on making procedural weapons functional in game. We're generating working weapons inside the game, which are then persistent, they have quality and condition and we have development UIs to configure their randomisation. We've also updated some of our weapon specific procedural materials as the whole system has evolved since we first made these. There's only a few small things left to do before we can start introducing some in the beta and get some feedback. Once the core systems are smoothed out we'll be looking at gameplay implications more closely, how components and deformations should affect stats, possible weapon traits, updating some aspects of the damage model, and of course multiple grips on weapons where appropriate.
Here's some screenshots of some in game procedural swords:
The way we've approached the implementation this is more a general procedural object feature, not just weapons. Some obvious examples could be books or keys. This isn't just a tool for randomisation, it's a way to make each item feel unique, to add a huge variety that wouldn't otherwise be possible and to design specific items in just a few clicks. This has huge applications in content design, and in a future where we make content creation tools available, people will be able to quickly design high quality unique items and themes to fit their narrative.
For some time now we've been talking about overhauling the UI, to get away from that PC software look, make it more immersive and fitting. Our more recent thaumaturgy UI was a step in the right direction, we want to do something similar with the skills, and also remove the paperdoll in favour of a hybrid inventory / inspect mode which simply zooms into your character and immediate surroundings. Recently with all the graphical improvements, especially the upcoming weapons, we've also been looking for ways to see items in more detail.
We've been through various mock-ups and concepts for a new interface look, with the insiders giving us feedback and contributing their own ideas. We haven't been too happy with anything until now. We need something simple and clean, that fits with other UIs and still supports more complex interfaces. We've been through a few more iterations this week, and we think we may have finally found an aesthetic we're happy with. Here's a mock-up of a description window:
We think this is a versatile look we can work with, let us know what you think about the planned changes.
Those are the main things this week, but we're working on some other stuff too and fixing some things up for another beta patch to go with the first procedural weapons, hopefully in the next few days.
Have a great week!
-the BM team
