Saturday 27 September 2014

On Call Patch 1.03 - Planning

So, I'm deep into level creation for On Call. I'm also working on new AI, story content and systems.

These things take a lot of time to do, so I've planned out the next patch according to how much I can do in time for the deadline. I cannot create a story that spans multiple levels and then only have one level done per update. I'd rather release the entire string of new levels.

So Patch 1.03 will hopefully have things like the new weapons, upgrade system and other ground work for the bigger additions. In other words, the next patch will prepare the game for the new content, as a lot of systems have needed / will need to be re-coded for the new content to work.

I'm also planning on showing off the progress I've made on the new levels soon.

Thursday 25 September 2014

Concept Idea

I've made good progress today with the new concept that I've been working on.

I thought I'd show off the level concept as it currently stands. Its still got a lot of work to go into it, but I'm really enjoying every moment of making it.

I've still got to get the AI into this level, as well as finish its 3D assets and then get some co-op into it. I hope to have this level in Pre-Alpha by the weekend so I can send it out to testers and such for feedback.







I plan on whipping up a video to show this concept off, as the gameplay really is quite unique and so Ill let it explain itself rather than me trying to explain it away.

As for On Call. Do not fret! On Call is still our main project and we will continue to work hard to get more content and fixes out in future patches. The only other projects we are currently working on are far far smaller than On Call.

Tuesday 23 September 2014

On Call Patch 1.02 OUT NOW!

Good news!

I've JUST received confirmation that the patch is live on the PSM Store for On Call.

To download the patch, simply log into the PSN Store, navigate to the PSM section, select On Call and hit the download button. This should re-download whatever assets have changed since the last build and update the application.

Patch Notes:

  • Massive performance optimization for more constant 60fps (especially with the flashlight)
  • Removed graphics options due to player confusion and the chance to optimize better
  • Reduced some Lag spikes
  • Tweaked lighting due to player feedback that the game was too dark
  • Fixed numerous AI bugs
  • Fixed numerous other bugs
  • Added and optimized textures
  • Added options to invert the controls
  • Added look down sights
  • Added dynamic FoV on the player and the ship to correspond with looking down sights or speed
  • Tripped asteroid count in space
  • Updated Control images in the menu for the new functions
  • Faster character movement due to player feedback that it was too slow
  • Faster ship turning as I felt it was too heavy
  • Tighter ship and character controls due to feedback of "floaty controls"
  • Took out annoying turrets in space
  • Ship now takes a small amount damage on collisions with objects
  • Added version number
  • Improved texture filtering on baked shadows
  • Optimized shadow resolution
  • Compressed textures (not too noticeably) to speed up load times and prevent crashes when too many textures attempt to load up.

I hope you enjoy these changes, as most of them are gameplay and visuals related. Hopefully the experience will be much improved.

Monday 22 September 2014

Progress

So here's some news on what I've been working on.

I'm not ready to show off the hand full of levels I've been working on for On Call. Most of them are still in the grey, unfinished model stages of concept. But I can tell you what they are.

The first 2 new levels take place in the Prologue of the story. They tell of how and why the Officer needs to retake his call. They are set on a Planet with large cities and I also hope to use this to flesh out some lore.

The second new level is an introduction to the side story. It takes place in a bar on a nearby planet, I've done the most of this level, and I've posted screens for it before.

The third new level is a space station that is a side mission.

The fourth new level is a forest / mountain planet where the side story wraps up. I've done a lot of concept and design for this planet and I've even gotten quite far into crafting props and level assets for it.

Lastly, the last new level is where we have the epilogue. I've done the least for this planet so far, and its almost completely in concept.

On top of that, I will also be redesigning the levels on the Cruiser and the Space station to fit better into the larger story, as well as being able to hold the new AI and just to be more fun in general.

I've also started adding in mini games for the Officer to play on a TV inside the station. The first game is a side scrolling shooter and I'm just working out the kinks to make it enjoyable.

I have been thinking of ways to replace the automatic rewards with skill trees that the player can chose upgrades, this will probably be something I add in later, as it requires XP from the new AI.

I'll also be adding in several new weapons with the new AI, cos none of us wants to have only a pistol.

Other than content, we have this:

  • I've been working madly on a new AI system for On Call, it just has 1 or 2 more things that I need to add to it, then it will be complete. After its complete I just have to model and animate several different classes of enemy, and then they should be good to go.

Picture of the AI finding a path to the corner:


  • I've also added in a boost function to my space ship code, as I believe that if we are going to be traveling more, racing, or evading pilots, we should have a little something to help us out.

Picture of the new Boost I've put into On Call:


  • This is the basic principal of the new fun concept I've been playing with. Imagine you are the ball in a pinball machine? If I were to bluntly describe it, it could be similar to a first-person game of Wipeout. Its an interesting idea (or at least I think it is) and I'm having a lot of fun fooling around coding up different pads for the player to use, like boost pads, jump pads, short range teleports. Its also interesting to use my existing Car and Space Ship code with this idea, as it has a lot of different applications.

Picture of the pads for the new fun concept:

Stuff

So obviously I've been spending most my time working on new content / patches for On call. But I've also been doing some experimenting on several projects. One of which is extremely fun and even a little unique. Its a concept that I would love to share with you guys over the next few days. I've gotten a lot of the main features running and I just keep thinking of fun new things to add to it.

On Call is obviously my main priority and so this side project is significantly smaller. In fact, most the work I've done for it has been on my laptop during lectures at university, where as my work on On Call consumes most my free time (IE when not studying) at home.

I hope to have something fun to show you about this new idea within the coming days, as well as some great progress to share about On Calls new levels and story I just know you guys will like both these things as I like them and I'm incredibly excited about them.

So keep your eyes peeled!

Also, still no news from Sony on the new patch. So if its not up by tomorrow it will probably take another week... Again, I'm sorry its taking so long. This experience makes me wish I had one of those systems like MMOs have where I can send out updates to my own games... Will look into this.

So in summary:

  • Soon I'll be showing off a new idea
  • Soon I'll be showing off entirely new levels for On Call
  • Soon I'll be showing of my new IA system and new enemy types, such as rebel soldiers for On Call
  • Soon the patch will be live
These things all take time to make by myself, but I know they're worth it and I hope you enjoy it when its all done.

Thursday 18 September 2014

On Call Patch 1.02 - Progress Report

The patch has been with Sony for some time now, the review process took a few days longer than it normally takes, so there was an unforeseen delay that I had no control over. Its frustrating for me as I try to maintain a strict schedule.

Alas, it should be on PSN oven the next few weeks. Ill update you guys here as soon as I hear anything. As of now its passed review and is waiting to be uploaded. I'm sorry for the delay, even though I had no control over this, its still a pity to have to let you guys down.

On other fronts. My dev PC has crashed and I've needed to re-install windows. Don't worry, everything is fine as my workflow is good and I have many backups. The problem is that Sony wont let me test new content till the patch is on the store. So the next patch for on call cannot be tested till 1.02 is on the store.

I've been working very hard on coding AI. What I want to do with that AI is add brand new levels and story content, as well as overhaul existing levels to feature this new AI model. Its coming along extremely well and I look forward to posting more details as i make more progress.

I'm also re-designing the way upgrades work in On Call, but I first want to get the new AI model and levels done.

So, that's great, now to recap:
  • Patch 1.02 will be out within 1-2 weeks (a week later than planned, again, sorry) and features many changes, the biggest of which is probably the control customization options.
  • Patch 1.03 will feature new levels, main objectives, side objectives, enemies and story's. It will be a MASSIVE patch in terms of content and I hope that it will be enjoyed.

On a side note. Let me know what types of things you'd be interested in me adding to On Call. I'm planning on adding things to do in space, like Races not dissimilar to those seen in Ratchet and Clank 2. The way I see it is that On Call can sort of be our little platform to make the game we bought a Vita for, it may take time and effort, but I believe we can get there.

As always, I hope this is good news for you and I hope you have a good time today (or night, whatevs) Ill keep you posted with progress reports.

Monday 8 September 2014

On Call Patch Performance

I've found some unexpected optimizations that needed to happen due to game crashing bugs.

This is a good thing though as performance is greatly boosted, especially when using the flashlight. The game now runs almost constantly at 60fps, but still has drops when using the flashlight and some stuttering in some areas that I cant quite pin down the cause for.

I'm obviously always trying to squeeze out more frames per second and flatten out stuttering, so this is a massively good find! I guarantee that you'll be able to feel the difference between version 1.01 and 1.02 when using the flashlight. Or you wont... Its hard for me to know if you will even feel it. I do, but On Call is practically all I've been playing lately and I have a frame rate counter for debug, so you know, there's that. I'm not sure of the exact performance gain, but its between 5-10fps.

I'm also quite happy with the 2D arcade level I'm adding in. Unfortunately I could not upload the patch to Sony yesterday as I found game crashing bugs that I fixed. I'll hopefully have it done for upload by tomorrow, thus still being on time for Sony's deadline.

Tomorrow, after the patch is uploaded, I also plan on continuing with my AI code so that I can add in the soldiers and stuff. That's what I've been looking towards adding in. I cant wait, its the biggest addition to On Call as it creates new level and story possibilities.

Saturday 6 September 2014

On Call Patch 1.02 - New Content

I'm busy with the last thing that I want to add for this patch. Its a new Arcade challenge. Its a 2.5d wave based shooter where you shoot enemies to score points, dodge asteroids and fight bosses.

Its not much, as a matter of fact I plan to include it on an in game video games console for the player to play this game within On Call, but its still the first batch of fresh content for On Call and I hope its done by the end of tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will upload the patch to Sony, they will test it and if it passes (I can't see a reason why it won't pass their testing, but they did initially reject us using triangle, circle, x and square, so you never know with Sony's testing) it will take Sony up to a further 2 weeks to upload the patch after that point. Once its online, you just simply log into the PSM store and re-download On Call to install the patch.

Here's what the new level looks like at the moment (Note that its not near finished, but as I have the assets already, it should only take a day or 2 to get the code done for it):


Friday 5 September 2014

On Call Patch 1.02 - Inverting Controlls

This morning I've been working on the last things that will be implemented for patch 1.02, as I've said before, there's so much I want to do, I have to spit it into several patches.

As for what I've just added this morning. Its a feature that many people have asked me to put into the game, and so I hope you like it. Its the ability to invert the player camera, ship camera and ship controls. I've done it in a way to allow for each person to set any of those values to one they prefer, thus hopefully everyone will get more enjoyment from the game!

As I've said before, many people have asked me for this, and I've wanted to add this feature for quite some time. But I'd like to thank Forsaken Crown for bringing it up in the comments here, as if it wasn't for that, this feature would likely have only made it into a later update. Another requested feature is the ability to lock the camera behind the ship. This has been in the game since launch, by pressing O while in the ship, you are able to lock the camera. I want to improve on how I've done it here, as evidently its not good enough. I can see several reasons as too why that is and I'm currently investigating better ways to do this.

To access these options simply follow the menu: Pause > Controls > On Fool / In Ship
Here's what it looks like in the options menu:







Thursday 4 September 2014

On Call Patch 1.02 - Progress report

I'm nearly done with the patch!

I've split my targets into acceptable and achievable goals over a reasonable time frame. On top of that, I've fixed all but 1 of the crashes that have sprung up with the addition of textures. My massive University Java coding assignment is due today, which means that I'll finally have some time where I can smash out some awesome dev time this weekend and finish off the patch and add in as much of the other features as I possibly can before uploading it to Sony and starting on Patch 1.03

Thought I'd post some pictures of the progress that this patch has made. The screens obviously speak for graphical changes and not for the numerous game play changes and obviously, these are progress shots, so its important to keep in mind that I hope to fix and add even more into the patch before my deadline.








Wednesday 3 September 2014

On Call Patch 1.02 - Progress report

I've gone through the levels that run out of memory one by one and reduced their memory footprint. Its frustrating, as even though Unity Insists that PSM offers "near native" performance and hardware access, I only have access to less than 100mb of memory... That's not "near native" performance and hardware access, which leads me believe that PSM's run time is more like an emulator, with many background possesses such as DRM slowing things down, but what do I know, I'm just some woefully inexperienced part time indy dev / University student.

In any case, I've made great progress and I'm flattening out one or 2 more bugs and crashes till I upload Patch 1.02 to Sony, which they will review in a day or 2 after I upload and then they'll give it to you guys in a further 2 weeks after the point of review. I'm getting used to this workflow.

Things In the current Patch:

  • Hold L1 to look down sights
  • FoV adjusts when looking down sights
  • New control images for the new functions
  • Dynamic FoV in the Ship
  • Faster Character movement
  • Faster Ship movement
  • Faster Aiming in the Ship
  • Other general control tweaks to improve responsiveness and tighten controls
  • Performance Optimizations for 60fps
  • Some stutter resolved (constantly trying to get rid of it completely)
  • Performance with the flashlight active is improved from 30fps to 45fps
  • Taken out annoying space turrets (Will add new story content to replace them)
  • Tripled Asteroid count (Looking into a low performance cost fog / clouds in the belt)
  • Ship takes damage on collision with objects
  • Added version number in main menu
  • Improved texture filtering on baked shadows
  • Optimized shadow resolution
  • Compressed textures to lighten memory load (For faster load times and less crashes due to filling the memory)
  • Fixed random technical bugs / glitches
  • Tweaked AI
  • Fixed random AI bugs / glitches

I'm still busy adding / changing more things for this coming patch, but as I don't want to make you guys wait too long, I might have to upload this version, and then start the next patch with some of the other stuff I'm still working on. Hope you will enjoy the progress we've made, and please keep in mind that we are still working hard adding new features, content and fixes.

I'll finish this patch up and upload it ASAP, then I'll start the next patch.

Monday 1 September 2014

On Call Patch 1.02

I had the patch ready for upload tonight, but I was testing it and found a crash. It seems that PSM on the vita has too high a memory restriction (as it has access to the full vita, but has to run through essentially an emulator, thus loosing some resources resulting in less CPU and RAM being available)

Ill have to tweak the new textures to see just how far I can push them.

The bad thing about the Vita is that when it hits its memory limit, it doesn't slow down, It simply crashes and reports an error... What this means is that its extremely hard to squeeze every drop of performance out of the vita to get say, a beautiful game running at 30fps, and at the same time, as soon as you have more than 20k polys on screen there is a chance you will lose frames, though I push 100k at 60fps... So 60fps is also hard to hit...

Over all its an awkward device, but progress is coming along extremely well with performance closer to 60fps than ever with better visuals than ever.