Rook Sunday

 

Started Working On The Rook Boss Fight

 

Don't get too excited ... it will take time ...

More than 144 cues in the music + 30 or more cues related to their movement and behaviours. And I suck at animation, so this will be the hardest element to complete ....

A Collection Of Recent Screenshots & Updates

Progress is currently going slow, but steady. The following problems are keeping me occupied:

- The rook environment is getting closer to where I want it to be, but the overall environment is still slightly chaotic, because it can only be created through foliage editing and procedural creation of assets. This chaos actually adds a lot to the overall atmosphere. It looks like a graveyard, but it's not. It looks like it has a history ... but it's more like a dream, like a mirage. Things don't feel out of place, but they feel ... unsettling. It feels like you're moving through hostile territory, but the visuals don't look hostile. However problems arise from overlapping assets and the unequal distribution of items and hideouts. The less chaotic the environment is, the less it carries the atmosphere of .... surrealism and the less it feels threatening. Keeping that balance of chaos and purposeful asset placement is difficult.

- FPS issues and loading issues occur, but they are not consistent. They are related to the creation of the fences. The fences appear and disappear depending on whether the player looks into their direction. This adds to the overall feeling of being "manipulated", but it also eats up resources. These fences need further optimization, but I don't know yet where else I can optimize. In theory I could replace the bars with a simple shape plane and create the illusion of fences with a masked fence material (like it was done back in the 2000s N64 era). But from what I can see the FPS drop is happening because of background calculations related to the player position and camera focus (the code that determines whether a fence appears or disappears). This is strange, because this calculation is only done once every 6 seconds and the interval is also slightly randomized so the calculation isn't done across the board as that would tank FPS .... so basically I'm seeing FPS drops and loading issues, that by all means shouldn't happen. Dynamic shadows are obviously also optimized across the board and only assets that severely affect lighting create dynamic shadows. So the GPU is definitely not the issue here. 

- To keep the maze interesting, items and light beings need to be placed. Players can find locked chests, hideouts and light beings, but it's not enough. In the other segments players could encounter crate groups for additional items. Here I believe that items should be found inside fountains and wells. So for this purpose a new BP needs to be created and distributed among the other foliage actors.

- By far the biggest issue I'm facing is lore related. I would like the main rook tower to have a similar art style as the graveyard section. But this again is very resource intensive (overdraw). The rook tower contains portals that transport the player up or down depending on his movement paths. The power of the rooks lies in distorting reality and creating barriers for the player. These barriers and monuments should all be of the same type of architecture to demonstrate that they are closely tied to the rooks. The rooks display sadistic behaviour patterns. They are like spiders that lure their prey towards them, but also get their prey to weave their own cocoons. Their modus operandi is reality distortion, projection of power from far away and careful guidance of the victim into a prepared trap. They are playful and childlike in their approach. Obviously this is a lot to communicate through asset placement and environment design alone. Ideally the player should feel that something is ... "off". The player should wonder about the structures, their chaotic placement ... the player should feel uneasy. The rooks created this section in order to draw a being's interest while at the same time slowing it down and tiring it out. The maze tower is built in a similar fashion. It draws you in, tires you out and when you reach the top they deal their final blow. In the beginning I wanted the statues to point towards the rook tower. But what if they point towards the exit of the graveyard, in a final attempt to help the player escape?

- I lowered the height of the fences across the board, which greatly improves the overall environment, but it also leaves players vulnerable to softlock themselves. If a curious player jumps into an enclosed section, there is a chance that the player is too close to all 4 fence sides (which prevents the appearance code from executing). In those instances players would not be able to leave and remain there for eternity. I have not found a solution for this. Although I wonder whether I do need this tolerance distance and whether I could potentially remove it now that the fences are optimized.

- The sarcasm of the rooks becomes apparent when you consider, that all beings which eventually reached the top of the rook tower and then were turned into rooks themselves are now statues in this endless graveyard. The graveyard consists of fake monuments of the dead, while at the same time the statues themselves are the actual gravestones of light beings that fell prey to them. So in a sense: Yes it is a graveyard. But the gravestones are not what you think they are. This switch between what you think you see and what is actually taking place perfectly describes the manipulative nature of the rooks. They enjoy outsmarting their prey and fooling them into believing a narrative, that is constructed by the players themselves. And it gets worse: If the statues all point towards the "exit" of the graveyard ... are they even aware, that the exit leads back to the tower? I'd imagine their final gesture was an attempt at helping future victims by pointing towards (what they believe is) the only way out. This again hints at the manipulative nature of the rooks, since even beings who went through the entire ordeal still fall prey to the illusions that the rooks created and inadvertently help them catch future victims.

- Finally there is the main thing preventing me from moving faster: My internet connection. I have 0.5.3 ready for release and the goal is to direct everyone on every social media channel towards this version. Once they play it and get sucked in I've won a community member and supporter. I'd also love to post more videos and short edits. I'd love to create a trailer and upload it in the highest quality. But all of this has to wait until I get the fiber connection set up. Because each upload takes days, which slows down the entire pipeline for bug fixes tremendously.

To sum up: Not much I can do besides experimenting, adding new blueprints and assets and playtesting to check for softlocks, bugs and whether the environment is stable.

 

Lore Chapter 01: A&Y

Late afternoon a soft clacking noise broke the silence of the forest and drew Y's attention. He knew she was close. His darkness would hide his anxiety. He still didn't have an answer, but she would expect one. It wasn't her first visit either and he imagined she would grow inpatient. A strange black silhouette moved past the windows in the distance. The door softly opened as she lowered her head to enter his cramped hideout. Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack. An entourage of silhouettes remained outside. With each passing day Y became more worried. Her influence had grown. She spoke to them and worse ... some of them listened. Her eyes focused on him in anticipation as she slowly raised her head again.

Y: No.

A: (sigh) Venerable one ...

Y: We have seen different worlds. You can't expect me to act based on yours.

A: Then if I may ask: What took place in yours last night?

Y: I ate them.

A: You ... ate them?

Y: I did.

A: And you believe that this is a ... positive occurrence?

Y: I watched them. They are so full of light. Full of happiness. In their afternoons I play chess with the kid. He can't beat me yet, but he's getting better. Even though they retain no memory of the preceding nights they still seem to ... evolve. No night is like the last one. When they fall asleep ... I can't control it. It has been a long time since I felt this way... don't you remember what it's like to see something and know that you want to consume it, so it can become a part of you?

A: Forgive me sire ... but the leaves I fed on caused little misfortune to the beings carrying them.

Y: One could argue what I did caused even less, as these beings are merely a reflection.

A: Sire, I fail to follow your decision making process...

Y: In their world, I am merely a force of nature. If what you claim to be true, is in fact true, then they will never overcome me. But I still believe they eventually will. They take different routes ... their strategies evolve ... some nights can be quite demanding ...

A: Even if they do, you won't stop. 

Y: We won't know that until it happens now will we?

A: This is just a game to y-

Y: NO. It lies in the nature of consciousness to continue fighting and to persist despite all odds. This is a valiant quality. What you propose has nothing to do with mercy. It is an attempt at shrouding your own misery in a coat of empathy. Awareness gives rise to a multitude of dual phenomena. This duality carries value. It gives rise to the beauty of a million worlds, to the birth of time and space, to the quiet dignity found in the appreciation of a peaceful experience. Do you think you are the only one that suffered misfortune in their life?

A: I am the first one, that realized that the extremes of suffering are the only relevant consideration to be made. Beings like you lose sight of the sheer volume and intensity of it. 

How are you right now my king?

Do you feel fine? Is your belly filled with the light of a million worlds?

Are you ... content in your current form?

We are both trapped in duality as we speak. How much longer will you remain "content" my king?

Y: I perform a duty. The ones that choose to follow me do so willingly. They understand the sacrifice I had to make in order to serve them and countless others. No, I am not content. No, I am not satisfied. Far from it. This being's satisfaction hasn't been a priority for a very long time.

A: And yet you choose to play silly games instead of making a decision ... and until you make that decision a spiked wheel keeps on turning on the backs of my brothers and sisters.

Y: The wheel is there for a reason. If your brothers and sister were truly innocent they would be in here in front of my mirrors and not out there hiding from view. An entourage of cowards will hardly convince me. The sheer madness of this proposition ... suffering may have been your final destination. For countless others it was the beginning of their development. Our separation is minimal compared to the separation experienced in their worlds. Experiencing this level of individuality, the freedom to act based on what your individuality believes in and then experience the joys and suffering that come from it ... it is true, these things can be a burden. But they are also the greatest gift bestowed upon us. You are blind to the gift you have been given, even if you had to pay the highest price for it.

A: And what a gift it was ... the gift to hear my child cry out in vain you mean?

Y: That reminds me ... how come I didn't see your child in that reflection? 

A: My existence had no effect on it. It was driven by instinct and so was I. But our suffering was quite real, I can assure you.

Y: Oh, I believe you. It's just strange ... you must have been dead inside for quite a while before they shot you. Care to share?

A: ...

Y: I thought so. Emptiness does not discriminate. I won't disrespect you with condescending words of compassion. But you should leave now. You will receive an answer in time. Until then I expect you to be patient.

She stared at him in silent disbelief. Then with a sudden terrifying bark turned around and rushed away.

The door fell shut behind her and silence came over the king.

Huts

One of the things I love about the world right now, is the feeling of discovering abandoned huts. They always look so tiny compared to the rest of the environment. Like a remnant of a being that lived long ago along the border of light and darkness and that still rests there peacefully, even after everything that's happened.

With time I'd like to add a much bigger variety of hideouts and buildings. Maybe multiple floors? Maybe you can only access some of them from underground?

There's so much I want to do and so little time. Day to day commitments can be overwhelming.

This Is A Post With The Sole Purpose Of Pushing Down The Existential Crisis Post Before This One

 Pretty Screenshot :-)

Things I Can't Share

 

There are things I can't share on social media.

Specific content that is already completed, but I want my testers to be surprised by it.

And it's horrifying.

On top of that Twitter changed the algorithm again, meaning posts get much less exposure than they used to.

AND I discovered a bug in the most recent release, that drops you underneath the landscape when you pass through the gate.

AND fucking dropbox only uploads at 88.1k/s because I live in the fucking woods and my fiber connection isn't ready yet.

I'm yearning for the day where I can just upload everything instantly with fiber.

I spent another 30+ hours over the weekend on the game world and fixing bugs. Can't stop. Don't want to stop.

If I didn't already work a full time job I'd dedicate my damn life to this.

I'm so close. And so far away.

I know exactly what to do, but I don't have the time or the capacity to do it.

It's driving me insane.

Devlog Update - Even More Bugfixes 0.5.3g

X - Weather music is playing at night

X - Test Lighter & Match Behavior At Queen Boss Fight

X - Fix Exploit with no-lighter zones that create permanent safety upon repeated transition

X - Adjust Collision Volumes of Queen Hideout

X - Add Anti-Cheese to Queen Boss Fight

X - fix decal scale bugs with floor pawn

X - Souls are still not talking on morning fuck my life

X - Ravens remain after Queen's Anti-Cheese

X - Rogue Pine tree inside willow

Devlog Update Bugfixes of 0.5.3g

 Queen Issues & Improvements:

X - IMPORTANT: Queen's hideout doesn't respawn upon death. 

X - When dying in the queen's hideout, you now fall into the water

X - Music Box Queen Movement at start during split is a mess, fix it (apparently related to scale)

X - Music Box Lighting is shitty, fix it

X - Work the code for the music box, so when it's open the other music fades out

X - in the music box during V2 it looks like you can hide at the walls during trios, this is NOT true, adjust it!

X - Music doesn't return after closing music box

X - Music box should close if player is out of range

X - Item Multispawn can be fixed by implementing Endplay nodes upon which the items are destroyed

X - Chests

X - Crates

X - Locked Chest

X - Create a new MOV for the Queen Dance with the new version (slightly louder than the old one)

X - Create a new MOV for the Musicbox as well and make it louder

X - FPS drop at the Queen Dancehall location, probably related to the lights at the location in combination with the surrounding foliage. It's possible the light cones are really large and affect other foliage, which is visually unnoticable, but FPS wise VERY noticable. This could be easily solved by reducing surrounding foliage affected or creating lighting channels for the dancers and the light

X - Queen dancehall needs to have a way to deal with the player lighter. In all areas of the game light protects you, but not here. 

X - Raven Particle FX Needs To Be Stopped via End Trails before destruction or you'll see ravens flying around after death or after the performance making no sound

X IMPORTANT: The Triton you added as a protection pillar is used as a fucking Nazi symbol, CHANGE IT!!!!!

X - Music box is not recognizable as music box

X - Yama constantly triggers dialogue if you stay in his store

X IMPORTANT - Add yama symbol to compass so players can navigate back to the tunnel

X- The Souls not talking thing is becoming a real issue. Make it so that they respawn each morning (Issues were related to defaultsceneroot children visibility)

X- Souls spawn at night, because there is no block for this inside the visibility volume. It needs a daytime check

X - Queen difficulty and rook difficulty lack in engagement, because the protection pillars are getting destroyed way too quickly. Adjust external difficulty factor

X - There is a respawn issue with items that did not get picked up once the map is reloaded (refers to items in boxes and could also explain the crates)

 out on top of the player if he goes down the stairs

X - cathedral clock bell times are fucked up, why is it going off at 3:29 in the mill hideout??? 

X - In the north of section03 there are hills, there are still fucking willows with roots in the air

X IMPORTANT BIG ONE:

X - Roadlandscapesegements south of Section02 sometimes are "above" the base landscape, creating holes

X - As it turns out you need to adjust the roadBP and then FIX ALL MAP SEGMENTS WITH ROAD ON THEM, REMOVE FOLIAGE AND REAPPLY IT

X - Flying grass at the church tunnel near the village

X - Firewoodpile needs to decrease based on how much firewood was taken, otherwise its unfair if people take wood when they have 5/6

X - Fringe areas of section02 look shitty and lack foliage, maybe meadows? Grass? Wherever there is light, there needs to be less fern and more grass

X - floor shadow needs to target player not just based on x and y but also on Z, or you'll get them spasing

X - Add brawling crawlers to the church

New Feature - Final Bug Fixes For 0.5.3 - Preliminary Version Release

I was sick over the weekend and barely got out of bed. But whenever I couldn't sleep I did some work on a new feature:

- Once you buy the "Guide" rune from the king, a black mark will appear next to your compass

- This black mark will always lead you the way back to Yama  

Implementing it was a nightmare though. When was the last time you guys dealt with sin/cos and arccos functions? Exactly. Same for me. So back to school it was. 

The difficulty in implementing anything that is related to UI and world coordination is correctly applying analytical geometry. I learned all of this stuff 17 years ago. Never in my life did I imagine I would need it again and be DESPERATE for that knowledge at some point in the future.

This is what my screen looked like most of the time:

And this is the debug log I created with Print To String variables in order to help me figure out what I did wrong.

What's worse is, that when you're attempting to create a code based on analytical geometry, you are naturally doubting your own math skills. But as it turned out, my math was right. The marker next to the compass didn't update, because the code didn't update the location of the teleport tunnels leading back to Yama's hideout. So it always pointed towards the location 0,0,0 ..... and I kept going crazy thinking: "Why isn't it moving???"

But it's in there now. 20 light beings and the rune is yours.

I'll also release the preliminary version of 0.5.3 via Linktree without a big announcement. Testing has shown it works great, even if it has some flaws. So on the off chance that there's some insane person out there willing to download a 11.8 GB mega demo from a random dropbox archive, I don't want to disappoint that person.