Hello, earth-dwellers! February is almost over. This month went by so fast! We've been quite busy working on multiple fronts as we have some major things in store for next month.
Demo Build v1
The biggest thing we're working on right now is a demo build that features a vertical slice of the game. This involves a small map with a few landmarks that shows the characters and factions in action. It would include one ability for each of the five available Minion Roles. An initial version should be available mid-March to get initial feedback for an improved demo by the end of March.
NPC AI are already fairly serviceable using a system heavily drawn from the Sims AI but I am still very unsatisfied with it. We're working on implementing a Planning AI drawn from GOAP to allow the characters to chain multiple different actions into a plan that can be executed to achieve its goals. This won't be available in the initial release but should hopefully be ready by the end of March.
Probably the most interesting player ability available for now is the Diplomat's Share Intel. While this is only its first iteration, this should already give players a glimpse of what they can do with a piece of information in order to manipulate characters in the game. There are limited events that characters can react to for now but this is probably the player's single most powerful tool once fully implemented. In our vision, this type of ability is representative of what we want to put in the future: requires intuition and critical thinking to use, and may have unexpected and surprising consequences to the game world.
Combat is not yet in but will also be available on an April update!
Interior Maps
This was a long time coming. We're hard at work finishing the interior maps that are displayed when you view an landmark in the world map. Final assets are still not available but most features are already working as intended! It still looks ugly and sparse right now but it should look much better by the time the Demo is released.
Teaser Trailer
This is a short cinematic cutscene from the game that we turned into a teaser so we can release a video alongside the Demo. Honestly, it doesn't say much about the game other than the story premise. I do worry that it might be a waste of time and resources but we really wanted to have a video ready with the demo. The gameplay trailer won't be available yet so this should do for now. I hope viewers would be able to find something to appreciate here!
Gameplay Trailer
Now this is a meaty trailer that will probably be over two minutes long. There isn't much flashy visuals in the game due to its nature so we thought it would be best to showcase what the game can offer in a pseudo "Let's Play" type trailer with a voiceover explaining the game while it is being played. This is directly inspired by Crusader King 2's first trailer. This is not quite the standard when releasing a trailer but I think this might suit the type of players that World's Bane caters to better than the typical 'exciting' trailers of other games. Expect this to be released by the end of March or by mid April.
Comentarios