New gameplay footage uploaded!  Plus a new boss in place, a powerful shockwave attack for the player, and a polish up of the visuals in the game. 

Posted by M4347 on Nov 12th, 2015

Hello all,

This week I'm kicking this of with a video of some new gameplay footage!  In addition to that a new boss has been added, the visuals have had a clean up and the player has a new power attack!  More on those later, for now check out the gameplay! 





The gameplay video

Hopefully the first thing that you notice through the video is that all the character models and level items are looking a lot more polished and a lot sharper!  It took a while, but I've gone over all items and models in the game cleaning up anything out of place, no more blackish seam lines or colours overlapping edges! 

Also as you can see pretty much all of the enemies that were created last time have been introduced in the gameplay, the basic enemy model is still around, but there is now more variety in the weapons, shields, and outfits that they have.  In addition to that you now see the drones which are firing projectile shots, the twin rocket turret, a new cannon, and some new heavy gunner enemies. 

The gameplay itself also gives a peak at a few of the various level sets, the second of the docks stages, the second of the weapon plant stages, and a couple of the space station stages.  In addition to that you can see that the player has had an upgrade in the form of a close range shock attack!  This is on a cooldown to avoid being overused, but when its available the results are devastating! 

One last small note about the video, the gameplay balance of enemy and player health have not yet been finalised, which is why we see everything taking pretty much the same damage, enemies will be tougher, and some more so than others. 

A new boss

As mentioned in a previous update I had been working on a boss for the space levels, originally I had planned for the boss to be a ship which would be strafing left to right at the end of a liner map while laying down a hefty amount of firepower.  An early design of which you can see below. 

Unfortunately during early tests of this, the mechanic and layout just didn't fit the game.  The model and how it fired was great, but due to the way the game played the whole concept just didn't really come together in a way that seemed right. 

As a result a whole redesign was done, the level has been made in a layout that is more in keeping with the others, and the boss has been rethought and redesigned, the result is this beast! 

I wanted the boss to have some form of imposing presence that gave off the feel of something heavy armoured.  Something that isn't very mobile, but just relies on absorbing the damage and outgunning the opponent.  Effectively it's a tank class enemy, and the purple shielding on the front reduces damage while it's closed.  The initial weapons consist of dual cannons on each side, the lower cannons firing single missiles that aim toward the player, the top cannons first a 3 way split shot. 

The main attack that's hidden away is a central particle cannon behind the front shields, when the shields open to fire it, that's when there's the risk / reward situation of deal more damage at the risk of taking more yourself. 

The heavy gunner class

Another sub boss class is introduced in the gameplay video, and that's the heavy gunner armour model.  Inspired by Heavy Arms Gundam, and its variants, this enemy wields dual chain guns on each arm.  It's been set to fire in bursts of a few seconds at a time, giving the player a small breathing window to find cover.  The enemy has no melee attack, it will always keep its range and track the player from distance. 

As you can see it lays down some serious firepower! 

Player Shockwave attack

Also as you see in the video, the player has had a close range attack added.  This was always something I felt the player needed, as with the shear volume of enemies that can be onscreen at once there are times when you can get cornered.  I toyed with just a simple front facing punch type melee attack, but a 360 degree burst seemed like a better option.  The attack is easily the most powerful weapon at the players disposal, it's been designed to instantly kill any standard enemy it hits.  However to avoid overuse there is a recharge time between bursts, so the player will have to think a bit more strategically as to when to deploy it. 

New Turret model

A new turret design has also been added, in the video this is seen briefly firing dual shots at the player.  Technically this isn't what it was intended to do, but I was keen to get it into the video for you all to see.  The redesign of it will have it as more of a beam cannon, firing a single powerful blast for a short duration of time before recharging for another shot. 

Other changes

In other news, a few small bugs have been ironed out.  The titan class trio from previous updates have now been added to the game, the ranged titan enemy now has a new code system for its attacks which is more efficient than how I previously had it firing.  The gunner drones have also had their targeting system and detection for firing improved also. 

I have also been adjusting a few of the level objectives, and adding in a couple of trap zones.  In addition the original levels from the demo have also had all their textures cleaned up. 

Think that's about it for this week

So that's all for this week, the next things I want to work on are more revisions on some of the boss attacks, a few things need refining further.  The flamethrowers on last weeks boss are now dealing damage, but I need to still add burn damage.  At some stage I need to bring in more sound effects for certain objects.  I am looking at a graphical revamp of the HUD and menus as well.  Depending on progress I may look to have another demo of some form out towards the end of the month. 

Until then remember to check out my Facebook page, I have also just freshened up my Made With Unity page. 

And of course follow me on Twitter for the latest updates, and YouTube for gameplay videos. 

Finally remember to try the games demo here (though please remember there have been many updates since)

Until next time folks!