The Main Shit

This is the existing control scheme, but I don't really like how actions and aiming are mapped, and I'd be interested in hearing how people would map these on their keyboards if the game had customisable controls. The buttons I'm interested in particularly are:

• Interact/Use
• Analyze
• Whistle
• Recover
• Crouch
• Sprint
• Aim Throwable

The main reason for a control change is that the start of Phase 2 brings in combat, and the ideal setup for that is LMB = Attack / RMB = Defend, meaning the current use of RMB for throwing needs to change. The temptation for now is to put throw on MMB instead, but it would be good to get players opinions and thoughts on how they would implement the control scheme if they had the chance.

The Update

Progress has happened, though less than I'd like. First up the Character Creator now uses the proper character models, as long as you select a female squirrel. Other options default back to the UE Mannequins, but that will change as we go along. First stage is to get female squirrel updated, which will then let the female badger and wolf use the same functionality. Then as the phase progresses the male characters can start going in as well.

The other update here is that the Base stats are now displayed on the right, so you can see how they differ between species before moving to the reroll stage.

Characters

The current job is shifting gamesystems from the old character into the new version. Most of this is taking old and really badly set up code and refactoring it, or just removing it entirely if it's now unused. The old version is such a tangle that the easiest way to convert it over is a function at a time for the main things and then as required for the rest.

The first priority was movement, which to be honest was a nightmare. UE has changed how it handles game inputs and depreciated the way it's done in the old version of the game, so anything input related has had to be done from scratch, and some things don't translate too well between the old and new versions.  

So this is the old input:

Nice and simple. It triggers when you use the key and when you release it.

And the new version, which is a bit more of a mystery. In theory its way more flexible, but so far it's just been a pain to get the right triggers.

Next, the general movement and animation blueprints were added, crouching and jumping coded in. A new falling system got added so that falling far enough to hurt yourself results in falling over and having to get back up. This is still super buggy though and seems to trigger every time you jump, which is not right.

A new damage system has been implemented, so rather than the old system which was a complete fucking mess, it's now nice and clean and triggered just by passing a damage object to an actor. This works for both health and stamina.

To test that, we got a new HUD for the player, and a new Distance display which I can't test until I add levels back in. I can show off the HUD though...

Yeah, it's currently a bit shit. This HUD will build up as functionality is added. The plan is to integrate prompts, status effects and the hotbar into this. The prompt thing would be stuff like when your health or stamina reaches the <50% trigger, it has a "Q - Recover" prompt somewhere to show this option is now available. Similarly, things like NPC names would pop up with "E - Talk" or whatever. Then once you've interacted with them, their nameplates above their heads become visible to show you've now met them and recognise them. 

It would also be cool to have something similar for enemies. You meet them in the town outside of the Event, and when you see them out in the forest, you'll see their name as part of Analyzing them. Ones you never met would show no name until they interact with you in some way. In theory this could also apply to other info you'd see from analysis. Stuff like orientation, preference, potential kinks and so on.

The current job is throwing rocks. The first part of getting it to work is almost done, once I work out the last few bugs. This is a good example of why things are taking time. First off the input system is the new one which caused a slight rewrite of how it operates. Then the rest of the code translated across fairly well, though some sections were refactored to be more efficient or to cut out repetition. The next bit is going to be improving it. The rocks always throw from beside the camera, so technically coming from several meters behind the player. In a few pictures, you might have spotted a white sphere next to her. That is the rock spawner. Once this system is done, that will be invisible, but crucially, it will be attached to the players right hand, and there will be a throwing animation to go with it. Hopefully a different one depending on if you are standing or crouching.

After that it'll be stuff like handling deaths, and bringing in a basic enemy so I can complete rocks. The current plan is to ignore the built levels until everything else is in. Functionality will get added as it is required. So for now getting basic controls and actions working, but then some of them are reliant on enemies being active, so they'll be added, which will lead in to struggle systems, which then needs inventory for clothing, which also leads in to items and pickups and so on and so on...

So progress is happening, but the original idea of just updating the base system and pulling in the rest of the content has been pushed aside in favour of refactoring literally everything. It's not redoing it all from scratch, as I'm still heavily referencing the original versions, but it is still rewriting most of it and adding what polish I can as I go. And testing each section as it goes to try and cut down on issues when it gets into the hands of the players. It's not going to be the 7 months it took from starting through to the end of Phase 1, but it's also not going to be a week or two.