Devlog #0

Welcome to the development of Armageddon Ignition! 

I am currently 70% done with the vertical slice of the game. I am currently  implementing Enemy / Boss Ai, and polishing the combat. 

The next Areas of focus to get to 100% will be:

• Cutscene Style exploration and Implementation 
• UI Pass
• Asset buildout (Character models and sprite work)
• Trailer creation.

Once the vertical slice is complete, I will go into full time asset development. I will be breaking down each workload required by percentage of work that will be required to get this game shipped. 

Assets:

• Cutscenes: 50% of development time will be more than likely spent on animating and creating assets for cutscenes. As I am leaning heavily on the expository nature of the Metal Gear Solid Serries. This section will also constitute Voiceover recording, mixing, and coordination. This is going to be the bulk of the development time, and probably one of the last things that are implemented. 
• Models: 10% as this is a PSX style game, the heaviest load here will be the character models. Level assets and props will constitute about 1% of the workload. 
• Coding: 25% Most of the core code will be locked in once the Vertical slice build is complete, but there will still be a lot of coding to do when it comes to boss encounters, and cutscene logic.  I am also including particles and VFX into this category, as most shader creation is math and logic based now. 
• Art: 5% Most of the sprite-work will be done in conjunction with the creation of the models. Most level creation assets will be interlocking and reused, with sprites being swapped depending on the area. The other pieces will be cover art, and promotional art. Which I will focus on towards the end. 
• Script work: 5% The script is nearly complete, as it is a linear story there aren't many more complications to work out. I have been writing it over the past year and a half, and it has gone through several drafts. 
• Music and Audio: 5% Beyond the cutscene audio, SFX creation and music are being outsourced to a partner that I'm not quite ready to reveal until legal contract work is straightened out. If the deal doesn't work out this workload will probably become larger. 

Until I have any deals settled this is 100% being developed solo by myself. So workloads and estimates may shift, but not too much. 

Gameplay:

The gameplay will  feel like an amalgamation between each iteration of the Metal Gear solid franchise. With a heavier emphasis on MGS 1 and 2. As the 90s future tech from these two games are a STRONG inspiration for this game. 

Finances:

I am fully supported financially with a very supportive and patient wife!  And will be using low cost* / free asset creation pipelines.  I may do a small Kickstarter or some kind of fundraising, but the only things I will be utilizing funds for would be:

• Paying Voice actors 
• Some marketing
• Steam Page

*I have already purchased software includes: Aseprite, and Clip studio for concept art. 

IT WILL BE NOTED, that any extra funds raised by this method would just go into additional marketing, translation of the game, and increased payouts for voicework. 

THE SCOPE OF THE GAME IS LOCKED IN. To keep the  Gen 5 feeling of this game I want to make sure the scope and length of this game don't exceed a certain amount. 

Story:

This game's story will go into some personal directions, so please be patient if I am not too forthcoming with narrative information. And the serries itself is famous for its twisting narrative so the story will be talked about in post mortems.

I will post updates as I can, and am planning to begin a streaming and vlog regular schedule this fall. I look forward to showing a trailer soon!