v0.0.0.4 (Pre-Alpha)

MAIN MENU – Added a landing page for the game. Current options are “Start Game”, “Options”, and “Exit Game” (“New Game”, and “Load Game” planned for the future.)

MAIN MENU/OPTIONS – Several options for the game. Fullscreen/Windowed Modes, a couple resolution options, Audio options, Controls with rebinding, and a Subtitles toggle (that has no current use). All these options affect the game directly, but unfortunately will reset when starting the game from the .exe again.

INTRO EXPOSITION SLIDESHOW VIDEO – A little intro into the world and lore, voice is me, and the art I created using AI (Stable Diffusion 1.5). Likely mostly temporary, depending on how serious this project gets. AI art is a touchy subject, so I can’t publish with it directly. (The AI is also why the main character looks so different from image to image, I did what I could) PRESS [SPACE] TO SKIP!!!!

LOADING SCREEN - A tiny loading screen after the intro video, simply to cover up the 50 NPCs falling into place because it looks goofy AF.

NPCs – This was a majority of my time spent… and it’s pretty rough. Basically they are little lemmings that will follow you wherever you go. If you get too far away, they will run (at your max speed), and within a certain distance they will walk, and they will try not to crowd you. They will push one another a little bit as the ones in the back get into range, and that looks pretty silly. They can be told to “follow” or “wait”, and have zero fighting skills, or instincts to run away… or the ability to walk around trees. Good fucking luck getting them to the end… the most I ever got was… 1… one single human, and usually it’s 0… You can push them around as long as they aren’t bunched up, and they will try to move out of your way. They are also susceptible to friendly fire. (Honestly, this is how I lose most of my guys every run.) They are fun to mow down over and over again. They even have a little death animation! (Visual variety, and improved AI planned for the future.) NPCs have 2 HP, and you will lose the game if they all die. (Though it is far more likely that they will get stuck, than die from zombies.)

ENEMY SPAWNING AND AI – Enemies were beginning to bog down the game, and I had to re-write them several times so that it wasn’t heavy to run so many at the same time. They are much simpler now… They will target whatever is closest to them, but will sometimes run right past the player to get to the humans. The way I did their new spawning will allow me to add more enemies without having to do much coding. Enemies have 2 HP.

 HUD Changes – Just a few text items that will help you play the game right now. These will change in the future. [ESC] will show you what the controls are for the game. They will likely change throughout development, so I like to keep them handy. (You may notice they have already changed this update). The HUD also shows you how many humans are currently alive, and what their primary goal is. “Waiting”, or “Following”.

METAL BOLT – Metal bolt changes! Now takes less metal mana to shoot, and does 2 damage! Increased the fire-rate as well! However, it no longer passes through bodies, and will stop traveling once it hits its first target. They will also stick to collision objects including the ground and trees. They will dissipate after 8 seconds, but it is satisfying to pepper the ground with metal rods. Metal bolt is cast with the LMB.

LIGHT BOLT – New light bolt! Takes light mana to cast and does 1 damage. The upside with the light bolt is that it will pass through all enemies that it hits, so if you cast if right, your dps can outmatch the metal bolt in certain circumstances. They also cast light, providing you with a view into the road ahead if you can time it right. The bolts will stick to the ground, but will only exist for 2 seconds. Light bolt is cast with RMB.

SOUND EFFECTS – Added some sound effects as they should make the game feel more alive. -Shooting of metal and light bolts (Very satisfying IMO) -Hitting sounds of bolts on bodies (splat), and hard objects (thump) -Zombie death sound 

LAMPS OUTSIDE CITIES – To give the illusion that the cities are real, 3 lamps outside the gate on the road. Showing you your group. As you venture out, you will be faced with the darkness, forcing you to use your flashlight or light bolts. (The Flashlight is now off at the start of the level, but is now more bright)

END OF LEVEL – Something actually happens when you hit the end of the level now! As you get within 50 meters, it will pop up with a warning if you are leaving anyone behind. Example, you have 20 humans left alive, but 11 are too far away to count as “transported”. When you approach the gate it will tell you how many humans you successfully transported. (In the future, this will be a series of menus that will allow you to collect your money for the humans, sell drops, buy supplies, hire mercs, pick your new mission, etc…. then the Level starts again with the selected changes.)

FIXES:

WIDER MAP – This wasn’t working properly in 0.0.0.3, now it is. You can venture up to 1 km to the right and left of the road without falling off the edge. This does not include around the cities however, and you will find the map ends abruptly here.

KNOWN ISSUES:

RANDOM CRASHES – Not so random, I know what is causing it, but trying to program around it is proving to be difficult for my skillset. (Essentially, the zombies target NPCs, and attack, but before they can attack, another zombie already attacked and killed them. The code doesn’t know what to do, so I need to add some exceptions to what I’m trying to accomplish. This is also caused by the zombies stuck in the terrain.) The game will also sometimes crash when reloading after winning/losing/dying… Still trying to figure that one out. 

ZOMBIES STUCK IN THE TERRAIN – This one is odd, as they actually spawn 12 meters in the air, and I let them fall… They shouldn’t be getting stuck unless collision is not tight enough, allowing them to fall through. Not a big deal, you can shoot them in the head and they can’t fight back.