October 2019 Progress Update (Part 1/2)! (Patreon)

Hey everyone!

This is the first of what will be a two part update!  This one will focus on the progress we've made on assets, as well as give you a glimpse into the game mechanics of Pure Onyx's Mission Mode (RPG / Beat 'em Up hybrid mode).   

The second part will be a video update, which will showcase Onyx's combos and expanded move set, as well as all of the work we've put into the 3D conversion.  We've been working very hard on polishing the input and combo systems, and I'm excited for you to see it in action. 

I know things are dragging while we catch up with the programming and technical junk of the 3D conversion, so hopefully seeing all the characters we have ready will restore some hope that once things are moving again a lot of content will come quickly.  I think you'll also be really pleased at the pace we're able to develop new and more complex animations once you see Onyx in action in the next few days (I've thrown a few GIFs in as a teaser :D).  To boot, we have a second 3D animator on the team now, so please welcome TMX :D.

 Topics for this Post:

• Mission Mode Details
• Splicer Boss Model Progress
• Charger Enemy Progress
• New Enemy: Satellite Drone
• Robot Enemy Concepts
• New Enemy: Splicer Looter
• Updated Onyx Body and Face Rig
• 3D Menu Concept
• Sewer Environment Progress
• Low Poly Models

Mission Mode Details

We've been working a lot on the gameplay mechanics for Pure Onyx's "Mission Mode", and I'm posting some of the notes to give you a better idea of how it plays.  The mode should extend the playability of PO far beyond that of a beat 'em up with just a standard Arcade Mode that you would go through a couple of times and are done with.  Best of all, the mode largely uses assets we will need for Arcade Mode anyways, meaning the bang for the buck in terms of development effort is very worthwhile.

The mode will revolve around a hub area with an equipment/item shop, stash, and a location to upgrade Onyx's combo tree and passive skills,  It will feature a rogue-lite RPG progression system similar to games like Dead Cells or Rogue Legacy.  Onyx can move to dynamically generated stages called missions in locales around New Babylon, which play like a unique Arcade Mode stage.  Onyx can find equipment from enemies, and acquire rewards for completing missions based on performance.  

Mission Mode play-throughs begin on Day 1, and time passes while Onyx is in missions or moving between missions / the hub.  Available missions change over time, and a day/night cycle, along with a dynamic map generation system, keeps areas you've been to previously fresh.  As time passes, enemies level up and become more powerful, requiring you to upgrade Onyx strategically.  As Onyx struggles against H attacks and overcomes environment hazards, her Exhaustion will slowly build up, requiring her to return to the hub and rest.  Becoming fully exhausted ends the mission in a sloppy, wet, messy failure with penalties, but taking the risk to push further is advantageous due to a reward multiplier that increases as Onyx completes missions without resting.

When Onyx uses up all her lives, you're presented with a Continue screen similar to retro beat 'em ups, along with a special H scene based on your progression.  Choosing not to continue restarts Mission Mode, but Onyx retains certain aspects of the progress from previous play-throughs, thus enabling her to push further, survive for more days, and for you to unlock more content.   Continuing allows you to continue your current play-through, but requires resources that could otherwise be used to upgrade Onyx for future play-throughs.  

Content unlocked in Mission Mode will affect Arcade Mode and Gallery Mode. 

Check out the full details in the document linked below :D.  

• Mission Mode Notes 

Splicer Boss Model Progress

This guy has taken an ass ton of work to get right, and I think we're about 90% done with his high poly models.  His boots, helmet, and some accessories still need work, and some pieces need broken down further for the additional color zones, but I think he's a good recreation of our 2D vision.  I'm excited to get a test rig on him to see him posed :D.
 

Charger Enemy Progress

The Charger has turned out WAY cooler than I thought he would.  The improved shading techniques I've been experimenting with really shine here I think, and the added detail looks more cohesive with the backgrounds.  It also responds a lot better to environment lighting now.

New Enemy: Satellite Drone

The name is a work in progress, but the enemy is pretty much already finished :D.  Ubercharge completed the model in two days from Limbo's concept, and it only took a day for TK to rig and another day for me to knock out the basic animations.  This is the first enemy of the robot category -- something we've neglected so far.  

While you'll encounter these guys on their own, they're actually designed to be part of a larger robot enemy I've dubbed the "carrier" for now.  The idea is that when you hit the carrier, these guys will pop off one at a time and become autonomous.  When one grabs Onyx, they'll be able to pile on and stretch each of her limbs to prep her for other enemies' H attacks.

Robot Enemy Concepts

I had Limbo focus a lot of effort on robot concepts recently (check the gallery above @_@).  Aside from the Satellite and Carrier, one of the more fun ideas that's developed is a hover vehicle for either a police or a Babel special forces unit.  

The encounter will begin with the vehicle charging across the screen, then exiting at the side and re-emerging to charge again. Once Onyx knocks the rider off, the vehicle will become a drone and take off, and become a support unit for the rider.   It'll go so far as to lay down energy barriers that enemy units can fire from behind (forcing Onyx to destroy the barrier, the drone, or maneuver around).  I've even designed an H scene where enemies can use the energy barrier as a prop for the stereotypical "boobs/butt pressed up against glass" hentai scene.  

Feel free to add suggestions for weird stuff we could accomplish with robot enemies :D.
 

New Enemy: Splicer Looter

The Splicer Looter is a throwback to the dwarves in Golden Axe, which would drop power-ups when you slapped em around.  These guys will spawn randomly, and basically be annoying little jerks that run around the screen while other enemies are attacking Onyx.  They will also drop power-ups (or loot in Mission Mode) when you knock them down, but they might also drop some explosives or other traps for Onyx to run into instead.  

Updated Onyx Body and Face Rig

We're on the verge of having Onyx's updated body and face rig ready to go.  The benefits of this include:

• Joint corrections for much improved hip, shoulder, knee, and elbow bends
• Low poly body and clothes models (an absolute necessity) 
• Better spine control and hair rig controls
• A rigged tongue and far better mouth shape control
• More eye shape control points, can now also widen, irises/pupils can change size, 
• Scaled Onyx rig to real world units

I really want us to get that done before we dump a bunch of work into H animations since having her scale right in Unity is important for interacting with other characters.  Also without the joint corrections a lot of the leg bends for H animations look like garbage. 

3D Menu Concept 

This is very experimental, but it's an extension of the Loading / Utility screen design I proposed a while back.  Apologies for the clunky animation I used.  And the text font >_>. 

The idea here is use full 3D for the character to contrast with the 2D look you get in the game view.  While there will likely be a quick-menu you access similar to the current Pause menu in-game, a more detailed menu like this can be accessed in between "missions". 

This kind of stuff is a lot of fun for me, but it's something I need to let marinate and iterate upon.  Hopefully it'll be good to go by the time we get around to the UI revamp.

Sewer Environment Progress

Uber's back again (this time from working on a new movie) and has been working on the sewer environment.  As discussed previously, we're working on a modular environment system to speed up production.  Shown is a work-in-progress example of one of the tiles :D. This is straight out of the renderer and hasn't been processed, so it's darker and more realistic than the end result will be.  I posted another pic in the images at the top of one of his tiling background pieces.
 

Low Poly Models

TK put a lot of work into making the low poly versions of Onyx's clothes last week. We've been able to do testing with high poly stuff till now but definitely didn't want to make a release with it due to performance concerns. I've just finished getting the materials looking presentable, and am quite happy with the results.  I'd also like to give a shout out to QuestionablyInsane, our Inner Circle member who did the low poly braids model :D.