End of July Update (Patreon)

Hi!

Another month ends, another update appears 😊. 

Online Networking + Quest

As you know, our main focus has been integrating an online networking solution. Last month, we spent a large chunk of our time porting code. This month involved a lot of testing. The testing is mostly with worst-case connections (e.g. folks who are on the other side of the continent, far from an urban area, on WiFi, on Quest with ~1 Mbps upload—yes, really). We also spent time putting in the final features of a releasable prototype build.

We have two main networking options, Fusion and Quantum, both by Exit Games (Photon Engine). Both have different use-cases and trade-offs and we need to choose the one that's best for Davigo and best for our design process. There's not much precedent for a networked VR + PC, physics-based game that should work on a mobile device (Quest), so we have a lot of questions to answer. Fortunately, the Photon devs are excellent folks we are in close contact with them.

Last week, we were very close to releasing the new Fusion-based prototype build. This build includes a version of Kairos that is playable with networking support and a room-code system. It's not fully complete gameplay-wise or art-wise but it does feel and play like regular, local Davigo. 

Unfortunately, we encountered a major last-minute bug which caused massive, game-breaking lag about 1 in 5 times, and was quite unpredictable. We are working on it. Fingers-crossed we can get it fixed quickly and have the build ready.

We were very excited to get this build out there. It is important because it allows us to test the feasibility of using Fusion for Davigo with a wider audience, and will allow us to collect data to determine average performance to see where we stand. 

The goal of the prototype build will be to shed light on some important factors:

• What percentage of online matches will have acceptable online multiplayer performance? 
• How good/bad are players' connections and what do they expect when it comes to playing any online experience?
• And of course, what have we missed??

We've been facilitating testing with the Fusion prototype with interested patrons. These are one-on-one tests between a developer and a patron. We are also testing with the Quantum prototype (which is in an early stage). 

If you're interested in testing, please sign-up here if you haven't already.  

If you want more specific details on how things are being developed, make sure to check the #patreon channel in Discord!

Side note: Ideally, going forward, we'll better balance our time between online networking development and other parts of the game that we can work on.

Art Direction

On the side, we are starting to explore improvements to the game's art direction. 

Art tends to be expensive on game projects, which is something we need to be aware of as we explore art styles and work with concept artists. We want to improve the visual quality of the game with a simple, easy-to-implement art style that doesn't inhibit our ability to design and prototype new mechanics. As a team, we've focused heavily on game design and interaction design, which is what we consider some of our team's strengths, so that leaves art to be outsourced. As you may know, we have been advertising for interested artists to apply.

Currently, we're working with a concept artist to explore ideas for the design of the warrior. Here are a few concept sketches and ideas from a talented artist we're currently working with.

This is all very exploratory at the moment—getting an idea of what we could potentially do with the game's visuals.

Stay tuned! ✌

- Davidevs