Dev Blog #47 - The Workshop (Patreon)

Whoops! I had this Blog Post planned for February 30 but did not realize until yesterday that that day does not even exist. So uhh, ahum, let's get started.

For Cockatrice and I, the majority of the past two weeks have been spent on the Workshop mechanic. I’m certain most of our backers have read about it before, but I’d like to take the time in this blog post to properly discuss the details and its mechanics. The rest of the team kept doing what they excel at. Level design, art and music remain in good hands as usual!

Let the Development Blog begin.

Selaco Plush

I’ve had the meeting 2 weeks ago and we’re going to pull through with it! I still have to wrap up some paperwork and discuss the design, but we’re confident it can be done before Q2 2023 ends.

Watch this space as I will absolutely provide an update on the design when available!

Test Lab - Gravity Manipulation

Slight delay on this one, but I think we can get this setup within the next couple of weeks. This Test Lab will be centered around the Plasma Rifle and its ability to mess around with gravity.

This Test Lab will be available for Admiral Tier backers.

Weapon Workshop

We finally began to properly work on this. If you’ve seen our Realms Deep video from almost 2 years ago (man, time goes fast), or the preview video from Gmanlives or Icarus, you may have noticed a Weapon Upgrade screen. This was a rather janky version that we quickly put together for demonstration purposes, but it did not exactly work the way we wanted to. While the core principles worked (adding upgrades and changing alt fires) the code was a big pile of sloppy spaghetti that was prone to failing if you even looked at it funny. Adding a single upgrade would take a whole bunch of time just to set up and it was a disaster to make adjustments to.

We’ve reworked the entire thing from the ground up, dropping Zforms (a UI framework we used in the past) in favor of CockUI (our own in-house UI framework) to something that is easier to expand upon and maintain. This, of course, also means improved modability since modders can easily add their own upgrades to any custom weapons they choose to add to the game, or alter the upgrades of the weapons that already exist.

(Mockup sketch of the Workshop)

This is a mockup sketch we made before working on the system. Unlike the image below, this is not in-engine.

When discussing UI elements, we always draw them out first and discuss how to best present the features and information to the player. This is often a time consuming process since we try to have a UI that’s intuitive for both KB/M and Gamepad, while also having depth without being too overwhelming. Good UI is far more complex than most may realize, so it’s a good thing that we take out time discussing these things to ensure it doesn’t feel clunky. So far, I think we’ve done a decent job with the UI in the game.

Here is the current in-game version, where the mockup was used as a point of reference

(WIP - Workshop for Selaco, running in GZDoom)

Mind you, this is still early in production. We want to have more suitable icons, have proper indicators that tell the player whether or not an upgrade is installed among a whole list of other things.

Now, before we jump into the Weapon Workshop, I want to address the potential elephant in the room: No, Selaco won't be a full fledged RPG and the Workshop will not be mandatory (but it is recommended!). We want the game to be mostly straightforward shooter, but also don't want to shy away from adding some additional depth to the game. Players can choose to ignore this system entirely if they so desire. It will make the game a little bit harder later on, given how enemies gain access to new tools, but it won’t be impossible. However, we do think this system adds a whole load of fun to the game, so I think most of you will choose to engage with it and experiment with what’s available!

What is the Workshop?

Selaco is full of Security Stations that Dawn, or any other ACE Security Guard, has access to. We refer to these as ‘Safe Rooms’ in the game. These rooms have no danger in them and allow the player to relax and prepare for the route ahead. Its main draw is the Weapon Workshop that players can interact with. The Weapon Workshop can be used to review weapon stats and learn more about how a weapon works, as well as install upgrades and modify its behavior. Let's discuss those two things real fast.

Upgrades

Scattered around Selaco, players will find Weapon Parts. These can be found everywhere; in corners of the level, on top of ledges, underneath desks and more. They are primarily found off the beaten path to encourage players to explore but are generally easy to find if you take the time to seek them out.

Weapon Parts are the currency used to add passive upgrades to your weapon. Every weapon has their own set of upgrades that can range between simple upgrades, like more damage or accuracy, or more complex upgrades, like allowing the Plasma Rifle to power up Explosive Hazards (like barrels) or amplify the taser of the SMG to shock the enemy so hard that they explode.

At the beginning of the game, regardless of how many Weapon Parts you have, not everything becomes available right away. More powerful and crazy upgrades require a certain number of unlocked Safe Rooms (which is a currency on its own) before being available to you. So as you progress, you gain access to more things.

Purchased upgrades are applied automatically but can be turned off if you do not like the alteration.

For players who like to play with Rifle Start; while the weapons will be removed after beating a level, the upgrades will persist. So having a fully upgraded Shotgun would mean that the next shotgun you pick up will also be fully upgraded.

Behavior Modifiers

This has been explained in a past blog post, but for the newcomers, here are the basics:

Every weapon has a number of different alt fires that can be unlocked for use. While we have not finalized a proper term for them, we can call them ‘Behavior Modifiers’ for now.

The workshop can be used to customize the Behavior Modifier, which adjusts what the Alternate Fire button (Right Mouse Button / Left Trigger by default) does for that weapon. Most weapons will start relatively simple, where pressing the Alternative Fire button will zoom the weapon. Useful, but relatively boring for some of the later weapons. It usually doesn’t take too long after finding a weapon that it gets replaced with something more interesting, like the ability to Dual Wield the SMG.

Players can find these Behavior Modifiers in secrets, or sometimes even along the beaten path if the Modifier is considered essential to the weapon. This is the case with the Plasma Rifle’s “Gravity Manipulation”, for example.

After picking up a Behavior Modifier, the player will receive a prompt asking if they want to equip it right now, or store it in their inventory for later use. When deciding to store it into your inventory, the Behavior Modifier can be swapped out in the Workshop.

Extra Info

We’ve primarily focused on these features for the past couple of weeks, but still have a number of other things that we need to implement before we can put the stamp on it. Like the ability to buy ammo using Selver Credits, adjusting Mutators and being able to travel back to previous safe rooms with the press of a button. The latter of which is only used for players who want to find secrets they may have missed in older levels. The game does not require you to ever travel back to an older level in order to progress.

Another idea that’s currently in the backlog is a shooting range. Basically a doorway in every workshop that takes you to a room where you are given infinite ammo to play around with the weapons. Useful for testing new upgrades / behavior modifiers ,seeing how they work and get a DPS (Damage Per Second) readout when firing dummies. Unsure if this will make its way into the first chapter of the game, but it will absolutely be in the second.

Progress on the workshop is faster than anticipated. It helps that the majority of these upgrades were already conceptualized a year ago, so the ideas were already ready to go which often make up a good chunk of the process. Upgrades that modify a stat are very easy to add with the new system, while the more original ideas take a few hours to properly implement and test. Thankfully, I feel like our systems are rather robust nowadays which makes expanding upon existing actors (objects) relatively safe.

For you, the player, it will take a while before the workshop is introduced to you. I think, on average, it will take roughly 2 hours of gameplay for the player to stumble upon their very first Safe Room near the end of the second level. From that point on, Weapon Parts are introduced to the player and Safe Rooms become more common as you venture your way forward. It’s a great way to make the whole game feel fresh again. We expect these type of things to be maintained throughout the entire game but these mechanics will stay behind closed doors for the time being.

Levels

Continuing steadily as usual! Here is a very, very WIP look into an exterior area. There’s still a lot of work to be done here, but we’re happy to finally properly work on it!

Voxels

A new set of voxels have arrived! We have added 17 Chemical props, a white board and a holographic keyboard projector among a few other things.

Chemicals. Ever since we added multi-threading, we’ve been unable to add color overlays in the engine due to an error which we will look into later, so expect the chemical liquids to look less like water when the game launches! A few extra variations are on the way to further add variety to the amount of different cans and bottles.

Whiteboards

Keyboard Projector. You know, those things that barely work? Selaco has them too!

Towels. Finally, Toilet Paper is not the only voxel object that can be used to clean things.

Conclusion

Very happy with the progress of the last 2 weeks. I was expecting the implementation of the Workshop to take much longer, but we’re well ahead of schedule in that regard. The real challenge right now is implementing the many different alt fires, but I’m very much looking forward to that. Giving new functionality to existing weapons is always a treat to be working on.

Thank you all for once again sticking with us and continuing your pledge <3

See you all in the next blog post!

Wesley de Waart