Landfall - OST and General Updates
The problem with working on a game where everything is meant to be discovered and hunted by the player, is that it becomes harder to show ...
The problem with working on a game where everything is meant to be discovered and hunted by the player, is that it becomes harder to show off stuff as development progresses. I've been working on hidden locations, creatures, plants and story elements which I don't really want to spoil before the game comes out. But I do have a few things I feel like I can share so here it goes.
The first is that I have uploaded the first OST track to Youtube as seen above. Tom Garner has been doing a wonderful job on the soundtrack and we really wanted to get some of it out in the world for people to experience. This is the first of a few tracks which will be uploaded before release so I'll keep popping them on here and shouting about them on Twitter when they're uploaded. You should also give tom a follow on twitter (@TomAGarner) for gamedev and VR updates on his own projects.
I have also been working on bugfixes and overhauling earlier gameplay features. A major example of this has been the remodelling of the players weapon and the complete rework of the scanning functionality as seen below:
Original weapon and scanning
Overhauled weapon and scanning with in-world scanning updates
The original weapon was very blocky and basic which was fine for the time but it was one of the main elements I wanted to redo, and while updating the scanning system I decided to just get it done. The Scanning update changes the functionality so you must continuously scan the creature or object and fill the progress bar before the item will be added to your scanlog. This allows for more or a challenge in scanning moving subjects and just feels way more responsive.
My main struggle at the moment beyond bugfixing is the combat and more accurately the enemy AI. It has been a struggle of mine for a while and continues to be at present. The combat encounters are in game and functional, its just the enemy AI is extremely dumb and gets caught on walls and corners or in one case, stands behind their friends and shoots them in the back, this is the main focus of my work at the moment as I want the combat to feel fluid and engaging and not like a chore.
Another addition is the variant system for creatures within the game. Some creatures have adapted to survive in a number of environments, you will be rewarded for thoroughly exploring the world and filling your scanlog with every possible variant. Landfall is primarily an exploration experience, so giving the player a reason to explore is a major factor with this game and I am doing everything I can to make any players time exploring feel like it matters. I'll continue updating as an when I have something to share, for more incremental updates feel free to follow me on twitter @MarcCook_
Thanks for reading.
