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Post by colin22cans on Jun 12, 2015 15:01:31 GMT
 Following on from last week's update, Godus artist, Annah takes you through a few of the art elements being worked on during the current development sprint and a few words from Konrad. Skinning & Modelling"The Warbands are initially consisting of a small army of archers, so I thought it would be fun to give them a ‘Robin Hood’ style outfit and hat, with a quiver on their backs. "
"Their uniform colours (blue, red etc) denote whether their allegiance is to you or an enemy, and will help identify them in the field."
"However, after some in-game testing, we’ve realised that they needed to be modified slightly. Currently their build is very similar to a follower so it is quite hard to distinguish between each character (especially when you are zoomed far out, which is the popular viewpoint in when in combat.)" "I’ve been bulking them up a bit, upgrading their costume, creating some female versions (because equal opportunities), and give their hats some more definition, among other things."
"The ‘skinning’ is the process of attaching the model to a rig, which has animations assigned to it. In Godus, we tend to use just a couple of rigs and I have to make sure the model is correctly skinned to these otherwise you can get some very strange character movements in game!" Creating Warband Banners"Warband banners appear when you create a warband through your military settlement."
"You move these around the map to navigate your warband. These banners need to show your colour, as well as the colour of the warband (something I’ll touch on in the GUI design below), be able to stack, animate, scale and potentially be carried by a member of the warband. The player banners also need to be easily distinguished from the enemy banners."
"At the moment the simplest way to show this is through a band of colour along the top that denotes your team colour, and the bottom colour displaying the warbands colour. The enemy banners are a different shape, and all one colour. Symbols on the banners may be added at a later date."Combat UI - A Word from KonradBefore Annah goes into detail regarding the user interface for combat, Konrad wanted to make sure people realise how much combat has changed and progressed from the Godus Alpha.  "While combat isn't new to Godus, some of our backers have experienced a crude, basic iteration of it in our early Alpha. At that time it really hadn't been the focus for development that it is now. This new combat implementation brought about some interesting changes and problems."
"The Alpha combat did not mesh well with the tone and feel of Godus. We experimented with introducing military settlements into Homeward & Weyworld and the result was deemed very unsatisfactory, feeling very much out of place and shoehorned in."
“Over the last few months I’ve been experimenting with different worlds for combat to take place in. It’s changing the feel of what we have but for the better, I think."
Combat UI - Back to Annah!"We needed a way of being able to select and view the warbands easily, as well as seeing their current status, even if they were not on screen."
"This involved rearranging the GUI a bit to allow for a strip of warband banners along the top. Initially, you will only be able to see the very bottom of a banner, but as soon as you are able to create a warband then it drops down slightly to notify you can do so through your Military Settlement." "Each banner will display the colour of the warband (which is the same as the field warband banner), the warband rank (in stars along the top), an animated character that will represent whatever the warband is doing at that moment (i.e. running in a particular direction, standing still, or fighting), and the number at the base tells you how many there are in the warband. "
"When a warband's health begins to deteriorate, the banner becomes more and more ragged. When they are close to being wiped out, they'll be virtually ruined. Clicking on a top banner will take you to that warband, highlighted by a ring on the ground and potentially a line from the banner for the war band." "We’ve moved the card button to the bottom left, so we can install a warning button. This spiky circle will tell you if a settlement, abode or warband is under attack, and clicking on it will take you directly to the problem area."The GUI is always subject to change throughout implementation and testing as we discover the best ways for combat navigation.Next WeekThe next progress update will focus on the Design elements of this sprint. Konrad will give everyone a unique look into creating the artificial intelligence and level design structure. Here's a reminder of the sprint plan:  Thanks and catch up soon, 22cans team! |
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Post by 13thGeneral on Jun 12, 2015 15:32:28 GMT
Very well presented. It has me a little more interested in the combat system, and admittedly my interest was pretty low (almost nil). I look forward to seeing how it is implemented to feel more like a piece of the game, and not a disjointed shoehorn added feature. I also hope to see more about the remaining pieces, like a more defined progression of ages and technology (mostly just how the building and follower skins change to match the era). Good job on the artwork and UI; I'll actually consider loading up opt-in once it's available to test.
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Lord Ba'al
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Post by Lord Ba'al on Jun 12, 2015 16:26:27 GMT
Nice update. Not enough Konrad.
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Post by colin22cans on Jun 12, 2015 19:36:08 GMT
Very well presented. It has me a little more interested in the combat system, and admittedly my interest was pretty low (almost nil). Thank you and that's great to hear!  I look forward to seeing how it is implemented to feel more like a piece of the game, and not a disjointed shoehorn added feature. Good job on the artwork and UI; I'll actually consider loading up opt-in once it's available to test. I haven't played it myself (Too busy preparing updates!  ) but I have watched a few playthroughs and it's really starting to come together nicely. Annah's art will be centre place for the gaming world to see relatively soon and we're all extremely pleased with the outcome so far! It's good fun walking past an artist desk and seeing something that makes you go "Ohhh, that works!" or "Niiiiiice!"  |
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Post by Gmr Leon on Jun 12, 2015 19:51:11 GMT
Gotta say, I do like how the GUI stuff has improved from what we saw early on. The translation of the banners serving as status indicators is especially nice, and it'd be doubly impressive if the degradation in them carried over to those on the field. I'm not sure I see the line as being all that necessary though (and I know, being considered, just adding my 2c in)...However, I'm still wondering a little (and this has been something I've latched on to since combat came in) if the new GUI being developed will indicate aggro stuff, or if that's been improved in-game enough to not feel like giant circles overlapping a lot. Hopefully a little more of the latter. Also, I'm with 13thGeneral regarding the age progression stuff...If that's still in. I could see the early Robin Hood look still fitting (well, at least the hat part) as an early age style. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2015 20:09:49 GMT
For the first time in a long time I might just be tempted to check the opt in when/if this makes release. Nice work on the update. Edit: More Konrad is best Konrad! |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2015 20:35:45 GMT
Here's a reminder of the sprint plan: Thanks and catch up soon, 22cans team! Eight months just to develop combat. Huh. How long do you figure it'll take you to develop "3 additional single player and multiplayer modes, "a deep social and competitive" sect feature, "multiplayer co-op and possession mode", and "first person world crafting"? Will we be playing a "finished version [by this November]"? Every company has an internal long-term vision and schedule, and I'd like to hear what 22Cans expects the answers to those questions to be. They have very easy "Yes" or "No" "Depends on commercial reality" answers. |
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Post by Spiderweb on Jun 12, 2015 21:36:57 GMT
What happened to Konrads Korner video? Still waiting for my questions to be answered! |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2015 22:46:41 GMT
Very lovely update - and indeed it is - but one huge and glaring problem, and I'm going to have to be the party shitter about it.
As the recent uh...Community Competition...on Steam showed, not even the promise of authentic swag (versus the bait and switch Kickstarter backer versions) could get more than one entry to show off what is arguably Godus' current best feature, the sculpting.
The rest of the game needs some of the same attention and love, else the game still being in this state is going to likely mar a lot of the impressions folks will get from the focus upon Combat.
That last bit kind of ruins all the hard effort the dev team are putting upon it now, so it probably would be a good idea to allow them to touch other areas of the game, otherwise it will be months of work to see just a zit bump in the Godus PC play numbers - the latter of which, from a production perspective, is what makes me think this is all destined for mobile anyways.
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Post by colin22cans on Jun 12, 2015 23:08:08 GMT
What happened to Konrads Korner video? Still waiting for my questions to be answered! Hey Spiderweb I'll check in on this when I'm back in the office on Monday! |
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Post by colin22cans on Jun 12, 2015 23:09:37 GMT
For the first time in a long time I might just be tempted to check the opt in when/if this makes release. Nice work on the update. Edit: More Konrad is best Konrad! Thanks for taking the time to read it, OverPromise! When the time for Opt-in comes.. You can be sure that I'll be letting Steam/ProBoards/etc know. |
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Post by hardly on Jun 12, 2015 23:22:54 GMT
I really like these updates. Old concerns remain, how will it be supported by the wider game and such, but I really like how you are carrying yourselves at the moment 22Cans.
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Post by Gmr Leon on Jun 13, 2015 1:05:13 GMT
It's probably being dumbly hopeful, but if they're reworking the GUI as much as shown here, it may indicate a slightly broader rework than we initially thought. Not getting my hopes up too much, but given that they seem to be isolating combat away from the existing mess of the core worlds, it seems at least somewhat possible they've been able to operate in a sort of independent sandbox with their own ideas. If it turns out those hold up, who knows? Maybe they'll come to overtake the old core worlds as the new core of the game, scrapping that aimless nonsense for something a little better. Ugh, even that seems a little too sensible for what we've seen from 22cans in the past, but it would be nice. I half get the feeling these may turn into another failed Voyages experiment though, depending on how the final results come out. I don't suppose anything can be said of whether these battle worlds have to be handcrafted or if 22cans have gotten around to setting up a random map generator instead, for a change, can it colin22cans? So far as I could tell, that's what contributed to undermining the continuation of Voyages besides them not being the most entertaining. It required a constant output of light puzzle maps that just wasn't sustainable with building out the rest of the game...Or at least, that's what I've generally assumed. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2015 9:42:40 GMT
Gmr Leon brings up a good point about the Voyages...they feel tacked-on. Same thing with Story.
So if the Godus team is going to be spending this much effort upon Combat - and they have some brilliant details like the condition of the warband banner for health - that it would seem a real shame if it were to be little more than a shiny veneer painted atop of a cow clicker version of a virtual sandbox.
This is why an actual objective is required for Godus, in both design detailing as well as some reason to actually have Combat (in a Zen-like game), because that is how iterative design really works.
Without a core design vision of what the game is supposed to eventually be - the main purpose of a design document - these elements are going to continue standing out as having little to do with each other except being kludged into the same game to move onto the next little bit that is elected at apparent whim to receive the Magnifying Glass and Blinders of Development Love, seemingly without referencing any Big Picture.
(This is required to be part of the Early Access program as well - letting people know what the developers are generally aiming for in a finished product before the customer is expected to pay for that same unfinished product. This is a problem when those who already own the game cannot tell what it is trying to be.)
So that probably should be 22cans' homework for the next update - what is the current core design vision for Godus?
Or even minus that, at least generally where 22cans plans to take Godus.
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Post by colin22cans on Jun 13, 2015 10:05:56 GMT
I don't suppose anything can be said of whether these battle worlds have to be handcrafted or if 22cans have gotten around to setting up a random map generator instead, for a change, can it colin22cans? Well.. Something tells me that Konrad might be talking about in his Design Progress Update.  |
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Lord Ba'al
Supreme Deity
Posts: 6,260
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I like: Cats; single malt Scotch; Stargate; Amiga; fried potatoes; retro gaming; cheese; snickers; sticky tape.
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Post by Lord Ba'al on Jun 13, 2015 11:27:48 GMT
I don't suppose anything can be said of whether these battle worlds have to be handcrafted or if 22cans have gotten around to setting up a random map generator instead, for a change, can it colin22cans? Well.. Something tells me that Konrad might be talking about in his Design Progress Update. Which is due...... |
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Post by Gmr Leon on Jun 13, 2015 22:24:20 GMT
I don't suppose anything can be said of whether these battle worlds have to be handcrafted or if 22cans have gotten around to setting up a random map generator instead, for a change, can it colin22cans? Well.. Something tells me that Konrad might be talking about in his Design Progress Update. As Lord Ba'al says, I'll try to make sure to catch that whenever it comes around (almost missed this little sitrep). |
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Post by Spiderweb on Jun 14, 2015 17:47:49 GMT
I don't suppose anything can be said of whether these battle worlds have to be handcrafted or if 22cans have gotten around to setting up a random map generator instead, for a change, can it colin22cans? Well.. Something tells me that Konrad might be talking about in his Design Progress Update. ever thought of including more action screenshot or vines of work in progress gameplay, you could tease, create buzz and maybe get a little feedback, now that would be cool! |
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) but I have watched a few playthroughs and it's really starting to come together nicely. Annah's art will be centre place for the gaming world to see relatively soon and we're all extremely pleased with the outcome so far!
