Has a month gone by already?

Sorry for the delay, I've been consumed by my most recent project, "Aurora"!

It's taking me a little while to get back into the swing of things, but soon I will be back to my regularly scheduled programming.

The big game changer

This update is taking a little longer than usual, as there are some big gameplay changes coming. Namely:

• Doors will only open / close when you use them
• Ammo will no longer be unlimited
• You will be able to melee enemies to knock them back
• Ammo pickups
• Embiggened (which is totally a word) viewable area around the player
• Quick look left and right
• Enemies will no longer simply drain health on contact, but take a chunk out every time they attack
• Enemy health will be lowered

Prior to v1.3.6, the game had a more arcade style feel. With unlimited ammo, there had to be a lot of enemies to make the game challenging, and the simple health drain attacks meant distance was key to survival.

With the new update, there's going to be some rebalancing necessary as the game transitions into a more realistic gameplay style. This also means that the current levels will need some reworking to include the ammo pickups.

I'm also prototyping a new "greyed out" system that will show areas that you have explored instead of it just being all black. It won't be in this update, but it is coming. It's a tricky thing, as the old rouge / RTS fog methods don't work with this type of view. I'm inventing a whole new method that, as long as it works, will be very cool to see in action!

v1.3.5a is now available!

Download v1.3.5a for Windows

Changes:

• New gradient FOV "Shadow" which is much nicer on the eyes.
• The area around the player is now visible
• New enemy by Sidney Durant that replaces the green placeholders.
• Due to "Sticky Keys" issues, the controls have been switched to E for use and Space for fire.

I wanted to add quite a bit more, but unfortunately I came down with a nasty cold that has had be rather out of it for most this week. All those goodies will have to wait till 1.3.6!

Also, I put together a new level called "The Loading Dock". It's not the one I had originally intended to complete this time around, as I decided to hold off on that one until there was some better friendly NPC functionality, but I think it's pretty fun.

Download "The Loading Dock"

FOV blending is on the way

Early test conclusion: Not quite right yet

v1.3.5a is going to have some big visual changes. The area immediately around the player will be visible, so you can see what is biting you in the butt and where, and the FOV "shadows" will have a slight gradient so that they aren't quite so jarring on the eyes.

The first new enemy sprite by Sidney Durant will also be introduced, replacing the existing green blob / ant / tentacle monster.

I'm also trying to add in some more useful functionality to the NPC characters, but it's still questionable as to whether that will make it into this build.

New addition to the Dread team

I'm happy to announce that we have another talented artist joining the development team: Amiran Gorgazjan

There are lots of great things in the works, and we really appreciate all of the feedback that you have given us so far.

I am working on a new level for you that will show how to do multi-floored buildings, so there will be more for you to play with soon!

7seg - An Engineer's Toy

Download the 7seg map (7kb, Requires v1.3.4_1a)

An optional update: v1.3.4_1a

Download v1.3.4_1a

Found one last bug in the new "Every time / Once" feature involving the "Check Value" Trigger which caused it to not activate its designated follow trigger (Does not effect any of the currently released levels, but will cause headaches for level designers).

I've also added the option to press F4 to switch between full screen and windowed modes for both the game and the level editor, and the option to press F5 to check for updates to the game.

It is recommended, but not necessary to update to this build.