Hi Again!

This week's gonna be a short update, centered around community news rather than game updates.  The reason being that we focus on planning our participation at industry events and building up our Discord server.

Nonetheless, CACTUS is being worked on in the background, which is why we still have some fun new systems to share, as well as interesting new art assets.

So without further ado, let's dive in.

Community News

In this context, we're excited to announce that we're planning to exhibit at  Gamescom 2023! Our application for the Indie Arena Booth went out a few days ago and is currently pending approval. This is a great opportunity to meet up in person and, of course, play the latest and most refined version of CACTUS to date.

We'll update you on the situation as soon as our submission has been greenlit. So stay tuned!

Last Friday Oliver ran our first development stream on our Discord server, where everyone could watch and participate in the implementation of feedback given be our testers.

...and yes, we'll take this format to Twitch and YouTube in the near future.

Game Design

Implementing feedback requires wits, creativity, as well as thorough knowledge of the interlinked nature of game systems. If you want to see how Oliver translates feedback into better gameplay, make sure to join him on his next stream!

For example, testers noted that charging the Blast Shot took a tad too long. So Oliver had to evaluate whether to reduce enemy movement speeds, to buy the player some more time, versus lowering the maximum charge time, to allow the player to respond more quickly.

In the end, he went with the latter, as reducing movement speeds would severely hamper with the fast-paced nature of classic FPS games.

Then he had to make some more changes to the level, although be it smaller ones compared to the first round of feedback we got. He added an enemy wave right after the Blast Shot pickup, so the player immediately can test the new toy.

There was also some opening and closing of paths, to better guide players and prevent exploitation of unintended shortcuts.

However, you definitely should look out for some unconventional ways to navigate the level, maybe you'll find some secrets.

Finally, some redistribution of pickups was in order, to make for a more fun experience.

Code

Nils, on his part, is currently preoccupied with creating useful tools for faster development of more complex gameplay situations. Specifically he's working diligently on a new interactable logic composer.

The tool helps to build sequences of event triggers. Unlike before, it can now trigger multiple objects at once, even when they have varying behaviors.

In addition, our custom debugger highlights game logic flows at a glance. This facilitates understanding and re-configuration, for instance when a situation needs to be changed due to tester feedback.

Art

Pierre is creating and reworking asset after asset. For example he improved the sand tornado that was in the game from the earliest days of development (but not present in the demo, as it is part of a later level).

He also created a prefab for the healing oasis. This interactable will be introduced in the first half of the game, allowing players to regenerate health by slurping water.

Part of the oasis will be a stone kit that is distinguishable from other stones in the game. This allows us to use it as a bread crumbs asset, guiding players towards a nearby oasis.

Outlook

That's it for now. Be sure to join our Discord server, if you feel like chatting with us or receiving tester access to the current version of CACTUS. We're available 24/7 and always happy to help!

Until then, stay sharp! 🌵

Get In Touch

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