Deadeye Gold: Production Blog 1

Hello everyone, this is Austin Moore. I am the producer of Deadeye Desperado for its second semester. If you've been following this game before now, you may have seen that the previous post was a postmortem. As it turns out, Deadeye Desperado was chosen to go gold, so we have another semester to work on it! And to this end, we have completed another sprint as we continue work on the game. And as a producer, I am in charge of managing tasks while Cameron and I discuss what he wants to have in the game. So, let's get right to it.

Programming

To begin with, Cameron had several goals in mind for changes he would like to make to the game. And this sprint we focused on getting a new save system prepared as well as new options for movement that would make it better. First, the save system is to be overhauled to be more efficient and modular, so to prepare for this we created a class map diagram to plan out what we wanted it to be like.

And currently, we are working on putting this together in the code of the game. Next, for the new movement options first we wanted to have a ladder, to give the level some more verticality. And we have the code for it ready, and is being implemented currently.

And to add some more actions the player can undertake, we added 2 different types of vaulting to the game. First is one where you can go over small obstacles quickly, and the second lets you go up larger obstacles.

Besides this, we are working on implementing these in game, as well as work on what will be an upgrade system.

Level Design

As for the level design, the goal that we're trying to accomplish currently is to create 2 new levels. One of which is a tutorial level, where you will learn the basic mechanics of Deadeye Desperado in a safe environment before reaching the next stage. And second, we are working on a hub level. This hub level will be the core of the new level organization, where the player will be able to choose which of the currently existing levels you would like to play in any order. To start, this week we got an iterated annotated map of the tutorial map, showing where we would like each component to be.

Here we can see the planned areas where each lesson will be learned, and their relative positions. Currently, this stage is being blocked out and prepared. Next, we have annotated maps of the central chamber. The desired aspects of this level were to have it be shaped like a revolver cylinder, and to have spots for enemies to spawn in. This would create combat encounters using the new shot type the player would have earned from completing the level.

At the moment this level is being blocked out, and is coming along nicely. It should serve its purpose quite well, and we will continue to work on both to create fun levels for the player.

3D Modeling

During this sprint, our 3D modelers were working on creating a handful of models that will be used as decorative pieces and replacements for currently existing assets. Compared to the previous semester, this time we have access to modelers who can use ZBrush, so we will be creating higher detail models than before. And to start, we worked on a new torch statue.

The goal with this model was to get a carved stone statue in the shape of a hand, holding a bowl with glowing crystals within. And we are both happy with it so far. Currently we have the low poly version done, and are currently working on texturing the hand so it will be ready. Next, we were working on a statue to represent where checkpoints will be. The goal of these was to get a visually distinct point you can recognize, and will have a glowing crystal on top in order to make it distinct.

The statue currently has its low poly version complete and is being textured like the previous one, and the goals we set out for it were accomplished quite well. For the next models, we wanted to create new geode stones to continue the motif of crystals that we are building up in this game. These will replace a lot of the explosive barrels, and we created debris to go along with them.

Like before, we currently have the low poly versions of these geodes and are working on texturing them. And to go along with the big geodes, we also have little geodes to use as rubble when these ones explode. Also at the point of texturing now.

2D Art

For 2D art, we focused primarily on creating new, consistent icons for the various bullet types. Including 2 new ones. And in addition to this, we created concept art of the player character and their pistol, as we will be working on redoing these parts. Starting with the icons, the various shot types are heal, combustion, blast, freeze, shock and void. And for each of these 6, we got the basic design down, and feel like they each fulfill their goal.

We wanted each of these icons to look like they belonged in a set, like they all were from the same source. And both Cameron and I feel like they were able to do that. And next, the concept art for the player character will be utilized to model the players arms and legs, to make it look much nicer than before.

Of these, we will be going with the green and gray color palette. This was felt to be the most distinct, and will be what our modelers will work with once they get to this point. And lastly, we got concept art for the players gun, with the intention to make it more powerful looking.

Of these, we will be going with the bottom design. And the blade would be used in a melee style attack that might be implemented later on. Compared to the previous design, we feel like this one looks significantly more powerful, while keeping the gist of what we wanted for it.

Conclusion

Overall, I am quite happy with the amount of work we got done this sprint. We had a good amount done, and of good quality too. If we're able to keep up this rate, I am confident that we will get it done. As for now, feel free to follow along if you'd like, and feel free to try Deadeye Desperado in its previous state, available now.