BattleJuice Alchemist News

Hey folks!

Welcome back to another development update for BattleJuice Alchemist! This time we delve into the realm of particle systems. Understanding them is crucial for enhancing our hyper-stylized, low-poly look while maintaining good performance.



For those non-developers among you, a particle system is a simulated group of tiny, individual objects known as particles. These particles can represent various elements such as fire, smoke, sparks, you name it. Particles are lightweight and dynamic and using them we can add a lot of vividness to our game.



But we have to be cautious... as we continue our journey, we encounter a formidable adversary: overdraw. It transpires when transparent objects stack atop each other, causing rendering complexity to increase. The cost of rendering transparency intensifies with each overlapping layer, jeopardizing our game's performance. Luckily, Unreal Engine bestows upon us a potent tool: Shader Complexity mode.



Green signifies efficiency, whereas red warns of rendering extravagance. By looking at Complexity mode, we can pinpoint areas where overdraw festers, allowing us to optimize our particle systems at the critical points. Our low-poly, hyper-stylized art style grants us a boon, sparing us from the complexities of naturalistic rendering. Yet, transparency, especially lit transparency, can become a problem, if we are not careful.

Let me end with two Unreal specific best practices that I found useful regarding the performance of particle systems:

1. I always manually set every particle system to "Use Fixed Relative Bounding Box" to keep e.g. fast, far-travelling sparks under control.

2. I avoid using the light module in emitters. They are tempting but hit performance pretty hard in my experience.

That's all for today, thanks for reading! Until next time, happy playing / designing / coding :)

Alain

We're thrilled to announce that BattleJuice Alchemist is taking part in the Realms Deep event organized by 3D Realms. The game was recently unveiled, and we've just released an exciting new trailer. Stay tuned for more thrilling updates!

ESDigital Games and Alchemical Works are delighted to reveal their action adventure RPG title BattleJuice Alchemist and its new announcement trailer!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

BattleJuice Alchemist is a complex alchemy RPG that adds an equipment-based skill system to the classic aRPG formula. Focus on top-down combat or opt for JRPG-style one-on-one fights. Explore the wilderness, learn ritual magic, and craft potions to fight demonic hordes overrunning the lands.

Juice, the alchemist, is called to Caribou Creek to fight the demons that roam the lands. As your unique version of Juice, you explore the wilderness that once was New England. Fight evil in classic action RPG isometric top-down view and in bullet-time close combat.

Find and craft items with game-changing powers. Master BattleJuice Alchemist’s deck-building mechanics by arranging your compilation of flasks to suit your playstyle. Accentuate your character beyond character customization by using ritual magic as long-term buffs. Meet strange creatures from the Crossroads while the dark plot of BattleJuice Alchemist unravels.



[h3]UNIQUE ITEMS AND CHARACTER BUILDS[/h3]
Loot and Craft: As an alchemist you wear no armor and wield no sword, but you rain down fire on your enemies. Find flasks with unique properties in the wilderness or craft them at your workbench. In deck-building fashion you create a compilation of flasks which you randomly draw from.

Unique Skill System: In BattleJuice Alchemist, your flasks are your skills. Every flask can be used the normal way and at times in a supercharged, "jucified" way for stronger effects. Some flasks have powers attached to them that drastically change their effects when used, which allows you to develop your own playstyle.

[h3]EXPLORE A DARK WORLD[/h3]
Procedural Landscapes, Hand-crafted Towns: The world of BattleJuice Alchemist is separated into vast levels of procedural landscape. Every valley, sea, river, mountain, building, stone, tree and item is placed by a unique algorithm. This allows you to continue exploring after you completed the main story. Quest locations are still hand-crafted to tell compelling stories.

Dark Lands to Discover: You are influenced by daytime and weather effects and so are your enemies. But they are also buffed by the evermore spawning demons’ presence. Find dark altars to hold their influence at bay and discover many other secrets.

[h3]ENGAGING COMBAT[/h3]
Classic isometric ARPG action: Fight your enemies from afar in classic top down view. Throw explosive or freezing flasks at them, prepare ambushes of explosive barrels. Use the “Frog Hop” flask to jump away from danger or right into close combat.

Close Combat with Bullet-time: Enter close combat with an enemy, where you can interact hands on by dodging or using smoke flasks to avoid being hit. Manage your resources and flasks during these intense one on one battles against your awe-inspiring enemies from the Crossroads.

Hey folks!

I hope you're all doing well and looking forward to a well-deserved weekend. After fitting Gamescom into our milestone schedule, we've been quite busy catching up. But don't worry, we're doing fine, and production is right on track.

For those of you who follow us on social media or visited us at Gamescom, you may have seen what we've been working on recently, particularly a new quest location in the game. I thought it was a great opportunity to record a new developer stream, take a stroll around, and chat a bit about exploration, building your tower, and, of course, the new town:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

I actually enjoy making these kinds of streams/videos and would love to do them more frequently. However, as you can imagine, finding the time isn't always easy.

I hope you enjoyed watching, and as always, I'd love to hear your thoughts and answer any questions you may have!

Wishing you all a fantastic weekend,

Alain

GREAT NEWS EVERYONE! REMEDIUM, the twin-stick shooter set in the grim post-apocalyptic Renaissance, engages the unforgiving wilds in the first chapter, is now available on Steam Early Access with a 20% launch discount!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Set in the same decaying universe as REMEDIUM: Sentinels, REMEDIUM’s second and third installments will enter the fray later this year.



Decades after the horrific Grey Plague wiped out nearly all human life, turning unfortunate souls and delicate fauna into decaying, hungry beasts, little remains. The few remaining survivors desperately fortify their defenses while searching for a cure, but hope dwindles for one as when a mission outside the fortress walls results in the infection invading their veins. He must scour the devastated landscape in search of a cure or be cast from the encampment forever.



Slay abominable mutants in perishing biomes, ready to strike in deadly droves. Evade chimeras, gargoyles, golems, elementals, and more with skillful dodging maneuvers while tearing through them with powerful combinations of firearms and alchemical ammunition. As the infection grows stronger, make the most of its horrific symptoms by using them as battle advantages.



Search every dark corner for vital ingredients to upgrade weapons, armor, strength, and stamina in the form of amalgams, injections, and potions. Inoculate as needed to enhance combat abilities, or weave mysterious elemental power into dwindling ammunition to make every shot count. Fight through every last beast and boss to survive long enough to find the antidote!