Squirrelmageddon! News

Gameplay update: initial Flashlight drains suit battery charge - this little change has made it so at some point... you will be in the dark with the squirrels... fear the squirrel... out of charge, you won't be able to jump so you had better ruuuun...!

ROFL - is this even still a 'squirrel' ?!
[horror]
(AI assisted concept art only)

[h2]v1.07.739 - PATCH NOTES[/h2]

• MAP UPDATE: Deadlands repawned new forest (improves framerates)
  
• GAMEPLAY: continuing mission keeps inventory!
  
• REMOVED: destructible windows / doors (improves performance single and multiplayer + opens up run / skill jump lanes through houses making houses more survivable)
  
• FIXED: squirrel spawn counter - stops too many squirrels from spawning
  
• FIXED: texture lighting issues on electronics and plastic
  
• FIXED: rope bridge rope collision Squirrel Town
  
• HUD: damage health border overlay at 20% health left
  
• UI QOL: prices added to item rows !!!
  
• FX: Orb of Delight pickup particle effects so you know if pickup bonus active
  
• FX: Turret plasma core added to replace always glow location marker particles
  
• UI Improvements: game over screen and score popup tweaks
  
• LOBBY / MAP LIGHTING: working in the fog
  
• 'ART': new AI images for some missions (more to come)
  

[horror]
(AI assisted concept art only)

I am continually amazed at how AI is, for the most part, at least a hundred times more insane than any human... perfect for generating horror squirrels - lol... but yeah, I did seed it's algo with the Ginger Bomber Squirrel... I had no idea Squirrelmageddon! would come to this:

[horror]
(AI assisted concept art only)

OR (my favourite so far) THIS:

[horror]
(AI assisted dev mental relaxation concept art only)

Peace out squirrelies - GLHF and I'll see ya top-side!

[horror]

While working on the new Hive Health and Politics systems I determined that the Weapon Level Up should be happening in-mission instead of after returning to the Hive.

Weapon XP is now calculated after every kill and checked for level up. New HUD elements display weapon level ups. Weapon stats increases are applied. A progress bar tracks weapon XP as you slay your way to the top and become the ultimate precision dealer of mutant death!!!



Much better GAME LOOP experience so far and adds room for more hive activities...

NOTE: Weapon Level Ups not yet tested in Multi-Player! (soon)

[h2]Patch Notes[/h2]

• GAMEPLAY: weapons now level up in-mission
  
• GAMEPLAY: nerf health and carcass health pickups (increases challenge)
  
• GAMEPLAY: disable time of day advancement
  
• GREEN SQUIRRELS: drool poison vomit when attacking (for fun effect only)
  
• MAIN MENU SCENE: night time with fire effects
  
• MAP FIX: Summer Squirrels - tricksy under landscape squirrels are slain instantly.
  
• MAP TWEAKS: more spawners added to Deadlands and Desert Squirrels
  
• GAME OVER: large scoreboard removed (will be added back for multi-player)
  

[h2]AI 'ART' IN SQUIRRELMAGEDDON![/h2]
It seems more and more games are using AI generated assets in their games. As a solo-indie dev with no budget, very little time and no 'art' skills, I rely heavily on AI assistance to visualise Squirrelmageddon! lore.

In the beginning I used some of the earliest public AI tools - and it's always been hilarious...

So I started experimenting again this weekend and it's insane how quickly the technology is advancing!

Check out this horror squirrel:

[horror]

*I did photoshop the claws and teeth a little - needs more work - but yeah, freakin crazy cool!

GLHF! - don't forget to switch to HARD / INSANE difficulty to check out the new music by Bryant Lowry a.k.a Thorr on Spotify

Quite a few things going on with the game since my last update. Added a new music pack by Bryant Lowrey and hooked up some hardcore tracks to the Hard & Insane difficulty settings. DIE BY THE SQUIRREL!

My intent with music for Squirrelmageddon! has always been a metal / hardcore backing soundtrack. I will one day find the time to write and record my own guitar riffs...

[h2]Squirrels of the Night[/h2]
All missions are now NIGHT TIME missions. The Earth's magnetic field has collapsed. It's not safe to go outside during the day time.... or any time for that matter! The hive is starving, feed the hive!



[h2]FULL UPDATE LIST:[/h2]

• 12 new heavy tracks for Hard / Insane difficulty
  
• GAMEPLAY: player speed nerf - crazy speed at higher levels reduced a bit
  
• GAMEPLAY: generally more spawners across all maps
  
• GAMEPLAY: Comms tower repairs are now proximity timed - hold the area for X to repair the relay.
  
• GAMEPLAY: Night missions only. Embrace the darkness, fear the squirrel!
  
• FIXED: weapon found HUD messaging - now shows weapon deets on 'find'
  
• FIXED: player flashlight toggle - spotlight no longer turns on automatically / randomly
  
• FIXED: Ultra Squirrel weapon drop now adds weapon to inventory
  
• FIXED: squirrel slam launching player into skybox (should be fixed!)
  
• FIXED?: music queue priority (background music drop outs - more work to do here)
  
• MAP: Squirrel Town - mushroom unreachable under ground fix, more spawners, small tweaks
  
• MAP: Deadlands - improving interiors / map prop density... wary of performance...
  
• MAP: Squirrel Mountain - airport hanger / storage facility filled with moveable crates
  
• MAP: Training Gauntlet - clean bloody concrete, added moveable crates to start, added Ratatosk statue tutorial pop up tip...
  
• TEMP CHANGE: Mega Purple drop = pills not medpack (will be revering next patch)
  

[h2]HUD IMPROVEMENT[/h2]
Player HUD UI updated with messaging now center bottom instead of top center



[h2]UPCOMING[/h2]
I am still working on The Hive system... lots of idea testing at the moment while fixing / tweaking other things. This one will take some time to get it right and into the game loop.

With the new tracks, I am working on a more 'responsive' music system, hopefully I can work some of the new tracks into Exploration / Danger / Battle / Boss Battle loops. The trick here is that all the tracks must be of exactly the same length and loop perfectly over each other... hmmm...

I have also been looking closer at migrating to Unreal Engine 5 - there are so many improvements and optimizations that it has to be done!

The biggest hurdle at the moment is the old Apex Destruction physics system.... Basically all the breakable windows / destructible meshes have to be completely removed from the code and updated to use the new Chaos Physics system in UE5...

Promising progress on all fronts!

GLHF! See ya top-side!

[image]

Back into the code this week and have pushed some major bug fixes and some small gameplay changes.

• FIXED: moveable barrier knocking player into the skybox on pickup from above
  
• FIXED: stopped allowing move of destroyed barriers (always triggered above bug)
  
• FIXED: stopped removal of collectables required for mission completion
  
• FIXED / FEATURE: backspace on game over screen removes HUD
  
• GAME PLAY UPDATE: continuing a mission adds PTSD recovery time to soldier
  
• GUN TWEAK: AK-47 slightly slower auto fire rate + faster reload times
  

[h2]Currently working on: [/h2]
Dynamic mission objectives based on Hive Health... think along lines of player survival needs but at hive level.

E.g. Energy / Food / Materials / Weapons which affect Hive Strength / Health / Population / Happiness.

Still working out the details, but what you collect during your mission runs will affect your Hive. I don't want the new system to be overbearing, but enough to highlight resource collection / exploration as a factor in winning the meta game. If your hive 'dies', the game ends...

[horror]

I've been ironing out some bugs and making collected items persistent when continuing a mission.

Squirrel spawn difficulty has also been carried over to continued failed missions.

Continuing a mission will no longer be a walk in the park, you are going to have to fight hard for those last few objectives!



[h2]v1.07.648 - Patch Notes[/h2]

• GAMEPLAY: continuing mission no longer spawns collected items
  
• GAMEPLAY: continuing mission retains squirrel sizes / difficulty level
  
• GAMEPLAY: continuing mission spawns larger squirrels first
  
• GAMEPLAY: squirrel speed now scales up over time
  
• BUG FIX: frame rate drops when too many squirrels are spawned late game
  
• BUG FIX: hats sometimes not being added to inventory on mission completed
  
• MAPS: tweak here and there with Training Level getting a new paint job
  
• LORE: minor changes to lore / images
  

HOLIDAY TIME! I'm pretty excited as I will be attending some really cool sessions at the annual GDC 2023 conference in San Francisco.

So I've been working on Squirrelmageddon! now for about 3 years part-time, and while currently I'm letting the game sort of drive itself ever forward; I thought something like this might be just what I need for some more perspective and focus... will be interesting... I expect a lot of laughs for sure!

Hope you all enjoy the new difficulty / changes!

GLHF! Back in 6 weeks!