AI Olympius News

I'm still polishing the controls and UI. I had to change something to make it possible to implement more classic control solutions.

• Olympic Rifle modes are now displayed differently, better showing the additional three modes. Shooting from additional modes is no longer activated by holding down both mouse buttons, now it works as usual, this allows me to free the right mouse button and put classic aiming at it.
  
• Aiming now works as classic, both holding the mouse button or toggle on/off)
  
• You can now fire while jumping or falling.
  
• Added ability to switch camera side left/right, (E key). The key is usually not busy and has a comfortable position both on the keyboard and on the gamepad.
  

• New ambient music has been added, and the musical system has been redesigned. (automatic activation with battle)
  
• Fixed a bug where the music in the intro was missing.
  
• Changes in control: the spacebar does not make a slide, but performs a normal jump or climb on obstacles.
  
• Slide is now performed when pressing crouch while sprinting.
  
• The standard key for inventory is now Tab instead of I (applies to new players only)
  
• Removed the automatic zoom return after reloading. It seemed like a good idea, but in practice it's annoying. Later, aiming will classically zoom while the holding button.
  

I would appreciate any feedback regarding the current changes in controls. Or recommendations from experienced players of this genre. I'm currently considering adding a shot-while-jump option, but I'm still figuring out how to overcome some of the issues.
P.S. Normal animation of using ladders is also on the way.

To make it more clear what will be ahead, I created a road map of the development:

• Slightly changed the first level with antennas, a bit more enemies, less delays in story scripts.
  
• On the "old path" level, the balance has been slightly changed. In the first temple, the player is now attacked by 1 Scout III, instead of two. In the city, the park part has been changed, and more healing places have been added. Scout in the city does not attack together with the turrets, but after the player clears them. So there should be less chaos.
  
• In coop mode, it is now impossible for both players to enter a dialogue with the same character.
  
• Fixed a critical bug on the “Old Path” level where the cutscene blocked the playthrough for the second player.
  
• Plasma Turret crafting cost reduced. The required number of clips is 2→1.
  
• Slightly improved auto-aiming system for gamepads. (aiming at barrels, weak spots of enemies)
  
• It is now possible to ride on robot cleaners again.
  

This time I put a lot of effort into the weapon control terminals. Instead of repeatedly entering combinations to change modes, you can now simply use the mouse or the AD keys / hold E, the interface now does not close the view, but rather positions the camera so that it is clear what is happening. I wanted to focus on the strategic choice of weapons in the gameplay and remove the struggle with the UI. A more detailed description of each of the modes is also added.

• Improved damage indication. The HP bar turns white when taking damage. each shield has its own HP bar if it is damaged.
  
• Shields don't fall off in one piece but crack into pieces.
  
• Plasma in the Olympic Rifle now auto-regen very slowly. To keep players from dead ends until the player has figured out the game mechanics.
  
• Olympic alloy shields cooling slowed down by 4 times.
  
• Shooting now doesn't take you out of invisibility immediately, but simply reduces the overall invisibility time with each shot. (Same as before - except shooting with a bow or throwing grenade)
  
• Collected unstable Olympic shards are no longer lost when passing the portal. It seemed like a great little detail according to the lore but more looks like a punishment as a result. Shards now can be used to craft in the HQ before starting the mission, this will also make it easier to pass the level with the cliff if the player uses the return to HQ during the mission.
  
• The movement speed of the worms is slightly reduced, their dynamic movement is pretty cool, but not so good when the player misses 90% of bullets.
  
• Polished the "Construction site" level a bit, added a Specter recommendation for the final terminal, and added protection to the room with the terminal so that nothing interferes with working with it.
  
• The starting number of missiles on the hoverbike has been changed from 25 to 24. 25 with this font was perceived as decoration and not the number of missiles, so it was not clear that there was a possibility of shooting at all.
  
• In the level with the cliff, several enemies in intermediate locations have been added.
  
• Fixed a bug where a stingray on the "Desert" level could chase the player while crawling on the sand...
  
• Reduced terminal lock time after failed hacking.
  
• The path from the platforms under the city on the "Old Path" level reduced the gaps... they were small but people fell there more often than intended.
  
• Fixed a bug where the quest module for the destruction of screamers did not work properly.
  
• Enemy "jellyfish" - slowed down the rotation of the plates, added the rotation of the missile launchers so that they are more clearly visible from different angles, changed the behavior so that the enemy does not rotate so much in different directions in its behavior.
  
• Fixed a bug where it was possible to get rid of the Olympic rifle or other weapon while working with inventory.
  
• Other minor fixes...