Roadmap for 2024
Hey everyone!
As we enter in a new year, I wanted to provide an update blog to inform everyone about what to expect from Suit for Hire in 2024.
Our objective is to have Suit for Hire exit Early Access between Q3-Q4 of this year. We will work diligently to meet all the goals and promises that we've made to you, our community.
In the coming months, we'll release significant mechanical overhauls, introduce new content, achievements, and much more. We will delve into the details of what we have planned for v20.0 and the future of the game.
We've got a lot planned for this next update, primarily big changes to our current mechanics that we believe will improve the overall flow of the game.
What can you expect?
Firstly, we plan on adjusting the Willpower system by adjusting how slomo/time-focus is used and the weapon ultimate that currently requires 100% willpower to use. In v20.0 we'll be implementing a new Stamina system, replacing the 3 dodge bars in the corner and instead unifying certain mechanics together, here's a few keypoints that we'll be considering and looking into for the new Stamina system:
This will be a significant change, and we value your opinions. We believe that these modifications will enable players to adapt their playstyle without the constraints of the willpower/execution system. However, players will need to be mindful of their stamina usage. We plan to adjust the numbers until they feel just right.
Secondly, alongside the changes to the Slomo/Time-Focus system, we'll move the Weapon Ultimate to its own separate resource, allowing players to use it more frequently. We noticed that players don’t utilize the weapon ultimate since it consumes all willpower, effectively preventing players from executing enemies, which is unfortunate since executions are a crucial part of the gameplay loop.
Ultimates will now consume a unique resource that accumulates over time and with combo kills. When the ultimate bar reaches 100%, players can use the ultimate, which will deplete the ultimate resource.
We anticipate that these changes will permit players to use the slow-motion mechanic more often, and allow weapon ultimates to be used more frequently. We believe these adjustments will greatly benefit the game.
What else?
In addition to player mechanic changes, I am planning an overhaul of the enemy AI. Honestly, the AI in Suit for Hire is one of my first attempts at video game AI, and it is evidently flawed and makeshift.
In this update, I intend to rebuild the enemy AI from the ground up, aiming to make them appear more intelligent and equipped with enhanced functionalities to enrich the dynamic gameplay of the game.
The AI adjustments will persist over the next few updates, introducing new abilities to the enemies such as retreating or disarming and frantically searching for a weapon on the ground.
We will share more information regarding this overhaul as we progress.
There are plenty of other improvements and additions in store for v20.0, which we hope you all will appreciate. However, this is only the beginning.
Before we can consider Suit for Hire to be complete, there are quite a few things that we need to finish. Some of the additions in the next few updates will include:
... and more things that we may have missed.
As always, we welcome your thoughts on the upcoming changes we mentioned earlier. We continuously seek feedback to ensure the game is heading in the right direction.
We hope you share our excitement for all the new changes and content on which we'll be working. Our utmost effort will be poured into finally releasing this game out of Early Access. I personally apologize for the delay — no excuses will be made as, at the end of the day, it's our responsibility as developers to deliver to the community.
We anticipate seeing you soon, hopefully with the new v20.0 update. Once again, thank you for your patience and support. Have a fantastic week!
[hr][/hr]
Discuss the game with us and the community on Discord and Twitter. If you want to see the game developed live, catch Crimson on Twitch.
Report any bugs or feedback on our Community Hub.
As we enter in a new year, I wanted to provide an update blog to inform everyone about what to expect from Suit for Hire in 2024.
Our objective is to have Suit for Hire exit Early Access between Q3-Q4 of this year. We will work diligently to meet all the goals and promises that we've made to you, our community.
In the coming months, we'll release significant mechanical overhauls, introduce new content, achievements, and much more. We will delve into the details of what we have planned for v20.0 and the future of the game.
What we're currently working on, v20.0
We've got a lot planned for this next update, primarily big changes to our current mechanics that we believe will improve the overall flow of the game.
What can you expect?
Firstly, we plan on adjusting the Willpower system by adjusting how slomo/time-focus is used and the weapon ultimate that currently requires 100% willpower to use. In v20.0 we'll be implementing a new Stamina system, replacing the 3 dodge bars in the corner and instead unifying certain mechanics together, here's a few keypoints that we'll be considering and looking into for the new Stamina system:
- Dodges will utilize the Stamina system, consuming a portion of Stamina that will regenerate in a manner similar to the current dodge system.
- Sprinting will no longer be an automatic mechanic. This change is intended to prevent players from running away from enemies without any risk. Instead, sprinting will consume the player's stamina.
- As sprinting will become a player-controlled mechanic, we will strive to implement new combos and rewards for players to discover, such as stronger punches and kicks following a short sprint. This is to ensure that the mechanic does not feel burdensome to the player.
- The Slomo/Time-Focus function will use the player's stamina rather than willpower, enabling players to use slow motion more frequently without being hindered by the Willpower system. This will also allow for more executions.
This will be a significant change, and we value your opinions. We believe that these modifications will enable players to adapt their playstyle without the constraints of the willpower/execution system. However, players will need to be mindful of their stamina usage. We plan to adjust the numbers until they feel just right.
Secondly, alongside the changes to the Slomo/Time-Focus system, we'll move the Weapon Ultimate to its own separate resource, allowing players to use it more frequently. We noticed that players don’t utilize the weapon ultimate since it consumes all willpower, effectively preventing players from executing enemies, which is unfortunate since executions are a crucial part of the gameplay loop.
Ultimates will now consume a unique resource that accumulates over time and with combo kills. When the ultimate bar reaches 100%, players can use the ultimate, which will deplete the ultimate resource.
We anticipate that these changes will permit players to use the slow-motion mechanic more often, and allow weapon ultimates to be used more frequently. We believe these adjustments will greatly benefit the game.
What else?
In addition to player mechanic changes, I am planning an overhaul of the enemy AI. Honestly, the AI in Suit for Hire is one of my first attempts at video game AI, and it is evidently flawed and makeshift.
In this update, I intend to rebuild the enemy AI from the ground up, aiming to make them appear more intelligent and equipped with enhanced functionalities to enrich the dynamic gameplay of the game.
The AI adjustments will persist over the next few updates, introducing new abilities to the enemies such as retreating or disarming and frantically searching for a weapon on the ground.
We will share more information regarding this overhaul as we progress.
There are plenty of other improvements and additions in store for v20.0, which we hope you all will appreciate. However, this is only the beginning.
What's after v20.0?
Before we can consider Suit for Hire to be complete, there are quite a few things that we need to finish. Some of the additions in the next few updates will include:
- Steam Achievements
- 4 new Miami chapters
- A few other levels and modes like Endless and some challenge levels
- Player/Suit customization
- More Primary Weapons to choose from
- New and Improved Tutorial
- Improved auto-aim systems and general gameplay loop improvements
- New accessibility settings and customization
- Improved/overhauled Counter-attack system
... and more things that we may have missed.
As always, we welcome your thoughts on the upcoming changes we mentioned earlier. We continuously seek feedback to ensure the game is heading in the right direction.
We hope you share our excitement for all the new changes and content on which we'll be working. Our utmost effort will be poured into finally releasing this game out of Early Access. I personally apologize for the delay — no excuses will be made as, at the end of the day, it's our responsibility as developers to deliver to the community.
We anticipate seeing you soon, hopefully with the new v20.0 update. Once again, thank you for your patience and support. Have a fantastic week!
[hr][/hr]
Discuss the game with us and the community on Discord and Twitter. If you want to see the game developed live, catch Crimson on Twitch.
Report any bugs or feedback on our Community Hub.