Regulators News

A fresh new public demo! This is to welcome people coming over from the Indie Live Expo 2022 that Regulator City is participating in. Check out the demo, it’s still a heavy work in progress, but it does show you where this game is moving towards and it’s only getting better from here !

For existing demo players, this version comes with such a long list of changes, I don’t expect anybody to read through it, but trust me, it’s a good list from a development point of view. A lot of changes, fixes, improvements and new content all over the place. I also changed some of the level maps, giving them a better flow and more interesting tactical wise. I’ll continue tweaking these things and of course I’ll be adding new maps to play on (there are already one or two new ones in this version).

Make sure to wishlist the game, and also come hang out on the Discord: discord.gg/orangepixel – where eventually we will be moving to private beta’s/demos closer to release!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1892750/Regulator_City/



One or two of the bigger changes are featured in my latest devlog video, so if you want to hear me explain some thought process on these things AND show the creation of a couple of NPC avatar pictures, then this is the video to watch:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


Full changes list:

• added: Time-limit variations on missions
  
• added: better HUD design for timelimit (also on detonations)
  
• added: “one-time missions” will be striked-through on failure
  
• added: Park areas are now darker, with light coming through trees
  
• added: More grunts to enemies which are attacking
  
• added:”fallen” squad members now don’t move in/out buildings anymore
  
• added: single-floor-tile editing to level editor
  
• added: mission-type icon to interface (top right corner)
  
• added: grass floors
  
• added: vending machine should only give X amount of cans – and these should restore HP
  
• added: halved-HP missions should restore that “taken hp” after a mission
  
• added: extra triggers for squad members to respond to and behave on
  
• added: statusbar for fallen squad members now blink
  
• added: a “marker” floor area to be used infront of operational computers like in HQ
  
• added: NPC avatars to dialogs
  
• added: ammo-handling now done per-weapon type
  
• added: Disabled power will be automatically reset after X amount of seconds
  
• added: Nightvision goggles for power-less mode
  
• added: escorting hostage will now have more enemy spawns
  
• changed: mission-variations now more random (better randomness)
  
• changed: keycards only picked up by player (less confusion to the player)
  
• changed: improved first park area
  
• changed: updated first Park area to look much better now
  
• changed: after completed mission you first go back to HQ instead of citymap
  
• changed: your squad team now build out of non-main characters (clones)
  
• changed: only show human-player HUD
  
• changed: Only “human players” appear in HQ
  
• changed: disabled using HP on squad members (they are now fragmeat)
  
• changed: slowed down bouncy arrow in city view
  
• changed: small fixes to HUD
  
• changed: new interface designs
  
• changed: some weapons won’t be dropped by enemies
  
• changed: improved feeling on melee-hits and punches
  
• changed: disabled “auto-snap” on gamepad aiming
  
• changed: melee weapons now have a limited-use (except Knife)
  
• changed: weapon Knife is always restored as alt-weapon if no alt-weapon is there
  
• changed: item-drops on enemies now random (not ammo/dna only)
  
• changed: hostage can’t be killed (we had no control over the outcome)
  
• changed: mission progress info rendered smaller, and added sound
  
• fixed: failing mission with 2 soldiers doesn’t reset 4 team members on retry
  
• fixed: bullets colliding seem blocked by furniture
  
• fixed: gamepad aiming was a bit off
  
• fixed: melee-enemies can still swing when Morphed
  
• fixed: security-camera danger-zones aren’t stopping the squad from moving
  
• fixed: shade of squad members who fell turn green
  
• fixed: npc dialog text not properly centered (more room on left side)
  
• fixed: extreme pathfinding slow down bug
  
• fixed: returning to street doesn’t reset No-Dodge modification
  
• fixed: Dodge move delay/duration overlapping issues
  
• fixed: bullets moving slowpaced and only horizontally (when hit a wall vertically)
  
• fixed: safe-cracking task arrow rendering bug
  
• fixed: issues with blasting walls
  
• fixed: trees block bullets on their visual-properties, not their collision box
  
• fixed: some items are placed inside walls
  
• fixed: hostage can run through closed keycard door
  
• fixed: tasks sometimes don’t get activated
  
• fixed: circle for HQ computer is wrongly positioned when flipped
  
• fixed: enemies still spot players in dark (no power mode)
  
• fixed: energy not increased from dispensor drinks
  
• fixed: modifier with 1DNA for abilities doesn’t work
  
• fixed: improved mission modifiers randomness
  
• fixed: inventory items (keycard) sometimes gets added 30+ times
  
• fixed: exit-hotspot on vertical door on right is a bit off
  
• fixed: possibly close garage-door when mission is done
  
• fixed: picking up ammo should go to weapon-slot if walking with melee weapon
  
• fixed: entry door should be disabled and not function as exit-door when proper-exit is there
  

A brand new demo is now available! The previous demo was a build, many , many centuries old.. or at least that's how it feels! The game has seen improvements on all fronts, and even tho this is far from stable, and far from finished, you should have a pretty good time taking on some of the missions!

The purpose of this demo is to give a good new sample of what I'm trying to create here, there will be bugs! there will be issues! there will be things that get tweaked and changed over time, but it IS a good indication of what the final game will be (just that it will be more, bigger and better).

I uploaded a new video talking about the dodge moves, city map changes, mission structure, etc, over to youtube, which you can check out here:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

A shorter version, mostly just the gameplay stuff, can be seen on the Regulator City Steam page ("Dodge moves").

The game is now fully back on track, after a few months where I was simply struggling with some of the parts in the gameplay. Things simply weren't matching up! And sometimes that happens when creating games.. it's not as easy as people might think ;)

Some key changes now put the game in a great state, and new ideas are flowing again. Take the demo for a spin, and see the possibilities of what this game will/can become in a few months from now, and don't forget to WISHLIST it !

Join Discord.gg/Orangepixel to talk about the game and share your thoughts and ideas for a chance of getting your name in the credits !

important: Don't forget to wishlist the game!

So many things are currently happening to the game, that it's hard keeping up with these little update posts!  Last few weeks it felt like a lot of the features finally all came together:  The problems I had with the mission-select screen are now all fixed and the whole game-flow is amazing.  The gameplay it self has undergone a bunch of tiny tweaks that make the game just a lot smoother and nicer to play; Things like having a little "push back" on enemies when they get hit by bullets, but also big things like adding "dodge" moves to every character!



Let's start with the new way the mission map works, I've been struggling with the whole concept of it for months now, trying various features, then removing those features, trying other features, but ! - after a good talk in the discord.gg/orangepixel the idea was to use the Street view as actual mission-select screen. So instead of having every building selectable, we now only select the center building of a block, and when we enter that, the street view will contain three mission buildings/doors that you can tackle in any order you like, and you can back out of a mission, and return to the street and from there you can even return to the mission-map by getting back in your car!

It all just makes more sense, gives more meaning to the street-level, makes the city-map interface a lot cleaner and easier to navigate.. and pretty much just improves all of it!

Next thing, and this also came from the discord! is adding dodge-moves to the characters. These will be different for each character and most will come with a little up and down side to things. Right now the v0.0.34 build has three dodge moves build in:

Morph - will do a quick dash move. While dashing you'll be invulnerable


Cruse - will do a tiny "circle of fists" as they block bullets and enemies, and deal a little damage. It does take a little longer to refuel that move compared to Morph



Bionica - does a little ghost/invisibility trick, making you invulnerable during that time, but you also can't shoot!


The other two characters will also get their own dodge ability, and it will require a little bit of tweaking to make sure it is all balanced out, but it certainly enhances the game!

What doesn't enhance the game, but just looks freakin' cool, is the new night time.
Still figuring out when/how to use it, but we'll probably have some missions that need to be played in night-time, and that might just host a few changes to the gameplay -- because we all know: monsters come out at night.. !


The game is now in a really nice solid state (as far as development builds go) and I'm also confident that I can start working on a public demo version which will be stable enough for people to play around with and get a sense of the game. So that will be one of my main missions for the next few weeks: make it a stable build and do some sort of public demo or beta test phase thing..!



Full changes list:

• fixed: progress mission count is a mess (code wise) clean it up and make it simpler
  
• fixed: Got park, but park-area has no missions!
  
• fixed: exit-door now doesn't trigger on mission-complete status (just exits to street)
  
• fixed: pickups don't "float" up anymore
  
• fixed: cars appearing on top of trees
  
• fixed: wall-texture bug near doors (no room id's)
  
• fixed: fire from barrels/debris appears behind object
  
• fixed: remote-doors showing message even if they are opened\
  
• fixed: only make "hurt" sound when not invulnerable/invisible
  
• added: street level can now be entered from the left
  
• added: more punch to hitting/slashing enemies
  
• added: mission-marker graffiti on the road
  
• added: squad should "regroup" when mission is accomplished and exit opens up
  
• added: Street view now has multiple doors to the various missions in a block
  
• added: improved smashing/hit effect on enemies
  
• added: kickback to enemies being shot (acts as visual hit confirmation)
  
• added: Anarchy logo on completed doors/mission in street
  
• added: Night-time
  
• added: Dodge moves for Morph and Cruse
  
• added: Dodge move for Bionica
  
• changed: full streamlining of the city-map and mission selection system
  
• changed: removed Abort command (can now walk back into the street)
  

Time for another update, as we are a few internal build versions later than the last update I posted about. Many things have changed in all aspects of the game, for a large part because I've been struggling with Regulator City, and if you want to know more about that struggle then please check out last weeks video:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

I've been slowly trying to fix the issues I'm having with the game, even tho I'm not exactly clear on what those issues were!  A large part was some sort of creative block I guess, and I needed to change a few things in the game's design in order to fix that creative block.

When you do open-development like I do, with almost weekly videos and talking about things in the discord, a lot of people have certain ideas and expectations of the game (mostly without actually playing the game) which can be a great asset for a solo game developer: you get to tap out of a large pool of ideas and suggestions.

BUT - and yeah, there's a but: it can also be a terrible thing as you're pretty much trying to keep everyone interested in the game and don't want to let down people's expectations.. which of course will happen! For me this meant that I was trying to do too much in a single game. Many people have seen this game as being a strategic/tactical game, where you give commands to your team and then they go in and do exactly what you told them to do.... which is great, but I was personally going for something a little different!

My main goal was creating a "cool action game" where you are part of a team that moves and operates as a single entity, and you might be the leader, but your team will mostly operate around you on their own.  And that's what a large portion of development time went into: creating Squad AI that behaves in a cool way.

Now THAT game is the one I've been making, and may of the other ideas and suggestions are based on more slow-paced strategic games, which are great games and ideas, but NOT the game I was trying to make. So it somewhat started to affect my game development process a bit, where I was trying to add all these things and make sure people wouldn't get disappointed by the result.. meaning I was making a monster game that was a little bit of everything, but nothing specific.

I decided to turn things around and get some focus back on what my goal was. This means a few things that the current Patreon build has:

"Dumbed down" enemies - their movement pattern and attacks are now more predictable, making it a lot more fun as a player to take them down
"Declutter" the screen - less garbage pixels (icons which aren't needed, less debris particles, less effects, etc). This makes things clearer at all times and doesn't make you get lost in the action.
"Declutter" the flow - less pop-up dialogs, replacing the "searching for items" with just seeing the item and being able to grab it, and other such game-design tweaks.
Cleared up gamedesign - mostly for myself I had to get certain design directions more clearly on paper. So that I know what I'm working towards and regain focus on the important things that need to be added.

So for all Patron's,  grab the latest copy and check out some of those improvements. The difficulty balance is pretty far off the mark right now - so take things easy and slow, or you'll die on the first level!  I will start tweaking those things soon enough!

There will also be a new Steam demo coming soon, once I get things back on track with the game! So stay tuned for that

Full changes list of v0.30,31 and 32:

• fixed: crash bug loading wrong template
  
• fixed: render-blitch on some vertical cars
  
• fixed: breach-door crash in HQ
  
• fixed: city map remembers previous games when starting a new game
  
• fixed: mission in cityview go from 1->2->4 ?
  
• fixed: Squad car always does 1 hp damage to leader when getting out
  
• fixed: camera-focus only if spot isn't already on screen
  
• fixed: mouse-aiming still off few pixels from target
  
• fixed: throwing bomb/molotov also dumps the bomb/molotiv as "emptied weapon"
  
• fixed: door not breachable by other team-member on players command
  
• fixed: squad shouldn't trigger tasks when player in (close)combat
  
• fixed: player can grab 2 enemies at once
  
• added: more soundeffects to events
  
• added: HP-bars above target enemies
  
• added: show Avatar face on Task screen - showing who is activating it
  
• added: "inversed - automatic door" so that 1 button closes 1 door, and opens another (fun level design)
  
• added: push-buttons/doors need power to work
  
• added: new enemy AI code, more "stable" and less "random feeling"
  
• added: Oozed-up enemies with special abilities
  
• added: close-combat taking down enemies
  
• added: squad will now pick up weapons that player ignored
  
• changed: disabled manual building-unlocking (for now)
  
• changed: Keycards are no longer hidden, more visual, improves gameplay
  
• changed: ammo drops are more visual and happen more often
  
• changed: ammo-bar in hud more visual/bigger
  
• changed: Task interface improvements and smaller instruction text
  
• changed: removed the Breach and Open door commands from the options - now just auto picks what's needed/useful
  
• changed: show left/right turn icons on the VAult taks buttons (and only unlock if turned the right direction)
  
• change: Rewrite of enemy-AI
  
• change: team-AI by default same for every general (more aggressive settings)
  
• changed: show medi-kit in statusbar when squad member is down (game icon isnt'clear enough)
  
• changed: removed hand-gestures (clutter)
  
• changed: removed bullets - replaced with a single ammo box (clutter)
  
• changed: dead bodies are darker/less visible (clutter)
  
• changed: removed various debris and effects (clutter)
  

We are moving in the right direction gameplay wise! Based on demo feedback, and also knowing that certain things needed work, I’ve been tinkering with the game in recent weeks and have been slowly making big changes and decisions to the whole map-view and progression system.



The game now takes a more traditional approach to the city-view, which honestly fixes a lot of situations and design problems that I was running into with the more fancy stuff I was trying to do! Also – I can’t keep wasting time on that mission screen because after all.. it’s just a mission screen! With the new mission structure in place, it also became easier and clearer to balance the whole difficulty regarding your opponents and the missions.

Early missions will pose an easier challenge, with less enemies, weaker enemies and it allows you to learn the game more and get into the groove of leading your team!



I also decided to put all dialogs on a “pause” mode, where originally the dialogs would just turn the game into a slow-motion mode.. which is cool and all, but for most players, it’s just going to be annoying! So lessons learned from previous games should not be discarded in future games!

A few new maps added to the game, and the game will also “flip/mirror” levels at random.. and even if you know a building very well, playing it in a mirrored version will surely keep you on your toes!

With so many changes to the game, I decided to also push out a new version of the demo to Steam, and have it up for a few weeks longer.. so if you want to try out all these changes, grab the latest version of the demo and have a play! I also made a fun video talking about these changes, while at the same time trying to see if it would run on an iiRcade cabinet.. Check it here:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Full changes list:

• added: “Error – need codes” dialog to keypad task
  
• added: bomb-throwing enemies
  
• added: maps will now be randomly mirrored
  
• added: player can now pickup+use dropped bombs+mtovcocktaisl
  
• added: citymap structure and level progression system
  
• added: enemy spawns are easier/less based on level progression
  
• added:water-stream now also pushes enemies around
  
• added: weapon-pickups show item-name
  
• added: security-code post-it added to security panel (once found)
  
• added: wall-switch to turn power-off/on on floor electricity areas
  
  
• tweak: complete overhaul of city-map and it’s workings (more progres/mission based)
  
• tweak: improved visuals on enemies
  
• tweak: molotov throwing enemies now also in-doors
  
• tweak: roof-entrance was barely used
  
• tweak: Hostages now use proper pathfinding (not just player-shadow)
  
• tweak: electronic door opening should be faster (or lock camera shorter – delay is too long to remain fun)
  
• tweak: level-flipped state tied to citymap building
  
• tweak: citymap visability improvements
  
• tweak: weapon-pickups shouldn’t be automatic
  
• tweak: chapter-name is gone (became useless)
  
• tweak: all dialogs have a “user-prompt” to replace automatic-vanishing
  
• tweak: improved safe-crack task gameplay
  
• tweak: redesign maps for HQ – split up into different levels for different functionality
  
• tweak: regroup command always goes first (including activated tasks/operations)
  
• tweak: keycards are now more randomly spread (not top-left corner furniture)
  
  
• fixed: player-shade sometimes stays in blood-shape
  
• fixed: floor-bug in industrial level
  
• fixed: items found in furniture don’t count as pick-up
  
• fixed: vault-missions not happening
  
• fixed: intel guy is waiting for all (AI) players to stop-moving – only check human players
  
• fixed: floor-electricity should block AI more
  
• fixed: flipped levels – lose their left-most wall
  
• fixed: “take down” mission on empty buildings
  
• fixed: floor-electricity should not be placed near doors
  
• fixed: exitX and exitY sometimes set to 0 (causes issues – even tho there is an exit door)
  
• fixed: mapview path, should keep track of previous mission (and only split up from MAIN missions, not sub missions)
  
• fixed: cityview should start on sub-mission or HQ.. now starts on “thin air”
  
• fixed: various annoyances with researching-items/furniture
  
• fixed: “cracked safe 0/1” should be 1/1
  
• fixed: wall-switch can be used from backside of the wall
  
• fixed: hostage makes more logic choices, stays closer to player, and moves to exit when possible