Noodle Jam: The Week We Accidentally Built a Roguelite Mode

[p]After a long sprint of updates — Haven, Gnasherpalooza, and Equinox — the team took a week to run an internal experiment we called Noodle Jam. [/p][p]The rules were simple:[/p]

• [p]Spend one week making or learning something that could benefit Cloudheim[/p]
• [p]It could be a prototype, system improvement, weird experiment, something you’ve been wanting to try, or something that’s been really bothering you [/p]
• [p]It cannot leave the main game in a half-finished state afterward[/p]

[p]In other words: go build cool stuff, but don’t break the game on your way out.[/p][p]After a pretty intense month of updates, our goal was to give everyone extra freedom to work on what they wanted and follow their curiosity for a bit. (Not that we weren’t excited about development already… but it had been a long month and we needed a little fun).[/p][p]Some people used the time to fix things in the game that had been bothering them, while others experimented with environments, combat, audio, or progression ideas. [/p][p]Interestingly, a lot of the work started orbiting around the same thing: a new roguelite mode. (Several devs may have plotted to do this beforehand). Right now it’s codenamed Njord, and a lot of the work from Noodle Jam feeds directly into that mode. And yes, it is really, really fun. [/p][p]Here’s a look at what the team built over the last week![/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][h3]Visual and Environment Jam[/h3][p]One of the biggest visual upgrades came from new shader work on the sky and clouds, led by our VFX Artist Sven with some implementation from our Art Director, Adam.[/p][p]Sven made a new skydome shader that creates a painterly sky that slowly moves and shifts. It’s also much more performant while looking awesome, so doubly cool. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]There’s also a new shader for clouds in the distance, like when you’re looking at islands on the horizon. The original version was implemented as a giant billboard, but Adam rotates the cloud layer to give the illusion of depth and movement (the inspiration came from Columbia Pictures and their clouds in case you were curious!). [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We also used the same technology to improve Owl Mountain, where Adam painted these clouds to now have actual texture and movement instead of appearing as a flat smudge along the horizon.[/p][p][/p][p]Aaand we also used this tech to build a new background for Greenvor, which now has much richer sky detail than before. [/p][p][/p][p]Kevin made some new stands for the shop - like a weapon rack, a potion stand, and a special stand that gives a bonus for selling items, and David made two new base statues that influence harvesting rocks and plants, which should help on your gold and stardust journey. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Audio Jam[/h3][p]AJ, our expansive audio team of 1 spent some time improving how combat sound and the general mix is handled under the hood.[/p][p]The sound effects system now feeds Lfe(sub channel) correctly for any users present and future who may utilize multichannel sound systems. In a proper multi channel mix, we really only want to "rumble the sub" when targeted. A new lfe class now handles this, and he can target them per sound in the mix.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The HDR system that controls how loud and impactful combat sounds feel was also reconfigured so heavy hits and big moments stand out more clearly. Spatial handling for combat and player sounds are increasingly “centralized” for better mix focus. [/p][p]And since Njord runs needed their own vibe, AJ created some new music variations from existing stems specifically for the roguelite mode, helping give those runs their own feel without needing entirely new tracks.[/p][p][/p][h3]Cloudheim Expeditions[/h3][p]Something we’re really seeing with the game is it’s a very undefined play session. You could be on an island for 3 hours or 15 minutes, no clear pacing structure. Jon, one of our engineers, decided to tackle this issue during Noodle Jam. [/p][p]You'll get random quests in your Esc menu (under Expeditions) with things to try. Once complete, you'll head to a Sylf stone to claim your adventure rewards and get new bounties to try new weapons. [/p][p][/p][p]The core goals are:[/p]

• [p]Encourage players to engage with the mastery system and use more weapons.[/p]
• [p]Create moments where players gather and take a short break to tend to their skills and equipment. [/p]
• [p]A motivational loop that nudges players towards different content and goals.[/p]

[p]We have some ideas on how we could expand this system - like picking goals to work towards specific weapons or rewards, so let us know if you like the idea! [/p][p][/p][h3]Combat Jam [/h3][p]Some of the week’s experiments were more experimental than others.[/p][p]One of Jamie’s, our animator, ideas started as an emote where a player could dunk on someone and then celebrate (which was inspired by his kids sending him videos). That quickly turned into a full attack animation where the player slams down on enemies like a basketball dunk… while on fire.[/p][p][/p][p]We now have soccer, baseball, and basketball in the game, and honestly I have no idea where we are headed next. I’ll probably find out 15 minutes before the next patch.[/p][p]Some other combat stuff that got added includes some new skills, like Flaming Pile Driver and Healing Thunder Spear, courtesy of David (who probably added 100 other things that I don’t know about). [/p][p]Sarah made a ton of new weapons for the game! You’ll start seeing them in the next few updates. We also want to hold a “design a weapon” contest soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that. You draw it and she’ll make it! [/p][p]David spent some time working on progression / scaling, and improved solo scaling under level 100 so it's closer to where we want to go as a stepping stone to bigger scaling fixes. It’s one step of many to make this feel better long term. [/p][p][/p][h3]Character Face Shading Jam[/h3][p]There were also some improvements to how character faces are rendered.[/p][p]Cloudheim uses a stylized cel-shading system, which means the lines that separate light and shadow depend on the angles of the surface of the model. Most of the time this works great, but our characters have fairly complex face shapes, which sometimes caused weird shadow lines during certain animations.[/p][p]For example, a facial expression might suddenly produce a shadow that made it look like a character had… developed an entirely new cheekbone mid-animation.[/p][p]To solve this, Helen, our character artist, built a new pipeline that basically teaches the game how the shading should behave.[/p][p]The trick is to create a smoother version of the face and use it to guide the shadow directions. We then apply that information back onto the actual character model so the shading lines behave more predictably while still keeping all the original shapes and details.[/p][p][/p][p]She also wrote a script tool that helps automate parts of the process, which makes it much easier to apply this across characters and tweak tricky areas like mouths, lips, and neck seams. [/p][p][/p][h3]Island Jam[/h3][p]One of the bigger surprises of the week was that Ian, one of our designers, casually built an entire new (small) island.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]This new prototype area is a swamp biome that’s around the same size as Outlands and includes puzzles, secrets, and new environmental hazards.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]One example is a bomb beetle nest, which does exactly what it sounds like and adds some fun chaos to combat encounters. There’s also an early boss encounter being worked on, along with a puzzle where players use orbs to unlock chests.[/p][p]PS. We are currently not sure where this island will land in the game. It might be a dungeon in the Vaults or a map for the roguelite mode. We genuinely did not expect someone to make a whole island. Our team is just as chaotic as our game. Yes this makes my job hard, haha. [/p][p][/p][h3]The Big Jam: Codename Njord - Our Roguelite Mode[/h3][p]For those of you who didn’t just scroll to this section, thank you for reading. And for those of you that did, honestly a roguelite is probably the game mode for you. [/p][p]During Noodle Jam, multiple experiments started forming the early shape of a roguelite mode, codenamed Njord. We’re noodling on a better name. Have an idea? Let us know! [/p][p]The basic idea is simple: you enter a portal and start a run where enemies grow stronger the longer you survive. To support this, several new systems were prototyped. Credit for Njord goes to many team members, including Michael, Alex, David, Adam, and Jon (a bunch of engineering with a sprinkling of Art & Design).[/p][p]First, there’s a hub area where everything lives physically in the world instead of in menus. This includes things like:[/p]

• [p]A multiplayer statue for adjusting multiplayer settings[/p]
• [p]A wardrobe for appearance customization[/p]
• [p]A collection statue[/p]
• [p]A training dojo for testing weapons[/p]
• [p]A difficulty totem for modifying the challenge of a run[/p]

[p][/p][p]Adam also gave this statue a mustache, which is very important. [/p][p]Players can also choose different starting loadouts through a system called Origins, which works a bit like classes. Completing quests unlocks additional Origins over time.[/p][p][/p][p]Runs themselves get progressively more dangerous thanks to a new enemy spawning system that ramps up difficulty the longer you survive. There were also some experiments with pathfinding so enemies don’t all try to sprint down the exact same route toward you. Instead, the system detects when too many enemies are using the same route and nudges others to spread out, which makes fights feel much more chaotic (in a good way).[/p][p]Runs also feature new upgrades and powerups. There are 15 new totems that can modify gameplay in different ways — boosting damage, increasing loot, leveling you faster, or giving you absurd mobility abilities, like giant jumps and supercharged plunge attacks.[/p][p]Chests were expanded to support more items, and there’s also a new monster box chest that spawns enemies when opened that will totally not be used a lot. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Runs end with a summary screen showing damage dealt, equipment used, and other stats before you jump back in for another attempt.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]I realize that the entire idea of this Noodle Jam was that everything is buttoned up in a week, but an entire new game mode will take a bit more time, so we can’t just push it live today. Which is very sad, but look forward to it appearing in the future starting as a limited time event! (And it might be a permanent thing, if y'all really like it).[/p][p][/p][h3]In Conclusion[/h3][p]Noodle Jam was meant to give the team a chance to try weird ideas, learn new tools, and fix things that had been sitting on the “someday” list for a while. Instead, it also helped us accidentally prototype a whole new way to play Cloudheim.[/p][p]Njord is still very much in development, but the core of it is already coming together. We’ll be sharing more about it soon as we keep building it out.[/p][p]In the meantime, we’re curious what you all think. Roguelite mode names are still very much up in the air, so if you’ve got a good one, drop it in the comments. Also, would you play a Cloudheim roguelite mode? [/p][h3][/h3][h3]So, What's Next? [/h3][p]
Great question, I'd love to tell you. Our next update comes sometime next week, and we will be doing a Dev Stream next Tuesday to talk about it! [/p][p][/p][p]We will also be updating the Roadmap next week to cover all of the new goodies + even more incoming content for Cloudheim.

See you then!

-Noodle Cat Games[/p]