August Development Diary
Hello everyone, I hope you're having a great day, today there's some very interesting development news for The Bakerville Case that I'd like to share with you, including story and lore details, UI improvements, implementations, weapon details, and more.
[h2]STORY AND LORE[/h2]
Regarding the story and narrative background, as I mentioned in the previous post, I have been writing several text records and documents that narrate and explain important events and situations. Today, I bring many new details to share regarding these topics.
First, each type of document narrates part of a specific event, topic or situation, and they are divided into the following categories:
I am trying to make the game as rich in background as possible and make sense of that in aspects such as chronology and a context that fits well. In short, a general “why”.
Second, the main story will be a simple plot, but the protagonist's journey to escape Bakerville will not be easy.
Due to various factors, I am limited to making a less extensive and deep story as I would have liked, but I want it to be as well structured as possible, no matter how simple it is.
In theory, the story goes like this: Thomas Baker, the protagonist, arrives in Bakerville, but he has no way back, so he enters the town and discovers its horrible secrets, and to expose that to the public, he must obtain evidence, so he decides to explore thoroughly and escape with the evidence, but what will make his escape adventure complicated will be the challenges that the player will have to overcome, while increasingly darker secrets are revealed, while, thanks to the notes that Thomas writes in his logs, the player will be able to understand the protagonist's way of thinking.
There will also be a secondary character, Jessica Shaw, who acts as a kind of guide in Thomas' adventure, while she also searches for a way to escape from Bakerville.
The latter will in the future give rise to the story expansion starring Jessica, which at the same time will bring new mechanics and ideas that I would like to experiment with, and which I plan to do after the release of the full game.
[h2]INTERFACE[/h2]
The overall UI of all player panels has been improved, for example, the Backpack, Log, Navigation, Upgrades, and Challenges panels now have a better-distributed display of items.
Tutorials have also been added to the panels to give the player a more detailed understanding of the UI elements and their respective functions in regards to gameplay.
[h2]RARITY LEVELS[/h2]
A rarity system has been added that governs the value and power of weapons and items.
Rarity levels represent how often an item is found or how powerful its characteristics are.
[h2]CHALLENGES[/h2]
A new implementation I've been working on is the addition of Challenges (not to be confused with “Challenge Zones”), which upon completing specific tasks grant special rewards.
Some weapons will be part of the rewards that can be obtained through this system.
In order to avoid conflicts, Challenges will only take into account content available in the base game and not future DLCs.
Challenges are organized as follows:
[h2]WEAPONS[/h2]
Many new weapons have been added to the game's ecosystem, such as SMGs, Rifles, Shotguns, and more.
Something worth noting is how weapons are organized in the game:
Some, as mentioned above, will be obtainable through Challenges, while others will be obtained through Challenge Zones or by finding them in the environment.
Below is a list of all the weapons that will be available in the base game, and screenshots of each weapon are also attached:
[h2]WEAPONS SKINS[/h2]
Another new implementation in development is the inclusion of a system of skins that can be equipped to weapons, which can be obtained through challenges, Challenge Zones or by finding them in the environment.
Some skins will arrive through DLCs in the future.
It should be noted that not all weapons will have skins.
[h2]ACCESS TO WORKSHOPS[/h2]
There will be 3 workshops spread across the map, which will be accessible by finding their respective keys and each will contain upgrade levels 1, 2, and 3 respectively, but regardless of whether a workshop containing the high-level upgrades is accessible, the player will need to obtain the base-level upgrades first.
For example, if the player wants to obtain “Improved Resupply - Level 2”, he/she will need to obtain “Improved Resupply - Level 1” first, and so on for each upgrade.
[h2]EXCHANGE STORES[/h2]
Exchange Stores are places of interest where the player can purchase items, weapons, and other resources and consumables using Credits.
Unlocking a Workshop will also grant access to its respective Exchange Store.
[h2]SUPPLY BOXES[/h2]
They contain various types of items such as ammo, consumables, resources, and even weapons.
They can be unlocked using Golden Keys that the player can obtain in the environment and through other sources.
They can be easily found next to a red-lit candlestick or by finding "Supply Reports" to discover their exact location.
The loot from the boxes can be improved by obtaining the "Improved Resupply" upgrade.
[h2]NAVIGATION SYSTEM[/h2]
Recently, I finished integrating a navigation system, which I see as necessary as an alternative to a town map.
In order to effectively use the navigation system, the player will need to find the Navigation Kit by progressing through the story, which will allow the player to track points of interest, loot, and challenge zones by displaying a compass that will be located at the top of the game interface.
When the player arrives at a point of interest, he/she will be able to find a map that, when interact with, will turn on a purple light, indicating that the area has been successfully added to the navigation panel, after which the player will be able to view the added point of interest and track it on their compass.
Only one point of interest can be tracked at a time.
[h2]TECHNICAL SETTINGS[/h2]
I recently added AMD FSR 3 support, which improves performance by running the game at a lower internal resolution and then scaling the image, thereby increasing the frames per second.
All gameplay, graphics, and controls settings will be available from Early Access, so there will be a wide variety of options to customize the look and feel of the game, so those who are already familiar with these options that are present in most PC games will find it easy to adjust the various options available.
All graphics features and their settings are detailed below:
GENERAL
[h2]CONCLUSIONS[/h2]
This is all I have to share for this occasion, I am “cooking” many exciting aspects of the project that I will reveal in the next development updates, although at a “slow heat”, but I think that they will leave a great “taste in the mouth” when seeing them integrated into the game.
As a little extra information, many people have told me (or I have heard around), that my game is very similar to Resident Evil, especially 7 and Village (8), and the truth is that I am taking a lot of inspiration from them, both artistic and gameplay-wise, to forge my own interactive experience and give it my unique touch, as I mentioned, I am limited by multiple factors, since a video game is one of the most complex artistic and technological works that humanity can create, since it mixes sound, music, script, programming, modeling, design, etc., but I am striving to achieve the vision I have for my project and to have a certain level of quality.
Okay, that's all I have for this occasion, see you in the next development diary with more news about the project, until next time!
- Kevin
[h2]STORY AND LORE[/h2]
Regarding the story and narrative background, as I mentioned in the previous post, I have been writing several text records and documents that narrate and explain important events and situations. Today, I bring many new details to share regarding these topics.
First, each type of document narrates part of a specific event, topic or situation, and they are divided into the following categories:
- Prologue
- Supply Reports
- Mindpiercer Project
- The Trials
- Bakerville
- Inhabitants
I am trying to make the game as rich in background as possible and make sense of that in aspects such as chronology and a context that fits well. In short, a general “why”.
Second, the main story will be a simple plot, but the protagonist's journey to escape Bakerville will not be easy.
Due to various factors, I am limited to making a less extensive and deep story as I would have liked, but I want it to be as well structured as possible, no matter how simple it is.
In theory, the story goes like this: Thomas Baker, the protagonist, arrives in Bakerville, but he has no way back, so he enters the town and discovers its horrible secrets, and to expose that to the public, he must obtain evidence, so he decides to explore thoroughly and escape with the evidence, but what will make his escape adventure complicated will be the challenges that the player will have to overcome, while increasingly darker secrets are revealed, while, thanks to the notes that Thomas writes in his logs, the player will be able to understand the protagonist's way of thinking.
There will also be a secondary character, Jessica Shaw, who acts as a kind of guide in Thomas' adventure, while she also searches for a way to escape from Bakerville.
The latter will in the future give rise to the story expansion starring Jessica, which at the same time will bring new mechanics and ideas that I would like to experiment with, and which I plan to do after the release of the full game.
[h2]INTERFACE[/h2]
The overall UI of all player panels has been improved, for example, the Backpack, Log, Navigation, Upgrades, and Challenges panels now have a better-distributed display of items.
Tutorials have also been added to the panels to give the player a more detailed understanding of the UI elements and their respective functions in regards to gameplay.
[h2]RARITY LEVELS[/h2]
A rarity system has been added that governs the value and power of weapons and items.
Rarity levels represent how often an item is found or how powerful its characteristics are.
- Common
- Uncommon
- Epic
- Legendary
[h2]CHALLENGES[/h2]
A new implementation I've been working on is the addition of Challenges (not to be confused with “Challenge Zones”), which upon completing specific tasks grant special rewards.
Some weapons will be part of the rewards that can be obtained through this system.
In order to avoid conflicts, Challenges will only take into account content available in the base game and not future DLCs.
Challenges are organized as follows:
- Basic Challenges: These are objectives that cover a variety of actions.
- Master Challenges: These are objectives that involve completing a set of common challenges.
- Ultimate Challenge: Unique in its kind, it involves completing all of the Master Challenges.
[h2]WEAPONS[/h2]
Many new weapons have been added to the game's ecosystem, such as SMGs, Rifles, Shotguns, and more.
Something worth noting is how weapons are organized in the game:
- Conventional Weapons: These are easy to find and can be upgraded to reach their full potential.
- Emblematic Weapons: These are harder to obtain and are usually Epic or Legendary rarity and already have base traits and cannot be upgraded.
- Experimental Weapons: These have a little backstory to them within the game. These are the hardest to obtain but are some of the most powerful weapons that will exist in the game.
Some, as mentioned above, will be obtainable through Challenges, while others will be obtained through Challenge Zones or by finding them in the environment.
Below is a list of all the weapons that will be available in the base game, and screenshots of each weapon are also attached:
-
PISTOLS
- M1911
- G18
- M9
- M1911 Tactical
- MK23 (Emblematic)
- Makarov (Emblematic)
- PT-9M Experimental
-
SHOTGUNS
- M37
- M3
- Richter Super 90 (Emblematic)
- Double-Barrel Shotgun (Emblematic)
-
SUBMACHINEGUNS
- Viper 9
- M1A1 (Emblematic)
- Sten Mk. 1
- AKS-74u
-
ASSAULT RIFLES
- AK47
- AR15
- AKM (Emblem)
- MCX
- M14
- VKX-77 Experimental
-
SNIPER RIFLES
- Osiris X50 Experimental
- M1876
-
MAGNUMS
- Desert Eagle
- LeMat Revolver Carbine (Emblematic)
-
HEAVY WEAPONS
- Flamethrower
- Flintlock Hand Cannon (Emblematic)
-
MELEE
- Survival Knife
- Axe
- Katana (Emblem)
- "Lucille Tribute" Baseball Bat (Emblematic)
[h2]WEAPONS SKINS[/h2]
Another new implementation in development is the inclusion of a system of skins that can be equipped to weapons, which can be obtained through challenges, Challenge Zones or by finding them in the environment.
Some skins will arrive through DLCs in the future.
It should be noted that not all weapons will have skins.
- [h3]USER INTERFACE: ARMORY[/h3]
A subscreen called Armory has been added to the player panel, where players can equip skins to their weapons, in it, the player can see where and how to obtain skins that are locked. - [h3]USER INTERFACE: WEAPON STATS[/h3]
This subscreen also has a panel called Weapon Stats, where the player can see in detail the traits and characteristics of the weapons they have obtained, such as damage, rate of fire, ammo capacity, among other data. In addition, they can preview what a weapon stats will look like after an upgrade.
[h2]ACCESS TO WORKSHOPS[/h2]
There will be 3 workshops spread across the map, which will be accessible by finding their respective keys and each will contain upgrade levels 1, 2, and 3 respectively, but regardless of whether a workshop containing the high-level upgrades is accessible, the player will need to obtain the base-level upgrades first.
For example, if the player wants to obtain “Improved Resupply - Level 2”, he/she will need to obtain “Improved Resupply - Level 1” first, and so on for each upgrade.
[h2]EXCHANGE STORES[/h2]
Exchange Stores are places of interest where the player can purchase items, weapons, and other resources and consumables using Credits.
Unlocking a Workshop will also grant access to its respective Exchange Store.
- [h3]SELL STATION[/h3]
I've been working on a simple yet effective system for selling items, I present to you the Sell Station, a terminal available in Exchange Stores where you can sell specific items in exchange for Credits.
To make this system work, a new inventory item was added that can be obtained by finding objects of various appearance in the environment called “Exchange Items”.
[h2]SUPPLY BOXES[/h2]
They contain various types of items such as ammo, consumables, resources, and even weapons.
They can be unlocked using Golden Keys that the player can obtain in the environment and through other sources.
They can be easily found next to a red-lit candlestick or by finding "Supply Reports" to discover their exact location.
The loot from the boxes can be improved by obtaining the "Improved Resupply" upgrade.
[h2]NAVIGATION SYSTEM[/h2]
Recently, I finished integrating a navigation system, which I see as necessary as an alternative to a town map.
In order to effectively use the navigation system, the player will need to find the Navigation Kit by progressing through the story, which will allow the player to track points of interest, loot, and challenge zones by displaying a compass that will be located at the top of the game interface.
When the player arrives at a point of interest, he/she will be able to find a map that, when interact with, will turn on a purple light, indicating that the area has been successfully added to the navigation panel, after which the player will be able to view the added point of interest and track it on their compass.
Only one point of interest can be tracked at a time.
[h2]TECHNICAL SETTINGS[/h2]
I recently added AMD FSR 3 support, which improves performance by running the game at a lower internal resolution and then scaling the image, thereby increasing the frames per second.
All gameplay, graphics, and controls settings will be available from Early Access, so there will be a wide variety of options to customize the look and feel of the game, so those who are already familiar with these options that are present in most PC games will find it easy to adjust the various options available.
All graphics features and their settings are detailed below:
GENERAL
- Sound Volume
- Resolution
- Display Mode
- Dynamic Range
- Vertical Sync
- Brightness
- AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.2
- AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 3
- Antialiasing (FXAA, SMAA, TAA, MSAA, NVIDIA FXAA, DLAA, TRAA)
- NVIDIA Reflex
- Ray Traced Screen Space Reflections
- Ray Traced Real-Time Global Illumination
- Ray Traced Ambient Occlusion (HBAO)
- Contact Shadows
- Texture Resolution
- Anisotropic Filtering
- Textures mipmaps streaming
- Memory budget for streaming texture mipmaps
- Multithread rendering
- Models and simulation detail
- Subsurface scattering
- Render distance (Experimental)
- Volumetric lighting rendering mode
- Atmospheric fog resolution
- Particle upsampling
- PFX acceleration (Interactive Dynamic Fog)
- Shadow resolution
- Shadow distance
- Shadow projection method
- Light texture quality
- Ambient Occlusion method (SSAO, GTAO, HBAO, NNAO)
- Level of detail
- Foliage quality
- Terrain texture distance
- Terrain detail distance (Minor vegetation)
- 2D element quality
- Film grain
- Motion blur
- Aberration Chromatic
- Lens distortion
- Vignette
- Light flare (Bloom or Glare)
[h2]CONCLUSIONS[/h2]
This is all I have to share for this occasion, I am “cooking” many exciting aspects of the project that I will reveal in the next development updates, although at a “slow heat”, but I think that they will leave a great “taste in the mouth” when seeing them integrated into the game.
As a little extra information, many people have told me (or I have heard around), that my game is very similar to Resident Evil, especially 7 and Village (8), and the truth is that I am taking a lot of inspiration from them, both artistic and gameplay-wise, to forge my own interactive experience and give it my unique touch, as I mentioned, I am limited by multiple factors, since a video game is one of the most complex artistic and technological works that humanity can create, since it mixes sound, music, script, programming, modeling, design, etc., but I am striving to achieve the vision I have for my project and to have a certain level of quality.
Okay, that's all I have for this occasion, see you in the next development diary with more news about the project, until next time!
- Kevin
