DYSPLACED News

Hello! This is our first dev diary for this year. As should, we’ve been busy developing the game, and it is progressing quite nicely. There have been some nice new additions to Dysplaced. While I cannot offer a comprehensive package on a singular set of features this time, there are still some interesting things to discuss. As always, everything shown is considered a work in progress, so if something looks janky, that is why.

[h2]Horse[/h2]

What would an adventure in a fantasy setting be without a trusty steed? People hoped for a mount in our last game, Dysmantle, but we could not get the mechanic working properly. We had an internal “demo” of the feature, but it looked too goofy to release.

In Dysplaced, you can tame a horse at a certain point in the game. First, you need to learn how to accomplish the feat of taming, and then you need to find a suitable equestrian buddy to tag along with your adventures. After that is said and done, you will gain access to the “Horse Whistle,” which will almost magically bring your new buddy to where you need them.



While riding is already implemented, there is always some fine-tuning regarding animations, so consider this visual work in progress. It would also be fun to add some additional mechanics to your horse so it wouldn’t just be a four-hooved taxi, and we are open to listening to your suggestions.

[h2]Talking mechanics[/h2]

With the addition of NPCs comes the necessity of conversing with them; otherwise, they are just background fodder. We aren’t trying to aim for the level of complexity in dialogue choices seen in large blockbuster RPGs such as the Baldur’s Gate series, so don’t expect deep moral choices. A good comparison would be how the Legend of Zelda series handles conversations. You engage in the act of speechcraft with any given NPC, and a text box containing the vital information pops out.



You are free to read the text at your leisure, and as with Dysmantle, we have some keywords highlighted in different colors depending on the context. As a bonus, there is a small portrait of the person you are talking to to give some added depth as you watch longfully into those big, loving eyes… Ahem. We won’t likely have multiple dialogue options for the player. Still, at some points, the player character will have a preset answer to guide the conversation, giving the dialogue more structure.

[h2]Primary Attacks & Secondary Attacks[/h2]

In the last dev diary, we talked about combat a bit, and since then, we have made some additions. In Dysmantle, you had two attacks: the basic attack and the power attack. The basic attack was a repeating swing, and the power attack was a stronger attack you activated by holding the attack button down. This time, we separated the two attack types into different buttons and renamed them “The Primary Attack” and “The Secondary Attack,” wild stuff, I know.

The primary attack is the "standard" set of swings for a weapon, the basic option, so to speak. These are utilized both in combat and for breaking objects. There's a three-part combo animation for each weapon type so the attacks flow together more seamlessly. We might add some parameters and added value for the player on executing the combo fully, but this possibility is still under review - we try to avoid too much complexity with the combat as this isn't a fully combat focused game.

The Secondary Attack usually has an added effect in addition to the swing. The main point is, that it does something else than the primary attack - gives you an option. For example a massive overhead swing with a large hammer may make the ground shake with a massive blow and affect any enemies in the area. This is something that depends on the weapon type. Secondary Attack can cost more stamina to execute and might require more precise timing, lest you get hit. Next are a few visuals on the first iteration of these new combo animations and secondary attacks on two different weapon types.





[h2]Buff icons[/h2]

Dysplaced will have several ways to enhance your player character, both permanently and for a timed duration. As mentioned in earlier dev diaries, this is accomplished by cooking food and concocting alchemical solutions. However, situations may arise where you simultaneously have many effects, making them hard to track. Worry not! For timed buffs, we have added small icons under your health bar to show you how much time you have left before the effect dissipates. It also helps with remembering what exactly you did gulp down five minutes ago.



[h2]Map generation visuals[/h2]

For the final part of this diary, we will look at the improved water shader and its astounding effect on the minimap. The island used for this visual is one of the first tests we ran on terrain generation and has since served as a test map, so don’t worry about spoilers.

So this is how the visual map generation used to look last year. As you can see, the water is tiling badly and looks dark all around.



With the new shader, you can gauge the depth of the water more easily. This is important as you need to gauge whether some shallow areas are worth crossing or if you will run out of stamina and drown. Another nice part is that the island has a more natural feeling as it is more grounded in the world now. The ground is also a bit more colorful now, almost inviting you to adventure on it!



That is all for this time around. We are hard at work here at the office, and the sun rises a little bit earlier every morning, giving hope to the winter and giving way to spring. Well, one day at a time. Until next time!

Hello again! In this installment of the Dysplaced Developer Diary, I will discuss combat. We have gone through a few iterations on the model internally, looking at the sweet spot where we want it to be in complexity and feel. A few things are still under consideration and internal testing, but the basic building blocks are in place so that we can have a first look together. Do note that visuals, damage numbers and the sort are all unpolished, so they do not represent the final product.



But first, a little background. Our open-world game, Dysmantle, was our first title with camera controls. Before that, we made several twin-stick shooters, where the camera was fixed in a certain perspective. While it gave more control for the player as you could move in one direction while aiming at another, it wouldn’t have worked in an open-world game centered on exploration. We also had to change how the combat worked because we needed one joystick (or the mouse) for camera control. In Dysmantle, your character's heading or movement direction was also the direction of your attack. Melee combat was built around using a dodge roll to evade attacks and timing your attacks and power attacks accordingly. We added a toggleable lock-on system for both melee combat and ranged weapons. Being in lock-on meant that your character faced the enemy at all times, and the character's moveset changed to accommodate this: having a directional roll and sidesteps. The combat systems worked pretty well for that title, but we wanted to iterate and give the system more depth as we started making Dysplaced

Let's head into the juicy bits with the background out of the way. The lock-on mechanic has a more pronounced effect this time around. One of the issues with Dysmantle was that the player character could make constant hit-and-run attacks on enemies without any meaningful danger and without having to use the lock-on in the first place. Enemies are much more aware now, as they will do an “attack of opportunity” if you try to scoot past them. This is, in essence, a quick attack that punishes an unwary player. The character also stops to attack, so you can’t hit while running. This makes sense, as the player inevitably encounters human and humanoid enemies that aren’t strictly driven by hunger for flesh but have some acumen themselves.



Of course, this also means that the player has more actions at their disposal. While in lock-on mode, the player can execute dodge rolls as before but also block enemy hits. The player can craft their melee equipment from a large selection of one-handed and two-handed weapons. If wielding a one-handed weapon, a shield can be equipped as well. As you might have surmised, shields are used for blocking, but if the player does not have one, block action will use their weapon and execute a parry instead. Unlike shields, a parry will let some damage through but not all so that it can be used in a pinch. This should allow for a couple of different playstyles already: a safer option with the shield or a more dangerous but hard-hitting two-handed style, relying more on dodge rolls.



We are currently looking at the possibility of adding another layer to blocking, the so-called “perfect block,” where if the player times their block action correctly, it will cause the enemy to lose footing and be a prime target for a hit or two. Either way, the enemy hitting your block will still have a flinch animation in place to afford you a striking chance. The weapons might also have secondary attacks that differ from the primary attack in their damage/stamina exchange rate and speed, but that’s also still under consideration. We’re trying to walk a fine line between accessibility and complexity since Dysplaced isn’t purely a fighting game but a resource-gathering and crafting game with fighting.

This raises the question of why not block all the time. We have added a stamina system in place, so the player can’t spam roll or block actions, instead having to settle into a certain rhythm when engaging in combat. Stamina is a stat like HP, so it can be raised during the gameplay either by developing your character or perhaps by eating some energizing food to give you a buff for a certain amount of time. Stamina is also only used when engaging in combat, so if you want to whack some trees into resources, you are free to do so without extra hassle.

You might have noticed that there wasn’t a peep about ranged options or magic. This is mostly because they are still under design, and we wanted to concentrate on melee first. In the current design iteration, however, it seems that we are not building the game around a pure ranged or magic (ranged with sparks) build. The player will have to engage in melee combat, and these ranged options would be more akin to extra tools the player has at their disposal to tip the scales instead of being the main offensive or defensive method.



Earlier, I mentioned that players can develop their character and apply buffs. While these systems are also works-in-progress, I can share some things with the caveat that they are subject to change. When doing quests and adventuring, you will gain experience, which will materialize into a level at a certain point. Levels afford skill points that you can use to enhance yourself. Skills can range from simple additions of HP and damage to, for example, learning how to gain new materials from an animal you have hunted. While skills aren’t new to Dysmantle players, we have structured them into a big skill tree so that your choices and long-term goals are clearer now. We are still fine-tuning the design, but some intriguing options we have discussed include exclusive choices between two skills and the ability to respec at a cost.



Finally, about the buffs. The player will find recipes during their adventures, which open up new crafting options. While generally used for all crafting, I will concentrate on cooking. The player will find food materials worldwide, like apples, onions, and such. With correct recipes, these can be transformed into meals. While simple food materials heal the player, cooked meals heal you more and will also apply a buff for a certain amount of time. One example would be an energizing salad, which heals you and gives you a larger stamina bar for 15 minutes.

Whew, that was a doozy. I hope this will give you something to ponder about for the Holiday season. We are heading off for a vacation and will resume these developer diaries next year. Have a great December!

We discussed new additions to our in-house engine in the first developer diary. For this installment, we will look at the starting zone or “tutorial island” of the game. Besides giving out some general information on the actual island, I will also discuss some game mechanics! I will try to structure the diary so that you won’t get too many spoilers, but things are also bound to change, so don’t fret too much.

As you might have surmised from the “tutorial island” remark, this time around, we are building the world out of multiple islands instead of making a single large one. One big reason for this is that it gives more freedom for the level designer when every new area doesn’t have to fit snuggly into the overarching, pre-dictated shape of the game world. While developing our last open-world title, Dysmantle, we noticed some developmental teething issues with working on two side-by-side areas, so this decision should circumvent that issue.

That said, I should briefly examine what you can expect from the tutorial island size-wise. Here is a shot with the Dysmantle Island and the tutorial island from Dysplaced in scale. A blue edge surrounds the tutorial island so you can pinpoint it more easily. I have blurred both so as not to spoil anything. As you can see, the tutorial island is quite hefty. Dysmantle fans will recognize it is also quite a bit larger than Capernaum, the tutorial area in that game.



Now, we didn’t just make the tutorial area larger because we could, but because we introduce a handful of game mechanics within this area and they need some room to work properly. This is not the only reason, mind you, as we also wanted to have a more freeform tutorial experience where the player can explore and find some hidden things at their own pace. The final reason is that we want the player to return later, as some areas can’t be accessed right away. You need to acquire some initially hidden powers first. More about those at a later date.

So, you find yourself whisked away into a fantasy world. It might initially look like it might be our world, but the further you go, the more you come to realize that you might just be somewhere else entirely. It is definitely a mystery worth solving if you want to get back home. First things first. You need some sort of armament, like a stone axe. Our protagonist here decided to pose a bit with their newfound loot in front of this decrepit house. You might also notice that the character looks “slightly” different than the one on the store page. As advertised, there will be a character creator, and we aim to showcase different options throughout these diaries.



With a weapon in hand, you can start breaking things up. As with Dysmantle, you can break most of the objects in the world and gather resources when the objects go “pop”. 3D objects now represent all materials in the game with a helpful little glow on the bottom so you can more easily spot them. While the 2D sprites in Dysmantle had a charm of their own, we decided to go this route for Dysplaced as it allowed for physics implementation. When you fell down a tree, a few logs will appear and drop down and roll satisfactorily.



Of course, you might also find materials near ruined buildings. Not all destruction in the world is caused by you, after all. Some scrap wood and stones are next to a building that has seen its better days. You better collect all you can, as you will need all the materials you can get!





It does not take long after finding the axe for you to stumble upon some crafting stations. On the left in the above pic, inside the shed, there is a workbench. This enables you to build basic gear, such as two weapon parts. Known recipes are stored in a recipe book that shows you the required materials for crafting any item. All weapons consist of a handle and a head part. In some weapons, the terminology might change a little, where a handle might be a hilt and a head might be a blade, but the same basic principle stays the same. With the Anvil, you can combine these parts into a usable weapon and take apart any weapons you might find back into pieces. All weapon parts have stats and modifiers, so you can customize a weapon that suits your needs. There can even be slight differences between two parts of the same type, as it becomes evident the more you craft them. Once you gain experience making a specific type of part, it will have better stats. Of course, you will also find some parts as loot from dungeons, caves, and other adventure-worthy places.



Speaking of caves, you will have multiple underground areas to explore and find loot from. Displayed below is a mine from the tutorial area. It contains mineral veins from which you can get new access to new materials, and there are also some unusual growths down at the bottom. Surely, it's a sign of something cool and good. Natural caves and D&D’esque dungeons are also on the design table and one or both might end up in the game as well. There might also be caves with multiple exits, allowing passage to hidden areas on the overworld maps.





The beefy fellow below is an NPC from whom you’ll get an essential quest while staying at the tutorial island. You can have conversations with NPCs, but some will have more to say than others. We will likely showcase talking at a later date. One cool thing about the character creation tools is that we can use those same tools to make our NPCs. Character generation is also something for later, but there will be a good amount of choice available for the player.

This guy is not the only NPC you will meet, but they are limited in number. One reason for this is that you are visiting at a bad time. The world is in pretty bad shape, and things could worsen quickly. Locally speaking, things aren’t great either, as most NPCs on the island are hiding from cultists who ransacked their village. After all, those ruined buildings aren’t there just because of poor craftsmanship.



Of course, as a hero would do, you need to confront these dastardly fellows. They have set up a base of operations from where they aim to rule over the island. Human enemies can use many of the same equipment that you can use. Expect to battle against axes, swords, and spears. Some might even carry a shield, which complicates things. Some questions also arise: What exactly are these cultists worshipping? Unfortunately, that is also something for later.



I also have a few things to report on the miscellaneous side of things. We will finally have houses with multiple floors; the roof is automatically hidden when the player is inside them. This should allow for various exciting designs for houses and other buildings. Also, we just received some 3D models for meals the player is able to cook, so have a look at some of that tasty grub!



Whew, that was quite a lot of things to unpack, so I will leave it at that. These diaries will likely come more regularly as development goes further, but I wanted a good amount of stuff to show off this time, so it took a while. Till next time!

-Hazamuth

Hello! I’m Arttu “Hazamuth” Laurila, the game and level designer for Dysplaced. This is the first in a series of developer diaries, aiming to share how the project is going and give some interesting information, insights, and tidbits about the game's inner workings. For the first installment, we will look at the world of ..uh.. world-building on a technical level.

As some of you know, we utilize our in-house game engine for all our projects. The engine's lineage can be traced back to when we started twenty years ago! However, it was only during the development of one of our earlier titles, Neon Chrome, in 2014 that it turned into the current 3D engine we use today. Since then, we have added new features and tools with every new project to help us achieve our goals more quickly and efficiently. Dysplaced builds explicitly on top of the existing features and tools we used to make our last open-world title Dysmantle. As such, I will be comparing the two in this diary.

Note that all screenshots in this diary are taken in the editor, using default lighting without time-of-day simulation. While they might not look as cool as some of the shots on our store page, it should help to compare and contrast the shots.

[h3]Sanding off the edges[/h3]

So let’s start the deep dive. First, we have in-editor screenshots of Dysmantle. As you can see, the terrain is separated by a clear cliff line in places with significant differences in terrain height and where the water starts. The cliff pieces and water hide the fact that the terrain is not connected vertically but consists of little “islets.” If you’d take those obscuring elements away, you’d see straight into the black void of the editor.



While this approach does offer some benefits, mainly visual clarity, it dramatically limits the player's interactions with the terrain. You cannot climb hills except in a few specific places; dropping into water is always deadly.



So enter Dysplaced. One of the more significant changes to how terrain works now is that it is, in essence, an interconnected mesh without holes. We have tools to shape, carve, and level that mesh however we want. As you'd expect, beaches now gently slope into the water. You might notice from the screenshot that the water looks better now as we updated the shader and added screen space reflections. There is now a visual difference between shallow and deep water, with shallow being navigable by the player. Expect to find river crossings, shallow ponds, and swamps (poisonous or otherwise).



The other significant improvement with the new terrain tools is the ability to make all sorts of hills, cliffs, and ridgelines that the player can traverse. While we have new chunky cliff pieces, those are only used to denote areas where the terrain height change is too steep for the player to climb. All in all, there should be more variety in terrain features and new avenues of exploration for the player. New approaches in underlying design will also allow us to tailor the terrain features and overall geography per biome basis, meaning that a verdant leafy forest with rolling hills should be immediately distinguishable from a dry canyon with jagged rocks and sparse vegetation.

[h3]Ground Control[/h3]

Speaking of vegetation and, more overtly, fine details on the ground, there are some cool new things there as well. Let’s start with a shot from Dysmantle again.



This is a side-by-side shot with “decals” off and on. Decals are essentially flat 2D images. On the left, you see how “terrain painting” worked before. You painted an approximation of how you wanted the terrain to look in squares, and then you added decals on top to hide the seams between different types of terrain. While this system worked well for our old titles, as many were set in urban environments, adding large chunks of nature pushed the system to its limits.

While we had tools to automate the positioning and orientation of the decals, these weren’t perfect, and there were vast swathes of land where things needed to be fixed by hand later on. Decals also introduced some optimization issues in places where too many were loaded into memory simultaneously.



We built a modern brush-based solution this time around. As the screenshot above demonstrates, you can paint with different brush sizes, and the system is organized into layers that can contain different textures. Not too far removed from the actual art of painting. The amount of fine detail and, above all, the control afforded by the system is miles above what it was before. Rounded shapes, such as winding footpaths in a forest, are now a breeze to make. Overall, things won’t end up being so square-shaped as before.

There is still one crucial new thing that we need to discuss, and for this one, we’ll use a couple of screenshots from other biomes just for variety's sake.



The huge change is in how we generate grass, plants, and other undergrowth. If you go back to the Dysmantle screenshots above, you might notice that the patches of grass and other small plant life came in conspicuous shapes. This is because they all were singular objects, or in engine terms, “actors,” which we use for objects, rocks, NPCs, enemies, etc. While not as heavy in performance cost as an enemy creature due to these plant features being static and usually not having a hitbox, there was still a slight performance cost associated, and it was sometimes unwieldy to handle in the editor.



This time we have included a foliage system, which allows us to place small plants both automatically on a per biome basis and by painting them manually, like with ground brushes. Distinct undergrowth helps to tie every biome together in an immersive way. Performance-wise, foliage is relegated from an “actor” to another object class rendered in batches. Without getting too technical, while there is a lot more on the screen, it should still be less performance intensive than before.

[h3]Final thoughts[/h3]

So, what does this all add up to? These engine upgrades mean that we can do our job even better, creating visually excellent terrain and nature in a much more efficient way than we were able to before. It means that the time saved on busywork can instead be used to create captivating content. Finally, it means you'll be getting a banger of a game when we finally plan to start Early Access late next year.

That's it for today, see you next time!

It was an exciting week for us as we revealed Dysplaced. The reception so far has been awesome: We got a hefty bunch of wishlists and followers to start off with! Thanks to everyone for wishlisting and following so far! The discussions on Discord 10tons Official Discord have also been great so far.

In Finland summer vacations usually happen during July and so it is with 10tons also. Most of us at the studio will now enter vacation mode for a couple of weeks. A short break enables us to return working on Dysplaced with maximum energy in August. There most likely won't be news or announcements during the next couple of weeks so I thought I'd drop off a few screenshots in this 'Summer Update' before Aug.



A summery shot from one of the early game areas. The design of these places is still in the initial stages, so things might change.



A clash between the sinister force and a small encapment. We call this boss design "Lord of the Deep".



A shot from the darker areas the game. The places overran by the mysterious malevolent force will look something like this.