Devlog #04: The New Year

[p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Hello Sweepy Heads![/p][p][/p][p]We're back with another Clean Sweep Devlog! If this is your first time here and you don't know what Clean Sweep is, let us tell you![/p][p][/p][p]Clean Sweep is a comedic 3D character action RPG where everyone in Cleanland is a personification of a real world cleaning product! As the Town Janitor you'll befriend the residents of Cleanland and team up with them to fight germs![/p][p][/p][p]This is Nelson, the lead programmer, once again writing a Devlog. "But Nelson," I hear you ask, "why did you post this Devlog like a month late?" And the answer is… I'M SORRY! But I swear it's for good reason! I have been working nonstop on getting new combat content implemented as we make major strides in the Combat update. That "refactoring" Renee mentioned has been… a lot more than expected lol. But with that, we have a LOT of new content coming soon (And a playtest that will be happening so keep your eyes peeled in the Discord)! [/p][p][/p][p]Overall, December was a short month for us as we went on break for the holidays. Nonetheless, let's get into our progress![/p][p][/p][h2]Progress[/h2][p][/p][h3]Programming [/h3][p]As part of our refactoring, we did 2 major things: [/p][p][/p][p]The first was we moved a lot of our data into C++. As we break out of what was once a student game, there's unfortunately a lot of technical debt we've accumulated. As such, we're tackling it in large chunks to make Clean Sweep run both faster and smoother for all of you. [/p][p][/p][p]The second was we upgraded our engine to 5.6! This wasn't an easy decision, but there were a lot of benefits that we saw in upgrading, including better versions of our plugins, more editor features we wanted to utilize, and bug fixes to existing editor and plugin code. In the end, we decided to go for it. The side effect of all of this is more refactoring and fixing new issues that are popping up due to the engine change.[/p][p][/p][p]We've also made more progress on our Design announcements from last time! We've got a combat state where now combat can be turned on and off live. No more reloading the map just to start combat![/p][p][/p][p]There are more features that got completed, buuuuuut since they were done in January, I'm gonna postpone talking about them… Is what I would normally say, but since we're (I'm) super late on posting this devlog, here's a little sneak peak of our new Party Loadout screen:[/p][p][/p][p] Do note that everything shown above is subject to change.[/p][p][/p][p]You can access party loadouts through your phone and select which team you want to bring into combat![/p][p][/p][h3]Design [/h3][p]On the design front, we got cooking on some more germ types! We've wanted to add more enemies to the game and came up with a ton of new ideas. In total, we have 20 germs! There may be more in the future, but this is what we have now. We're super excited to begin working on some of these quirky new germs as part of the combat update, so more details about them in the future.[/p][p][/p][p]On our major design plan which we talked about last Devlog, we've spent December and January ironing out the details on the specifics for implementation. We're excited to give you more information soon![/p][p][/p][h3]Animation[/h3][p]Sadly, on the animation front there've been a ton of issues. Evil software has been doing evil things due to a reference system that keeps causing errors for Patrick and our new animator. We're hoping to get these fixed soon, but like most art software, you never know when these errors will go away and start working.[/p][p][/p][h3]Audio[/h3][p]On the audio front (how many times can I say front without it being annoying?), our composer is working on more overworld themes! We've got a draft for the park and beach with more on the way. We're also changing the way music is presented to you. When levels become seamless, we're hoping to transition cleanly between songs in the world so you can fully vibe out to whatever music is present. When that happens, you'll be the first to hear![/p][p][/p][h3]Writing[/h3][p]The writers have been hard at work in December! Part of the feedback we received on the game was how odd it was that our Janitor isn't welcomed into the town. It's a big thing that Cleanland has a new Janitor, and we want the town to welcome you with open arms. Our writers have been drafting up that welcome event. We're hoping to make the intro of the game cleaner and more interesting.[/p][p][/p][p]The writers have also been working on implementing events, now without us programmers babysitting. It's like watching your child leave on their first day of school. You can't help but feel anxious, but once they're back, you're immensely proud. They're doing a really good job on their own, so praise your local Clean Sweep writer the next chance you get.[/p][p][/p][p]Finally, every character was on the chopping block. The writers went through all of our character designs (both in-game and out) and saw which characters could use some alterations to better reflect the cleaning product they're based on. As such, a lot of your favorite NPCs might get a bit of a design face-lift so stay tuned![/p][p][/p][h3]Art[/h3][p]That Wipe Flushin' from last month is in the color stage! It looks delectable![/p][p][/p][p]Our lead artist, Jess, also completed a speed paint for the Thanksgiving Devlog![/p][p][/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]There's a couple of hidden easter eggs so definitely take a look![/p][p][/p][p]Finally, our 3D artists have been continuing making props for The Periodic Table environment while Jess has been working on optimizing our 3D characters. [/p][p][/p][h3]Production[/h3][p]We got some invaluable feedback on our game. As we're working towards a complete restructure (and even if we're not), we love receiving feedback. If you have any feedback on our game, please let us know here: https://forms.gle/7B8Z6sEsEUXyWHcE9. All of the feedback we've been hearing has been informing our decisions for the future of our game, so if you have any features you'd want to see, please let us know! We'd love to hear from you! [/p][p][/p][p]We also took a break which we already mentioned. With it over, we're going back full force into production! We're also planning and prepping our playtesting which should go live soon. We've got an open playtest for anyone who has the demo downloaded coming soon. Instructions will be sent in the Clean Sweep Official Discord server so make sure to join! You can find the link at the bottom of this Devlog![/p][p][/p][h2]Dev Corner[/h2][p]Welcome to the Developer Corner! This is a space where we ask the developers of Clean Sweep a question. With the dawn of the new year:[/p][h3]What is your New Year's resolution?[/h3][p]Nelson[/p][p]I want to be more consistent overall, whether that be going to the gym, my hobbies, or hanging out with people. [/p][p]Renee[/p][p]Do more fun stuff and be less stressed.[/p][p]Jess[/p][p]Drink more water lol[/p][p]Patrick[/p][p]To be more intentional and present in life.[/p][p][/p][h2]Assoapciate of the Month[/h2][p]I am very pleased to introduce our Assoapciate of the month. He's the wizard behind the soundtrack, creating our bumping songs and serenading our ears, it's……… Eric Franklin! [/p][p][/p][p]Introduce yourself![/p][p]Hi, my name’s Eric. I’m the Composer for Clean Sweep![/p][p][/p][p]If you were a janitor, what would you clean with? [/p][p]Oh definitely those Cleaning Zamboni’s, I feel like it would be a lot of fun to ride around on[/p][p][/p][p]What Clean Sweep food item do you want to eat? [/p][p]Ahhhh probably the Breeze-It’s. My favorite snack is Cheez-It’s after all.[/p][p][/p][p]If you were a fruit, what fruit would you be?[/p][p]Hm. That’s a tough one… Maybe a Lime?[/p][p]
[/p][h2]Thank You[/h2][p]Thank you for reading this Clean Sweep Devlog! You can find Devlog updates on our Steam page or on itch.io. If you want to follow along with our game, check us out on our socials below.[/p][p]Discord, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube[/p]