What's new #002
Hey, everybody,
I'd like to update you on the current progress of the development. The main thing is that everything is progressing as it should, but unfortunately not as fast as I imagined.
The progress is available in the video below.
The speed/slowness of development at this time is influenced by several factors:
1) The game as such has not been generating profit for several years and if it does it is a minor amount to cover the various necessary fees. Therefore, for a long time now, the priority has been on the work (contracts) that will pay for rent, food, and general stuff. The development of the game thus takes place in spare time.
2) The game is really complex - and the transition to new things is really more complicated than one imagined...
What has happened since November 2022
Late November saw the announcement that work on the game had begun again, including a video demonstration of the new character controller.
A new visual of the game's characters (male and female) was also shown.
At the beginning of December, the Christmas event was activated for the old version of the game (which is very important for some players and not very difficult to activate from my side) - this event is still active but can be turned off in the main menu (if it bothers anyone).
The rest of December was spent tweaking the character visuals and deeper integration of the 3D model with the new character controller.
In January the first implementation of the game on the new character controller started - which turned out to be a really complicated thing. Since the game contains a lot of complex logic and systems that are on one hand cool, on the other hand outdated (their implementation) and all connected together so it's not exactly easy to tweak.
That's why in February they started with the opposite logic, by adapting the controller to the core of the game and creating a bridge for the core logic and from there everything will be extended and improved or fixed over time.
All of this is now finally functional at this time and the new character, including the new motion controller, is connected to the game and the basic stuff is functional.
So what originally looked like a thing to be mastered during December finally took more time and is still being debugged.
Overall though, this is a huge step forward in further development.
But it will take some time to connect all the logics. Even considering that currently it is not possible to do fulltime development, but only in free time. Novus was and is my dream game and even though there was a long hiatus (caused by multiple factors including personal issues etc) I never forgot about this game and always wanted to finish it - which will happen and I'm working on it (slowly but surely).
What's next?
First, I'll have to start communicating more (I do communicate in the discussion), but somehow I can't communicate in the form of global news - which is my weakness. But I didn't post anything in December and January, because there would be rumors that it's all because of steam sales promotions. Same thing in March (during the spring sales). And February was full of questions as to whether the character controller would eventually be able to connect to the game. Now there are no global sales in sight so hopefully it will work and the community will be more informed;)
Now, technically and realistically.
At this time, we need to fine-tune the last crucial things - character equipment connections and other gameplay elements.
It's about connecting the old stuff to the new controller.
Once this is done, we'll start tweaking the world behavior and various finishing touches for the linking.
It will also be decided whether to release some experimental version (not even for testing, but you can see that what is in the video is really real and functional ;) ...
Alternatively, there will be a temporary hybrid - where the current world and progress with the new character will be available (this is still under consideration).
But I will definitely not be able to do this in time for the end of March (i.e. the planned end of Q1/2023) :(
(Current job/task is keeping me busier, but again, it brings experience).
There is and will be a lot to do in the future:
A new save system - the current one brings with it a lot of problems
Technical stuff in the form of in-game settings - including new key settings, etc.
Mp/CoOp will be - not just right away - it's the last step (and it was planned to be - it's just counting from the beginning now).
But the goal is not to bring a new flashy different game, but the game as I envisioned it years ago.
Below is the promised video showing the current progress:
Connecting the new character game controller to the core game
Completely new camera system
New female character
The world is the original world from 2016, which I want to return to the game as the core world.
There are still gaps in the animations for resource gathering - which is currently being worked on.
etc.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Thank you all so much for your patience, support and trust.
McP
I'd like to update you on the current progress of the development. The main thing is that everything is progressing as it should, but unfortunately not as fast as I imagined.
The progress is available in the video below.
The speed/slowness of development at this time is influenced by several factors:
1) The game as such has not been generating profit for several years and if it does it is a minor amount to cover the various necessary fees. Therefore, for a long time now, the priority has been on the work (contracts) that will pay for rent, food, and general stuff. The development of the game thus takes place in spare time.
2) The game is really complex - and the transition to new things is really more complicated than one imagined...
What has happened since November 2022
Late November saw the announcement that work on the game had begun again, including a video demonstration of the new character controller.
A new visual of the game's characters (male and female) was also shown.
At the beginning of December, the Christmas event was activated for the old version of the game (which is very important for some players and not very difficult to activate from my side) - this event is still active but can be turned off in the main menu (if it bothers anyone).
The rest of December was spent tweaking the character visuals and deeper integration of the 3D model with the new character controller.
In January the first implementation of the game on the new character controller started - which turned out to be a really complicated thing. Since the game contains a lot of complex logic and systems that are on one hand cool, on the other hand outdated (their implementation) and all connected together so it's not exactly easy to tweak.
That's why in February they started with the opposite logic, by adapting the controller to the core of the game and creating a bridge for the core logic and from there everything will be extended and improved or fixed over time.
All of this is now finally functional at this time and the new character, including the new motion controller, is connected to the game and the basic stuff is functional.
So what originally looked like a thing to be mastered during December finally took more time and is still being debugged.
Overall though, this is a huge step forward in further development.
But it will take some time to connect all the logics. Even considering that currently it is not possible to do fulltime development, but only in free time. Novus was and is my dream game and even though there was a long hiatus (caused by multiple factors including personal issues etc) I never forgot about this game and always wanted to finish it - which will happen and I'm working on it (slowly but surely).
What's next?
First, I'll have to start communicating more (I do communicate in the discussion), but somehow I can't communicate in the form of global news - which is my weakness. But I didn't post anything in December and January, because there would be rumors that it's all because of steam sales promotions. Same thing in March (during the spring sales). And February was full of questions as to whether the character controller would eventually be able to connect to the game. Now there are no global sales in sight so hopefully it will work and the community will be more informed;)
Now, technically and realistically.
At this time, we need to fine-tune the last crucial things - character equipment connections and other gameplay elements.
It's about connecting the old stuff to the new controller.
Once this is done, we'll start tweaking the world behavior and various finishing touches for the linking.
It will also be decided whether to release some experimental version (not even for testing, but you can see that what is in the video is really real and functional ;) ...
Alternatively, there will be a temporary hybrid - where the current world and progress with the new character will be available (this is still under consideration).
But I will definitely not be able to do this in time for the end of March (i.e. the planned end of Q1/2023) :(
(Current job/task is keeping me busier, but again, it brings experience).
There is and will be a lot to do in the future:
A new save system - the current one brings with it a lot of problems
Technical stuff in the form of in-game settings - including new key settings, etc.
Mp/CoOp will be - not just right away - it's the last step (and it was planned to be - it's just counting from the beginning now).
But the goal is not to bring a new flashy different game, but the game as I envisioned it years ago.
Below is the promised video showing the current progress:
Connecting the new character game controller to the core game
Completely new camera system
New female character
The world is the original world from 2016, which I want to return to the game as the core world.
There are still gaps in the animations for resource gathering - which is currently being worked on.
etc.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Thank you all so much for your patience, support and trust.
McP