STATUS REPORT #7: Worth the Weight
[h3]Greetings esteemed colleagues,[/h3]
Spooky season is here and we hope you’re enjoying it! We’ve got more developer insights and game mechanics to share with you this month, so grab a gourd flavored food item and strap in.
[h2]Worth the Weight[/h2]
If you’ve got frail human bones you probably also have wimpy human muscles, so it’s a perfect time for us to talk about how Armor Weight Class will function during your journey into the depths of the Facility and worlds beyond!
Through crafting and the occasional lucky loot, scientists will get stronger armor over time as they progress. Stronger armor is often heavier and wearing heavy armor slows you down - but exactly how much are you slowed?
To solve the challenge of creating a balanced and rewarding armor system, we’ve introduced Armor Weight Class, which as it sounds, calculates the total weight of armor and places you into a weight class. Weight Class primarily affects your base movement speed, meaning heavier armor will slow you down, and less armor will return you closer to normal.
Since this system can involve a bunch of numbers (and let’s face it, numbers can be a little misleading) we’ve created a handy UI diagram that gives you your weight class at-a-glance!
Keep in mind our UI is all a work in progress and may change and improve between now and release.
As you can see, the Chef Hat, which also offers no armor, doesn’t affect your weight class, but if you equip a full set, even a stronger, lighter armor set like the Carapace armor, you might find your trip to the kitchen a little cumbersome. And that’s okay, the benefits are generally… worth the weight.
As a general rule: the earlier in your adventure you can find or craft something, the less it weighs and the lower armor values it might have, though there are some exceptions to this with so many varieties of protection to find. A lead vest offers little protection, but it weighs a lot. Is it worth it, in a pinch? Probably! Even wearing something like a Hazmat Suit might slow you down a bit, especially with heavy armor worn underneath.
Now that we understand the connection, let’s get specific! As you can see in the UI image above, Weight Class has four levels of impact; no impact, light impact, moderate impact, and heavy impact. As a small quality of life note, no matter how heavy your armor is, your base speed can only get so slow before it “bottoms out.” So once you’re very heavy, you’re very heavy. We won’t turn you into a complete snail – as long as your inventory isn’t full of anvils or something!
Peep your little science eyes in the top right of this GIF to see the Weight Class UI in action.
[h2]Deep in the Field[/h2]
For this week’s installment of talking to the team, we’re gonna go look at beep-boopin’ servers, strange beings from who-knows-where, radioactive items, and more!
[h3]Kecko, 3D Artist[/h3]
Drills!
Explosive Sledgehammer
Server Rack
[h3]Jenny, Tech Artist[/h3]
Crystalline Chaos
[h3]Jacob, Programmer[/h3]
Radioactive Items
[h3]Jorden, Level Designer[/h3]
[h2]In Case You Missed It[/h2]
[h3]Vehicle Dev Vlog[/h3]
Vroom vroom! In this dev vlog we talk about vehicles. Find out how to get yourself forklift certified in ABF!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Abe Gets Sick[/h3]
There’s a new Watercooler short inspired by good old game conventions. Unfortunately I can’t embed YouTube shorts. Here’s a link instead: Abe Gets Sick
[h2]Stay Tuned[/h2]
When you descend into the GATE Cascade Research Facility you’re going to be facing a lot of unexpected challenges. Follow these Status Reports for tips, insights and strategies to keep you safe, as well as fun looks-behind-the-scenes at development!
We plan to continue doing these about once a month, with lots of surprises in between.
You can also subscribe to our Newsletter to keep up-to-date on news about Abiotic Factor, and gain exclusive access to testing environments. Oh, they’re coming.
[h3]Wishlist Today![/h3]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/427410/Abiotic_Factor/
See you next time, Scientists!
You can also join us on Discord!
Spooky season is here and we hope you’re enjoying it! We’ve got more developer insights and game mechanics to share with you this month, so grab a gourd flavored food item and strap in.
[h2]Worth the Weight[/h2]
If you’ve got frail human bones you probably also have wimpy human muscles, so it’s a perfect time for us to talk about how Armor Weight Class will function during your journey into the depths of the Facility and worlds beyond!
Through crafting and the occasional lucky loot, scientists will get stronger armor over time as they progress. Stronger armor is often heavier and wearing heavy armor slows you down - but exactly how much are you slowed?
To solve the challenge of creating a balanced and rewarding armor system, we’ve introduced Armor Weight Class, which as it sounds, calculates the total weight of armor and places you into a weight class. Weight Class primarily affects your base movement speed, meaning heavier armor will slow you down, and less armor will return you closer to normal.
Since this system can involve a bunch of numbers (and let’s face it, numbers can be a little misleading) we’ve created a handy UI diagram that gives you your weight class at-a-glance!
Keep in mind our UI is all a work in progress and may change and improve between now and release.
As you can see, the Chef Hat, which also offers no armor, doesn’t affect your weight class, but if you equip a full set, even a stronger, lighter armor set like the Carapace armor, you might find your trip to the kitchen a little cumbersome. And that’s okay, the benefits are generally… worth the weight.
As a general rule: the earlier in your adventure you can find or craft something, the less it weighs and the lower armor values it might have, though there are some exceptions to this with so many varieties of protection to find. A lead vest offers little protection, but it weighs a lot. Is it worth it, in a pinch? Probably! Even wearing something like a Hazmat Suit might slow you down a bit, especially with heavy armor worn underneath.
Now that we understand the connection, let’s get specific! As you can see in the UI image above, Weight Class has four levels of impact; no impact, light impact, moderate impact, and heavy impact. As a small quality of life note, no matter how heavy your armor is, your base speed can only get so slow before it “bottoms out.” So once you’re very heavy, you’re very heavy. We won’t turn you into a complete snail – as long as your inventory isn’t full of anvils or something!
Peep your little science eyes in the top right of this GIF to see the Weight Class UI in action.
[h2]Deep in the Field[/h2]
For this week’s installment of talking to the team, we’re gonna go look at beep-boopin’ servers, strange beings from who-knows-where, radioactive items, and more!
[h3]Kecko, 3D Artist[/h3]
Drills!
Tired of assembling furniture with a screwdriver? Well, not yet, because the game isn’t out. But one day, you might. Anyway, we have a solution! Upgrading your building tool is a crucial part of optimizing your journey.Pies
The drills were a lot of fun to concept and bring to fruition, and some of the first assets I created on my own from start to finish, from concept to final mesh and texture. I think the drill made from a tape gun and a hand drill is my favorite of the three.
Nothing like a sweet (or savory!) treat to put you back on your feet. There are plenty of pies to make - assuming you’ve teched up into Ovens - which are crafted from all kinds of foods you might find or grow.
Making the pie really tested my modeling chops. It was tricky to assemble it in a way where each slice comes together to make a part of the whole without having weird gaps, mainly because of the lattice crust. The process was probably not entirely dissimilar to how you make the lattices on a real pie.
Explosive Sledgehammer
Only a brilliant scientific mind would think: "I should place a landmine on the end of a sledgehammer." This beast of a weapon and miracle of science is somehow relatively safe to use. I really like the dings and burn marks to indicate (explosive) wear, as well as the general construction of the head.
Server Rack
The server rack was a lot of fun to paint. The cables were tricky to get looking right, but I think I did a pretty good job on the drive-bay CRT. You tell me! The blinking lights really make this piece pop, and it looks awesome inside the glow of a server room - and we have a lot of those in the facility! Some of our process involves painting over real world examples to achieve our stylized retro look. This was one of my first forays into painting over photographs as part of my texturing process.
[h3]Jenny, Tech Artist[/h3]
Crystalline Chaos
While we first described this effect as “confetti” in a joke-like manner, it’s turned into anything but a joke. The [REDACTED] has a vicious projectile attack, emitting a burst of confetti-like fragments accompanying the main purple “laser” effect. It’s become quite the deadly spectacle, with a hint of twinkling afterglow…Underwater FX
Quite possibly my favorite – and possibly most scary – effect this week: Underwater Post Process effects! I think the GIF speaks for itself. Big otherworldly fish not included. Not in this status report, anyway.
[h3]Jacob, Programmer[/h3]
Radioactive Items
I added support for items to emit radiation, whether it's on ground, in a container or even held by an unfortunate scientist. This can be mitigated by special gear and containers that shield the radiation. It gives an extra challenge and choice in co-op play, where the group must decide who’s the poor soul that has to hold the spicy power cell.
Luckily, refrigerators block a bit of radiation too, so all that stored up alien meat won’t make your kitchen the deadliest place to be… most of the time.
[h3]Jorden, Level Designer[/h3]
When moving between sectors, we wanted to show a clear change in the environment, for example giving the deep labs that “Big Science'' feel, opting for more curvature and a bit of a “Have I been abducted?” sort of vibe. You can also tell the higher up (or deeper down?) scientists have had a bit of a budgetary surplus, complete with artificial daylight and taxidermied denizens of some other world.
[h2]In Case You Missed It[/h2]
[h3]Vehicle Dev Vlog[/h3]
Vroom vroom! In this dev vlog we talk about vehicles. Find out how to get yourself forklift certified in ABF!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Abe Gets Sick[/h3]
There’s a new Watercooler short inspired by good old game conventions. Unfortunately I can’t embed YouTube shorts. Here’s a link instead: Abe Gets Sick
[h2]Stay Tuned[/h2]
When you descend into the GATE Cascade Research Facility you’re going to be facing a lot of unexpected challenges. Follow these Status Reports for tips, insights and strategies to keep you safe, as well as fun looks-behind-the-scenes at development!
We plan to continue doing these about once a month, with lots of surprises in between.
You can also subscribe to our Newsletter to keep up-to-date on news about Abiotic Factor, and gain exclusive access to testing environments. Oh, they’re coming.
[h3]Wishlist Today![/h3]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/427410/Abiotic_Factor/
See you next time, Scientists!
You can also join us on Discord!
I was rooting around in my big ol’ folder of ancient stock textures when I came across some scuffed up diamond-plated metal and thought: "Perfect, time to turn this into a brush." The storage compartment was also a fun detail. It adds a bit of depth to the model and makes the side seem a little less barren!
But first…
