Grave Prosperity - part 1 News

Alright! So that charger came in, I got everything all squared away, and now the Demo is just awaiting review from Valve! So once that's done we'll be playing that demo!

I'm pretty excited about this! It's my first time working in full 3D, and this has been a year in the making. Every bit of it has been spent learning both Blender and UE4 and building as I went. I hope you all have fun with this! It's essentially Grave Prosperity and House of Velez rolled into one- but in 3D.

I'll be back to announce when the game goes live! Thank you all for supporting my work throughout this crazy new transition!

Hey everybody I got some bad news!
The demo is gonna get pushed back a tad because my main laptops's power supply just bit the big one. I already ordered another one, but with the holiday traffic I don't expect it to be here until sometime next week.
This isn't anything catastrophic, but as you all know I was hoping to be finished completely before the new year. With this minor setback it doesn't look like that's going to happen.
It is what it is though. As soon as that power supply gets here it'll be back to getting the final touches done! Just wanted to keep you all in the loop.

The good news: I am literally staring at the finish line for this thing. Everything from the last update has been implemented already and I ended up deciding to add in some more little features after that. So no worries for the game itself, I'm very happy with the way it has turned out!

Here we are! The last big update before the demo is ready! Anything past this point will be in regards to delays for that "by or before the new year" release window I'm trying to hit. Things are looking good though, so I'm not even worried about it.

So on to the update! Today I have a look at the official title screen for the demo, and a full demonstration on its combat system. The demo is titled "The Vestigial Princess," and it is going to be treated as its own little chapter that leads into the events of Grave Prosperity, opposed to being a section of the main game.


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

This demo introduces a new character and expands on the story that will be present in GP. Keep in mind that the character models that we've seen up to this point will not be the same ones in the final game.
This is for the better.
The new models blow these out of the water, but I'm going to wait on showing them off until after this demo is finished and out of the way. The only reason is because I already had the current models and animations made by the time I made this new discovery, and I didn't want to sink too much unnecessary time into updating the graphics for a demo designed to show off general mechanics and gameplay.

Anyway. That's it for now! As of typing this up, there is very little left to do for the demo. Just some minor UI tweaks here and there, and getting the sound effects into those death scenes. After that it's off for a little play testing, and if it's good to go then I'll be submitting it over here for Steam's approval!
Then the real fun work can finally begin!

Hello everybody! It's that time again! Time for the next update!

So this time I have some pretty big changes for you all! So let's start from the top...



The brutal cinematic death scenes from the previous games (Older versions of GP and HoV) are making a return! Only this time they're utilizing the awesome power of UE4's sequencer.
Although they are still treated like a cutscene in the game, they are no longer static. What this means is that each death scene can be played dynamically from anywhere the player is standing in the world. So instead of an FMV that plays the same camera cuts, from a pre-determined position, these death scenes occur relative to Amber's location and rotation on a map.
Instead of trying to explain, let me show you an example, using the first two deaths that can occur from the latest enemy: The "Amber Doll."

Death From Back Attack
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Death From Front Attack
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



The Inventory
Originally I was wanting a system much more similar to that of Resident Evil, with a limited inventory, and a need for utilizing rout planning around that.
Well it seems that sort of an inventory is still outside my scope of "developer skill," so instead we have an unlimited inventory that works closer to an expanded version of the one from House of Velez.
Just without the save anywhere function.



The Monsters
Our cast of baddies has greatly expanded since the previous builds of GP, and I'm very excited to see them utilized! So here's a look at some concepts and translations into Blender and/or UE4!

The Known

Scavenger

Laughing Dolls (Lily Dolls)

The Unknown

Defect

Distorted Flesh

Imperfectus Spinalis

Amber Dolls

Looming Child

Miracle

Screaming Lantern

Stillborn Wanderer

And still more....



Soon I plan to have a demo released for this final version of Grave Prosperity! The entire section of the game I want to use for the demo is already fully built and playable. Right now I'm just getting the death scenes made (You've seen the first two above) and then I need to get the music and sound effects put together after that.
I also want to get a good user-friendly options menu made. It's something I've never had in my previous games, but now that I've got a good engine for it I want to have key rebinding and music and SFX sliders so the player can better customize their experience. As well as performance options for more/less powerful machines.

If things continue to move as smoothly as they have, then I am expecting to get this demo out to you all before the end of the year!
But of course if there are any changes or hang-ups then I'll be sure to let you know.

I hope you enjoyed this rather lengthy update! Can't wait to make the next!
Take care of yourselves and be safe out there!

Another update! And it didn't take 6 months to get out this time!

Today I'm showing a quick combat test using the machete's light attacks. And I figured the best test dummy for this demonstration would be our good friend, the Scavenger! It's still fast, and it can still be brutal if you're not fast enough!

For the sake of this test I don't have the attacks and dodging taking a toll on the stamina bar. I just want to show off how the moves look, and the various ways they can finish a Scavenger. The cool thing is this is just the Scavenger. Each enemy-type will react differently to Amber's attacks, and they will all be executed in unique ways as well.

As mentioned above, these are just the light attacks. Amber also has a 4 hit heavy attack combo at her disposal. The effects of those will be shown at a later date.

So imagine being able to quickly swap between firearms, using OTS shooting mechanics, and the machete, using hack n slash mechanics. This is the goal I'm headed toward for combat in Grave Prosperity. Either option has its benefit depending on the situation.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]