Dev Log Update v0.18

June 29th, 2024

Bow & Crossbow

This update was mainly focused on adding a couple of ranged weapons. Players may now use Bows & Crossbows to weaken enemies before engaging in melee combat. Ranged weapons utilize Imbue Sockets too, which adds another layer to the game.  For now, enjoy your ability to repeatedly hurl arrows at enemies in a machine-gun fashion. It's kind of fun, but not the intended behavior. Soon, you'll be required to hold the attack to properly draw back the bow and charge it before releasing, which will fix the rapid-firing that is currently happening in the game.

Expect more changes to ranged weapons in future updates. For example; I want to make the player look up/down when aiming. and I really want to make arrows and bolts stick to objects when they hit something.

New Promo Video

With all of the work I've been putting into the game in the past months, I thought it was time to produce a new promo video. Instead of using the same old boring music in the background that I've been using since day one, I decided to use one of my own recorded tracks. It's a very lively guitar solo piece I recorded over a decade ago, featuring me shredding riffs on the guitar. It really makes the game footage feel more exciting, and so I decided to post the video on YouTube and feature it in the store for both Steam and itch.io.  I also created some animated gifs to show on both store pages too.  Please take a moment and check it out :)

YouTube Video:

Potions & Scrolls

I added a new potion to the game. Now you can quaff a Stamina potion which gives 60 seconds of unlimited stamina. This potion is very useful, so I have made it cheaper than the other potions and much more common to find while looting.

I wanted to add an animation for when you drink a potion too, so while i was at it, I simultaneously added an animation for reading scrolls too. These animations are very quick, but they successfully convey that you are either drinking or casting some spell. It looks nice, but at the cost of having to wait 1 second for the animation to finish before you can continue moving again. This pause in movement is by design though. I always felt like there should be some penalty for drinking or casting, and just 1 second was more than enough, especially since these would be done during a time of intense action in the game.

World Environment

I made some small edits to the World Environment by adding a dirt path to a couple of the quest entrances in the graveyard, and removing one road next to the church.  I also fixed some of the quest entrances, because they were a bit wonky with multiple overlapping models used to make it work.  Now, it's one solid mesh that was built specifically for the quests in the scene.

While doing this, I decided that before I officially launch this game demo, I will likely redesign the world scene again from scratch. So, I ended up cutting my changes short, in anticipation of completely overhauling the world scene later.

Steam Wish List

It won't be long before I move this demo over to Steam. In the meantime, I hope you'll Wish List "Go Deep Or Go Home" on Steam, to help support the development of the game.  https://store.steampowered.com/app/2550910/Go_Deep_Or_Go_Home/

What's Next?

I want the small intro village to feel cozy, and have all of the necessary scenic places and features required for the demo. There should be a few options for the player to setup their base camp, and each location should provide a slightly different scenic view.  I would like to customize the scene by making a few new model buildings, fences, signs, cliff faces, winding rivers, waterfalls, and much more. Up until now, I've used the modular components that I created for the Unity Asset Store. However, as a  3D modeler, I feel like the game wouldn't be my own unless I add some of my own unique touches to the game. So, this is going to happen in the near future.

Another change you can look forward to in the near future is wandering NPCs and wildlife. I want my small intro village to have people walking around and doing things. I want the surrounding forest areas to have critters living within. There should be deer, rabbits, fish in the water, birds in the sky. and so on. There should also be people walking here and there, horse-drawn carts, and while I'm at it, why not some domesticated animals too? Horses, pigs, cows, chickens, and even rats and snakes would all be good entries into the world environment. 

Once I get some of these living things into the game, it'll provoke me to create a few new enemies too. Because up until now, all enemies are humanoid bipeds. I'd like to have some giant spiders, scorpions, rats, snakes, wolves or bears in the game too.