You're All Gonna Get Clapped Up!

So as we all know when you are making guns for a futuristic world based video game (we've all been there, em' I right?) you end making a lot of different versions in the process. And we are all very anal retentive about the designs and need to redo them countless times over and over until you end up hating the very game you are making (double em' I right).

I wanted to show you fine ass folks out there... oh... especially you, Katy. Hmmm... you are looking hecksa' fine tonight. What is that your'e wearing? Oh my...

Keep it in your pants, buddy!

Oh yes... I wanted to show you a small example of some of the different weapons and their evolution into the drilling/killing/burning/melting instruments they have become today. And I mean that quite literally. I made these final versions today because James (the programmer, not the homeless man sleeping on my couch whom I am too afraid to tell to move out) is ready to implement them into the game. Me being me...

Aren't you always "you"?

1 Machine Gun 2 Flamethrower 3 Sound Drill 4 Spewer 5 Grenade Launcher 6 Missile Launcher

I had to redo them and give them what i touted as an "HD" remake. I just had to remake them before they get thrown into the game. I'll go over the ones that I especially hated. 

1 Another is the original machine gun. It was a standard looking turret gun. Look at that stupid thing. 

2 The old flamethrower is a tiny little unscary thing. Had to go. 

3 The sound drill went through a change to make it look more like a construction tool instead of a standard laser weapon.

4 The spewer went through a big change also. I wanted it look like a futuristic Super Soaker.

5 The most interesting one is the original grenade launcher. It was going to be permanently attached to the other side of the EDU. I decided against that because it made the EDU way too bulky. 

6 The rocket launcher was my hubris. I still don't think I like it. 

Soon I will get to shoot these at helpless tiles. MWAH HA HA!!!

City... Why You So Busted?

This city has seen much better days. The game will feature limited amounts of surface levels. This is an example of what I am trying to do with the cars used as tiles. I wanted to make them double as a storytelling device and for level variation. I was trying to concentrate on actual buildings and street tiles but I kinda got a little obsessed with making the vehicles once I got rolling. I still have a flipped over truck and a bus that Drea can walk through inside. 

The background is temporary for right. I am dreading having to do the giant city background. I will not settle for standard repeating building sprites. I really want to show a world that has gone to shit.

Inspiration for the look of the city is a mix of Los Angeles where I live and what they did in Minority Report. I like how they kept the original city intact but built futuristic structures around it. Old buildings wouldn't necessarily get demolished to make room for the newer "spiffier" ones. The old ones would become historical landmarks that we would have to work around. Like when I turned my grandma's room into the guest room. Sure Grandma's corpse started to stink the place up as she rotted away in her favorite rocking chair but who am I to diminish her historical significance.  If my guests feel creeped out by how it looks like she is staring at them as they sleep, then that's their problem. I think she looks better with her eyes open. I tell people she is watching over them while they sleep and will make sure to keep away evil succubuses in night. That's grandma for you.

A Real Gut Buster

So what you see above is just a small tech demo. It shows an example of how destroying certain tiles might look in the final game. These tiles are intestinal tracts, so when they burst it sends blood, bile, and entrails everywhere. The final game won't have you using a Windows cursor to perform biopsies like above. You will have a plethora of high power tools to rip open your patients the Earth.

We want the digging in the game to feel rewarding to the player -- to give a visual indication that you are tearing apart something tangible. Particle effects are one way video games convey this message. Whether you're smashing barrels or breaking pots, actually watching the object explode is often more rewarding than the items you find inside. Why else do we destroy these harmless decorations?

Indeed they do, Tinky. Indeed they do.

But the tiles in Into This World are not just for decoration. They are the very structure of the environment you navigate. So your tools and weapons need to feel powerful -- and what better way to show this power than through interpretive dance particle explosions!

That's all I've got at the moment. There's lots of secret stuff going on behind the scenes. Stuff not ready for mortal eyes. When the time comes, you shall be summoned.