We achieved the impossible and actually finished chapter 3 and started working on chapter 4. And we could have done even more but I slacked hard at the end of the month because of my right arm being kind of injured and other more private matters.

Heh, I talk about finishing chapter 3 so nonchalantly but blocking out and filling levels with content is such a challenging thing full of constant testing and iteration that I’m shocked at the speed we did it. It also marks the beginning of the second half of the game which contains my favorite setpieces and aesthetics of the story so I’m looking forward to all that.

Not a lot else to report since the game is mostly set in stone and work has been a grind towards content completion. There’s one major change we’ll introduce that will need a rebalance, but that’s just changing stats…

Speaking of said major change: It’s weapon swapping.

Previously the game had you changing guns only during the pause menu. It gave the game a certain pace, but not a very entertaining one. Plus a lot of encounters would benefit from having very particular loadouts so it made sense to do this.

I think my main gripe with the previous system was that we were communicating the player a sense of commitment. That they should pick a particular weapon and stick to it to the end, upgrading it all the way. But since the combat was designed around mixing up different skills and styles it was a no-brainer to introduce this change.

Doing a one weapon run should still be possible, but very challenging…

By far the most annoying part of this is redoing the character menu, but that’s something we’ll deal with in due time.

We really hate working UIs in Unity lol… our next project will have very minimal UI for sure. Which is a shame because I like designing that kinda stuff as you probably know judging our past games, but I’m willing to make the sacrifice.

Short term goals: Finish this weapon swapping deal with a finalized UI and properly communicate players this. Character menu overhaul. Finish the 4th chapter.

This will have to wait until January though cause I’m taking my December vacations; this time in Japan.

I’ll see you all next year!