Shalom one and all! It's been over a month since we let you all have a peek at our shenanigans and I figured it was once again time to let you take a gander at the goings-onof Viscerafest'sdevelopment!

Ludicrous Gibs

So back in January, we released the "Booms, Bangs, and Blood" update. So-called because it saw a bevy of changes and updates to Viscerafest's blood, gore, and explosions. But since then, even more, work has gone into all the above. Starting off, I was still finding the game's blood sprites have a tendency to look a little flat. They were lacking what I felt was a necessary amount of visual depth to help them pop out as I felt they should, so I went through and further tweaked both the materials and sprites until I got them to a place I was more satisfied with.
What's more so, Viscerafest'sgibs have also been pretty heavily reworked, and though this comes with a trade-off, overall I think the outcome is pretty nice. For starters, Gibs should no longer present as much of a performance burden as they had in the past. Not that they were super taxing, but the new system allows us to have more Gibs at the cost of fewer frames. The gibs are also very bouncy now! Something that just wasn't tenablewith the old system we had. Gibs also won't get stuck in midair because of things like elevators or moving platforms. The main trade-off for this being that they won't stick around quite as long as they did before. But honestly, with how much more fun they feel now bouncing all over the place, it doesn't feel like that much of a loss.

Explosions

Viscerafest'sexplosion sprites are old... really old... I don't think I've updated them since like... 2020... and I felt it was time to rectify that! So we've got prettier bubblier explosions that much more nicely fit with the aesthetics of the game now.

The Deus Mortis

If you've been following the dev posts up until this point you'll know we've talked about reworking the Deus Mortis. Well, the deed has finally been done! And whilst its balancing still needs to be sorted out, the handsome devil is more than ready for the runway! So quick rundown on how it works one more time!

• Tapping the Fire Button once will fire the gun.
• Tapping the Fire Button a second time whilst the projectiles are still midair will call them back to you.
• Holding the Fire Button until the firing animation finishes will automatically cancel the callback and reload the gun.

[previewyoutube=64ZQ38bUmi8;full][/previewyoutube]

Hud and UI

On a more minor note we've also been making tweaks to the heads-up display and UI, mostly aesthetically oriented stuff. In addition the games standard font... or I guess *fonts* have changed. Originally we were using about 3 different ones, and this was to account for the fact that each font we were using was missing certain characters. Finding an all-inclusive font that gelled nicely with the game aesthetically and that also wasn't missing something as simple as lowercase letters or question marks was a nightmare. But finally, we managed to do it!

More Art Updates

Should probably go without saying at this point, but yes indeed more and more of Viscerafest's art is getting that spit and polish it needs!

Athens

Now look we've been all cute and coy up to this point but we all know that the real reason you're here is to buy that handsome man of yours a wedding ring and you'll be happy to know he's finally gotten a voice!!! Athens is now being played by Ryan Hughes!

Chapter 1 Rework

Work has somewhat slowed on the Chapter 1 rework stuff in light of some hiccups that have seen Chapter 3 stealing a bit more of our time than desired, this is not to say nothing has gotten done however! We've been putting in quite a few loving touches to the spiffed-up chapter 1 levels, a great example of this being characters you hear talking over the intercom will appear via holograms in some of the more socially oriented sections of the station.
Little story touches are being added to help make what happens in the transitions between levels a bit clearer. A great example of that being the opening of C1L2. Formerly the level just started with the elevator wall blown open and Caroline making a snarky remark, but now you not only get to see it happen live, but the victims of this detonation just so happen to be pushing around explosive barrels on a lil cart! Small touches like that are things we're effectively aiming to add throughout the full game, with the aim of adding a bit more life to the levels. The rework for C1L3 is also coming along quite nicely. The basic framework of the redone layout is just about complete, (and whilst this is true of every map we've done so far) it's hard to express just how much the map as a whole is benefitting from the facelift.

Chapter 2 Updates

Oh yeah! Don't think that just because not all of the Chapter 2 levels are being remade doesn't mean they aren't getting some much-needed love too! As I already stated we're working on adding little story touches throughout the whole game, but due to Chapter 2's nightmarish development it didn't get nearly the amount of love I feel it needed. Currently, there's a lot of stuff that's getting visually polished up, and whilst most of it'spretty minor, there are a few areas in Chapter 2 that will be getting pretty heavily updated.

Chapter 3 Updates

But ok ok I hear you... "What's going on with chapter 3?" Headaches to be honest... that's what. Currently, we're working on getting chapter 3's final level ready to import into the game's engine, and we've hit a minor bit of a snag. Without spoiling anything, there are some more elaborate elements present in this map (particularly on the animation front) that have been quite migraine-inducing. Work that I was hoping would only take a few days is now taking a few weeks, which is... less than ideal, and is part of why some of the work on the other stuff has slowed down a bit. This isn't to say it's going bad though! More so that it's just going painfully slow... But the actual content of said level is something I think you're all really going to love, so it'll be worth the effort.

But what's left?

Ok so updates on what we've been working on aside, I think it might be fair to ask what the remaining work that needs to be done before the game's full release can happen actually entails. A sort of... roadmap of what needs to be done if you will... Well! Once chapter 3's levels are complete we'll be moving to work on the game's grand finale following which we'll be going through the whole game but especially chapter 3 and just polishing the ever-loving crap out of the levels themselves. In the midst of this, we'll also be wrapping up on the story stuff, ironing out the cutscenes, and doing the last rounds of VA with our team. Following this, the game's Hubs will be getting reworked, and the game's store/economy will actually start to get properly implemented. With the unlockable cheats and gameplay modifiers getting added, however, we'll also need to go through the whole game and make sure they don't cause the game to buckle under its own weight. This will likely mean we'll need to create a "Free Play Mode" Which will largely cut out all the story content and some of the scripted sequences to make the experience a bit smoother. We'll also be adding the lorebrary and bestiaryduring this period. Following that we'll be moving on to beta testing and likely addressing more minor additions like menu options and such. Along with this will come localization, refinements for gamepads, trying to make the game Steam deckcompatible, etc... And then after all that we'll be moving on to release. How long will this all take? Well, our schedule says 5 months... but if I may be brutally honest I just don't see that happening. Life has not been kind to our time as of late, and keeping on top of everything is becoming more of a pain. So with that said I'm hesitant to pin a date on it because no doubt if I do that a gas line underneath my house will explode, or my computer will erupt into flames, and then we'll get delayed another month.

In conclusion

Once again a special thanks to all the folks who've been supporting us throughout this time. Whether you're a long-standing member of the community, or just a lurker who peaks in every now and again. And a special thank you to all the folks who actually care enough to read these, because I know you're likely in the minority, and I appreciate you. We hope you all have a wonderful day! Audios!