Production Blog 2 - Gun Runner

Greetings again from the Production Side of Gun Runner!

It has definitely been an adventure so far, but we are getting things done! Calendars had to be adjusted a little bit and we needed to cut down on some elements of the game, but I am very excited to talk about all the amazing progress that we were able to get on the game within the last build of the game that you can play above.

2D Art

In the realm of 2D Art, we were able to get a little bit more progress than last time! We had a little bit of the weapon concepts to show off and a main character concept, but this time, we have the rest of the weapons, the enemy character, and some UI concepts. For the Enemy Character, we wanted to optimize the workflow on our 3D artists/riggers/animators a little bit and just make some adjustments to the main character. With that in mind, it gave for a consistent feel for the characters, but also made the process of getting all the things a little simpler. On the topic of UI, Shawn initially wanted there to be pixel art for the UI elements, but seeing as nothing else was pixel art, it seemed a little bit out of place. The decided idea was creative freedom for our 2D artist, but just to make sure that everything was consistent. To see this work, view the images below!

3D Art

As far as 3D art goes, our modelers have been knocking it out of the park! You got to see some of the assets last time as well as the high poly of the main character model and this time, we have a plethora of new assets as well as we got a low poly model of the main character (so it has been put in the game!). The assets have also been able to be put in the game by our level designers so if you are playing the game and walking around, you will be able to see some of the cool items that our 3D modelers have made. To some extent, especially when I was playtesting the game, I was wanting to look more at all the things rather than play the game...and then I got into some trouble with the UI. Heh. On another note, too, we were also able to get some of the weapons modeled! Though they are not in the game just yet, we can still show them off to you. With that said, we are very happy with where our 3D artists are this far in the game. Take a look at their progress below!

Level Design

Our Level Designers really put some work in for this build. Not only do we have all of the levels blocked out in the game, so they are all playable, but we also have all of the levels populated with assets! We are still tinkering around with how we want the tutorial level to play out, but that has really been the biggest challenge through it all. In order to assist with that problem, we put together a "How to Play" screen on the menu, but the issue with that is that not all players will read that screen before playing; some people just want to play and figure it out themselves. It's not the end of the world, we just have to figure out the best way to lead the player through their experience rather than just telling them. The other huge milestone that we had with our Level Designers is that they were able to get all the transitions of the levels in. It doesn't sound like a huge deal, but it becomes a whole ordeal when it is in action. To see all the great work from our level designers, you can play the build of the game, or just take a look at the screenshots of the levels below.

Programming

Last, but certainly not least, we have our Programmers! I have to shout them out here because they have put some massive work in! First of all, Shawn and I understand programming, but we are no programmers. As far as their work goes, we kind of just say "Hey, we need this" or "Hey, this is broken and I can tell you where, but I don't know how to fix it" and they go in and make the magic happen. Not to mention, they do not disappoint. Through this build, we were able to get some weapon switching in; the player can test the use of two different weapons that we have in the game. Additionally, we have working UI elements, however basic they may be, as well as AI moving on fixed paths and (something  not in the game just yet) inventory safekeeping! Another cool thing, though I mentioned that Shawn and I are not programmers, we did get our feet wet a little bit with the programming. Shawn was able to get the level transitions working for the build and I was able to make a working menu screen. We may have had some tutorial help, but we still did it! We are very proud of our programmers and appreciate all the work they do to make sure nothing explodes. To see their progress, you will just need to play the game! :)

Next Steps

We are so close to everything coming together, we can taste it! It has been a rough few weeks, but we are getting everything together! As far as what we are hoping to show off in the next build, we would like to see some flashy particle effects going on, some variance in enemies walking around, UI graphics, a title screen that is not a Cat Tank, and (fingers crossed) some animations on the main character model! It sounds like a stretch, but I am very confident that we have the team to get it done! That being said, we will conclude this entry of the Production Log. Thank you again for tuning into this post and seeing all the things that are being done to make this great game. On behalf of the entire team, we hope to see you soon and play our game again soon! Stay tuned, more great things to come!

- Gun Runner Team