Hey everyone,

I hope you've all had a restful holiday period. I've managed to get my mojo back after a considerable time avoiding anything game dev related.

I've really taken to the multi-scene workflow now, having broken and recreated the V slice I had previously into smaller scenes to aid manageability. I'm still working on bringing them altogether for the gameplay loop, but it will most likely mean loading screens as you move from each scene - anyway, what I've thrown together here is a complete run through of the slice without gameplay elements or interactions. Its rough, its crude but I like to think it shows off the scale of this level that I'm hoping to convert from a tech V slice into a 60 minute playable demo/beta that will be released.

Open the video in a new window and read along with playing to get a better understanding of what is happening (or what I intend to happen). Ignore the music playing in the background - that is an incomplete experiment with area based audio. forgive the lighting too, its by no means a polished article. the level itself will be dusk/night time anyway. Also, please forgive the laggyness and the occasional camera spinning like crazy. The laggyness comes from (I hope) the fact this isn't a build but running in the editor with a lot of things going on, the crazy camera spinning is me looking for the doors in the scene/hierarchy view to disable them in order to move on.

00:00 - 01:30 - the starting section. The level opens with the playing in a holding pen kind of area. As you explore you will see traffic leaving the city, a military outpost in the centre and ID check station blocking your path. Where the two desks are will be scanners that will alarm if you pass through them without the correct ID card. further exploration you will find that an ID card is on the desk in the command tent, you will need to get that off the table without the commander noticing, or another option maybe that you need to sneak into the crew quarters to get a card that requires programming in the command tent….. I welcome thoughts.

01:30 - 02:29 - the lower part of the city, here the player will see normal life carrying on. you will ask questions about the location of your partner. One person will tell you that you may find answers if you head towards the government building. however the direct path is closed (the direction at 02:15-02:24 will be closed by using construction assets) forcing you to go through the shopping/apartment area.

02:29 - 02:32 - moving up the stairs will trigger a cutscene of militia group pouring out of the far end tunnel and sealing the door shut as well as blocking the path back. you have no choice now but to work through the shopping/apartment area to find the key card for the doors and get to out of the area. Whilst the area is quite open there is only one true route to follow and that is by going up the stairs to the top floor (04:08). Once there the player will have to work there way through the construction area, which is a bit of a maze to work through (internals for this section are placeholders). reaching the far end at 06:06 the player will move through to 0the -second section of the shopping area, not much going on here at the minute so at 06:54 the player moves up to the metro station. the metro will not be a form of transport in this game, its just here to look good 🙂

at 07:49 the player enters the service tunnel, there is only one opening in this tunnel for the player to travel down, a blast door the leads down to a laboratory/cloning pen for the androids, but theres something sinister going on here! The player moves on and discovers a hole in the wall with stairs leading down to an area that looks like a storage facility - here you will meet the deranged androids - you will be able to opt to sneak past them or engage them in combat. I have attempted to create a ground mist with the Synty particle effects, it doesn't look as grey when the lighting is on correctly.

After working your way through the basement area and finding the key to get out and back to the surface at 13:58 (the walk up the stairs is temporary, there will either be a elevator section here or simple loading screen back to the city surface. forgive the faff with collisions trying to get out of the door at this point too! Back at city level now (16:12) you'll now be able to see you are the other side of the construction work and can move to the government building through a little more of the city.

Waling under the checkpoints at 16:52 will trigger another cutscene where you will observe government guards running from the place, chased by militia, which then also introduces the level boss, a sniper, perched atop the building in front of you. The boss level is currently planned to be three main phases each with a wave of enemy grunts on the ground attacking you, the sniper attacking you and the turrets on the building firing at you. At the conclusion of the 3 waves the boss will be defeated triggering the final cutscene and thus, the end of the level itself.

I hope that has been entertaining for you. I am open to suggestions towards gameplay elements, whether that be enemy types or interactions/puzzles to solve. I would like to incorporate a feast of mechanics in this slice.

Thank you all for getting this far.

Nevo