More Story and Gameplay Bits

I like blog writing now. Marked was right. It's fun.
This entry is a bit long, though. You might want to grab a snack.

GRAPHICS

The graphics are still being finalized and optimized for gameplay. About 90% of images need to be revised because of the new HUD.
Not much else to tell about the graphics department except that Omar and I are working real hard to make this game look amazing.

Oh and particles. Lots of particles.

STORY

Last blog entry, I talked about changing the story to fit Dennis' new personality. After a long debate with Omar last night, we decided to keep the story the way it is and try to flesh things out a bit more. We feel that having Dennis be a police officer will give him more depth as a character.

Dennis' character profile and backstory is being worked out along with all the other main characters. We're trying to achieve very believable characters to make the game feel more alive. Characters such as Garrett from Thief, Arno from AC Unity, Konoko from Oni, Hei from Darker Than Black, Motoko from Ghost in the Shell, Snake from Metal Gear Solid, Batman from…Batman…, and Sherlock Holmes from Sherlock (BBC show) are who inspire Dennis' personality currently. These shows, games, and movies also inspire the setting of CyberDrive in major ways.

Speaking of the setting, the backstory of CyberDrive has received a MASSIVE overhaul. The backstory now gives the game a reason to exist. Real-world events coincide with in-game events to make the game more believable. Omar and I worked real hard on the backstory and we can't wait to throw little crumbs here and there in the game. There are loads of books and bios to be found in the game. They'll be accessible through the DATABASE (old GALLERY) menu.

GAMEPLAY

I've talked about this a while back also: the Temperature System. Essentially, there will be hostile environments within the game. Environmental hazards such as ice, fire, and radiation can hurt Dennis from prolonged exposure. This is a feature that has been and still is in WIP phase.

Upgrading weapons are also possible in the game. You can add MODIFIERS (MODS) to weapons to give them extra damage such as fire, ice, electricity, etc. Because of a special Elements script we're using, we're able to give weapons and enemies a few more stats than usual. This will enforce and encourage you to upgrade your weapons.

There will be three types of missions in CyberDrive: Main, Training, and Investigation.
Main missions are story based missions. They progress the story…that's it. Mission modes are:

• ESCAPE – Enemies know your presence and will chase you. No sneaking. Fight or flight. It's up to you.
• INVESTIGATE – Infiltrate the mission site.
• ESCORT – Bring someone back to HQ alive.
• SABOTAGE – Infiltrate the facility, destroy the objective, escape.
• DEFEND – Enemies know your presence and will attack the objective. Defend the objective. No sneaking.
• CAPTURE/ARREST – Find the target and make an arrest.
• BOSS BATTLE – Defeat the boss.
• FREE ROAM – Roam Delta Bay City

Training missions take place inside CyberWorld (you'll see that soon). There, you'll be challenged through all the mission modes with various difficulty modifiers. These missions will be timed! Mission mode modifiers are:

• Traversal – Getting from Point A to B as fast as you can.
• Sneaking – Get to the end of the course without being spotted. On higher difficulties, getting spotted fails the mission.
• Assault – Kill all or as much enemies as fast as you can.

Investigation missions are more like Murder Mysteries from AC Unity but not always so. Some will be murders and some will be… other stuff (don't want to ruin it). These missions will not be easy! They'll require you to think, ask questions, and keep notes. People that you investigate through these missions will have a SANITY bar. If you upset a witness or suspect, their sanity will decrease and make them more hostile towards you. Some may even try to hurt you….

MISC

Lastly is just a few technical stuff. The database is almost complete for optimization. What that means is that items, weapons, armor, etc. are all placed inside the database strategically to make things easier on the development end.For instance, now on completion of missions, an RNG system will determine your reward based on your performance. This could only be done by fixing up the database.

There's a slight bit of testing with the stealth system. I came up with the idea to make corpses. I don't want to ruin too much but let's just say you shouldn't kill enemies out in the open. And if you do, you can always move them…

That's all for now. Thanks for reading. More to come!