Attention Republic soldiers,In this third Incursion Dev Report, I'd like to share some updates on the Reforged update. Progress is going great and I'd say most of the things that needed to get done are now done. I'm also happy to say I hope the next announcement after this is the branch key for players to opt into the first version of it & help playtest it.
WHAT IS LEFT TO DO?
- Design Decisions: I haven't quite decided how I want to balance weapons for mid-match progression.
- Adding Steam Support: Whiteout Engine 2 was branched off from Incursion prior to adding Steam support so it needs it to be re-added. This will also give me an opportunity to perhaps do it a bit cleaner this time as well.
- Re-Adding Content: The heavy zombie & exploding zombie from the original game need to be added back in.
- Level Intro Cutscenes: When working on the new levels it really struck me as wanting to have some sort of cutscene or setup for each level, so adding those I think will help immersion by framing each level in a scenario, as well as give me an outlet to pour out some world lore I've been building up.
- Co-Op AI: I want to have better singleplayer support for the game and so have been working on bot support for the game that the host can choose to turn on or off. I haven't decided whether or not this feature will make it into the initial release of the Reforged update, but I'd like to try.
- Tutorial: If possible, I'd like to get a proper custom map tutorial made so players can get accustomed to the game with more than just text before entering a match.
- Gamemode Touchups: There are now 2 gamemodes, both of which are at 90% completion. There are some minor touch-ups & polishing I have yet to do though.
- Buildables: I haven't yet added back in the buildables from the original game. But the programming for them still exists so I'm hoping this should be relatively straightforward.
- Meta/Long-term progression: A big part of this update is changing in-game progression with the removal of loadouts and instead a new perk system being implemented (which shouldn't take too long but is a big to-do). I think it's going to help greatly with many balance problems that loadouts caused and give a more clear sense & path for progression.
MOVING FORWARD
Everything so far has been going really well. Things look & play great, most of the programming has been wrapped up, and it's looking on-track to release with 5 all-new maps, 15 all-new weapons, a new gamemode (more on that at a later time), and lets not forget the 2 new zombie types: Crawler & Runner.
I want to get this update out for testing as soon as I can, so the plan is to publish a beta branch that players can opt into to help test. Once players have had a chance to give feedback & we've worked out any potential bugs, then releasing it fully to everyone. So, I look foirward to sharing more progress in the future. Hopefully the next thing I write will be the public branch key for anyone to opt into the test.
Your Commanding Officer,
Blake Gillman
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