KickStarter Vigilantes: neo-noir, turn based tactical RPG

[Turtle-Zone 3000]

That interrogation gameplay reminds me of Liberal Crime Squad.

 

[Luka-boy]

Rough night on the town. A battered and bruised Sam patches up his wounds in the surgery.

You might want to scale down Sam's size in that one. The same applies for most of the foreground objects. Compared to the cabinet in the background or the room itself they're gigantic.

 

[ushas]

Thanks for explanations Timeslip

don't quite follow - you talking about the enemies managing to flee? If so, that reduces the number of viable subjects and will drop the chance of finding an interrogation subject.

that too, in general I'm curious how various in game systems influence each other. So depending how it ends up, I can imagine if I put the team leader down too early it can make the encounter easier but also remaining enemies having lowered morale ale more likely to flee... Likewise, if identified I would be more willing not letting the leader himself flee or be killed as it puts him out of interrogation options (the rest of the team being lower rank -> less valuable intel)...

Yes, and no, it's counter productive to kill everyone from the point of bringing down the gangs. The idea is that if you incapacitate the enemies, they are restrained and left for the police to deal with. That said, it may be good to differentiate lethal vs non lethal as you suggested by allowing a % of incapacitated enemies to escape/be bailed. Like the idea of killing undermining gang membership, but keeping enemies alive for interrogation being better for completing the big picture objectives of taking the gangs down.

Yeah, undermining gang membership can be useful. I wonder if reputation somehow comes into play too.

Just from the moral perspective, it's never old to properly tempt the players. But all in all it's more important how it fits to your vision. In case you want being good and nice to be the sure tactic, then go for it fully with all the B movies tropes Lynn was dreaming about (can be refreshing next to the seriously-trying-to-be-gray games). Killing can also alternatively work like opting out for higher challenge, etc...

At the moment, the level of intel is the same, it's just easier to get them to snitch on another gang.

Ok it makes sense to be more willing. Though depending how it plays, not sure why would they know the inner goings and secrets on the comparable level to the own members of the gang.

Is there an option in particular that's jumping out as not meaningful?

Right now just that post-mission surveillance screen.

There are a number fairly important choices to be made, who to use, which gang to get intel on, and whether to use sodium thoipental. If it's the sodium thoipental phase, it's going to cost time and resources to make, and you'll need to have a certain level of skill/base facilities. Arguably, an algorithm could be written to figure out the best interrogator, and the best option for close combat skill to use, but that's also taking away the fun of figuring out the best way to interrogate from the player.

Well, the game has all the info but the player doesn't. You are right figuring out is fun. When it costs limited resources I agree it's important choice. Plus having much higher chance on something doesn't automatically mean success with an equally valuable gain. This definitely sounds interesting, didn't meant to imply that you are going into wrong direction here, on the contrary.

With that higher level of detail, I would be only skeptical if there is any obvious option given during interrogation game without any drawbacks (like when there is binary choice to use or not [Presence] at the start of an encounter, but there you have at least 'wording' variety). For example, is there any reason not to want soften up the subject by [close combat] once having high enough skill? (eg. loosing other options, interrogation taking longer, reputation shift, subject having a higher chance to break down -> higher risk, etc.)

I accept your point. It could be automated, but I think an equal number of players enjoy the suspense of looting, seeing how many of the containers they have found and cracked. In terms of clicks, it's 3-5 every mission, maybe every 30 mins. I'll buy you a new mouse in the year 2033 to make up for the wear and tear I've added some features in to reduce busy work (the single click reload for example). If time allows, and it's the best way to spend it, will do some more work in this area - perhaps an auto buy for crafting or single click repair.

Probably I'm just loosing that suspense thing faster with realization that it doesn't require additional input. Perhaps optional? Would it help if the booty report is categorized? (~looted from enemies & ~ list of containers found and items from them). The repair and buying crafting items feels more meaningful just because it tells us about the time and money cost, in case it's precious. Though repair all icon akin resting one can be useful indeed.

Thanks for the kind offer, but I think it's to no avail as it isn't in my nature to be nice to mice.

 

[Timeslip]

That interrogation gameplay reminds me of Liberal Crime Squad.

TZ3K Cheers, will have a look at it to see how it works. Anything you didn't like about their system.

You might want to scale down Sam's size in that one. The same applies for most of the foreground objects. Compared to the cabinet in the background or the room itself they're gigantic.

Thanks for the feedback Luka-boy - I'll send your feedback on to Olga.

that too, in general I'm curious how various in game systems influence each other. So depending how it ends up, I can imagine if I put the team leader down too early it can make the encounter easier but also remaining enemies having lowered morale ale more likely to flee... Likewise, if identified I would be more willing not letting the leader himself flee or be killed as it puts him out of interrogation options (the rest of the team being lower rank -> less valuable intel)...

There are some open questions here - right now, taking down a gang specialist won't affect morale, but it may well happen. Need to avoid cases of the whole enemy team running.

Just from the moral perspective, it's never old to properly tempt the players. But all in all it's more important how it fits to your vision. In case you want being good and nice to be the sure tactic, then go for it fully with all the B movies tropes Lynn was dreaming about (can be refreshing next to the seriously-trying-to-be-gray games). Killing can also alternatively work like opting out for higher challenge, etc...

Maybe a bigger damage bonus might be called for. I guess incapacitating offers a more direct route to a strategic victory, whereas killing makes tactical victories easier. Ideally, I'd like to leave it up to the player. My leaning would be for grit rather than cheese. I hope that an idealistic protagonist doesn't make this harder to achieve. Some of the other characters will offer a darker tone.

Well, the game has all the info but the player doesn't. You are right figuring out is fun. When it costs limited resources I agree it's important choice. Plus having much higher chance on something doesn't automatically mean success with an equally valuable gain. This definitely sounds interesting, didn't meant to imply that you are going into wrong direction here, on the contrary.

With that higher level of detail, I would be only skeptical if there is any obvious option given during interrogation game without any drawbacks (like when there is binary choice to use or not [Presence] at the start of an encounter, but there you have at least 'wording' variety). For example, is there any reason not to want soften up the subject by [close combat] once having high enough skill? (eg. loosing other options, interrogation taking longer, reputation shift, subject having a higher chance to break down -> higher risk, etc.)

Always happy to get another point of view. For now, you will always soften them up with a combat skill - you choose CC or Firearms, whichever is higher will give the best results. It may be possible to make the system more nuanced.

Probably I'm just loosing that suspense thing faster with realization that it doesn't require additional input. Perhaps optional? Would it help if the booty report is categorized? (~looted from enemies & ~ list of containers found and items from them). The repair and buying crafting items feels more meaningful just because it tells us about the time and money cost, in case it's precious. Though repair all icon akin resting one can be useful indeed.

I agree - I'd be more inclined to work on crafting autobuy or the auto repair for the reason that replacing one functional (though perhaps not quite optimal) system with a slightly different one uses time, but doesn't really improve the game in any substantial way. Cheers for the feedback, and indeed for all the help you've given with testing.

 

[ushas]

That interrogation gameplay reminds me of Liberal Crime Squad.

some options there! (and even with stockholm?...)

 

[ushas]

There are some open questions here - right now, taking down a gang specialist won't affect morale, but it may well happen. Need to avoid cases of the whole enemy team running.

Indeed too much assumptions and going ahead on my side. Just take it all as nice to think of, not as must be, and we are good. All in all robust base systems are the most important, I approve your resistance

some other leader-morale possibilities

I believe the game already chooses the leader on the player's side (based on Leadership stat?), so can this be done always for both teams? Besides to-hit and other possible bonuses inside leadership radius, he can simply boost morale of all his troops (say how much is based on the Presence skill). If gang members climb the hierarchy with upping Leadership, the higher rank will naturally become a leader.

So when one such leader is down, will the game establish the second in command to lead, and so on? In that case an interesting situation would be when putting down an under-boss would give a leadership to some Presence skill specialist lieutenant and thus actually might boost the morale higher. Transition doesn't need to be instant though. Eg. ~ all the bonuses revoked for one turn after the leader's demise. And the next leader is coming into play in another turn after that, perhaps with an appropriate combat bark.

How would it play when a leader wants to flee? What about he barks about retreat and him switching to fleeing would actually give his whole team morale debuff equal to the original buff (so instead +[to morale] it will become -[to morale]), while he is still fleeing and a leader.

Maybe a bigger damage bonus might be called for. I guess incapacitating offers a more direct route to a strategic victory, whereas killing makes tactical victories easier. Ideally, I'd like to leave it up to the player. My leaning would be for grit rather than cheese. I hope that an idealistic protagonist doesn't make this harder to achieve. Some of the other characters will offer a darker tone.

I was also thinking the interrogator being known for killing the subject's gang fellows might make them scared and more believing his threats, and vice versa. But it would be boring if that (more subjects + lower chance vs. less subjects + higher chance) would lead into the same overall experience. So you are up to something more interesting with that tactical vs. strategical distinction.

As for the killing damage bonus. I don't know how will switching between modes of elimination in the battle work in the end. In case the last hit applies, the obvious tactic would be to do first 1-2 hits in the killing mode and then finishing enemies using the peaceful incapacitation...

For now, you will always soften them up with a combat skill - you choose CC or Firearms, whichever is higher will give the best results. It may be possible to make the system more nuanced.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying the system must be more nuanced. It just feels to me the most rewarding when given options and the underlying system are both on the similar level of complexity.

In case of nuances: Personally, I dig all three gangs being different, so it would be neat if this plays a role across all the systems. Even if that means just some modifiers (i mean it all adds to experience). Perhaps the church folks being on average more drug resistant, for example, etc. But it depends where you want to put focus on.

Cheers

np, glad if helps. Just please don't nice-torture, Mr. good cop.

 

[Timeslip]

Indeed too much assumptions and going ahead on my side. Just take it all as nice to think of, not as must be, and we are good. All in all robust base systems are the most important, I approve your resistance

It's a logical enough assumption to be honest. There's a pretty good chance it will be added, if it can be balanced - the danger is that killing a higher up gang member could turn into an easy win route. I'm upgrading Unity at the minute - am going to start working on gang leaders tomorrow.

some other leader-morale possibilities

I believe the game already chooses the leader on the player's side (based on Leadership stat?), so can this be done always for both teams? Besides to-hit and other possible bonuses inside leadership radius, he can simply boost morale of all his troops (say how much is based on the Presence skill). If gang members climb the hierarchy with upping Leadership, the higher rank will naturally become a leader.

So when one such leader is down, will the game establish the second in command to lead, and so on? In that case an interesting situation would be when putting down an under-boss would give a leadership to some Presence skill specialist lieutenant and thus actually might boost the morale higher. Transition doesn't need to be instant though. Eg. ~ all the bonuses revoked for one turn after the leader's demise. And the next leader is coming into play in another turn after that, perhaps with an appropriate combat bark.

How would it play when a leader wants to flee? What about he barks about retreat and him switching to fleeing would actually give his whole team morale debuff equal to the original buff (so instead +[to morale] it will become -[to morale]), while he is still fleeing and a leader.

Working on the roles of the different gang members will get attention. There are additional "officer class" specialists which have not been added yet: survivalist officer and the mafia made man. Not sure about the churcher "officer class" yet. Current plan: In the absence of a gang lieutenant, these will serve as leaders, providing bonuses and utility abilities. To differentiate them from enforcers/hitmen/gunners/snipers, it's likely only the officers / lieutenants / boss will be classed as leaders and provide bonuses.

I was also thinking the interrogator being known for killing the subject's gang fellows might make them scared and more believing his threats, and vice versa.

Have considered this, and it may happen. Difficult to see how it might affect balance though.

As for the killing damage bonus. I don't know how will switching between modes of elimination in the battle work in the end. In case the last hit applies, the obvious tactic would be to do first 1-2 hits in the killing mode and then finishing enemies using the peaceful incapacitation...

There is a cooldown for switching between modes. This might not be effective enough to prevent gaming, but will look a it.

In case of nuances: Personally, I dig all three gangs being different, so it would be neat if this plays a role across all the systems. Even if that means just some modifiers (i mean it all adds to experience). Perhaps the church folks being on average more drug resistant, for example, etc. But it depends where you want to put focus on.

The more different the gangs can be made, the better. I like the idea of the churchers being more drug resistant - it's a simple addition to the logic, so will go with it. Piggybacking on this, the mafia could be even more resistant to talking about their own organisation than the others (Omerta).

 

[ushas]

There's a pretty good chance it will be added, if it can be balanced - the danger is that killing a higher up gang member could turn into an easy win route

You mean like easy to tactically win but without useful subjects to proceed towards strategic victory?

Working on the roles of the different gang members will get attention. There are additional "officer class" specialists which have not been added yet: survivalist officer and the mafia made man. Not sure about the churcher "officer class" yet. Current plan: In the absence of a gang lieutenant, these will serve as leaders, providing bonuses and utility abilities. To differentiate them from enforcers/hitmen/gunners/snipers, it's likely only the officers / lieutenants / boss will be classed as leaders and provide bonuses.

Ah I see, those are the gang leaders you've been talking before. Does 12-15 mean in total, so it's 4-5 gang leaders per faction?

Making them stand out mechanically through leadership is actually good idea. You can also give them here and there distinctive choice of henchmen (eg. katana wielding Confessor having a whole team armed with bladed weapons)

Btw. not sure if related or useful - there was a movement named The Process Church of The Final Judgment. Their hierarchy: Acolyte, Initiate, Outside Messenger (OP), Inside Messenger (IP), Prophet, Priest, Master, Omega; according to this source:
https://web.archive.org/web/20060828130118/religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/Process.html

In case the last hit applies, the obvious tactic would be to do first 1-2 hits in the killing mode and then finishing enemies using the peaceful incapacitation...

There is a cooldown for switching between modes. This might not be effective enough to prevent gaming, but will look a it.

isn't it one turn or so? Go ahead add bigger cooldown...
Players will just dedicate some party members as finishers

tbh trying to prevent exploiting is somehow futile.

My lazy-to-think side would just say scrap the mode and let everybody drop incapacitated at the health 0 HP, and if a unit has < -5HP at the end of the battle it dies. And if the player cares he needs to use stunning and less damaging means for finishing (targeting limbs, light attacks, HtH stuns, batons, tasers, rubber bullets, stun grenades), perhaps stop bleeding, etc. Reputation can be also reached by simple statistical means (eg. >50% enemies dropping dead)...

However, you have some more black & white ideas for this. When I change the mode of elimination it interestingly feels as some sort of declaration of intent. Albeit a weird one - "I'm going to be in a killer mood for this turn!". But then the game counts the actually killed enemies (finished in a killer mood) not the number of mood turns. Did I misunderstood the connection? Perhaps you want it to work more akin berserk / rage battle mode?

Piggybacking on this, the mafia could be even more resistant to talking about their own organisation than the others (Omerta).

Then there could be also a sizeable knowledge-jump between mafia associates and made men, as the latter were initiated and books were opened to them.

 

[Timeslip]

You mean like easy to tactically win but without useful subjects to proceed towards strategic victory?

The comment you quoted was in reference to a higher up gang member being taken out making other enemies more likely to flee in combat. It's somewhat logical, but it may cause balance issues if enemies flee too easily.

Concerning lethal / non lethal, more non lethal takedowns will allow more subjects to be interrogated, and allow you to make better progress on finding the gang's boss and lieutenants. You can't win Vigilantes by taking out low level gang members - strategically, you need to eliminate the leadership to break the gang. Going for more lethal takedowns means slower progress on finding the leadership, but combat will be easier. I don't want to shoehorn players into playing one way or the other, so the most likely outcome is that you will occasionally be able to retrieve intel from dead enemies.

Ah I see, those are the gang leaders you've been talking before. Does 12-15 mean in total, so it's 4-5 gang leaders per faction?

As to gang leaders, bosses and lieutenants, there will be 1 boss and likely 3-4 lieutenants per gang. The ranks at present are foot soldier, specialist(hitman/enforcer/sniper/gunner/fanatic/chaplain), lieutenant, boss. The intention is to add a lower level leader to the specialist class, for example the survivalist officer or mafia made man. These will assume leadership roles and provide utility skills (like healing) and buffs, in the absence of a lieutenant or boss.

Making them stand out mechanically through leadership is actually good idea. You can also give them here and there distinctive choice of henchmen (eg. katana wielding Confessor having a whole team armed with bladed weapons)

Btw. not sure if related or useful - there was a movement named The Process Church of The Final Judgment. Their hierarchy: Acolyte, Initiate, Outside Messenger (OP), Inside Messenger (IP), Prophet, Priest, Master, Omega; according to this source:
https://web.archive.org/web/20060828130118/religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/Process.html

Am with you on that. The hope is to differentiate the lieutenants and bosses, and their retinues as much as possible. (Am working on retinues right now). There may not be a dialogue encounter for each, but the hope is to make each one present a different challenge to the player. Likely that some of the lieutenants will be tougher than others, to present a graded challenge.

isn't it one turn or so? Go ahead add bigger cooldown...
Players will just dedicate some party members as finishers

tbh trying to prevent exploiting is somehow futile.

My lazy-to-think side would just say scrap the mode and let everybody drop incapacitated at the health 0 HP, and if a unit has < -5HP at the end of the battle it dies. And if the player cares he needs to use stunning and less damaging means for finishing (targeting limbs, light attacks, HtH stuns, batons, tasers, rubber bullets, stun grenades), perhaps stop bleeding, etc. Reputation can be also reached by simple statistical means (eg. >50% enemies dropping dead)...

I thought it was 2-3, but it's a while since I looked at it. If it's one, it definitely needs to be increased. It's tough to call the effectiveness of exploiting the system - the 20% (current) damage bonus would be eroded if an enemy that could have been removed from play gets an additional turn to heal or do damage, while you are waiting for your finisher character's turn to come up. Certainly not impossible to exploit with sufficient planning, but it might not be worth the hassle and increased risk.

The reputation question is an open one for now, but hope to address it fairly soon. May even happen in this update if there's time.

However, you have some more black & white ideas for this. When I change the mode of elimination it interestingly feels as some sort of declaration of intent. Albeit a weird one - "I'm going to be in a killer mood for this turn!". But then the game counts the actually killed enemies (finished in a killer mood) not the number of mood turns. Did I misunderstood the connection? Perhaps you want it to work more akin berserk / rage battle mode?

Yes, it would calculated based on enemies taken down in lethal mode. Will look into the naming, and perhaps a damage/CTH tradeoff.

 

[ushas]

The comment you quoted was in reference to a higher up gang member being taken out making other enemies more likely to flee in combat. It's somewhat logical, but it may cause balance issues if enemies flee too easily.

I know, not arguing with difficulty of balancing. Just in principle if a lot of them manage to flee, we may not get any subjects to interrogate and they're also coming back later stronger, IIRC. So perhaps an easy won battle but the campaign is not moving forward much...

As to gang leaders, bosses and lieutenants, there will be 1 boss and likely 3-4 lieutenants per gang. The ranks at present are foot soldier, specialist(hitman/enforcer/sniper/gunner/fanatic/chaplain), lieutenant, boss. The intention is to add a lower level leader to the specialist class, for example the survivalist officer or mafia made man. These will assume leadership roles and provide utility skills (like healing) and buffs, in the absence of a lieutenant or boss.

Am with you on that. The hope is to differentiate the lieutenants and bosses, and their retinues as much as possible. (Am working on retinues right now). There may not be a dialogue encounter for each, but the hope is to make each one present a different challenge to the player. Likely that some of the lieutenants will be tougher than others, to present a graded challenge.

Sounds interesting, good luck with that!

Also was thinking to ask if you have any plans with the leader barks. Seeing how it works for fleeing, looks to me easier to add (though not substituting of course) than a dialogue. Can have other functions, faction or campaign related. Just by limiting who barks the leader line you're also letting know that this unit is more special.

Some examples of systemic rules for leader barks coming to my mind:
(a) A threat recognition (greeting) at the beginning of combat;

- mirroring player's faction-related advancements (disinterest / confusion -> hatred / fear; unknown -> foe)​

(b) Seemingly reacting and giving orders during combat;

- emerging just from AI behavior, gives away info to vigilant players;
- faction specific wording (survivalists -> army-like orders, church -> fanatical proclamations...)​

(c) Even something like the last (punch)line when defeated makes a leader more memorable.

- perhaps leader / rank specific, can give away information​

 

[ushas]

I thought it was 2-3, but it's a while since I looked at it. If it's one, it definitely needs to be increased.

Sorry, I didn't remember correctly: In v15 it's +15% dam and 2 turns cooldown (but you can also change the mode at the end of the 1st and on start of the 3rd one => 1 turn)

It's tough to call the effectiveness of exploiting the system - the 20% (current) damage bonus would be eroded if an enemy that could have been removed from play gets an additional turn to heal or do damage, while you are waiting for your finisher character's turn to come up. Certainly not impossible to exploit with sufficient planning, but it might not be worth the hassle and increased risk.

Or you may also think of it as a feature not an exploit... Worth the hassle is hard to evaluate right now, depends also how much you plan to be challenging. Because yes, on higher ends any bit of information and any means at disposal are potentially useful for forming and executing good plans. But the game also needs to support that thinking. It's definitely easier to design and balance everything around casual play and for higher difficulties just bloat the numbers and HP of enemies to make masochists happy.

Yes, it would calculated based on enemies taken down in lethal mode. Will look into the naming, and perhaps a damage/CTH tradeoff.

Well, then if the lethal mode should be akin reckless use of force / rage, it wouldn't be bad to develop it into those areas...

For example
- sure bigger damage works as a sort of roulette
- critical hit to the head in the lethal mode being sure kill
- plus any lethal hit itself can cause (internal) bleeding (~1hp/turn, >=50% chance for torso & head), time-unlimited
- any untreated unit with bleeding status dies when its health reaches <=0HP regardless in which mode finished
- one can learn a perk to stabilize (stop) bleeding on any still standing unit (um let us heal enemies?)
- but a lethal foe might be also seen as bigger threat (AI may want to eliminate or hide from him more eagerly)

 

[Timeslip]

Also was thinking to ask if you have any plans with the leader barks. Seeing how it works for fleeing, looks to me easier to add (though not substituting of course) than a dialogue. Can have other functions, faction or campaign related. Just by limiting who barks the leader line you're also letting know that this unit is more special.

Some examples of systemic rules for leader barks coming to my mind:
(a) A threat recognition (greeting) at the beginning of combat;

- mirroring player's faction-related advancements (disinterest / confusion -> hatred / fear; unknown -> foe)​

(b) Seemingly reacting and giving orders during combat;

- emerging just from AI behavior, gives away info to vigilant players;
- faction specific wording (survivalists -> army-like orders, church -> fanatical proclamations...)​

(c) Even something like the last (punch)line when defeated makes a leader more memorable.

- perhaps leader / rank specific, can give away information​

You're right, barks are easy to add. Think they would be a good way to spend some time. Have a good few new ones I want to add, and new situations when they could be used. Cheers for suggestions along these lines. I was thinking of changing them from text on a textured plane to regular UI text - the planes seem somehow clunky. What do you think?

 

[ushas]

Well, I have seen it cut through a canopy and not scaling well when zoomed out. So from that point of view seems improvement. Can also linger longer. On the other hand, would be nice if you can still somehow visually differentiate barks from regular UI tooltips.

 

[ArchAngel]

Also was thinking to ask if you have any plans with the leader barks. Seeing how it works for fleeing, looks to me easier to add (though not substituting of course) than a dialogue. Can have other functions, faction or campaign related. Just by limiting who barks the leader line you're also letting know that this unit is more special.

Some examples of systemic rules for leader barks coming to my mind:
(a) A threat recognition (greeting) at the beginning of combat;

- mirroring player's faction-related advancements (disinterest / confusion -> hatred / fear; unknown -> foe)​

(b) Seemingly reacting and giving orders during combat;

- emerging just from AI behavior, gives away info to vigilant players;
- faction specific wording (survivalists -> army-like orders, church -> fanatical proclamations...)​

(c) Even something like the last (punch)line when defeated makes a leader more memorable.

- perhaps leader / rank specific, can give away information​

You're right, barks are easy to add. Think they would be a good way to spend some time. Have a good few new ones I want to add, and new situations when they could be used. Cheers for suggestions along these lines. I was thinking of changing them from text on a textured plane to regular UI text - the planes seem somehow clunky. What do you think?

I hope you add fun and funny barks like Fallout 1/2 had. It was always fun to see how enemies would insult you during combat or comment their own failings.

 

[Timeslip]

Well, I have seen it cut through a canopy and not scaling well when zoomed out. So from that point of view seems improvement. Can also linger longer. On the other hand, would be nice if you can still somehow visually differentiate barks from regular UI tooltips.

Will do - there's also the snag of it being drawn on different background colours.

I hope you add fun and funny barks like Fallout 1/2 had. It was always fun to see how enemies would insult you during combat or comment their own failings.

There are a couple of fun ones in there, and I'll add some more. Barks seem like a good way to add character without a huge time investment. Feel free to pitch in suggestions!

 

[ArchAngel]

I hope you add fun and funny barks like Fallout 1/2 had. It was always fun to see how enemies would insult you during combat or comment their own failings.

There are a couple of fun ones in there, and I'll add some more. Barks seem like a good way to add character without a huge time investment. Feel free to pitch in suggestions!

After you kill one of the thugs another says - "Jack noooo.. wait.. I never liked you anyways!"

 

[ArchAngel]

Or when one of the survivalist freaks hits you there is a chance he says - "HA.. I knew those 500 pushups I did yesterday would help!"

EDIT: and of course as a homage to BG you got to have - "No one crosses the Mafia and lives!"

 

[Timeslip]

Or when one of the survivalist freaks hits you there is a chance he says - "HA.. I knew those 500 pushups I did yesterday would help!"

Sold

 

[Timeslip]

Currently checking to see if the updated gang leader code is working - that they are being initialised/saved/loaded properly. Have updated Unity in this update, and have been able to push the visual quality a little further. I think there will be some fallout from the update, that will need to be caught in this and upcoming updates. Here's a look at the first level with updated lighting, shaders and colour grading. You'll also notice that Sam has a hand drawn portrait now, you'll be seeing more of these popping up in upcoming releases.

 

[Timeslip]

Unfortunately, I've hit a snag with the new version of Unity. It's doubling the number of triangles (and draw calls) in combat areas, and drastically reducing performance. I've tried to cap draw calls at around 400 on max settings, to support older hardware. Last night, one of the more intensive scenes had 1000. Typically, when VSYNC is disabled, I can get a minimum of 200 FPS - it's down to 90 on this scene. That might seem like a lot, but a 50% reduction in FPS is going to kill older hardware.

Character models are especially bad, and are more than 4 times as expensive to draw. Have been making obvious optimisations from quite early in development, and this update has left the performance in a worse place than if no optimisations had been made. Spent last night and early today trying to see if there's anything that can be done on my end to fix, but it's not looking good, so I've reverted back to 5.3.4. It's not nice losing a couple of days, but hiccups like this happen. Spent today working on the visual quality on the old version and trying to regain some of the lost time - it's not quite as pretty as on 5.6, but it's better than it was. There is the possibility of a later Unity upgrade, but this becomes more risky closer to release.

Olga's finished a first draft of the interrogation illustration, and it's a nice morale boost - it's one of my favourite illustrations so far, really like the mood. There's some more work to be done on the criminal, and I'll post the final version when it's done. Hope you enjoy!

 

[ushas]

Sad to hear about the Unity.

Spoiler

well,... just I was thinking about to hand over a couple of bugs...

Let's utter some words of demise then:

"I'll be back."

"I bloody knew it!"

"I've slipped let's do it again."

"I have seven last words to say."

"You think you kill me with bullets? I take your fuckin' bullets!"

"Can you pass my apologies to don Ciccio that I'm unable to come tomorrow at 5pm to Wilson's warehouse [5,3]?"

"I should have never switched from Scotch to Martinis." (the truest words from Humphrey Bogart)

"I am about to - or I am going to - die: either expression is correct." (Dominique Bouhours, French grammarian)

 

[Timeslip]

Sad to hear about the Unity.

Spoiler

well,... just I was thinking about to hand over a couple of bugs...

Let's utter some words of demise then:

"I'll be back."

"I bloody knew it!"

"I've slipped let's do it again."

"I have seven last words to say."

"You think you kill me with bullets? I take your fuckin' bullets!"

"Can you pass my apologies to don Ciccio that I'm unable to come tomorrow at 5pm to Wilson's warehouse [5,3]?"

"I should have never switched from Scotch to Martinis." (the truest words from Humphrey Bogart)

"I am about to - or I am going to - die: either expression is correct." (Dominique Bouhours, French grammarian)

Thanks ushas . The update issue is a bit of a set back, but these things happen. Would have been worse if the issue hadn't been noticed for a few days and had worked on something outside code (which is easily transferable).

Please feel free to post any bugs you've found. Don't worry, I'm used to a certain amount of adversity, and a few bugs won't push me over the edge Should be wrapping up with gang leaders in the next few days, and will be moving on to fixes and testing prior to releasing version 16. Some nice quotes there. The Bogart one has Ray Case written all over it!

 

[ushas]

Hm, don't they even look alike?

 

[Timeslip]

They have the same tailor at any rate.

 

[ushas]

nice...
hm...

By any chance, does Ray Case smoke, play chess and quote Plato or Shakespeare from memory?
(I suppose asking if he has a group of drinking buddies called Rat Pack would be overly presumptuous)

In any case, HB was hunting down crime syndicate bosses in movies more than 60 years ago:

The movie is supposed to contain flashbacks inside of flashbacks storytelling and one of the first to bring in the language of hitmen. The criminal organization there is inspired by Murder, Inc ThoughHaven't seen it yet.

for the tailor