Hey everyone!

The next Pure Onyx test release will be tomorrow!

This release will include a 2x Larva variant of the Vioreaper H scene for Onyx, as well as some improvements to the standard Vioreaper scene for both Onyx and FemCop.  We have a lot of work done on 2x and 3x Vioreaper scenes as well, so expect at least one of those next month.  

The release will also feature destructible objects, as well as the water / splash system.  You can read more about those below, as well as see some example gifs I've made.  

Stage design and artwork has received special attention from me this month!  Xxoom and Limbo have made a lot of progress on their stage artwork, and we gained a very experienced background and matte painter named Zydaline that will greatly strengthen our 2D art team.  You can see their early work on the cave map below, along with everything else we have to show off this month :D.

Topics for this Update!

• June Release Details
• Splicer FK-Doll Enemy Concepts
• Destructible Objects
• Ghoul Enemy Animations Progress
• Unit 05 Enemy Concepts and Sculpts
• Labs Stage Design - Skywalk and Interior
• Labs Stage Design - Caverns
• Splicer Brute Low Poly + Rig Complete

June Release Details

Tentative Changelog (** indicates items added or being added since the June 21 Inner Circle patched test release):

H Scenes

• ** Added 2x Larva variation for the Onyx with 1x Vioreaper H scene
• ** Improved physics during the intro and major transition of 1x Vioreaper H scene for Onyx and FemCop
• ** Fixed face animation issues with part of Onyx & FemCop's 1x Vioreaper H scene
• Added message to gallery when selected scene contains filtered H content.
• Animation Gallery is now hidden from Main Menu if adult content is completely disabled

Stage

• ** Added "Water Test Map" to the World Map
• ** Added first iteration of the water & splash system
• ** Added Caverns stage music to the Water Test Map mission
• Added destructible objects framework
• You'll now find destructible barrels that drop items on some maps. This is just a start!
• Returned the old and more descriptive messages when attempting to open a locked chest during the wave survival missions

Animations

• Added dynamic physics for FemCop's combat animations (hair, chest).
• Dynamic physics for Onyx's combat/movement animations is working again.

Enemies

• Enemies no longer spawn in T pose, resulting in fewer visual glitches.  For example, Chain Splicer's chain will no longer be visible from a mile away when he spawns.
• Enemies will no longer yeet themselves outside the map.
• Further improved backend AI to balance frequency of specific enemy skill usage.
• Fixed memory issue in which items Looter stole were not deleted

Splicer FK-Doll Enemy Concepts

Xxoom has completed the detailed concept art for the Splicer FK-Doll enemy!  This is the long awaited female character for the Splicer faction.  

As you can see, we experimented with a bunch of different palettes, and will do even more for additional skin tones.  AltairPL (one of our programmers) has been denied a redhead since the MATM days, so we are likely rolling with that as the base version :D.  

Destructible Objects

As of the mid-month release, we've added the destructible object framework and first objects to the game.  It's not a huge deal yet from a gameplay perspective, but it's a significant addition that will be expanded greatly over the course of the game.

These objects have stats, visual damage states (think the car you bash on in retro Street Fighter games), loot tables, and can trigger events when hit or destroyed.   

Currently we've simply added some barrels that drop specific loot, power-ups and score items, but later they will house things like temporary weapons, traps, or even enemies.  We will soon add some explosive objects, which can be detonated by knocking enemies into them (they'll have more significance once Onyx has more ranged options such as throws).

Here's a more detailed list of some future possibilities:

• Containers that release environmental hazards such as gas, sticky ooze or acid pools, or fire that can spread (and be put out by detonating extinguisher gas tanks).
• Biomonster egg sacs that may contain loot, but might also explode with larva or tentacles.
• Barricades that Onyx must break through to escape a looming threat or that can be used by ranged enemies to add interest to an encounter.  The Junkyard's Bulldozer boss relies on this, as well as damaging a wall with explosives to escape through.
• Delayed explosives that Onyx can knock into enemies before detonating.

We still have to add some jostle/bounce animations and FX to the current objects to make them more interesting, but expect those soon.

Ghoul Enemy Animations Progress

Ryatta has been working on combat animations for the Ghoul robotic enemies this month!  

The above animations are for the shambler version.  These units are part of a relatively docile pack that becomes more hostile when aggroed.  Inspired by the nurses from Silent Hill, Ryatta created a set of variants for the Idle and Walk animations so that each member of the pack looks unique. 

As they are damaged, their shell breaks to reveal their inner skeleton, which turns them berserk and increases their combat abilities.  I expect we'll have some of those animations to show next month.    

There will also be a runner and crawler variant, which are much more aggressive and independent than the slow swarm.  I expect work on these will be shown next month as well :D.

Unit 05 Enemy Concepts and Sculpts

Limbo and Kame have worked quite a bit on the Unit 05 enemies this month :D.  These dudes are redesigns of the MATM enemies found in the Access Tunnels area, simplified for PO's cel shaded style.  In PO they'll be found largely in the Labs stage.

As shown, there are now two versions.  The rocket version folds into a ball and rolls to travel quickly, while the other spawns by falling from above, then deploys after striking the ground.  When these spawn mid-encounter they can be quite a hazard as you'll need to avoid their landing zones as they pepper the ground while dealing with whatever threat is currently present.

They are also expected to have at least one H scene, which I'll likely detail more next month ^-^.

Labs Stage Design - Skywalk

This month I set up a test map utilizing Limbo's concept art for the Labs Skywalk tiles and Xxoom's background art.  The goal was to set up scale, perform a rough test of the parallax layers, and make sure the camera framing worked with the composition.  The city and sky background still needs its separate layers added, at which point it will really make the space feel big.

Limbo has since finished a lot of the 3D modeling necessary for these tilesets.  These models will get lit in 3D and rendered out like the previous maps we've done, then overpainted to better fit the updated style we're working toward. 

Labs Stage Design - Caverns

As with the Skywalk map, I've set up a test map for the water portion of the Crystal Cave area.  Not only was the goal to get scaling / parallax / the camera correct but also to pull Brum's water and splash system out of the closet and get those updated to work with all of the recent physics changes.  We're almost there on that front!

So far all of the art on this map has been hand-painted.  Xxoom made quite a bit of progress at the beginning of the month on the distant background layers, and our new painter Zydaline has quickly gotten up to speed on the style and blocked out much of the remainder of the map.  Definitely check out the higher resolution version of the WIP above!

I'm planning on including the WIP version of this map in the end-of-month release so that you can check out the water system in person.  We'll have the very obvious character reflection issue fixed by then :D.

Splicer Brute Low Poly + Rig Complete

Lastly, TK has completed the low poly model and rig for the Splicer Brute!  He also just finished the lower poly LOD (performance) model this week. TMX will be starting on his combat poses later this week!