eromancer
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March 2019 Progress Update!
🕑 Added 2019-03-03 13:56:11 +0000 UTC
Hey guys!
I’m really disappointed we’re not as far as I was hoping we’d be, and I apologize for the release not being ready yet. We’ve made a lot of unexpected progress in other areas while we work on getting the animations to the quality I expect, so there’s a lot to show off at least. We’ve also already got solid results on what I think will be the most advanced real time liquid system in a 2D H game, and we’re making good strides toward relatively seamless animation transitions.
Since Kitsune and I are the only animators, we’ve taken some steps to speed things up in the future by getting TK the pro edition of Spine so that he can rig new animations in Kitsune’s off hours. His 3D rigging skills pretty much directly translate to 2D, so it’s already been a big help.
BTW, I'm including all the full / high resolution versions of the artwork I post in updates in an attached zip from now on, so you don't need to poke all the links. Unfortunately Patreon doesn't allow for high resolution images, so they have to be linked from offsite :(.
Here’s the full rundown of topics for this update (I've marked new stuff since the last IC update):
- Grapple Animation Preview (UPDATED)
- H Artwork Previews (NEW)
- Frame by Frame H Scene Mock-up
- Physics-based Liquid (NEW)
- Vioreaper Completed Design!
- “Charger” Completed Design!
- Syndicate Enforcer Design Preview
- Vorepup Design Preview
- Tunnel Map Preview (UPDATED)
Grapple Animation Preview
I showed an earlier version of this off to the Inner Circle crowd last week, but its complete now. I’m really satisfied with the quality here, especially for a first attempt. Since the last time you saw this, we’ve added a faux 3D effect to all the body parts to emulate rotation, and improved the skeleton to add more realism to the swingy bits.
Two major hurdles we overcame this month to get to this point: a fully featured face rig including faux 3D rotation, and a new design for skeletons for H scenes.
A major difficulty for this kind of game is that Spine (and any 2D animation software) is inherently bad at handling complex interactions between characters. One character can’t have body parts in front of and behind another at the same time without some trickery. In our case, we’re actually swapping out the character skeletons for H scenes and replacing them with a single (big) skeleton containing all the necessary characters. But we also want to make these animations as flexible as possible so that we can reuse them with the future possibility of new characters/outfits/skins/whatever. Anyways, it's taken some time to get sorted, but we're there. Here's a screen of the animation playing in-engine :D.
We’re working on the other animations currently, but aren’t ready to show them off quite yet.
H Artwork Previews
Above are a few completed stills from the upcoming H artwork scenes :D. Here are the high resolution versions:
Frame by Frame H Scene Mock-up
I’ve attached a simplified frame-by-frame mock-up of the H animations for this upcoming release. Limbo and I made this to help figure out the details / determine what extra drawings we might need. This doesn’t include any complex details or loops, but sketching the transitions out in this style has helped a lot, and we’re testing the limitations of Spine as we go.
This animation is intended to be a two-parter, but we may lop off the second part for this release just to get it in your hands faster.
You can download the full version at the bottom of the post!
Physics Based Liquid
This may be my favorite part of the update this month, and I hope you guys think it was worth taking a few days to work on it! Our liquid FX system will consist of two parts: particles/dynamic simulation in-engine, and drawn liquid that gets rigged to the character in Spine and animated. This is what we have (so far) for the particle simulation. We tested a few things, including baking liquid simulation from Blender and using the technique that most AAA games use for blood splashes etc. We ended up however going with Unity's brand new particle FX package.
Check out a high resolution video of it here! The artwork used is a WIP image by the way -- this would be completely animated.
I think this has some huge potential. Best of all, now that we have presets figured out, it's incredibly easy to manipulate for new animations. What do you think?
P.S. We're looking at making it an option for the puddles to be persistent (they would start dissolving once performance is impacted).
Vioreaper – Completed Artwork!
We finished the artwork for the Vioreaper’s idle pose! Check out the full images below:
Charger – Completed Artwork!
And one more knocked out! It really sucked, but we actually had to redo the work on the Charger from scratch after we made a major goof with the image resolution. TK and I powered through the next two days on only naps in order to redo it and catch up @_@. I feel really good about the results though, and Limbo did a fantastic job with the design :D.
Syndicate Enforcer Concepts
Limbo has been forging ahead with enemy concept art while we work on Onyx's artwork for the release. He started on designs for the Syndicate Enforcer, which has given me the opportunity to start practicing male faces in this style.
Vorepup(?) Concepts
Another monster returning from MATM will be the Vorepup :D. These designs were done with it mind, but his armored appearance makes me think this guy could be more like, I dunno, a Voredaddy? Heh, point is this may be a larger version that the Vorepups orbit (or maybe he's even spawning them with his projectile attack). Ideas are welcome! Here are some additional pose sketches and a color test.
Tunnel Map Preview (UPDATED)
The Vioreaper’s nest / tunnel map is coming along great :D. Here are some full resolution screenshots, as well as a preview of the full map. This one features a lot of custom hard surface modeling by Uber, so be sure to zoom in :D. We still have to add the nest goop, which Ubercharge has actually made a lot of progress on, but I’ll show it off next time.
- Tunnel Map 1
- Tunnel Map 2
- Tunnel Map 3
- Full Map Included in the Attachment
Comments
Mav
Do you feel that the work you guys are putting into pure onyx is going to help the final MATM product as well? What systems or engines do you see working on both sides?
We're aiming for the next couple of weeks for PO. That's how long it will take Mr. Kittyhawk to finish his giant Unity overhaul :D.
Verdonator
Just out of curiosity, when can we expect a new build with H content (for MATM or the new game)?
The liquid thing is a huge time saver really. It came together very quickly and we should get a lot of mileage out of it as we get better with it. Regarding back-end stuff, there are still some significant features that haven't gotten attention yet, but we've been prepping for them as we go. The H scene skeleton system for instance was designed with multi-teaming in mind from the start. We also need to take a time out at some point and get the UI up to par. Sprite lighting and blending is mostly complete but MW's current physics / collision / scene management overhaul was higher priority since we were spending significant time patching third party code. EDIT: All the R&D that went into MATM liquid helped a lot here by the way. We definitely avoided pitfalls we learned about back then that would've made this way more painful heh.
There is a high likelihood :D
It's pretty exaggerated for the sake of showing the FX off :D. Options are good though, and this system is flexible enough that it's not out of the question.
MangoFishSocks
Go around the map and gather these fuses from fixed locations and loot from battles, then go to the various consoles and up their charge with the fuses to open the doors. I believe it's 5 for A, 15 for B and 20 for C but I could be mistaken.
sin
just a suggestion for MatM. It would be nice if there was a mission recorder in the game so players can remember what they need to do for the current mission. The first mission with the fuses is a good example where it is easy to forget what players must do for the first part of MatM involving the A B C fuses. PS does anyone remember what they have to do for the first mission with the A B C fuses?
Freeko Suave
Next month will be an entire year since MatM had an update of any kind according to the overview page. I can say that I certainly had come here for that as well. I am somewhat conflicted about Pure Onyx, because I can see this leading into MatM becoming better. For now, I can still have some level of optimism. (Though the seemingly steady decrease in pledge amounts as of late seem to be showing otherwise at a general level)
sin
It is a interesting design but I am worried about the first game Malise. It been years since a major update and now you have a 2nd game to develop with this game that will take away some focus. I am worried the 1st game may not finish
MangoFishSocks
I think you're confusing the flagship title Malise and the Machine (3D, currently seeing bottlenecked back-end production) with Pure Onyx (2D, the current, smaller project meant to generate financial support).
Vinick
I really like the designs and concepts so far, and I especially like what you're doing with the liquid effects/climax scene. Most adult games tend to leave the climax scene as a relatively simple part of the animation, and make the liquid effects pretty subpar, but the games that don't simplify it that much, often come out as some of the best. The Vioreaper meaty version is definitely intriguing, and probably my favorite enemy design so far.
Subjectivity
Love that Vorepup! I've seen some creatures that are too small to swallow a girl whole will instead swallow just one part of her, to incapacitate that limb. One can swallow her left arm, the other her right, one swallows each leg, and one might even swallow her head. Each limb that is swallowed further limits what Onyx can do, making certain attacks impossible until she gets the creature off of her. If enough of the smaller ones swallow her limbs, maybe the larger one (Voredaddy?) can then make its move and swallow her whole. I also like when a creature smaller than a girl jumps up, swallows her head, and its belly expands as it works its way down her body, stretching to swallow someone larger than itself. It's not always possible, if you're using a 3D model for the creature and it cannot expand like that, but with this art style... maybe?
Jeno
So, I think I may have missed an update or two, but has the development moved from the breathtaking 3D renders to 2,5D drawn images now?
Spencer
Me personally not a huge fan of squirting doesn’t mean you have to get rid of it maybe something in settings to tone it down?
Verdonator
Will the charger use his middle "horn"?
MangoFishSocks
The grappling animation is coming along nicely, and I haven't said it before but the thing being a two-parter is a nice twist to help make a relatively bland sequence stand out more. I especially like how Onyx's jacket slips off her shoulders, gives it the feeling of an uncoordinated scuffle. Holding off judgement on the real-time liquid effects system. Initially it looks like something very extra, a thing to avoid with the quick development plan in mind, but if it actually substitutes hand-drawn liquid then it could save you time and give you another unique boon in the process. Could you clarify? Really like the luminescence on the vioreaper, and I would've liked to have seen a test with the muscle textures on the charger I suggested earlier, but I'm not bothered you didn't. Time is of the essence. Speaking of the charger, is that middle appendage going to be used for anything... Specific? It's got a certain shape to it. As for the Syndicate Enforcer, I'd like to see him use his size to his advantage, really overpowering Onyx. Positions like the Full Nelson, Jackhammer and Pile Driver, to name a few, or just straight up doggy style with her dangling in mid-air. Some food for thought. Lastly: How far do you think you are to completion of the back-end development? How soon can you start focusing solely or mostly on content? You've been at this game for I think 5 months now and you said this would have a quick development cycle. Great update again, appreciate the attached file thing too.
