For the last few weeks, I got so distracted working on the new website for our company, new projects, and had to pause the development of INSIGHT for a while. The whole theme and idea of the game actually got an overhaul; I had an original vision for it, but I want to save that for a much larger-scale game. I got plenty of notes to continue that project, but for now, INSIGHT becomes a roguelike survival shooter.
I updated the project page and gave it some life, as well as purchased a Steam page, and I'm working on making it public to the community as soon as possible. The biggest drawback is the images and installer at the moment, but I am getting that implemented as soon as possible. Now having this Steam page gives me access to their long list of tools and resources. The ones I'm most excited for are the dedicated servers and achievements. I deeply enjoy collecting achievements and feel the need to complete a game.
To make this easier to read, below are a few lists of the things I have added to the game, the next few things that are going to be implemented, and a couple of other notes. A major note to get out of the way, I have plans to get a working version of the game in the next two to three months. I may have to adjust the timeline, but I will always keep the community up to date on the status of this project. If you show interest, I have positions available to be a playtester for this project, as well as a few retail copy keys to share.
💼 Want to become a future playtester? Click on this banner to visit the careers page. It is currently closed to edit the application form, but keep your eyes open for the position.
Recently Implemented
- Steam & Conscherry account integration
- The game uses your Steam account to log in and play the game, and grants most functionality.
- Connecting a Conscherry account allows you to share data across platforms and other major stuff later on down the road. Login can be revoked through the integrations tab in your account
- I plan on making a stats page that collects all your game data in a page for you to see.
- Main menu, Options, Collection Book & Stats
- I wanted to highlight the Collection Book & Stats from this section. The book is a large list of all of the survivors, creatures, items, perks, and anything that you would find in the game. If you found the item or killed that zombie, for example, you will add it to your Collection Book and learn at the same time.
- Prototype Gameplay
- Movement: The player is a basic model from a lovely website called Mixamo, no animations yet, but I have the character in a third-person scene, and they can walk, sprint, jump, and look around the world properly. There will be multiple real survivors that you can play as, but for now, using this test dummy. No hate on test dummies.
- Safe House: There is a safe house valid in the scene, and I'm working on a zombie/enemy spawner and other tools that I can reuse throughout the development, so I could create at least three safe house events to start with.
- Enemy: Some enemies move around the scene that slowly walk around the world and search for a player (survivor). When in range or interacted with, they are on the hunt and try to find the player, and when in sight, they run towards the player and do their specific attack. There are a few different types of zombies in the main game. I'm testing with a Tank and Runner at the moment, with different attacks, speeds, and damage. Spawners exist as well, which control the spawn rates, type, and more.
- Weapons: There is only one usable weapon at the moment, which is an M4A1. I do want some realistic weapons, but I'm not sure whether to change the name for all weapons or not. The gun and weapon settings are super customizable in the code, but visually do nothing yet.
Upcoming Work
- Multiplayer Support
- While there is an existing lobby system, it needs to be tested and finalized. You can already invite players through Steam or through lobby ID. I will continue improving on this system over time.
- Updated Graphics
- I want to get in touch with some artists who feel passionate about the project as well, and get some new art made for the game, and get better models implemented.
- Better UI
- The UI has been super messy and has just been used for debugging, so in the next update, there will be a new font, some icons, and a general rework of the UI across the game.
- The gameplay visuals need a lot of work as well. It works as a basic game, but it's missing so much detail.
- Gameplay Mechanics
- I plan on finishing the safe house and getting 1 event working, like a horde wave. But first, I still need to complete the spawners and other parts as well, and make more zombie types.
- The player will have a fully functional inventory system, finally. Right now, the player just holds a weapon, which is not so useful.
Notes
- The best way to ask questions or learn more is through the project page and our Discord server. We want to build this game with the community and will update this post, the project page, the Steam page, and update our socials with information about this project.
Remarks
I hope to get this ready soon and will update the community as soon as more updates are available. I appreciate the support so far, and thanks to the people helping me test this so far.