Less than eleven hours remain before beta release. I’m nervous, happy, excited, stressed and sleepless all at the same time. It’s an odd mix of feelings, but I like it. Guess I picked the right industry to get into, because from what I heard, this atmosphere of high tension is pretty common in the world of video game development.
Last weekend, Team Comrade had its all-night beta crunch/work-in party. From 9 PM on Saturday to roughly 9 AM the next day, we did nothing but work on Comrade Quest. Okay, so that’s a little bit of a lie- some whiteboard shenanigans were had, and a few brusque Russian phone calls to the local pizza company were made. Even still, a lot of work got done.
The game designers worked with the level designer and programmers to firm up combat. Players and enemies alike have better physics, improved attacks, and combat feels more inclusive to the game experience. Much progress was made on the layout of the level as well. Our alpha release was criticized because it contained a lot of empty spaces. We addressed this problem by compressing certain areas of the level that were too long, and adding challenges and collectible beets to empty areas.
A lot of interesting bugs were found, like Olaf being able to moonwalk in certain areas, and an insane amount of enemies spawning in the arenas. The game designers also sorted out a collision problem with the metal smashers. When the new art asset for the smashers was imported, it messed up the smasher’s collision. Rather than killing players caught underneath it, it only pushed them into the ground. The problem was rooted in the shape of the smasher’s collision- the edges at the bottom were slightly beveled. This was to match the art asset, which featured beveled edges. By changing the beveled corners of the smasher’s collision box to 90 degree corners, we were able to get around some of the smasher’s collision problems with player.
Now, we’re half a day away from beta release and Comrade Quest is looking really good. We’ve come across more bugs since our work party, but most of them have been resolved. One of the funniest involved Olaf getting absorbed into the smashers. We also have most of the main menu working, which is great. You can see what it should look like once it’s finished here.
My biggest concern lies with the camera transitions and the way players trigger them when moving from area to area. Earlier, one player was able to move into a new area without the other player. Once in the new area, the slower player would remain off-screen, ruining the gameplay experience. This transition issue was largely fixed by adjusting the camera and implementing invisible barriers. However, there’s some camera popping and I don’t know how much it will affect player feedback in the beta.
Camera popping aside, I feel very confident about Comrade Quest’s beta release. It amazes me that six months ago, Comrade Quest was just an idea in my head. Now, that idea has materialized into a playable level with working mechanics, animation, menus and most importantly, gameplay. I’m grateful to have such a dedicated, hardworking team to bring Comrade Quest this far.
Post comandeered by US Claire Force
C.E. LEWOCZKO 