Progress Update!

It's been a while since the last Steam announcement, but that doesn't mean things have been quiet behind the scenes. Far from it in fact. Throughout this year, many prototypes were made, ideas tested, and systems developed all with the purpose of making Crunch Element all it can be.

In short, Crunch Element is going back to the basics, focusing on what makes it unique: destruction in a CQB setting. What does this mean? Higher fidelity interaction, a bigger focus on gear + attachments, and handcrafted levels that enable consistently enjoyable gameplay. See the latest devlog for an in depth discussion about progress this year. Some ultra-experimental stuff is on the test_interaction branch which is used for testing these new systems. A top priority for the end of this year is getting everything synced up and rock solid on the main branch. If you want to put your testing hat on and get down to business tracking bugs and providing feedback, then jump in the Discord server here.

Now onto the exciting bits. What has already been implemented and currently in testing?

A New Interaction System

In order to lay the foundation for the many exciting things on the roadmap, a new interaction system was a necessary component to unleash Crunch Element's potential. Everything including the player rig, items, and weapons were reworked to use this system. This results in a higher fidelity of physics interactions with the environment, new items that take advantage of this, and new quality of life features like force grabbing!

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A larger focus on items and gear

To bring out more from Crunch Element and pave the way future game modes, there's now a stronger emphasis on items. The introduction of the new inventory system will allow for a more in-depth management of items which will include things like weapons, individual magazines, health items, and more. For quick access, there are slots on the player's "hotbar" which is always in front of them. For longer term storage and collecting items, players can utilize the new backpack.

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Attachments and customization

A brand new attachment and weapon modification system has also been implement and currently in testing! Player's can customize their weapons before heading out on operations with various types of attachments such as muzzle devices, grips, lights, optics, and more. Eventually, both weapons and attachments will be unlockable, but for now they are all available for testing purposes.

New objectives

The following are the objectives currently being tested. Each stage will contain one or more objectives, which will be strung together to make an "Operation" (more on that later).

Intervention

Defuse the Scavenger explosives before they destroy Enterprise equipment.

Sabotage

Players must destroy the signal relay and escape back to the vehicle.

Espionage

Locate and retrieve the intel located in the compound, and return to the vehicle safely.

Exterminate

Identify and eliminate all enemy targets.

Various improvements and fixes along the way

• Fixed many issues regarding sound (sound cutoff, mixing issues, etc) - Implemented sound mixing - Ambient sounds - New destruction module types (brick, different floors, barricades, etc) - Graphics improvements - Performance improvements

What's to come

• A new flagship "Operations" mode with roguelike progression - Many more stages - Consumable health items - More attachment types and weapon parts - Global progression (item and attachment unlocks) - Enemy improvements - Various enemy types

Lastly, I'd like to thank everyone for their patience. Striving to build something people enjoy isn't always quick nor seamless, but it's extremely rewarding to see all of the long term work of the past year finally come together. I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback about the new systems and I hope you are excited as I am for the what's to come!

If you'd like to stay up to date through smaller and more frequent updates, consider following Crunch Element on Twitter.

• Blake