BIG Devlog #9 - More Model Progress, Baked Lighting, Gameplay Elements, ETC.

Heyo! This DEVLOG I got a lot to show off, it's been a minute and I also said in the last one I was going to do a video, but won't lie, it was a lot of editing, so uh. I'll continue working on it and post it soon enough. So this will do for now. I don't want to focus my time into over editing for comedic effects and just get into the details. But this game idea was in development since 2019, so I could really make a documentary when it releases, haha.

Anyway, let's get into this.

Previously, I showed off a really bad model and I kinda regret it. Remember this bad goofy looking model?

Yeah, I decided it looked... Really plain, and bad looking. It wasn't even finished either, because in the final game, I want it to look extremely busy. As it's a night club, after all. So, the outside will be covered with posters, the building won't be flat looking, and it will overall be my favorite building in the entire game personally. So, I want to spend some time on this. SO! I decided to re-model it completely. Let's take a look. But, I have some news about this model as well.

So, this looks... A bit better. But I won't lie, I'm still learning the software that's a pain known as MAYA. And guess what, I'm not satisfied with this building either. But I'm getting there. I'm thinking of just restarting this final building one last time. I was happy with this building for around 5 minutes. Until I started modeling the next building. And then I finally found my issue with what made these models look so... Plain.

This is the second newest building that the player can go into and interact in. And it looks SO much better. It made me realize that the first building is just already outdated with the textures. A flat texture is extremely boring. But, don't worry. For the model as well, I'm making sure the model is optimized and not poorly rendered. This will be game ready. For the nerds out there, UV maps are going to mapped out, and I'm hoping for each model to have low polys. Just for performance. I'd like to try out some baked lighting in this game if possible.

In the game though, a lot of buildings are going to be like this. Think of it like a small old town. There will be buildings in order, blah blah. Players can go in different areas around the town and go into EACH building. I want to make sure that each building can be accessed. (except like, houses because that's weird, those are strangers.) There is a small neighborhood in this game, so. When I play a game, I want to go into some buildings and can't. I'd like to add details.

This is for players who like to explore.

We'll get to that topic with baked lighting (if you don't know about this, don't worry.)

So, baked lighting for Unity is weird. I'm trying to get a good mix of real time lighting and baked. So when the players / NPC move, shadows will still move. As well as the trees and leaf movement. There is still some stuff I'd like to be static with some shadows. But baked shadows basically make the game look better, it's really hard to explain in my POV.

But if you'd like to know more and see in depth, I'd recommend giving a look here: https://vintay.medium.com/difference-between-realtime-mixed-and-baked-lighting-in-unity-6bda1f24bfb

This can help with performance as well! So it's why I'm trying to do this. I just want to say this as well...

Anything I make and show off is not final! It could change in the future!

I've changed things I said that were final before, which I'm not reliable on this, haha. I thought realtime was going to be final, so baked lighting is extremely new to me. I won't mess up and release anything broken. Testing will be done on different PCs before releasing. (lowspec / highspec)

I've decided to share off some achievements too. It'll share off some side story elements too, this is more of the silly stuff in the game. This is all optional stuff as well. I need to make something soon enough that truly shows off the main gameplay elements in the game, because in my head, I know. Others don't.

But to sum it up, the main story is something you can play beginning to end without any need to touch any side stories. The main story is the actual story of the game, focusing on the real topics I'd like to focus on and using main gameplay mechanics. Some side stories will use gameplay mechanics as well. Some side stories may have some sensitive topics as well discussing mental health issues as well. Nothing too severe though. But they are meant to be a little break and silly from the main game. Take a look at the achievements and see what some of these are.

SPOILER, HEADS UP!

They are written, I just need to develop the game further and get it done. These are extremely funny in my head and I'm sure they will be funnier once done.

And finally, I'm going to rework a bit of the Steam page, as I furthered development down the line and it's been getting better and better. While it's going to take some time, give me a bit. it isn't my biggest priority, you'll see some small changes here and there. The game is growing in a small community, and I thank you for that. We're a long way away from release, so please stick with me! When it releases, I promise, it'll be great.

That should be it for now... I swear, next one should be a video devlog, maybe.

If you'd like to check out the Discord where I'm constantly updating with screenshots, news, etc... or support via Patreon, blah blah... YouTube... Check out the LinkTree with EVERYTHING and all the links available!

https://linktr.ee/ChainsawDev