Happy Holidays!

We'll be back just before or after the New Year - have a good one!

Gameplay video #2

There it is! (If for some reason it isn't showing, check your adblocker - had some problems with Firefox and simple ad-blocker)

Read on for the details...

We're working on a new video!

A new gameplay video is in the works with a new post in which we'll be discussing the main features in more detail. Here's couple of screenshots of the video. It'll be online in the weekend. Stay tuned!

Launching a coffee machine at the enemy

Status of art assets

This is just a very quick update. Here's our latest #screenshotsaturday... shot; guards taking care of their physique:

Guards keeping in shape

I'm currently adding missing assets to the game and getting stuff ready for all the required levels of the first third of the game. There's not much missing anymore, and today I'll be focusing on new decals and effects work. I'm constantly updating old assets but also being very aware of the fact that it's a never-ending task; everything can always be improved but one has to set limits and focus on the big goal...

Introducing... The Turrets!

This time we'll continue the tradition of introducing the different types of enemies you'll encounter in the game.

Turrets are automated, stationary guardians of the Island Delta complex. They are equipped with a variety of weaponry, including ear-devastating grenade launchers and tissue slicing heavy laser cannons and plasma projectiles.

About the team and the game

We're doing something different with this post: what you'll find here is stuff about the team and how the project began, how it has evolved, and what our plans and goals for it are.

October status update

Development hasn't stalled! We've been working on improving mechanics, designing the level and story progression, designing the characters, and working on more puzzles. It's all very good and all, but we haven't been able to translate all this work into an interesting blog posts.

There are however, some things to write about...

The very first gameplay video is here!

We welcome you to enjoy the first pre-alpha gameplay video of Island Delta!
In the video you are able to see some of the features that are being worked on the game, plus few different surroundings, some enemies and the flow of the gameplay itself. Obviously its still just a very raw glimpse of the game with just basic mechanics, minimum amount of sound effects and just a handful of locations and different enemy types, but it should give you some idea of the style we are striving for.

A quick status update!

Here's just a very quick update on what's been happening: we've been cracking our skulls open working on our pre-alpha version, and making our very first video of our very early gameplay. The video will be released later this week, with a more thorough blog post about all the new features, changes and plans that we have.

In the meantime, here's a collection of new screenshots. We hope you like them!

Introducing the Guard Unit(s)

CraBot was the first enemy type we made for the game and it is quite a straightforward melee class enemy unit that chases you around and tries to slice you to bits with its claws.

Guards on the other hand are more diverse enemies that have a wide variety of tricks up their sleeves. They form the back bone of the Island Delta security. They are very aggressive units and will gun down any intruders on sight. They will also knock you down should you get too close.

July project status update

Some of the new decals

It's almost the end of July and things are progressing, albeit slower than originally scheduled; real life has slowed things down temporarily and also it's the hottest month of the year right now so that takes a beer related toll on all of us. The situation is normalizing now though and tons of work has been done.

Edit (August 02): one of our screenshots is selected as Image Of The Day @GameDev.net screenshot showdown! How cool!

Winning screenshot showdown IOTD for today #gamedev http://t.co/KE5lqvuni4
— GameDev.net (@gdevnet) August 2, 2014

We've been working on pretty much everything related to the game such as design, mechanics, backstory, characters, assets and even some sound work. We noticed that some of the core functions of the game were actually not as functioning as they should be, so there has been a lot of planning and re-tweaking some key features.

Now let's get specific...'ish.

Enemy AI behavior

What makes the enemies tick? A lot more than two weeks ago, that's for sure.

Recent weeks have been focused mainly on game design, but there has also been some steps forward regarding the enemy AI. Few improvements to mention are that the enemies now react to sounds and suspicious noises, and seek to investigate their source.

Friday, it's full of animation

It's Friday and time for a party!

Actually this friday is to be spent on animation improvements among other things. The animation above was made just for fun. If you know the movie reference of those dance moves, you're alright! Read on...

Outdoor environment assets

The work on outdoor environment assets has begun! They are heavily wip in these images, and there are many things I'm not quite sure of yet. The design and technical execution is something that might change a lot during the following months, but so far I'm quite happy with the results.

June Project Status Update

So... what's happening?

(animated .gif's everywhere!)

We're currently working our asses off to get the game into a fully playable state with all the currently implemented mechanics working nicely together. When we'll hit this very important milestone, there's going to be a trailer video in it for you, showing the actual game play (yeah, it's about time)! This is to be expected sometime during the first two weeks of July. Of course we'll continue updating the blog during this massive task.

Artsy bits

GUI work has begun. I've got about 10 action buttons and item graphics to show later when I get to finish them all. Here's a small sample:

Introducing the FixerBot unit

"FixerBot - He'll happily fix all the things you break!"

This unit is a fun one since it's not just another aggressive enemy. It's also far from being a passive decorative unit because it affects gameplay in many different ways: it can revive other bots that have been disabled and open doors that are impossible to open otherwise. That's not all of it though...

We're working on fun mechanisms that allow the player to hack FixerBots to manipulate the game surroundings in various ways. More of this later as things progress.

Just for fun, here's a video showing FixerBot working on a broken CraBot:

Unity 4.5 Animator improvement

Have to sync your animation event accurately to physics? It just got easier with Unity 4.5. Now you have this little extra parameter at your disposal:

"Updates the animator during the physic loop in order to have the animation system synchronized with the physics engine." - http://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/AnimatorUpdateMode.AnimatePhysics.html

Earlier we had a problem with syncing a climbing animation to rigidbody movement. It had to be frame accurate, but the animation would sometimes trigger one frame too early or too late. It was unpredictable.

Unity 4.5 to the rescue - the AnimatorUpdateMode worked its magic. Combining it with WaitForFixedUpdate() yields a nice solid result.

Small victories!

-Timo

Introducing the CraBot unit

This post is a small making-of about the first enemy unit we have in the game. There's also some ramblings about tools and workflow.

"Crabot is a standard enemy unit, a security robot that is found patrolling in various locations around the bases and labs of Island Delta. These crab-like contraptions use their claws with deadly accuracy and efficiency against all intruders."

The model and animations

CraBot was originally modeled and uv mapped in MODO 701. I personally like the modeling & uv mapping tools with some great 3rd party scripts to ease the process:

First screenshots

Here's a bunch of early screenshots from the first part (out of three) of the game!
The first chapter focuses mainly on a high-tech base and the area surrounding it.

First, some notes about the screenshots:

• The GUI is temporary, only for our own testing purposes
• The environment is missing some details (such as proper decals and decorations)
• Character lighting and shadows are not fully implemented yet

Welcome to Island Delta development blog!

Island Delta is an action and puzzle game with an intriguing storyline that takes place in peculiar surroundings. The game is currently in development for the iOS platform.

We are updating this blog regularly and what you can expect to find here is screenshots, gameplay videos, unit/enemy introductions, small making-of's of assets and concept art.

What's the game all about then?

The gameplay focus is in action and puzzle solving. The player assumes the role of a master thief who specializes in agility, espionage and finesse rather than deadly tactics.