Sorry I'm a day late
Added 2022-07-05 22:51:41 +0000 UTCI try to give everyone who works on the project US Federal holidays off - and as you might know, July 4th is Independence Day here in the USA. I took advantage of the pleasant weather to catch a ferry out to Cliff Island, where they were enjoying a free concert out by the docks.
I still try to adhere to COVID restrictions, so it was mostly at a distance, as you can see! As the island only boasts a year-round population of 30, it's probably the largest event they see all year. I even had an opportunity to speak with a few folks who had been born & raised on Cliff Island - but that's another story for another day. Let's just say they tend to drive fast & take chances.
In development news:
Peace Island is - at long last - an actual ISLAND.
The above statement probably sounds like a no-brainer. After all - since the very first days of the project, there was a body of terrain surrounded by water.
The problem was: the cats could walk right into the ocean, and continue walking underwater. Heck- some people literally walked the cats ALLLLL the way over to the very edge of the underwater terrain (after which, they fell off, of course.)
That is no longer the case. Lance was able to set up a system by which - should you push a cat into the ocean - they will momentarily leave your control before re-spawning on the shore, none the worse for wear, albeit in a rather sour mood.
This is currently being done by referencing a large number of points around the circumference of the island- each approximately 20 feet (6.1m) apart. Perhaps after the public Beta, a more elegant solution will present itself.
Other things we've worked on over the past week:
- Introducing a better approach to Butterflies & other insects, now that they can be chased & caught.
- "Cemetery Music," for the three burial grounds around the island.
- Adding more interactive objects - from fountain pens, to potted plants.
- Sending premiums - If you have yet to receive yours, please let us know!
- Colliders, colliders, colliders!
Also: in coming weeks, we're going to re-invigorate our social media outreach. Over the past few months, we put that on the back-burner because we've been so focussed on backend development.
But now - we're SO close to the goals we set for the public Beta, and we need to start spreading the word: a cool game is coming!!!
See ya'll next week- thanks as always for your support, confidence, and patience through all of these years- it means the WORLD to us!
Comments
I will say: the guy behind Stray made his job a LOT easier by setting the game in an urban environment where the majority of movement is on flat surfaces, and using static triggers to handle more complex movement/interaction. Creating a dynamic controller that calculated quadruped IK on-the-fly easily required an additional six months of development. I do look forward to eventually playing STRAY, all the same. The creator started out like me - just a guy with a computer and a crazy idea. Having plowed the same road, I can only wish the guy the best of success.
Peace Island
2022-07-06 21:10:46 +0000 UTCWe are using a variation of that. However- understand there are a few circumstances that render a static "Z" coordinate impractical - the tidal system being one of these. Therefore, we solved the issue using a single collider that references the mesh renderer on the ocean.
Peace Island
2022-07-06 16:15:37 +0000 UTCRegarding the situation with the water, would simply tracking the Z coordinate work? Like, if there aren't normally locations below sea level, then simply detecting a cat hitting a negative Z value could trigger a "jump back to shore" reaction. (Potentially could even use whatever jump functionality exists -- seize control from the player for a moment, calculate the highest reachable nearby point, and jump to it -- rather than re-spawning onshore. Though that'd obviously be more work.) Even if there are locations below sea level somewhere, like a cellar under a building somewhere, it probably would be easier to box those off and disable the water reaction in those areas, rather than tracing the whole coast?
Auros Harman
2022-07-06 04:51:39 +0000 UTCGiven that "Stray" has gone to the #1 most wishlisted game on Steam and picked up a lot of media as a result, I sense there is an opportunity for games that let you play as a cat right now.
Andrew Pam
2022-07-06 00:30:09 +0000 UTC
