You're stuck in a time loop – and you have five minutes to stop it.
Hey all,
as mentioned last month, we've been preparing an update, to show you our progress on Escape the Loop. There's a lot we did we unfortunately can't show you, because of spoilers. Here's some of what we did that we can't talk about:
[list]
[*] A completed storyline for Episode 1
[*] The main plot for Episodes 2 and 3
[*] The layout of the town
[*] Level design of all important sections
[*] Blockmesh for most level sections
[/list]
And now for the stuff we CAN talk about:
[h1]Characters[/h1]
[img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/27223879/f4cd2cabdcf7fc47236b10f9e452dd74555adda0.png[/img]
First off, I'd like to introduce you to our protagonist: Amelia Washington.
She's a lawyer in LA, who comes back to her hometown of Pinewood because of a family matter.
[img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/27223879/a6f264301f6d83f49472bbae593fc38c7c0ddc0b.png[/img]
Here's Tony Russo, the owner of a run down Motel in the small town of Pinewood. He's a an annoying macho, but seems to know more about the town than what he's letting on.
[img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/27223879/7374931d310e69cb6be3061f7a78bbe5e1920d92.png[/img]
This is Scott Preston, a local car mechanic. He keeps to himself and doesn't seem to repair a lot of cars. Wonder what he's doing in his shop all day.
[img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/27223879/508a98b9cff014856b5eb47f46ba14009b908708.png[/img]
Rosa Castillo only recently arrived in Pinewood, and she never really leaves her house. Sometimes, the FBI shows up at her door to talk to her, but she always manages to blow them off.
[h1]Gameplay[/h1]
We're getting really close to having implemented all the features necessary to begin adding content (like character models, conversations, environment art, etc.). If anything below looks really terrible, don't worry – we know. We're finishing up the barebones of the logic, which will get better with iteration over time.
Also note that Amelia is colored in some of the footage below. That's a super rough texture we're using to test. The model above doesn't have that texture, because up close it's really, really terrible. Also, she has no pupils, which is creepy AF.
[img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/27223879/2a36b6b77a81074a013b2526d87e1d70bb481d88.gif[/img]
We can rewind, and loop time. Neat.
[img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/27223879/82ffbf161615599613598ef1883d751b2096026a.gif[/img]
The item inspection and carrying mechanic is still pretty alpha, but it works.
[img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/27223879/3e077859f09c960bac47b1a6dd247cdc8b4bf7e4.gif[/img]
One of our devs had a little too much fun with it.
[img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/27223879/c35097f7160dd4b06546f1b3c5f69a638f3c91ff.gif[/img]
We're procedurally generating buildings, which will save time in the long run. (The colors are just to highlight different rooms – we're not doing clown homes)
[img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/27223879/9f567b2a6c6aad55d77c4e012eb4cae34c4495c4.jpg[/img]
A row of houses with debug textures, to see how the procedural generator performs.
[img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/27223879/29b64d9b8646a40deb27cb036e65a404daa65b24.gif[/img]
Here's a stress test of some blank NPCs running around, effectively displaying their running-around-skills.
[h1]Mysterious Concept Art[/h1]
We really can't tell you what these are, but we can show them to you and let you speculate:
[img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/27223879/a47f0ee8223defd82b3be3ed0d71678b0f8533d7.jpg[/img][img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/27223879/2053c708995d630b8b6fab805006d9402c981d6d.jpg[/img][img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/27223879/325d36c24e51061bf95dec49e2bc50297cad1c14.jpg[/img][img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/27223879/cdd6227d4d3b1edb2f52965272bc90538b135612.jpg[/img][img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/27223879/8b59c965f7824df055bb88de05b391cc04c0eace.jpg[/img][img]https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/27223879/ccea2538d86b610e1ec187cac2cc994e0238c994.jpg[/img]
As usual, let us know what you think!
And don't hesitate to ask any questions.
- Steve