Hey guys It's been a few months since the last update, hope you are all doing well! What's life like to you guys these days? The end of the year looming over the horizon is always a huge relief to a lot of folks, but at the same time a huge stress inducer cause things need to get finished before then as well lol. Hope you guys can each find the space and time to gradually relax and find closure on a very hectic year. For some reason this year in particular has gone by super fast for me personally, as if there isn't enough time in the day like there used to be. I promised to only give you guys an update when I have something substantial to share, and I still stand by that sentiment. Difference is I kind of feel that enough progress has been made in the meantime to maybe warrant a quick update. You guys already know to take anything with a grain of salt, especially with my track record :) [b]I'm gonna share some screenshots and useless info below for anyone interested[/b] ːsteamthumbsupː [h1]Project Restart[/h1] I'll be honest guys, I was pretty much out of ideas when the CARNAL 2 project didn't work out, and I wasn't really happy with the PAGAN project as a whole, and I had the feeling that the thing just wasn't unique or creative. It didn't feel good enough either. I stepped away from the whole thing, and instead used my free time doing pretty much anything else. During this break I got "inspiration" for a better idea regarding the PAGAN project, and slowly started to iteratively build on it. I basically got these "new" ideas from playing other games, watching movies and reading weird shit :D [h1]New PAGAN Story[/h1] This new version is a retro-styled, semi-open world First-Person/Third-Person shooter set in the 1950's. It's still basically the same plot I had planned since the beginning, but the focus has shifted somewhat. It still revolves around a bad thing happening in a town, Crystal Falls, and you the player being sent to deal with it. Difference is, the Realm Defense Force connection from CARNAL has been removed. The player character is still called Cyrus Richter (hope you like these corny early 2000's names). Cyrus is a priest that has become disillusioned with the Church he used to serve in. Instead he now does a different sort of work, mostly involving the killing of nephilim, stopping secret societies and closing hell portals. [i][b]Weird shit right? Probably sounds familiar too :)[/b][/i] [h1]What's Cool?[/h1] Here are some bullet-point features of the new one: [list] [*]Crystal Falls is an entire town, with each mission taking place somehere on the map. [*]Random events will happen during your travels [*]There is a dynamic weather system in place [*]The game uses Unity's Universal Render Pipeline... [*]..Which means PBR materials [*]True Volumetric Fog and lighting [*]There are NPC's from which you will get missions [*]The AI uses a factions system and will attack each other [*]The game uses a basic custom culling trick to save performance [*]The map will "steam" data as you move through it [*]Gonna go for cutscenes and hire voice actors for them [*]Violence, dismemberment and gore, and lots of it. [*]The game has bullet-time as a gameplay mechanic [/list] Since CARNAL 2's issues, one of the major focus points for me was performance. I'm doing everything I can to ensure that PAGAN runs rock solid with perfect frame pacing. If you have a mid-range PC, I want you to get 200fps no problem. So far it's getting there, hopefully it remains the case going forward ːsteamthumbsupː Because of this, some of the things I had planned needed to be reigned in as well. This means that while the map will be geometrically dense, it is mostly static. Sort of like how in GTA all buildings and most trees are solid as bedrock. That's mostly going to be the same for PAGAN. There will still be interactivity like in CARNAL, but nothing extravagant. Also I am considering the ability to drive in your own personal vehicle, to reduce travel times for those interested. [h1]What's the Goal?[/h1] Simply put I want to make a game that is fun, atmospheric, funny, and possibly scary. A bigger emphasis on story, with exploration and sick gunfights. The game inspirations for PAGAN are Quake, Max Payne, Alan Wake with a sprinkle of FEAR. Basically the games of my teenage years lol. The movie inspirations are Darkness Falls and Sleepy Hollow, which came from the same era. [h1]In-Progress Screenshots[/h1] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40172688/98ba8fabc0ecc3b9d7afc35263c691f9580c74b8.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40172688/8e60ffce4334811548a52c8829af5686caaacfc1.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40172688/9a824dee9fe16dd51eed6ab10efb8f0d06dcdfc8.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40172688/7c20b326e95b8449393214dae6c1d48f0a4b079e.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40172688/3038f9d02ca336543764180f384fb47f6b961ae6.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40172688/3adf3641a7a76ad5ccbc66f2bf349eb95dfcd04c.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40172688/75b08e6edcb684aa1eb7ba1fac22d9fcda8639ba.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40172688/6361e4cdd4ade0c6d6f24976665639a1c5207496.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40172688/bcc7764ae5f24d7f6add120c019c2e4aab532a8c.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40172688/931daf16d1df5064b9f1f96f2d24c2ec8c79974c.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40172688/9cd657e632f33a4f8add6234078d6cb033190813.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40172688/ffe43a9507acd64f58382604d84373400bd243d7.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40172688/a7ba75b63d13975703e0f27cb90edcaf170094f9.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40172688/1cad35e3afdbc6791e77556236d9d14d2a0b80ac.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40172688/65fea6ba41b4c8cc75a95c30f8a0a2fb0aef4ffe.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40172688/6a5fc9f0b2ed86fa46f2745f6e38c51e68017009.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40172688/788500f56987e183655551dac16ff41d70310961.jpg[/img] If you want to see semi-regular stuff, I try to upload to YouTube when I can. These are a bit old now, but should give a good idea of things. [previewyoutube=qQQ6kyA4_4M;leftthumb][/previewyoutube] [previewyoutube=NUiK7-u7_74;leftthumb][/previewyoutube] [h1]Conclusion[/h1] Lots of words, again. I'm sticking with this one till it's done. Success or failure, doesn't matter. Should my Heavenly Father allow it, I'm gonna aim for early 2023, no matter how hard dark forces try to destroy the economy and everyone's livelihoods lol. When it's finished I'll put up a Steam page for it, basically when I'm doing final testing. This is probably going to be the only update on it, as I don't want to bother you guys with any boring stuff. Just know I'm gonna try muh best ːsteamthumbsupː [previewyoutube=ycyhRrqZX-U;full][/previewyoutube]