SEAR DevBlog Week of 5/12: T-Minus two weeks

Graybox version of phase 2.

I've been saying for a long time that when SEAR started coming together, it would come together fast. Nothing proved me right like this week... though I'm really hoping next week will top it.

The PlayerResEvent system (the system that integrates player input response into song moments and generates in-game events as a result) is fully implemented, with the hardest of the three effects nearly finished, the moderately-difficult one fully finished, and the easy one still to be done, most likely tomorrow night. The boost VFX are fully implemented and modifiable at runtime. The Phase Map (that blue circle on the bottom left of the screen), an absolutely critical UI component, has been working for weeks but is finally looking super sharp. Two phases are fully implemented in raw graybox mode. And the whole prototype level is playable from start to finish, complete with phase transitions (they're not pretty, but they're there and working) and several mechanics.

All of this came together just this week, from several different workstreams. This project frankly is barely recognizable from the version we had a week ago. Which is great, but frankly no less than exactly where we need to be right now. We have one more week to finish up the remaining phase-levels and do a final pre-trailer spit-and-polish: Beautify the phase transitions, add the EnvironmentalResEffects, implement basic (basic basic) NPC AI and the RacingManager, tweak the VFX, knock a couple bugs out of the PRE system, get the animations in there (get in the game, Resonator!) and cram in as many polished assets as we safely can. That sounds like a lot, and it is, but for this team it's doable. Everyone hit their goals this last week and is on track to do the same next week.

That'll leave me one week to get the trailer together before the deadline, which should be plenty, and hopefully I'll be good enough at the game that none of the. shall we say, rougher edges come through. 😁

I have been working like a lunatic, but hoping the pace will be able to let up a little bit at the end of the month. Until that trailer is done (and I'm as happy with it as I can be) it's gonna be go go go.