Gameplay fundamentals and our first proper character model

There’s still a long way to go, but this update is a big step forward in graphics and basic gameplay features. The next update will focus on RPG features such as character customization & progression, quests, and dialogue.

In this version you can pick up a few weapons and clothing items, customize your character a bit, fight with the NPCs, and most importantly, drink their blood to reduce your bloodthirst (press F to toggle Feed Mode, aim at them and hold LMB). This works even when they’re dead. When your bloodthirst is below 80 you can sleep in the tomb to regenerate health. NPC AI is a last-minute afterthought; they just wander around and attack if you get close enough. You can travel to 3 other levels using the doors. There are spawners in the graveyard and dome. As in the last version, there is one NPC with a few lines of filler dialogue in the “scene3” test level.

You may notice poor framerates with 5 or 10 NPCs running around. This is another red flag for Godot 4.x. I’m not bothered by the dumbfucks saying it’s a scam or a cult, but I’m not thrilled with the stability, performance, or the GUI. We’ll see how things look when the demo is more complete, then I’ll try other engines if I don’t think Godot is ready for a game of this scale.

Change Log

• Engine: Godot 4.1
• One “high-quality” character model
• Feeding mode [F]
• Fully functional weapons (pistol, machete, fists)
• NPC AI working again (but very basic)
• Drivable vehicles [E to get in and out]
• Fly around as a bat (works like a vehicle for now)
• Day-night cycle
• Health bars fixed, also now tri-level
• Complete basic animations
• Sound effects (preliminary, mostly placeholders)
• Arrow/WASD/gamepad controls now work in menus and most UI screens
• Settings are now saved and loaded
• Mirrors (just a few tests, broken in demo builds)

Plans for v0.1.4

• Flesh out our RPG engine and editor tools
• Quests
• Male characters