Dawn of the Ronin - Beta Test Group

Hi all,

Been extremely quiet for a few months now and figured it was time to break that cycle and let you know what's currently going on with the game.

I wasn't quite happy with the game and how it felt to play, I took on a lot of your feedback and the negatives were things that to me, made the game just not fun enough. Also, the code-base was about 4 years old and I've learnt a lot in that time.

So, after submitting to IGF, I decided to begin re-writing it to see how long it would take, and if the benefit would be worth it. I spent a month on it and yes, it was worth it.

The core engine is now written using FNA, a cross-platform implementation of Microsoft XNA, meaning the game can run on Linux and MacOS as well as windows and potentially Playstation and Xbox.

The engine now uses a multi-threaded rendering system, so there should be a good performance boost on most systems.

The animation system has been re-written, allowing for much more flexibility and expression in animations. This kind of system is used in games like Uncharted where a character can hold out their hand to brush against a wall while close to it, or holding their weapon above their head as they wade through water.

The levels themselves now use Lua scripting making it far easier and quicker to create and edit levels, as well as giving far more control over the little details.

There are now level hubs which are central locations and menu-driven. This removes the wandering around in the Osaka and other areas, and easily allows us to add side-missions and more content as the game progresses, while giving you more control over which parts of the story to see next.

Combat has been overhauled to allow for a more skill-based combat system. Sword-locks require a Quick-Time-Event sequence of buttons presses with failure resulting in a devastating blow to your character, and success performing a satisfying attack.

Special moves are now a thing - perform a specific button sequence (such as a Hadoken!) and you'll be rewarded with a sweet attack move. These are currently unlimited, but may be restricted. There will be a specific special move to begin the game with, with more unlocked as the story progresses.

The GUI and menu systems have been completely re-written and are now much more powerful. Animations for menu and GUI elements are a breeze to write, allowing for some polished screens.

Control inputs are now much improved allowing for double-taps to dodge and much easier re-mapping of keys.

And to finish things off, the particle effects have been improved during combat - check out this short video!
Combat video[pbs.twimg.com]

There's lots of content still needing to be re-worked to the new engine, but it's coming along very quickly and I'm very excited about its prospects. I hope it lives up to all your expectations!

=)

Regards,
James
Rising Sun Studios Uk Ltd