Download

This is the first alpha version of the follow-on version of my Ludum Dare entry, In Vivo. I have made some significant improvements to the engine and the graphics, and without being restricted to the 10 second theme, I expanded the time window and balanced the challenges a bit more.

Major Changes

• Improved graphics – everything is much higher resolution, things are animated, and there is greater visual variety and some post-render effects.
• New field of view system – what you can see and inspect is now based on real field of view calculations instead of distance. You can no longer see through walls.
• Shorter transitions – transition length is something everyone (rightly) complained about in the dare entry, so they have been smoothed out and shortened dramatically.
• Improved movement – Box2D provides much better collision handling, and adds smoothing to corner collisions.
• Item trait system – this is less evident right away because of the current map, but the items are more flexible in what they can do.
• Improved action system – performing actions now takes time, which varies based on how well suited the tools you have are to the task.
• Improved heads-up display – new UI elements give better response and visibility to important things like time remaining and inventory.
• Improved interface – configurable controls, gamepad support and a better intro menu
• Added run command – holding the run button (default left shift or left trigger) will make your character move much faster. This is usually too fast, and is only really recommended during time slow periods.
• Change to time slow mechanic – instead of holding it down, it’s now a tap that gives 5 seconds of slowdown. You no longer move faster during time slowdown, but you can run much more effectively.

Planned additions

• Alien Documents – I’m sad I didn’t have time to get this into this build, as it is a great detriment to the gameplay, but in the final version there are alien documents scattered about that you can read during memory mode.
• A real finish – right now after you get all four upgrades you are pretty much done. There is no win condition in this build, so after you get the last upgrade there’s nothing left to do but explore the ship, and really there isn’t much else to explore.
• Alien AI – the aliens are supposed to move around, set alarms when they see you and try and shoot you. That will add a small stealth element to the game, but it’s more about finding another path than sneaking.
• A bigger map – the final version of the game will have a map that is about four times the size of the current map. I have not started on that yet, as I want to get the gameplay down solid first.
• New upgrades – I plan on adding two new upgrades, a short-range teleport and improved telekinesis that lets you move objects around the map (like throwing tables).
• Music and sound – I have made some of the new sound effects and music, but I haven’t put them into the game yet.
• An intro and closing credits – Mostly still in design here. I have the map and part of the intro music done, but I’m still working on what to do for the end sequence.

I’m not sure if this is still too “raw” of a build, I want to get more refinement on it but it’s taking longer than expected, so I’m just going to push with what I have, there will probably be another update later this week with those changes. You can leave feedback here in the comments, or shoot me a message on twitter @empyrealhell.