Development Update #2

Hello everyone!

Welcome to the second development update for Haunted: Attack of the Dead Men. This last month I have been working on Map 8, which will take place in Fort I. Below is the map of the fortress I have been using to plan the levels so far, which should help to place it in regards to the other levels. I have circled where Fort I is for reference:


You may recognise this map - I used an edited version of it as the basis for the end-of-level screen which shows where the next level is located (it has entered the public domain now as it is almost 100 years old, which is why I decided to include it in the game).

It is probably also time I reminded you of the reference image I showed in the last update, as a refresher.


Before I get in to why this image inspired (most of) the map, let's see what we can find out from it.

Some things are immediately clear:

• The site was used for some kind of parade or ceremony, possibly giving out medals
  
• There is a church here, and it is most likely Orthodox given the domes on the roof
  
• There are a lot of trees around
  

But one thing is a little less obvious, in the background. You can see the outer walls of the fort if you look closely - I've circled some points of interest:


So why does all this matter? Well, it can be used to build an interesting looking level:

• If ceremonies are being held there, then there will be lots of enemies
  
• The church provides an interesting backdrop, and an idea for where the next level will be
  
• The trees will help differentiate the level from the other levels taking place inside the different forts (i.e. Fort IV and Fort III)
  
• The background can be cross-referenced with other images to figure out what style of buildings should be there
  

The last point is important to try and make the level feel more authentic - I did find some other, more detailed, reference images, such as this one:

Note the structural supports at either end of this section of the wall, which were visible in the previous image

You might be wondering what the point of all this was. Well, here are some screenshots from the new level, where you can see influences from the reference image:






And, the grand finale:


That's right. There are (roughly) a hundred enemies in this small section of the map in front of the church. They will be present on all difficulty levels as well.

It is also worth mentioning that I was able to set this screenshot up because of some new AI behaviour which can be toggled per-enemy. Essentially, these enemies are set to "ambush" you, which means that they won't be alerted unless they get shot at, or you get too close.

So why did I do this? Well, after having looked at the reference image a couple of times, I thought this was an interesting opportunity to create a really, really tough encounter. It also serves as a nice little build-up to a mini-boss battle inside the church, which will make up Map 9.

This part can get quite hectic!


But I manage to defeat them... barely

Some of you may be wondering - can the game even handle that many enemies at once? The answer, for now, is... sort of. There are no glitches or physics problems with it, and the performance seems to be OK. The main issue right now is that with so many gunshots, the sounds can get a little bit distorted at times.
Rest assured I will make sure to optimise this section before release. This is mostly because I would like more areas of the game to have big fights like this. I will also make use of the new enemy behaviour in other levels.

This level is almost done. The only things which are missing at the moment are the enemies which I haven't designed yet. That would be an interesting topic for next month, wouldn't it?

That's it for this development update, thanks for reading!