Overview

August was all about art in Out of Sight. We've been wanting to give it an artistic overhaul for a while. Tilemap perspective posed challenges, and characters/enemies lacked fidelity, resulting in blurriness when zooming in for trailers/screenshots. Additionally, the protagonist's design didn't feel "mascoty" enough.

Many of these realisations dawned on us while working on our new project, "Buy My Snake Oil." With a fresh start, we got to play around with different techniques and smoothly integrate high-quality Spine characters into Unity. The lessons we picked up from "Buy My Snake Oil" can now directly benefit "Out of Sight."

CODE

With the nationwide expansion of CODE funding, we've expressed our interest in the $40,000 Kickstarter fund. This marks an initial step in the larger application process. We're optimistic that in next month's newsletter, we'll be able to share positive developments on this front.

Securing this fund would enable Gareth to dedicate six months to full-time art development, resulting in significant visual improvements in Out of Sight. Our goal is to enhance the quality of our demo, making it more appealing for pitching to potential publishers. This would set the stage for obtaining further funding to transition Out of Sight into a full-scale production phase, targeting platforms like Steam, Switch, and Xbox.

New Tile Map

The enhanced 4K tilemap design now features a classic top-down view. This replaces the previous 'angled/slanted' wall approach, which led to perspective issues, with square-edged wall ends for improved consistency. However, due to this redesign, we did encounter a situation where we lost a tile on the vertical/y axis of each room. This prompted us to tighten up some levels while staying faithful to their original layouts. Importantly, players and enemies can now go behind walls. To enhance visibility when players and enemies are obstructed by walls, we're planning to implement silhouettes or outlines.

New Player Art

We're fully embracing Out of Sight's 'action-stealth' theme with the new protagonist design. Shifting from the original character models' simple and vulnerable look, we're embracing a sleek and sci-fi-ninja aesthetic to amplify players' sense of empowerment as they outwit the enemy. To make the player feel more agile, we're considering animations like rolls and slides, and we're also contemplating the addition of a Metal Gear Solid-inspired ability that allows players to press their back against walls for strategic manoeuvres.

The character model in Spine has been upscaled to double its in-game scale, ensuring high resolution and visual fidelity when zoomed in. This added flexibility sets the stage for potential in-game camera zooms and streamlined footage editing for our upcoming game trailer.