Dev Blog #1 - The REVEAL
Hello everyone! Welcome to our new site and landing page for all future news regarding Bitware Games. With this site we aim to provide better information for our players including patch notes, future updates and early looks at what's to come.
This site will also be home to new developer blogs, where we take a deeper look at what's in the pipeline, lifting the curtain behind development and showing what we have in store. That's exactly what we'll be doing today.
We teased this project back in October on our roadmap, and it's time to finally show what we've been cookin'. This is an early look at the experience, and much of the game is still in a blockout state, but we're confident in the direction we're heading and we're certain the community will feel the same.
Without further ado, we are excited to announce... A new asymmetric multiplayer horror game...
Dark Rising is a 1v4 horror game with a strong focus on chase-oriented gameplay and skill expression as either a survivor, or a terrifying killer. In this game, survivors are plucked from their sleep, taken into dream trials and pitted against the very things that haunt them most. Survival is key, as only those who escape will live to see the next day.
This game is for our players craving an exciting, competitive horror experience, allowing either role to express themselves in the form of character, playstyle, unique builds, and of course, skill.
CUSTOM CHARACTER SYSTEM
When we started developing Dark Rising, we knew the base character system Roblox had to offer (i.e humanoids) wasn't going to be enough for what we needed. That's why one of the first things we did is design a system entirely from the ground-up.
Everything from the movement, to the camera controls and even replication between other players is built from scratch. Our characters utilize ingame physics, not only aiding us in creating dynamic mechanics, but even allowing actions such as body-blocking to exist in the game.
The player camera also affects the character by showing the direction they are looking. This is something we also wanted to make sure to replicate to other players, a feature that really makes the game come alive.
It's not all just looks, either! We knew that replication between players would be incredibly important. In other words, when a player moves around in the world, or performs an action, we want these to be as perfectly in sync with other players as possible.
We performed a test between the default Roblox character system and our own to see just how far behind the character lags during movement. During testing, we found that the Roblox character lags behind roughly 9 studs! That would mean when another player is chasing you, they are actually 9 studs closer than they appear on your screen.
In its current state, our custom characters lag behind by only 2 studs, that is a difference of 78%, making interactions closer than ever and allowing us to design more intricate gameplay.
GAMEPLAY
The best way we can describe the game-loop for both roles is a high stakes game of cat and mouse. When a survivor is caught, they have a series of resources at their disposal to survive for as long as possible, enabling both sides to come up with creative ways to outplay eachother.
With the character system, more parts of your movement come into play than one may think, even your momentum can change how you interact with mechanics. With the improved replication, this creates surprisingly close encounters.
Killer on the other hand is a completely different perspective, dropping the player right into first person mode. This paired with unique animations creates a completely different feel, changing the way the game is played.
Each Killer will have a unique set of abilities and perks, offering countless ways to approach the game.
Lastly we wanted to touch on map design, a very important aspect in creating Dark Rising. Each map is built to have its own unique layout and landmarks, making each one stand out from the last with its own identity.
In addition, maps are also procedural. With a countless number of variations, each round will push players to adapt on the fly.
WRAP UP
That wraps up our first developer blog! We hope you all enjoyed this early look at our next project and we're excited to share more in the future. Our goal is to have Dark Rising released within the first half of 2024. Until then, we will be active in providing updates in the state of development!
P.S If you haven't yet, feel free to sign up to our playtesting group! Playtesting is a super helpful for us to ensure the stability of the experience, and we hope to soon send out more waves of invites in the near future.