Dev Log Update: Cameras & Stall Update

This week we've completed the camera system and worked on a new look for the stalls.

Cameras

The Basic Camera

Cameras have had a complete graphical and code update. Not only do they now look much better but they also have a variety of functions and types. 

Firstly, all cameras are connected to the control room and turn on and off depending on whether or not the control room is manned by a guard. If they are off, they cannot detect thieves. 

Cameras Turning Off & On

Not only this, but cameras now have a vision cone (that can be highlighted when mousing over the camera) and thieves can only be detected if spotted in the vision cone. There are a variety of camera types including cameras for corners, cameras that spin, quad cameras and scanners (which improve detection chance). 

All Cameras With Corresponding Vision Cones

When a thief enters a camera's vision cone, it has a percentage chance of being detected that is based on the skill and rank of the thief. Players now have much more control on their security system and cameras follow clear and unwavering rules. 

Finally, the control room can now also be hacked by thieves which turns off all the cameras in the museum. Players will need to make sure they keep their control room well protected!

Control Room Being Hacked (Anims WIP)

Control Room Back Online (Anims WIP)

Stalls

We've been getting a lot of requests to unify the stalls and make them look more appropriate for a museum. In response to this, we've completely overhauled their graphics to better reflect a museum setting. 

New Burger Stand

The new stalls now all follow the same template, with only the menus, food sign and decor changing for each. In addition, the stalls are made so that they can be combined with others, to form rows of stalls:

Example of Stalls Merging

When two stalls are placed together, the plan will be to 'merge' them so they look part of the same object. We've tested this with multiple stalls and we're really liking the effect!

A Large Row of Stalls

Guest Models

Finally, we've started making progress on the new guest models, but we will have more details on that hopefully next week!

OoOoOoOooh!

*Next Week:

• Guests!

*Work may be slowed due to contractual work

Dev Log Update: Control Rooms, Thieves & Fish

This week we've managed to make a lot of headway on the new and improved security & thief system.

Thief System

We've been wanting to make thieves more interesting to the player, and after several weeks of tweaking and refining we finally think we've got a great system.

Thieves now work in groups, and try to undertake heists. 

Every group has a leader who the rest look up to. The leader finds the relic/donation stand he wants to steal and begins the heist. Everyone else in the group has 1 of 2 different jobs:

• Bodyguards - When a heist begins, these guys actively look for guards to fight, to bide the leader time.
• Hackers - These guys will head towards the control room (more on that later) and disable your cameras in the museum. 

Leader Signified by Gold Icon

If the leader is detected by a camera, the whole group gets revealed. If the leader of the heist is arrested, the heist is cancelled and the group scatter. However, if a regular member of the group is spotted or arrested, the heist continues as normal and the group are not revealed. 

A Group of Thieves Stealing a Donation Stand (Anim WIP)

This gives burglaries more strategic gameplay, since as a player you want to focus your guards on arresting the leader, and avoiding the bodyguards. So far it's improved the thief system dramatically. 

Security System

If we were going to make the thief system more complex we knew we needed to give the player more control over their guards and how they manage their security. 

Players can now send a 'ping' anywhere in the level to summon nearby guards. In addition, the guard's AI is still being worked on and they react to threats much more efficiently. 

We've also implemented the control room. This is the hub for your cameras in the game. If the control room is invaded by thieves, all cameras in your museum switch off. Therefore, it's important to keep this well protected! When you place a control room you have to assign one of your guards to protect it. 

A Guard on Camera Duty

We are still improving both the thief and security systems, and we will have more information next week. 

Fishes

Finally, we also got round to re-modelling and animating the fish in the Coelacanth Tank!

Old Fish vs New Fish:

*Next Week:

• Thief & Security System
• Cameras
• Fix List
• Guest Models

*Progress will be slower next week due to some contract work and the bank holiday.

** In addition, the weekly video will be posted on Tuesday instead of Monday due to the bank holiday.