The number 1 goal of this year for Home Point Games is to publish a proper working demo of all different gameplay modes including the ability to battle online against other people. Though there is a demo available on Steam now, it does not have the ability to battle and has a healthy number of technical bugs that need to be ironed out. Battling is pretty close to ready for a beta release, so technical problems need to be addressed. One such problem that exists in the current demo build is the initial load of the application which can stall out or take an excessively long time. Therefore, Mythlink needs to have it’s load times fixed.
Enter a new visual style for Mythlink. In the coming monthly updates the new visual style for Mythlink will be shown room by room. Although I very much like the old open-nature style, the lack of artist power available makes it increasingly difficult to keep that style while also trying to make things look at least less-than-completely amatuerish. This new visual style also lends itself to being able to hide load times easily which should help alleviate, if not completely eliminate, the current loading issues. The sci-fi theme is somewhat already overplayed in VR space and perhaps someday I can go back to my original vision, but given the resources available to me I think this is an adequate solution.
Check out the images below for your current “dorm” within Mythlink! This will be the initial spawn point for a player when they enter the game. From here you will be able to see your high scores at a glance, relax in your room, and travel to any of the other rooms (training, battle, mythlink) at the touch of a button. I think it would also be cool to be able to unlock different collectibles/items and customize your room as you hit certain milestones in game…but that will have to wait until way down the line.
This is the main door where players will use to navigate to other rooms. Added the plant and trash bin for a splash of extra color. There is a lot of grey to work around with sci-fi themes! The big arrow on the door will spin based on the location you select. It’s pointless but adds a bit of fun and helps the door not seem so bare. This will be shown in action when the video is released some months from now.
Above is a wall which will display your current high scores. The Puzzle text is placeholder text and the colors are being adjusted. It will be uniform and appropriate when released. Below are the back wall with your bed and a fan for ambiance. The other wall has some storage bins and a poster with the Home Point Games logo and the “Welcome Home” slogan.
When all the destinations within the game have been overhauled, a video will be posted which shows off the entire system in real time so you can see some of the fancy animations and other effects the new style offers. Next month I hope to show off the new “Training” room, where you can play various games to level up your mythlink, see you then!