Games Hearts of Cold - Redemption

HEARTS OF COLD - REDEMPTION

Hi Everyone,

After a few years working in Unity developing a game I thought it time I introduced the game here and get some feedback from others. I am am detailing as much as I reasonably can here and you can see more and follow the game development further to help support the development at the game web site at : https://umansgames.blogspot.com/ if you wish as its more likely that will have the latest information first. Thank you.


New Characters recently added August 2018

Video Action Teaser BattleGround3. Video Date April 2018


Screen Shots as at April 2018

OVERVIEW : Design Document

Title : HEARTS OF COLD - REDEMPTION
Development Platform : Unity 2018+
Target Platform : PC Standalone
Genre : Futuristic Shooter with a touch of Stealth and Adventure.
Rating : (14+)
Player Target : Any Game Player
Status : Prototype. Under Development
Release Date : TBC
Developer and Publisher : Peter Coleman : Umedia

Concept

HEARTS OF COLD - REDEMPTION is based on a concept, story and design document originally devised and created in 1999 and since further extended as technologies have moved forward.

Composed of largely open world environments consisting of two main seamlessly integrated locations. The first episode “The Leaving” is set on planet Earth. The second episode “Homelands” is set in interplanetary space.

Game Play

Emphasis is on AI, Game Play, Mechanics and Dynamics. Designed to be an immersive and addictive Player experience, entertaining, memorable, enjoyable and fun as well as to present beautiful environments to the Player. Both First and Third Person mode. Interact with and get support from and manage Friendly Team Allies when you need them to help you. Send them in to battle or have them wait at a location. Take a ride on a Train, a Drop Ship, Drive a Truck, Fly a Helicopter, Pilot a Space Craft, Battle on land and in the Air. Have a Swim or just take a break and enjoy the environment when you can, though be sure to look after your Health and find an Automed or something to eat or drink to top it up.

Default setting of Quality for on screen game play is Unity Fantastic Mode and FPS targeted at 60fps. Quality and FPS is automatically adjusted throughout to best suit the end game play user system hardware and maintain an optimal game play experience.

Platform Minimum Requirements

PC:
OS: Windows 10 +
Graphics Card: DX11 (shader model 3.0) 4gb Ram
Memory : 8gb Ram
Hard Disk Space : 150gb

Levels

No of Levels currently 22 in various stages of development. It is envisaged this will be extended to around 40 or more to complete the Game development.

Movement through levels in many instances can be in any direction so you can go back and forth between them. Only in a few instances is this not the case where it would not be possible due to game design and mechanics.

You can select an individual Game Level to play from the Main Menu, best used once you have completed the Game to go back and replay a specific level of choice as often as you like. Some levels contain endless dynamics and enemies in unlimited numbers so in these instances the Player could choose to move on in the game or continue to play the level endlessly.

As AI enemies will often hunt the Player they will provide varied Game Play as they may not always behave in the same manner, depending on the player location they may approach and attack from different positions and ranges in the level.

STORY

The year is 2070. The Earth has become unstable and can no longer provide for all our needs. Twenty years ago the World Council ordered that another planet be found that could sustain our population. Father had been assigned as Commander of the survey mission which would take him away for a very long time. I was six years old. I remember waving goodbye the day he left.
I never saw him again. So it was that Homo2 was discovered

Things have changed a lot since then and so have I. Homo2 has been made ready to receive our people and I was appointed Commander of a ship in the Orion Fleet which was to be the first making the journey.

Plans for the transfer were finalised over a week ago but as yet few have left. The Controllers have taken over on Homo2. They would have the planet for themselves and have ordered that further incoming traffic from Earth be intercepted and destroyed. There is confusion on Earth. Riots and looting have disrupted communications and there is fighting between rival groups trying to secure a ship to leave. The Orion Fleet has been hijacked and the mass movement of people to Homo2 abandoned. All Commanders have received new orders.

MISSION

Go immediately to the nearest military Battle Port and board the first available ship leaving for Homo2. Your mission is clear – you must take back Homo2 from the Controllers and allow the colonisation to proceed.

You will not be allowed to fail.

LEAVING

It was chaos that evening at the Battle Port, the air was heavy from the heat of the day exasperated by the previous day’s fires. I hurried along to find the nearest Telelift, only to find it destroyed. I began to panic when Andy shouted “hurry up, there’s not much time, the stairs will take us to the roof”. Through the glass we could see ships leaving. By the time we got to the top floor the last craft was about to take off. Outside, making our way along the Portway we could see how much destruction there had been. In the distance on the horizon, fires were still burning but we had no choice, we had to go. At the ship we hesitantly boarded as directed.

As the craft broke away and accelerated upwards I took the brief chance to look back and see the Earth disappear from my field of view. There was no time to think about what had happened. I knew that if I was to ever return I would have to complete my mission.

Game Menu

Press Esc to call up the Main Menu during Game Play, then Pause to Freeze the Game and select an option.

Game HUD

Press F1 to display Help Player Controls during Game Play. This will also display at level load for a few seconds before fading away. Fixed HUD items display Player health and weapon ammo. The HUD display items at any time are kept to a minimum to provide for unrestricted view. In Game effects and helpful Game Play information/messages will appear on screen from time to time.

Game Save

Checkpoints in game will Save your game progress and Player state automatically and manual Save/Load will be incorporated also to the final Game.

Player

Third Person and First Person View. High Quality Player Controller. Interact with Characters and the Environment elements : Player Stamina. Pick Ups, Collect Weapons from the environment or dropped by enemies. Climb Ladders, Ride Platforms, Lifts, Drive Vehicles, Walk, Jump, Run, Crouch, Prone, Swim. Flashlights.

Weapons

Modern and Futuristic : Unarmed, Knife, Pistols, Automatic Weapons, Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, Grenades.

Other Features

Menu, Game Save, Level Select, Unlimited Game Play, Cut Scenes, Bullet Time Slo Mo, Platforms, Lifts, Ladders, Teleporters, Portals, Lasers, Mines Turrets, Helicopters, Aircraft, Space Shuttle. Interactive Doors and Switches, Internal Video and on screen Text Messages. Destructible Objects, Explosive Objects, Game level object and environmental audio, Character voice audio and more.

CHARACTERS – ENEMIES

CONTROLLER. Dominant Class : Human Droid. Male. Power Rating: Low
100% Human with the latest processor for a brain. The worst kind of enemy. Clever, flexible and devious. On Earth their primary function was to oversee the running of daily life until they got too big for their boots and tried to take control from mere mortals who they believe to be inferior. You can them apart from all other Humans – they have a Circuitpack at the back of their head.

ELECTRONOID. Destroyer Class Level 1: Human Droid. Male or Female. Power Rating: Devastating
Part Human, part machine. The perfect warrior. They have processors for brains and electronically enhanced body parts and functions. They can see in total darkness and some of them can even cloak themselves in daylight. They can calculate an enemy’s range perfectly and their weapons rarely miss their target. You are advised to use cover on approach and run like hell if you can’t. Don’t even think about fighting unless your health level is high – you won’t survive many hits from an Electronoid.

THINKCHIP. Super Computer Class : Power Rating: Medium.
They are only computers, but some with a sting in their tail have a nasty habit of not being very helpful when it matters.

ROB. Destroyer Class Level 2 & Benign : Robotic Machine. Power Rating: High & Low.
There are both enemy and friendly varieties. You’ll know which is which. Make sure you don’t need the help of the friendly ones before you leave them behind.

BATTLECOP. Destroyer Class Level 3 : Human. Male. Power Rating: Medium
Battlecops are law enforcers. On Earth, they are the mainstay of orderly behaviour. The Controllers on Homo2 have corrupted them, so unless you have a Lifepack full of cash, stay away from them if you can. They are no match for a Battle Commander like you one against one, but they tend to stick together in numbers and could severely damage your health. With a Powersuit you can survive a sustained attack.

SURPRISE’S. Class Level Unknown : Power Rating: Unknown.
Surprise’s are just that. They are the result of the Homo2 Controllers experiments in electro biochemistry, the purpose of which seems to have been to create a new, Super Class – Entity Destroyer. We know only that the experiments failed and the Surprise’s are out of control. A Word of Warning : Our intelligence indicates that Surpriser’s will not venture far from their creators so watch your back.

CHARACTERS – Enemies

ASSASSIN. Human Class : Male or Female. Power Rating: Low
The lowest form of Human. They have sold out so don’t feel bad when you spread them all over the scenery. You can’t tell them apart from friendlies until its too late. Approach all Humans with caution.

KNOTS. Alien Class : Male or Female. Power Rating: Medium – High
Knots, that’s their nickname meaning they are NOT Human and not machine. They are biological Aliens and they come in a variety of Shapes and Sizes. They are not very friendly and not very streetwise.

CHARACTERS – Allies

FRIENDLIES. Human Class : Male or Female. Civilians and Military. Power Rating: Medium.
Forced to work for the Controllers they are the only ones you can trust. Some of them have broken away and are forcefully resisting the take over of HOMO2. They are unorganised and need your help. Some will follow you and protect you and some Friendlies will offer information to help you meet your objectives and complete your mission so make sure you check out all Humans before you kill any.

CHARACTERS – unclassified

RANK AND FILE. Human Class : Male or Female. Power Rating: Medium – High
General Soldiers and Troopers. Recruited on mass. Some are friendly others are not.

NOTE.
Do not trust anyone when approaching even if they are fighting amongst each other. All your projectile weapons are able to detect if a Humanoid is Friendly or not. The only defence you may have at distance.

CHARACTERS – Player

BATTLE COMMANDER. Human Class : Male or Female. Power Rating: Medium – High.
THAT’S YOU! A Battle Commander is not the most Powerful organism in the Galaxy so choose your strategy and weapons carefully before jumping in to battle. Better still send a friend or just run like hell.

Long Term Development Strategy and Updates

HOMO2 is under development and subject to change and updating including this Design Document. The Game and all other content displayed in any form of media or data, e.g. specifications, game play and content screen shots, videos of development or published Game Play is likely to change from that shown while under development.

It is estimated that the current development proportion status towards the final game release stands at approximately 20% – 25% given the targets for the concept story, game design and quality so as to deliver an end product which meets with intended aspirations.

Over and above general updating of all content at any stage of development, example game dynamics and systems which may be updated extensively that may require additional resources and extend development time to incorporate include, new or additional : AI systems, Dialogue system, Weapons system, Characters and Character Lip-Sync system, additional physics system extension. The current systems support character enemy spawning and waves which are internally managed though these could potentially be opened up to player control at a later stage. Currently a single player game, future multi player integration is a consideration worthy of attention.

Additionally there are a number of additional levels originally planned which have been bypassed and are not currently included to date due to preference for prototyping and fleshing out the bulk of the main game structure overall. So too existing levels will have much originally designed and planned story and game content currently missing. These two considerations would ideally be incorporated before a final release would be considered.

In essence every single aspect of the prototype game development is intended to be extensively updated and improved to a satisfactory level fitting in with the aspirations for publishing and deploying an enjoyable, quality, end user game play experience.

Updating to the latest versions of Unity, DirectX and other systems is ongoing.

Feedback is welcome and we would be pleased to hear from anyone that may wish to support the development of Homo2 The Game.

 

Sounds interesting, but looks disconnected from what you wrote. You say in several places in the text that this is a first person shooter, yet all of the images and videos are of a third person character. What kind of AI system do you have there? About halfway through your video you're shooting at a target that's just standing there taking fire. I fear that you may underestimate the scope of some of the systems, but encourage you to continue, everybody learns by doing.

My other comment would be that the story is supposed to take place far in the future where humanity has conquered interstellar travel. I don't get that from the screenshots or videos. It looks like a 1980s Detroit gang war. Your weapons also look quite dated. I'd expect some high-tech weaponry if I were buying a game set in the future. When I think of a handgun of the future, I don't think of just a Glock made with exotic materials, I think of the atomic handgun from Asimov's "Foundation."

Also, I'll say it... how'd you come up with the name? I get it, but I don't imagine very many people saying to their friends "hey, you guys wanna play HOMO2?"

 

Thanks for the comments all of which are much appreciated and fair comment which I am aware of. Most of which is referred to is or will be updated ongoing. There is nothing that currently exists in a finished state/condition. Everything from environments, content, textures characters and yes weapons are in need of updating and replacing. Most content are of a placeholder nature.

Game is of course a WIP and in prototype. All content is very much fleshing out levels of which there are 22 currently most of which are depicting the first Episode of the game set on Earth. There are Two Episodes integrated as one game : 1 The Leaving. 2. Homelands.

Both First and Third Person Play, Change view with key C of course

With regard to the AI behaviors. Again all characters in the game are to be replaced or updated. Any Enemies for example in the game currently are merely placeholders to test out that all their basic and related functions work as with most other things where that is also the case. They are not there as part of a playable end game and most of the time they are disabled so I can get on with developing more of the game and test it all and enemies and allies get in the way when so much else needs to be done and I have hours of game levels work on and move around checking things out as I go. They are currently just proof of functionality.

I have currently 22 + Playable levels all in differing stages of completion and approximately the same number to add further for the second episode of the game.

Additional advanced AI system is already installed to provide more advanced behaviors. Characters available behaviors for non combatant NPC, Friends, Allies, Teams, Waves. Battles between various factions and so on.

Currently no screen shots or videos are available for Advanced AI behaviors - that's up next. Working on that now and will make something available ASAP. Bear in mind again that even then the actual Character models there behaviors, weapons, weapons effects and so on are likely to eventually be replaced

When originally posting this I could not attach any more screen shots and with a lots of Large extensive largely open world levels Those you see don't show a great deal of the game thus far.available.

Here's one from the second episode



@newjerseyrunner wanna play homo 2

There is a playable version I published in April just so as to walk through and test (level changes, player spawn points and so on). No idea yet when anything will be released but there will at least be a playable demo made available at some time.

Thanks for you comments and feedback.

 

Hey all, while the name is somewhat a fun one (for everyone) - I believe it's related to homo sapiens / etc - must remind you that we are very much inclusive so we draw the line here - keep on topic

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"homo sapiens"

Yes that is correct. Like everything else the game name is subject to change

 

Look up the book Homo Deus. The next step after Homo Sapiens. That comes in mind.

 

I think its a good foundation as long as you stick to the plan. you have you story, the systems you want, and a working version. The art can easily be updated, I usually worry about that last. If your a solo developer, sound and art will probably be were most if not all your budget will go. I like your story and wish you the best in this endeavor.

 

Darrkbeast,

Thanks very much for the comments and that applies to everyone else too.

Yes I am a single developer so with such a target as there is for the game of around perhaps 50 large complex levels its a big job and massive undertaking so I have to flesh out the main levels and design and content critical at each stage first. Its in prototype so lots more to do all round.

As someone asked apart from basic non combatant npc's and friendlies (civilians, allies and such like) there is a base AI for enemies which is sufficient for some situations and more advanced behaviours of enemies is being supplied via TSAI which is in place. After all we don't need every enemy to be a player destroyer from the outset - game gets harder as it goes generally speaking with variations and surprises of course.Setting up TSAI for in depth behaviour game play is a lot of work so fine tuning later as you say.

Yes I have a lot to do and everything to update ongoing until done.

I have a lot of "Systems to add yet" UMA is in use and integrated (mostly for non combatant characters. e.g story tellers) I have both story and character voice audio in use but that eventually needs to be all farmed out to professional voice actors to record high quality voice overs.

I have a lot of different Characters (100+) but would like to replace with higher quality replacements again later.

I have various dynamic objects set for player interaction to move the player through the levels (Train Ride, Drive Helicopter, Drop Ship Ride, Drive Car) already working but all needs improvement and updating. e.g. better physics system, better models.

That's just a few of the things on the list.

Same story all round - everything needs updating and much more adding. I could spend a fortune in money and time

 

Absolutely and we know that it could technically be endless if we let it...

 

Oh man this looks really good, and a ton of effort put into it.

I'm not sure if it is used this way in the UK, but in the United States "homo" is typically used as a derogatory term for a homosexual person. I understand that is not of course the meaning you're going for.

 

I already deleted some posts about it in this thread that veered too far into that territory.

 

Hi Everyone,

Sorry about the game name. Seems to get some attention for the wrong reasons. Everyone is welcome to make a suggestion about a new name as its like everything else and subject to change. I take all suggestions in good spirit and will take on board those that fit in with where the dev and game needs to go progressively.

On a more practical note - what have I been doing?

Well UMA is now integrated for future Lip Sync integration for story telling Characters and alike as well as Allies and Enemy Characters. A screen shot of example UMA Character implementation is attached inside a test level. Character could be either Ally or Enemy and is set up for either use. Bear in mind the character weapon and so on is to be replaced updated. Better weapons and weapon effects when the time comes as with everything else.

TSAI is now in and working well to provide more advanced AI enemies and behaviours where needed. No screen shot for that as a video is really whats required and those will follow.

UMA Character Test

"Oh man this looks really good, and a ton of effort put into it."

Well I am used to it - been doing this a long time but only a couple of years using Unity. Not much sleep or eating, too many picky things to sort and probs to overcome (devil is in the detail), not enough production with a massive amount to do. 40 - 50 Levels to complete. Now whats next

Thanks for the comments and feedback which are appreciated.

Regards

Peter

 

A New Day 8am - Added Night and Day and Weather System.

 

Added New Volumetric Lights.

 

Your game looks good so far, I feel the title will get some stick thought, eventually end up being a meme of sorts even.. you may want to consider changing it (how about "Earth.2"), it just does not seem to be very relevant? Actually why don't ask potential players of your game if the title is good or not, get their feedback.

Would be cool to see more gameplay videos.

 

More videos will certainly be made.

Last round was in April. Making videos is quite like everything else its a long job and at the moment I have to get on and do much more adding of content of every kind.

I have Bandicam and Bandicut to make videos. Bandicam requires a game to be published unless I use a window select option possibly but running in Editor and trying to capture video results in much slower capture and the game play would be dropping frames. Publishing the whole game just to make videos is a massive operation in and of itself. 22+ levels and around about 50 + videos last time in April to capture, strip together and so on ending up with hours of video at over 4 gig.

Still I will be outputting more video as soon as I am happy that its something notably more worthy to see over and above what i made in April which shows a significant forward and improved development. I work on game play to an extent but there's so much else to do and real end result game quality game play scenarios wont be put together until the main game structure and all world content is approaching a finish. A long way off that. As a sole developer with a large game - some years perhaps. I have a full walk through video - as the crow flies from April make 2 hours long but it is not publicly available. What videos you see here are individual clips taken from the April Take so are somewhat out of date as to the development progress.

Much of the game has few enemies in place for example as they are not a priority. Mostly for testing their basic functionality at the moment. One has to consider that I have many types of Characters, managed by multiple systems. Main framework, TSAI and UMA all of which have to react to the Player and each other in many cases. Multiples systems means more work than a single framework say as you will know. Having said that currently they are more or less good enough to just drop in and go if you just want cannon fodder and are not fussy about more from them OK for a zombie shooter I guess but not really what I am aiming for.

Anyway there will be more Videos rest assured as soon as I can get some

Thanks

Peter

 

I have been updating this game project since my last post. Below is a screenshot of the level Hearts Of Cold never shown before which shows the new Player Character and new player weapons......

I have also made a new video especially for Mister-D showing the weapons as requested.

You Tube Video Link :

Mister-D, I had intended to make this video longer showing more of the level action and enemy characters however making the video has been a nightmare inside the Unity Editor game run mode as Bandicam and other video software I have all refuse to record video correctly. Bandicam in particular saves video in small chunks from a few meg to zero bytes missing out half the action and eventually gives up altogether, sorry Now I have given up.....

Here's the screen shot. I will be adding more of the updated game when I can.

Hearts Of Cold

Heres another screen shot from near the start of the Game

Military Base

Regards

Peter

 

Dear Mr. Coleman, just a 2 cents.

I stumbled on your game and was intrigued (am doing a FPS game too). It is incredible that we have Unity game devs of all ages now (it amazes me); from 11 years old all the way to 99 years old. As a senior elder UK British game dev yourself; that's special and it's truly great to see games made by elders too. It does not matter if we are 70 or 17, all that matters is the will to make a game (+ the rest/learning how). But the saying is 'never too late', you are the living proof. Just some personal observations/opinions (nothing more)...

Your game has lots of potential and it'S amazing you are making this huge game (in my game, I have 25 levels; not yet done). As a solo developer you aimed very high and this kind of (size/scope for a) game is made by huge teams. Congrats! It is looking up. I like how detailed all the characters are and how vast the maps look.

I agree with others who said that the title may not work, because for many (men, especially) it just is too obvious of a title name (refering to sam sex orientation for male). Thus, maybe if it is about H. sapiens, then keeping the Sapiens would be better than using the H. word as title. Because it may alienate (hetero) men/rub them the wrong way and we have to be real/the largest audience out there, is men/by size in terms of 'core' players (mostly, hetero.. and also same sex orientation); as such, just a single title word wrongly named can cause your game to tank; the title name is Crucial to a game (it's how it is identified...here people see the game as if 'sex orientation identification'...rather than a game identification). It may become alienating and even some find this a joke (intended/unintended?...I don't think you intend it...but to others it would be so clear and may send 'mix signals'..about your game and yes, even, you.). No mix signals, it can make the game lose vision and as you said yourself...'end up liked or hated...for the wrong reasons'....you do not wish your game is laughed/ridiculed (due to title name) or simply hated because it's basically 'Same Sex Orientation - The Game'. 'The Game for Same Sex People - The Game'. Don't get me wrong... you can leave like that just heed what others said (and me); the title would be better with something not so obvious as this (and, for some, wether we like it or not; alienating). Some people will like it, but large male hetero majority may take it the wrong way (they are young men in the 18-40 range...and you are an elder (a Great THing...but the players are young/they may not see the same way about certain things), I'm just saying that we have to be aware of the audience we make the game (for); even roughly the age of audience our game will cater to)).
As devs, we can't devalue the work we do (unless we don't care) and if a name/title does that, then we have to reconsider and find something that will resonate/be liked by all (that is, if we wish the large majority to like it...). If we don't care and not making this for 'a living' out of it (no revenue from it); then...we can do whatever we want...but I think you've put all these efforts and it would be a shame to sabotage it all; just because a wrong title name of game. I would play Homo2, but I'm not sure others would upon hearing it. Same sex people will..but hetero I'm not so sure.
Anyway, this is just my 2 cents on this; you decide! It's your game, you can name what you wish. I just don't wish you to release this game and you get ton of hateful or opinions of 'unintended comical effect named game' and this can affect the sales of it; drastically so.

Thanks for reading.

Wishing you lots of luck and don't give up.

It's looking up a whole lot/for great experience. Also, 'praise' be on you for being someone of your age making a game; that's what we need, new visions (even from elder/senior people)!! (I'm 40, 'youngin' and feel suddenly 20 knowing people in their 50-70s make games; I only aspire to be like you when I'm that age). I don't think I have seen this in Any industry (not even on UE4 side) this incredible age range of people making games.

PS: Just some things, maybe boosting colors/palette a bit, the 2018 pictures are Really great and show the beautiful map you made; the potential is there; maybe AO (ambient occlusion) could boost the object's placing; thus a little bit of post-prod can go a long way to boost an otherwise 'Unity-made game - in grey tone'.

My game:
https://forum.unity.com/posts/5647159/

 

Hi unitedone3D,

Thanks for the feedback and comments which are appreciated.

The name is a Working Title and will likely change if I can find a suitable alternative I am happy with if anyone has any suggestions I am happy to hear them

As to the rest the game gets bigger and more complex all of the time and indeed many things like the overall environment mood, content and so on may be updated continuously. I am working throughout all levels and have not even finished the first level yet leave alone the last

Regards

Peter

 

Hearts Of Cold sounds very good, Peter, why change the name. Would you please update everyone here with the link of any playable level or hopefully in time published first edition - we would like to buy for some play, in order to support your further work on the developments, as we will all here, on the forum - do it gladly .

 

"Hearts Of Cold sounds very good"

Yes I am thinking of Changing the name to :



For some reason I can't change the "Game Title" in the first post as the Forum wont allow me to do that so will have to live with it at the moment.

 

I'm late to this thread but those screenshots look very very impressive Good work

 

Not sure if this is the look you are going for but the original screenshots with place holder from 2018 look decent/good. Your latest city screenshots look very last gen... reminds me of second life...

 

Hi BennyTan.

"Not sure if this is the look you are going for"

The game is a bit like Chalk and Cheese purposefully much like life for Humans has always been so...

There are many environments progressing in line with the concept of the game.

i.e. I live in a world and country where many live in relative poverty and others with unimaginable wealth and they don't all live in similar environments. Some live in towns, homes and conditions which have not changed much since the late 1800's whilst others live in Cities brand new with little similarity to that. Many don't have a home at all and live on the street or under a cardboard box......

In the game there is similar so there are old towns, shanty Towns and futuristic Cities, SciFi and Alien Cities perhaps a mix in sometimes in close proximity as is the case in real life. Most Metropolitan Cities have and always have had good and bad sides where very poor people live in close proximity to Cities... its where they often have to be to look for work....

In the future not much is likely to change there The haves and the have not will still exist....

When I get around to it I will post some screen shots of a greater variety of environments from the game.

Thanks

Peter

 

Hi spryx,

Thanks glad you like them...more will follow of course.

Peter

 

Just came across this thread and wanted to send my congratulations to OP for the work on this project to date, and hope that the work continues and to see a version for purchase sometime in the future.

Well done and the work put in is great so far

 

Here's a few more screen shots from a variety of different level environments grabbed at random and in no particular order.

 

And a few more...

 

Thanks to everyone who has commented and provided advice and help.

Almost all of the game levels are set in quite large open world terrain environments so many of these screen shots don't really show the scale of the game play area of course. Many levels have player transport so you can take a ride in a vehicle of different kinds on the ground or in the air and at least one has a car race for good measure if you wanted to partake

All told there are a lot of Characters - over 100 different characters. Friends, allies, enemies, civilians, talkers (story tellers). Easy kill and advanced AI enemies.

Kindest regards

Peter

 

Hi All,

Relation a previous post of mine a little earlier here's a screen shot of what I am working on as additions at the moment..

I have finished my smooth transition of Day and Night Sky Boxes. Screen shot shows the Night Sky Box transitioned from a brighter Day Time Sky Box. This works by also managing the transition of Ambient Light in the scene to change it to whatever color and brightness is required. Fog can be fully adjusted at the same time if necessary. This is all done in house using a script I actually already had in my collection and not realized until today after looking around unsuccessfully for a simple external solution without spending a fortune. This works perfectly. Is not expensive on performance and is a simple breeze to get it up and running I am a happy chappie tonight

Of course I also already had an alternative day night Light system for managing transition of "Sunlight and Moonlight directional lights" in my own Environment system but in this screenshot instance they are not need at all so a saving on performance there. That can be used when extended control of scene lighting effects are needed for more effect...

Screen shot also shows new addition of a HUD I am working on and level Objective text display. These are individual key press "Toggle" items so are off by default. I am thinking of adding Thermal Night Vision to the HUD but at the moment cant find a solution I can put together myself - another difficult one that



Regards

Peter

 

out of curiosity, which render pipeline are you using? Apologies if you've already covered that.

 

Hi spryx,

Not sure if this is any help but all of the recent screen shots here are grabs from within the Unity editor/test run/play....

None of the recent screen shots are from a "Published/Rendered version of the game" and none include any baked lighting and so on - all lights are set as real time currently. Thus these are screen shots are of levels currently with no advanced lighting/shadows, post processing and so on

I have not changed the render pipeline settings from any Unity defaults

Hope that helps

Peter

 

Hi all,

Night Vision as it stands at the moment :



Peter

 

Hi Everyone,

At last I have some zombies

This from as you can see a apocalypse level which is in keeping with the story.

Here's another from an entirely different environment.

 

Hi Everyone,

HEARTS OF COLD - REDEMPTION

Just a little update to say this project is still progressing along.

Currently using Unity 2020 LTS I am at the stage that I am publishing some of the game now.

The state of play is that I have a total of 24 levels now under development for the "Episode1 - The Leaving" .

Of those I have the first 8 levels published to a playable level of quality I am happy with apart from any additions, updating and general improvements which will follow as I go....

A playable "Demo" in some form will follow as soon as I am happy to release one. As yet I am not sure how much or which levels I will include in any playable Demo to be released. e.g. start of game levels including story overview or just some "Action"

No date is planned for any release and though the first 8 levels are more than enough for a Demo, that still leaves 16 more levels to complete just for the first episode and each of them is a major undertaking in terms of man hours needed to complete them as yet to do....

I will do my best to get a decent video put together showing some proposed demo release levels now that I am publishing them as soon as I get around to it though as yet I am still undecided as to whether I should concentrate on updating the current 8 levels published or continue to work on completing more levels and adding them to the number of levels in a published condition. None of them will be final versions and in fact more may be added along the way

In the mean time here's a small snippet Video of the first level (Jack's Story) which starts the Game. The level contains firstly a self running set of camera animation (not in this Video) before handing over to the Player to complete the level. Thus no cut scene is used and both are integrated to the single level....This shows only a small part of the whole and is just 1 minute 53 seconds I believe

Have Fun

Peter

 

Heres a Screen Shot from the level Battle Port Reveal showing the Battle Port which is atop the platform in the sea.



Peter

 

Hi All,

HEARTS OF COLD - REDEMPION - UPDATE

Just a quick one to say I am still at it

I came across a video I made last year showing some more "Game Action" which has been asked for. Needless to say things have been updated quite a bit since then but heres the video anyway. below. Currently on 3rd round of updates at level 17. Just got hold of some more characters that I have prepared now ready to drop in and a few more to go in too, yet to prepare. Running out of content I can find to go in without repeating too much

Here's the video Link from YouTube...

Kind regards

Peter

 

From what I can see... It's superb, keep up the good work

 

Hi praisesuleiman,



Thanks for that. Getting There

Peter

 

I normally have any post processing and more turned off when developing so as to maximum performance while building levels - still working on updating level 17 at the moment so heres a screen shot of it with post processing turned on



Regards

Peter

 

Hi All,

HEARTS OF COLD - REDEMPTION

Level 18 Screenshot :



Moving on to Level 19 Update shortly - shortly being a relative term here of course. These Updaes are big ones so take some time,

Regards

Peter

 

Level 20 - Fancy a Race?



Regards

Peter

 

HEARTS OF COLD - REDEMPTION

Round 4 Update : screen shot of level 12 below. Just 14 more levels to go in Episode 1.



Peter

 

Hi All,

Working on Major Update 5.

A Game Release is on the way as soon as I am able to do so



Kind Regards

Peter

 

Hi all,

Level 20 Update almost done : Screenshot attached.



Kind regards

Peter

 

Hi All,

HEARTS OF COLD - REDEMPTION -UPDATE 5

Level 21 screenshot below. (Future City)

To all intense and purpose this level is complete though I will revisit this level to make some minor tweaks and additions again if the complexity will allow after testing the next published version of the game, but for now I have moved on to Level 22.

Level 22 is named BattlePort Approach and this one is within Physical sight of the BattlePort which is the "Mission Objective" and the end of the first episode of Game.

Levels Remaining to Update : All of which largely require only some improvement and the addition of more detail content to enhance or extend Game Play where such is possible to take them to a level I am happy with

22. Future City Approach
23. BattlePort
24. The Leaving
25. Stargate Earth
26. Moon Base (Optional)
27. Lunar Surface (A Maybe)

The rest of levels I have in various stages of development are reserved for Episode 2 and thats another Story



I wish everyone a Happy 2023 and successful game making experiences.

Kindest Regards

Peter

 

When can I play this masterpiece?

 

Hi MathewHI,

Thanks for your interest in Hearts Of Cold.

I have moved on since my last post and currently working on Updating Level 23. BattlePort.

The end is in sight but is likely it will be some months away yet before a release. I work on this every day without fail.

I will try and post some further screen shots as I go and a further video will hopefully be released later when completion is nearer and I can capture some video from a published version of the game.

At some stage in the future after a release of the current Episode 1 - Episode 2 "Homelands" may be further developed as a separate Game (for various reasons) - if there is enough interest.

I would also consider that the current Episode 1 could be expanded upon with further additional content, game play and more Levels and generally Updated overall to improve the Game with an Upgrade version. As being largely open world there is certainly room for this.

Hope that helps.

Kind regards

Peter

 

Hi All,

Hearts Of Cold - Redemption

Level 23 "BattlePort" Screenshot attached. Looking back to the BattlePort Harbour and Offices you can get some idea of the scale of the environment here where Future City is way back in the distance here obscured by the fogging beyond the distant hills - though it still exists in this level and can be seen from the Harbour Offices.

Currently I have moved on to the level BattlePort Proper : Level 24 "The Leaving" as my levels are seamless as it were so kind of have to work through them "Together" as content from one level also exist in the next....

Looks like I am now going to work through to the end of the levels (Level 27) and move through the last 5 or 6 levels back and forth until done.





Regards



Peter