A Busy Bunch of Bees
7 December, 2023
It’s Thursday, everyone! This is your Community Manager, the one and only Squid Gumbo, bringing you the freshest dose of the Weekly Cheese possible. It'll be a light read today, as with the holiday season ramping up people are stretched thin and stressed over real life, real jobs, and everything else going on. But just because it’s a light read, doesn’t mean it’s not worth a look at all. Come on in!
Moving like a Madman
It’s been a heck of a week for Ryan, if his share of working progress is any indicator. He’s been all over the place these past seven days, and it’s pretty incredible to see what he’s been up to. From the man himself (and some additional context from me), here’s what Ryan got up to over the last week:
Started redesigning the HUD. When I tell you it’s looking swanky, you’re gonna have to believe me. We’ve been riffing HUD ideas for a while now, but with the recent additions to the project I feel like we’re well on the way to having something that’ll really make afflicted pop.
Made fixes to how the projectile graphics work for one of the weapon physics types (this was not working in Unity Multiplay). Ryan also demonstrated this change in one of our recent social media posts (the one where he more or less shoots himself in the foot).
Started configuring Unity Multiplay. This is something that allows us to better deal with match management and joining sessions.
Started working on a new Desert map - this one is arid and gloomy. (You’re all going to love it).
Did a bunch of work on Lighting/atmospherics for the Swamp and Desert map. These changes really bring the swamp more in line with what I (Squid) envisioned for the map itself. Even better, these changes seemed to help the strange outline glitching tremendously.
Did more clean up on the project. Gotta keep the project streamlined!
Can you believe that’s only stuff he’s been working on in the past week? Seems pretty incredible to me. So, if you see Ryan around, let him know he’s doing a grand job of keeping afflicted pushing forward.
In Sickness and in Health
I was pretty much sick for the entirety of the week, so I did very little on afflicted. I’m very sad about it, please don’t bring it up. However, I did spend some time reviewing some of our newer assets and kept tabs on the developing lore / storyline that we’re adhering to, thanks to Big Spoon Bryan’s devotion to ensuring it all makes sense.
Speaking of Big Spoon, the man has pressed forward on the game flow documentation and is actively trying to make room for improving the storyline and gameplay elements. It’s a busy time for him, so take some pity on the man.
Now, of course, you may be reading this and be wondering: “But what about the main man Manny?” And the answer is: “Don’t you worry.” Manny is also busy with the holiday season, but when he’s focused on our glorious afflicted he’s continuing his initiative of revamping the entire menu system to make it crisp and fresh for you all.
In Closing
Short and sweet, as promised? I’m glad you’re still here. afflicted wouldn’t brie the same without you. Some of us are churning along quite nicely – which is awesome – and with my illness seeming to have passed on, I’ll be quickly returning to the fold and developing further pieces of the swamp map. Gotta make it creepy for you guys so that you’re never too comfortable...
Look Behind You,
Squid