Announcing "In Case Of Emergency, Release Raptor"

[x4000]

1. Interestingly enough, the raptors here are about the same scale as those in Jurassic Park.  Those were supposedly the size of Deinonychus, the discoverer of which Crichton supposedly met with.  But they still seem too big for that, so I dunno.  I'd have to look that up again.

2. I definitely would position the camera differently for a smaller character!  It would be trivial to do, and I know exactly what you mean about the annoyance with the other sorts of games like that.  I've thought about even having a microraptor option, just to really experience what it is like to be really tiny in a human environment.  That's been a fascination of mine since I was a kid -- related to squirrels.  Having the microraptor be able to walk on any wall or the ceiling and the gravity shift could be cool, haha, but that's out of scope for now.  In general no promises that would make it in.

3. I don't expect to do any upgrade paths for the raptor, or any items in particular.  I figure you'll be able to eat some small other critters around (like the compys in the Sega Jurassic Park game) to regain health, but overall I see this as being a game about skill.  Like a Mario title, or SUPERHOT, or whatever.  In the case of Mario, yeah there are powerups, but it's not like a tech tree.  In this case there would be environmental things that you might take advantage of in a given area.

4. Overall in this game I see there being two modes: "power trip mode" and "danger mode."  Neither would be superior to the other, or the "real" experience.  In power trip mode, you might not even have health at all.  Basically where it's impossible to lose... but what is measured instead is how well you win.  This is a game where I could see some central competitions on seeds and whatnot for daily rankings.  In the danger mode, I see that as being something that could be incredibly deadly in the vein of Dark Souls: you get hit by a rocket and you are freaking dead, etc.  So really emphasizing a completely different style of play.  Personally I'd enjoy both modes, for different reasons.  For expert players, "power trip mode" is not easy mode -- it's speedrun mode.

[x4000]

I think having a promotional video along the following lines would be appropriate.

Robot 1: Run! The Raptors are loose!
Robot 2: Raptors? Aren't those birds like Eagles, Falcons, and Hawks?
Robot 3: Aren't they... pretty small and harmless?
Robot 1: Dinosaurs! Velicoraptors!
Robot 2: But Velicoraptors are tiny things the size of chickens...
Robot 1: Big Velicoraptors!
Robot 2: So.. like the size of a turkey?
Robot 1: They are dinosaurs. They are Robot sized!
Robot 3: So, are we talking regular robot sized like a Deinonychus or large robot sized like a Utahraptor?
Robot 4: Why isn't Utahraptor spelled Utah Raptor?
Everyone dies.

It would appease the people who care, because it demonstrates you are aware of the naming issue. It would demonstrate you have a sense of humor about the naming issue. And for those that don't care, it would amuse them because everyone who does care is eaten. Win-win-win!

Hahahaha, that's awesome.  Yeah, something like that would be very fun.  I do plan to have quite a bit of voice stuff in this game.  My sister and I cooked up some pretty cool characters that she'll be able to pull off, we're pretty sure.  She's an opera singer, not a voice actor, but she won't sing (in any language) for this one.

[Draco18s]

You told me a good one that this one would be, before, and now I've forgotten the name.  Some theropod that's right in between utahraptor and deinonychus.

Achillobator.

[x4000]

You told me a good one that this one would be, before, and now I've forgotten the name.  Some theropod that's right in between utahraptor and deinonychus.

Achillobator.

Right!  That's the one.  It bugs me that it doesn't have raptor in its name.  Doesn't even sound as cool as Troodon.

[Aklyon]

2. I definitely would position the camera differently for a smaller character!  It would be trivial to do, and I know exactly what you mean about the annoyance with the other sorts of games like that.  I've thought about even having a microraptor option, just to really experience what it is like to be really tiny in a human environment.  That's been a fascination of mine since I was a kid -- related to squirrels.  Having the microraptor be able to walk on any wall or the ceiling and the gravity shift could be cool, haha, but that's out of scope for now.  In general no promises that would make it in.

Have you ever played (or seen someone play) Chibi-Robo, Chris? Thats pretty much what its about: Be a teeny tiny robot friend (with similarly small floating managerbot companion) in a normal-size human house. Theres even a toy dino you can interact with in it!

[x4000]

Neat!  No, I've never played that. Cool from what I saw looking it up, though.

[Aklyon]

Theres a decent lets play of it by this guy if you somehow have time to see it, otherwise yeah. Its a pretty cool thing.

[Pumpkin]

For the early preview of Arcen's first 3D game, I'm already quite impressed. Now I'm really interested in this game.

[doctorfrog]

This looks weird and risky and I am completely on board. I can't wait to see what the heck is next.

Space Beast Terror Fright was one of my favorite demos from last year, so you had me at procedural and generic sci-fi corridor.

[chemical_art]

Is the first colored picture different from the others? Its head is absolutely massive.

[x4000]

Is the first colored picture different from the others? Its head is absolutely massive.

Heh, I just did really notice that.  It's the same as the others, but it's an effect of using a 70-degree field of view.  It's near the edge of the camera and at just such an angle that it gets distorted some.  It's not noticeable when you're playing (a larger FOV feels pretty natural), but it's one of those things that you could adjust to taste in the settings if you don't like the default FOV.  And of course some folks will crank that up to 90.  I felt like the default 60 was a bit wrong-feeling during actual play.

[Draco18s]

Is the first colored picture different from the others? Its head is absolutely massive.

The perspective is screwing with your head.  (The bloom isn't helping either and I think the FOV is up a bit higher than normal).  Most of the other shots either have its head tipped away from the camera or are from a greater distance away.  That's the only closeup shot and its muzzle (whole body really) is pointed towards the camera.  Add in a pretty wide hallway where the positioning of the raptor relative to the camera and the far wall puts it practically within chomping distance of the photographer, and you get some good perspective distortion.

[Soupinator]

Well I certainly wasn't expecting another game before Stars Beyond Reach, much less a 3D game.  I hope it works out for you guys!

[chemical_art]

Heh, I just did really notice that.  It's the same as the others, but it's an effect of using a 70-degree field of view.  It's near the edge of the camera and at just such an angle that it gets distorted some.  It's not noticeable when you're playing (a larger FOV feels pretty natural), but it's one of those things that you could adjust to taste in the settings if you don't like the default FOV.  And of course some folks will crank that up to 90.  I felt like the default 60 was a bit wrong-feeling during actual play.

It's interesting how much FOV influences perspective. I understand gameplay mechanics needing an unusual FOV, but in promotion screenshots it would help to have a "natural" FOV. That picture made me laugh, but didn't give me faith of a developers first foray into 3D 

The other screen shots look great! Really am excited for this.

[x4000]

FOV is definitely tricky, because in general a PC game that is in 3D should have a wider one since you sit closer to the monitor.  But not everyone likes that, and for a third-person game a full 90-degree FOV didn't feel good to me.  I definitely would not say that the mechanics require the 70-degree FOV by any stretch.

Anyhow, noted for future promotional screenshots.

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Also: welcome to the folks who are coming from RPS!  Just to be clear, kicking over crates and whatnot is not a "main feature" by any stretch of the imagination, haha.