MattDonatelli
making Hive Jump is a blast!
About
- Username
- MattDonatelli
- Joined
- Visits
- 644
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- Roles
- Administrator, Developer
- Points
- 276
- Badges
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- Website
- http://www.hivejump.com/
- @mattdonatelli
- Steam ID
- spekkio
- PSN ID
- themaineman5
Featured Badges
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Hai Guys! Updates?
Yes! Update will arrive today. Lots of front-facing stuff we've been doing. Menus, User Interface, etc...It really takes the game from feeling like a developer sandbox to a REAL GAME!It might not be as exciting as new weapons or guns or enemies, but hey, it's gotta be done before we can release the alpha!
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Character Customization, Runabouts, NPCs, Relics, and more!
Our plan is to have 4 skins at launch, plus an additional skin that is exclusive to our $20+ Kickstarter backers. So 5 skins in total at launch.More skins could follow post-launch as either free or paid DLC, but that all depends on many factors. For instance, how well the game is performing, how large our player base is, whether or not the community values more skins, server upkeep costs, etc...As we get closer to launch, we'll come up with a more robust post-launch content plan and be sure to update everyone! -
Character Customization, Runabouts, NPCs, Relics, and more!
Attention Jumpers!
October has come and gone, and we've done SO MUCH work on Hive Jump it's hard to keep track of it all! Here's what we've got to share with you in this update:- Customize your Jumper on the Loadout Screen! (WIP)
- Runabouts, your metal brothers-in-arms.
- Rescue NPCs from the Hive!
- Retrieving Relics in Style!
- Hive Jump at IndieCade at Nintendo's booth!
- More BGC Music!
There lots of other little things we did too, and if you want to ALL the nitty gritty details, you should follow us on twitter as we continue development! Ok, let's get started!Jump in style!
If you're going to drop out of a spaceship into an alien infested hell-hole, you might as well do it in style! We're excited to give jumpers a few ways to differentiate themselves from their buddies! In Hive Jump, you will be able to choose a combination of a Color, Insignia, and Skin to make your jumpers unique! Check out some WORK IN PROGRESS shots below!
Choose from 9 preset colors!
Pick an insignia, any insignia!
Swap between different skins!Runabouts, your robot friends!Jumpers, the future is full of wondrous technology and humanity does not face the Ordovician threat alone! Runabouts, or intelligent robotic lifeforms created by humans, are also members of the Jump Corps!
Runabouts are every bit as intelligent as a human being, and are valuable members of human galactic civilization. Many Runabouts have volunteered to join the Jump Corps, get retrofitted with military grade hardware, and earn a chance for glory and the removal of their kill-switches.Rescue survivors in the Hive!We're proud to bring you footage of one of our Kickstarter backers getting rescued by a Runabout Jumper!
There are all kinds of people who, by some twist of fate or foolish expedition, end up deep within an Ordovician hive! If you come across any survivors in a Hive, be sure to beam them out for a reward!Retrieve RelicsThere are all kinds of relics hidden away within the Hive. When you find relics, be sure to beam them out of the Hive so our scientists can research them!
You never know what kind of rare materials we can find in the Hive that might aid our war effort!Hive Jump at IndieCadeMatt Raithel had the pleasure of going out and repping Hive Jump at IndieCade! It's always great to get the game out in front of new fans and old backers alike!
A huge thanks again to Nintendo for having us at their booth at IndieCade! You can see our whole album of photos on Facebook!Teaser of a new Hive Jump track!BigGiantCircles is cooking up some amazing new tracks for Hive Jump! You can hear a quick teaser here:If you love BGC's work, go follow him on Twitter and tell him so! @biggiantcircles
- Customize your Jumper on the Loadout Screen! (WIP)
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Linux Release?
We have committed to a Linux release target, but haven't specified which versions of Linux. We'll likely support what Unity exports most easily to, with an additional probable emphasis on what Steam Machines operate on. (I'm hoping that with good Steam Machine support and Steam Controller support we can get some love from Valve...) -
Next Build ETA?
@0589651, thanks for all the great feedback!Here are a few things I can tell you about what you've highlighted. I'll start with the easy stuff first.1. Robot jumper skins will be a thing, in fact, we'll be showing them off very very soon! (Like next week!)2. Jumper gun animation. Good catch, I'm sure @Bsevers18 can take a look at it to make sure it's doing what we want it to do. (Not sure if it's in the sprite and intentional, or if it's a Unity animation thing.)3. Cryo beam will likely undergo another re-design and improvement phase before the game launches. We'll keep those upgrade ideas in mind.4. Camera stuff! So this is the complicated one. I'll explain as best I can below.Because of the resolution that the art was designed at, and our desire to keep all the art "pixel-perfect" and crisp, we're limited to displaying at certain screen sizes. We can't fluidly zoom the camera in and out without losing pixel perfection and causing a lot of blurry fuzziness and other visual artifacting. If you've played Hotline Miami, they clearly don't care about pixel perfection, but we do.So this means that we can have a zoom factor of 1x, what the game is currently at. Or, we can zoom in 2x as much, or zoom out 2x as much and maintain pixel perfection. 2x IN, is VERY close up, but I already have a planned use for that when talking to NPCs. 2x OUT we also have certain ideas for that I don't want to spoil, but for right now we plan of carefully designing when we use these zoom factors. There is the possibility that we'll put some of that control in the hands of the player, but it is a small and remote possibility right now.And now to really answer your question about players going offscreen. If you're playing alone on your computer doing Online MP, your jumper will have their own camera, so you'll never be offscreen. However in local multiplayer, we have to prioritize what will never be offscreen in a different way. We've found that the best thing to prioritize is the Backpack. That is because, as a team, it is your mobile respawn point, your lifeline, and your objective is to get it safely to the bottom of the hive. If you fall offscreen for more than 5 seconds, you are teleported to the backpack's location with no penalty. So we try to compensate for falling offscreen in a fair and non-punishing matter. But we really do want to encourage teams to stick close and protect the backpack.I believe it would be possible, with a week or two of dev time, to come up with a solution you were suggesting where you get a small camera that displays where you are if you fall offscreen, but that raises more issues. One, that offscreen camera will now use up a portion of the regular game screen, and potentially obscure hazards or enemies from the other players. Furthermore, we wouldn't be able to display a lot of space for the offscreen player that would really help them get back to the team. Therfore, for now, we're probably going to keep pushing forward with development of core features, and put this as a back-pocket idea to explore.I hope that all helps answer your questions! We thrive off of good feedback like this, so please don't hesitate to add more! For us, every moment we spend on Hive Jump is a blast, but also we have to be very careful where we spend our time, and make sure we're putting it in places that really move the core game forward. Stuff like camera improvements will largely come in more of a beta phase more likey, and we're not quite there yet.Thanks again! I really enjoy being able to share our inner-dev-thoughts about the choices we have to make and why we make them. I hope you enjoy it too!
