You can find the previous devlog here!
Paint Punks is a character based FPS game in which each character has its own unique abilities and play-style. The game is inspired by other games in its genre such as Overwatch, Valorant, Mad Paintball and Q-Clash.
This devlog focuses on progression systems and other miscellaneous improvements I have made since the last devlog.
Player Progression
In Paint Punks you are able to unlock new characters as you continue to play the game. I overhauled some of the game’s progression design and I’m satisfied with the result. Locked characters become purchasable when you level-up other characters you already unlocked. Leveling up characters also unlocks upgrades for those characters. Experience points are earned by playing the game, but you can also spend coins to level-up characters immediately.
In the video above you can see a lot of extra features I added for player progression.
- A whole new details screen showing all character statistics and future upgrades.
- The main menu shows when the next upgrade is for the selected character.
- When a character is locked it tells you any necessary requirements.
- An animation is played when you level up a character.
- There are 15 unique variables that support upgrades, though each character only upgrades at most 4 of them.
A closer look at the details screen
Improved weapons
Since the last devlog I have also finally upgraded the looks of all weapons. Previously the weapons had no textures. Players on your team now always have a blue weapon and players on the enemy team always have an orange weapon. Other colors are also supported but not used.
On top of the textures I also added a new shotgun weapon model which will be used by future characters that I am adding to the game.
Aim assist
While on the topic of weapons, I have been experimenting with ‘aim assist’. Players on mobile and console usually have a harder time aiming at enemies so for those players I am experimenting with an aim assist that will automatically move the camera along with players close to the center of the camera. Camera movement also slows down as you hover over enemies. This feature still needs improvements.
Maps & Modes
King of the Hill
The third game mode to be added to Paint Punks is King of the Hill. In this mode players score points for their team by standing on an objective in the center of the map. The objective becomes yours if only your team is standing on top. If players from both teams stand on the objective it becomes ‘neutral’. The first team to reach the score threshold wins.
Snowy Shacks
The third map I am designing for Paint Punks is a small village consisting of a lot of small wooden cottages. So far only a greybox design exists, but if players like the map it will be prettied up.
Castle Grounds
The fourth map in the works for Paint Punks is a castle map. The center of the map is enclosed in castle walls. Paths around the castle walls exist as well, offering players a lot of ways to approach enemies. This map is also currently in the greyboxing stage.
Other improvements
Finally there are a ton of small tweaks and improvements, some of which are based on feedback from previous devlogs and from a recent test session I held.
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The crosshair has been updated to look less distracting.
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When you carry a flag in ‘Capture the Flag’, a button has been added to drop the flag. This button also serves as an indicator that you currently hold a flag.
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Allies now have a health-bar above them, making them easier to distinguish from enemies. It also helps you identify which allies are currently under attack.
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The UI element that shows up when a team-member is talking through voice chat now looks more like other HUD elements.
At this point Paint Punks is almost feature complete. Infrastructure-wise there are only a few things left to program:
- Currency cannot be bought yet.
- Coins are not yet awarded through gameplay.
- Characters don’t grip weapons in the right location.
- Player behavior needs to be logged to better make design decisions.
Once that’s ready all that remains is adding more content (maps, characters & abilities) until the game is ready for launch! I am hoping to open up the game to more testers before then as well, but I will be adding a few more characters first.
As always, thoughts and feedback are welcome.
