Oct 14, 2022
ALPHA PLAYTEST UPDATE
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Hello Sipherians! After dozens of sneak peeks, a whole lot of content teasing the game, and a secretive pre-alpha play test on Unity, you must be extremely curious about where Sipher Odyssey is in terms of developmental progression. Well, whether you are ready or not, we are about to drop our most up-to-date playtest yet (ON UNREAL ENGINE!), and of course, it will be open for YOU to enjoy!
So, picking up from our “hush-hush” 🤫 Unity build, not only have we given the game an entire graphical overhaul through our switch to Unreal Engine, but we have also reworked a lot of the game mechanics to ensure stability, enjoyability, and most of all, replayability.
Well, what did we improve? Here is a laundry list of exciting changes we have given Sipher Odyssey!
A Brand New Coat of Paint
To kick things off, not only did we give Sipher’s “2.0” a brighter and more colorful palette, but we also made massive improvements in terms of UI, refining the user experience, and overhauling the game UX/UI with high regard to simplicity and usability.
Here is an example of how the lobby looks before and after:
Sipher Odyssey Lobby Before (right) and After (left)
Even More Stuff!
We have added a whole host of new enemies and vicious mini-bosses with a few interesting enemy formations.
Meet Tiny — the Widow-Hunter Tarachnoid. Keep reading if you hate spiders!
There are now even more dungeons with better traps, obstacles, and decorations. As a cherry on top, dungeons will now be randomly generated except for bosses, mini-bosses, and some narrative-driven levels. So expect some randomized shenanigans every time you load up a dungeon.
Character Control
Now that you are caught up, it is time to get technical!
First off the list is Character Control. In past versions of the game, this aspect can feel somewhat stiff at times, and character movement tends to be unnatural, especially when it comes to sophisticated movements that our enemies tend to make.
With better rigging and deployment of more complicated tools, we were able to refine the move animation of enemies and your character, especially when you are holding weapons.
Better Attack Mechanics
A new feature (or rather 6) that we’ve implemented is the Effect Status System, introducing 6 effects that players and enemies could encounter during gameplay such as Poison, Burn, Zap, Trap, Stun, and Chill.
Furthermore, we have improved the melee system so that combos feel stronger, hit harder, and are more effective.
Did we mention that we’ve completely overhauled the skill system?
Yes, we did! Skills not only look better, but they are also more balanced than ever. Have a peek:
In an effort to properly visualize attack feedback with more oomph, we’ve introduced new camera effects including shake, zoom, and flash to make the player’s experience more exciting.
Boost System — Unlocked
Yay! We’ve finally got the boost system to work, better yet, they work in conjunction with the set of effects we have outlined above.
Boosters are upgrades that allow you to customize your Sipher to fit YOUR play style best, whether you like to spew poison, wreak toxic havoc across the battlefield, or have your personal LEEROY JENKINS moment — we’ve got you covered.
Now that you have had a peek at what the upcoming playtest is like, some of you must be incredibly eager to try the game out! If you want to scratch that itch, remember to closely follow our socials to catch our playtest date as well as registration instructions. Keep in mind, there is a limited amount of slots, so be vigilant!