Jul 6, 2024
House of Velez part 1 - darkroomindiegames
It's been a little while since I first announced getting to work on the HoV Remake.
Now that the game has finally left its conceptual phases I think it's a good time to finally post some new updates!
In the previous update the game was shown in an OTS view, like the most recent Resident Evil Remakes. It played really well and looked nice, but I didn't feel that it really captured the spirit of the original game as well as I would have liked.
The original HoV was inspired by classic survival horror, but it was severely limited in its presentation of that due to being a side-scroller. So I decided that the game should finally be allowed to do what it was striving to do and actually play like the classics it was inspired by!
The gameplay has been adjusted to fit a fixed camera view, along with tank controls. By fixed camera, I mean true fixed camera. No panning or dynamic screens. I made this change knowing that it will likely turn a lot of players off, but the choice was made in the interest of trying to achieve what the original simply could not, due the engine it was made with. On the flip-side of that, I know there will also be a lot of retro fans who will love this change!
That aside, I also feel that we are becoming a bit oversaturated with OTS action/survival horror games now. I would rather my game not just "be another one" now that it's such a common approach to designing these types of games. It's kind of like back when everybody was making all those first person horror games, only now it's OTS.
Nothing wrong with it. I just know that's not where HoV belongs.
Now, to touch upon something I said in the previous update. I made it quite clear that HoV would remain "100% a stealth game." I believe that's what I said. Well, that's changed too.
Lily now has access to both, firearms and melee weapons. Sounds pretty wild, considering the source material, but I've made these additions in order to better serve the overall story that bridges House of Velez and Grave Prosperity. Lily has to learn to defend herself, it's simply a part of her growth as a character.
I've managed to combine the auto-aim feature of the classic RE games along with the "steady aim" crosshair shrink mechanic of the recent RE Remakes. This allows us to take aim at strategic points on an enemy's body, but has the added challenge of having to allow the crosshair to zero in before taking our shots, or else we risk missing the shot.
It starts out slow, but as Lily grows, she will become progressively more efficient with her weapons. As she grows, the enemy AI will as well. They will know to protect their vitals as they advance, and we will have to stagger them in order to open them up to critical damage. I feel like little things like this will keep combat more engaging (and stressful) than the classics.
The world has also been greatly expanded upon. All of the same locations are still in the game, but they have all been added onto. There is additional story content, alongside all of the already existing content from the original as well.
I'm currently working on the demo, which I'm hoping to have released before the end of the year. Progress is slow, but steady. Between now being married, with a kid, and still holding down a full-time job, I don't have the same kind of time I once had to just knock out tons of work in no time at all.
But it is still all happening, and I won't stop until it's done.
Here are some screens from the latest build of the House of Velez Remake!
(these images are not necessarily representative of the final build)
Now that the game has finally left its conceptual phases I think it's a good time to finally post some new updates!
In the previous update the game was shown in an OTS view, like the most recent Resident Evil Remakes. It played really well and looked nice, but I didn't feel that it really captured the spirit of the original game as well as I would have liked.
The original HoV was inspired by classic survival horror, but it was severely limited in its presentation of that due to being a side-scroller. So I decided that the game should finally be allowed to do what it was striving to do and actually play like the classics it was inspired by!
The gameplay has been adjusted to fit a fixed camera view, along with tank controls. By fixed camera, I mean true fixed camera. No panning or dynamic screens. I made this change knowing that it will likely turn a lot of players off, but the choice was made in the interest of trying to achieve what the original simply could not, due the engine it was made with. On the flip-side of that, I know there will also be a lot of retro fans who will love this change!
That aside, I also feel that we are becoming a bit oversaturated with OTS action/survival horror games now. I would rather my game not just "be another one" now that it's such a common approach to designing these types of games. It's kind of like back when everybody was making all those first person horror games, only now it's OTS.
Nothing wrong with it. I just know that's not where HoV belongs.
Now, to touch upon something I said in the previous update. I made it quite clear that HoV would remain "100% a stealth game." I believe that's what I said. Well, that's changed too.
Lily now has access to both, firearms and melee weapons. Sounds pretty wild, considering the source material, but I've made these additions in order to better serve the overall story that bridges House of Velez and Grave Prosperity. Lily has to learn to defend herself, it's simply a part of her growth as a character.
I've managed to combine the auto-aim feature of the classic RE games along with the "steady aim" crosshair shrink mechanic of the recent RE Remakes. This allows us to take aim at strategic points on an enemy's body, but has the added challenge of having to allow the crosshair to zero in before taking our shots, or else we risk missing the shot.
It starts out slow, but as Lily grows, she will become progressively more efficient with her weapons. As she grows, the enemy AI will as well. They will know to protect their vitals as they advance, and we will have to stagger them in order to open them up to critical damage. I feel like little things like this will keep combat more engaging (and stressful) than the classics.
The world has also been greatly expanded upon. All of the same locations are still in the game, but they have all been added onto. There is additional story content, alongside all of the already existing content from the original as well.
I'm currently working on the demo, which I'm hoping to have released before the end of the year. Progress is slow, but steady. Between now being married, with a kid, and still holding down a full-time job, I don't have the same kind of time I once had to just knock out tons of work in no time at all.
But it is still all happening, and I won't stop until it's done.
Here are some screens from the latest build of the House of Velez Remake!
(these images are not necessarily representative of the final build)
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