CrossCode Update #57
More content than features!

Hello again! The demo release date is approaching (30th November – in case you missed it). So obviously lots of things are happening right now. We extended the Autumn Area with new enemies and maps, implemented several cutscenes in the intro sequence, started working on the entirely new quick menu and more! But before we get to this, we first have some information about the next demo.

CrossCode Demo Facts

  • Release: 30th November 2014
  • Playtime: estimated at 30-60 minutes
  • Content:
    • Story part: The beginning of the actual game, with plot and cutscenes
    • Exploration part: Explore the autumn area environment and do some grinding
    • Puzzle part: A small dungeon with puzzles to solves and enemies to defeat
  • Available as
    • HTML5 game right from your web browser (as usual)
    • Offline desktop application with quicker load times (should work on Windows, Mac and Linux)

Just so you know what you can roughly expect!

More content for autumn area

The next Demo of CrossCode will feature the Autumn Area (which you probably saw already several times) to demonstrate the exploration aspects of the game. So this area will be pretty large. Currently, R.D. and Gflügel are both working on extending the area, creating plenty of new maps:

autumn-area-more-maps1

autumn-area-more-maps2

Some of these maps will also feature special landmarks such as buildings:

autumn-observatory-wip

Note: This observatory is very much WIP. We still need to add proper shading and details.

Also, you finally find more enemy variety in the area. After all this time, I finally implemented the buffalos and meerkat enemies:

meerkat-battle
buffalo-battle

Both of these enemies require a different strategy. While the buffaloes will continuously walk towards you, do stomps and occasionally dash in your direction, the meerkats will keep a safe distance and throw rocks at you. For the ranged combat of the meerkats I (of course…) had to improve the path finding and navigation of the enemy AI. It’s still not perfect, but in general it works rather well already.

unreachable

Mostly…

Intro Cutscene and Battle Tutorial

No, we did not forget about the intro! Since the last update, I added the first couple of cutscenes which also feature a very quick and interactive combat tutorial:

battle-tutorial

Martina also helped a lot by adding more important graphics and props. Such as this mysterious workplace:

inside-office

Quick Menu and Flying Icons

Wait… that can’t be. An update entirely about content and without any new fancy feature stuff?
No, of course we worked on features, too… Stefan started with the Quick Menu which can be used at any time (even during battle) to perform simple actions such as using items, looking at the map or analysing the surroundings (more on that another time). Here is how it currently looks like:

quick-menu

However, even though we are working on this feature, we unfortunately can’t promise that you’ll be able to use it in the next demo release. Time is just a bit too short for that.
However, what you will get are flying icons.

treasure-icons

From treasures.

treasure-icons-2

… That’s pretty cool too, right?

Music

Intero is working pretty fast these days. That’s mostly because he has to. :P Deadlines and such.
You can find three new songs in his SoundCloud playlist:

Dangerzone is played during an escape sequence and CrossCounter… well… we can’t tell you without spoiling things. You’ll find out soon enough! Finally, there is a new version of the challenge theme.

And that’s all for today’s update! 4 more week, then you will be able to play it all yourself. Until then!

14 Comments

  • Been following since I found the demo on google labs by chance. Less then a month till new demo. CAPS LOCK ON. HYPE TRAIN IN MOTION~

  • About the 3 character revealed in the last update can anyone confirm or deny that they will be the people teaching you how to use the different elemental powers. from top down earth, air, fire. also the 2nd guy “old dude” did he take any inspiration from yasuo from the game League of Legends?

    • Hi there!

      About the characters: sorry, not quite. :P
      Also, the elements are not earth, air, fire (and water), but heat, cold, shock and wave.

      I know, there is a lot of talk about avatars and elements, but we do – in fact – not intend to rip off a certain popular cartoon series. :P

      Now for me this is the first time I hear about this Yasuo character, but the “old dude” was in fact designed in collaboration and maybe one of the other guys had Yasuo in mind? The hair does seem similar, as does the face. We actually plan to make “old dude” look a bit older – the current concept art is still WIP.

    • Hey! I kinda started the design for old dude. This is the first time for me to hearing the name Yasuo too. Originally my inspiration came from the Witcher series. But I can see the resemblance! :D
      As Felix said, we still in the process to finish his final design as he looks a little bit to young for our liking.

  • Hey guys, glad to see that there is significant progress on the content side! Marked the 30th of November in bold RED in my calendar! ;-)

  • Niceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*-*

  • Hey guys,

    Just wanted to say that this is looking pretty awesome. I keep trying to get into JavaScript game development myself, and every time I do I always look to your first demo for inspiration. It runs extremely well on my crappy laptop, and the interaction is just so fluid. I love it. Keep up the good work!

    • Hi there!
      I’m always very happy to hear when our game runs well on older/low-end hardware. :D

      Good luck getting into HTML5 game development! It’s pretty fun in my opinion, especially since browsers vendors are actually supporting this movement.

  • My god, i can’t wait for the demo.

  • Kaze_Memaryu on November 10, 2014 at 7:55 pm said:

    Great stuff! And DAAAAAAMN, those damage numbers! I love big numbers, especially on damage!
    But I wonder about one thing: will the web version of the demo work with the GamePad? It wouldn’t surprise me if not, since the available RAM is really low. And I don’t know if you can override button functions with JavaScript, but I think not (would be a bit unnerving).

    • Yes, damage numbers all the way!

      The modern Web provides the Gamepad API, so gamepad support is no problem at all! :D

      CrossCode supports all X-Input compatible Gamepads within Chrome. This already works with the current TechDemo++, so you can give it a try!

      We may also be able to make it work under Firefox (if we find the time until the release).

  • Been following since before the tech demo ++. Finally happy and excited for demo. Cant wait. You guys have been a huge inspiration for me

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