DISCLAIMER: All Scrapmageddon images are W.I.P. and heavily subject to change, NOT representative of the final product.

Hello everyone, I've been very busy with modeling and such this week.

So in my last post some of you might've caught a glimpse of the old Scout model. Well it looked like garbage and has now been thrown away for a shiny new version, officially introducing,

The new Scout model

Modeling the Scout was a learning experience for sure, this is the first time I put a lot of thought into the design of an enemy, both visually and practically. First, I hired a freelancer on Fiverr to come up with the concept art for a small handful of enemies. The last time I used Fiverr was in 2013 for a pfp and I ended up very disappointed with the results, so I wasn't sure what to expect. But after a couple weeks, I checked my inbox and was pleasantly surprised to find that the designs came out looking better than I could've imagined, and the seller followed my instructions to a T. I excitedly threw the images into Blender and spent a few days modeling. By far the biggest time-sink was retopology. I've never fully committed to retopologizing a model, but I knew that if I wanted the aliens to look good, and consistent, I would have to bite the bullet and get it over with. It was a painful process for sure, but I'm fairly happy with how it turned out, there's definitely a couple places I could've done better, but overall I think the end result is good. With the experience I have now, hopefully the next iterations will turn out even better.

I've learned that texturing is my favorite part of this workflow. I discovered Substance Painter 3D a few months back and was blown away by how effective and relatively easy to use it is. I've been experimenting with it in personal projects to learn the ropes, and this time I really wanted to take my time and make something that looks good and I think I've done just that. There's a couple things that could be improved like breaking up the pattern of the skin a little more and maybe a little more color balancing, but those should be easy to fix up and reimplement when necessary.

What will the other enemies look like?

I'm hesitant to give too many details on the other enemies, as there is still some question as to how exactly they'll be implemented, but I'll share some of the ideas I have currently. Hopefully by the time the game is in a more complete state, I can share the rest of the designs as well as some of the bosses. For now, here's some of the ideas I feel have a strong foundation:

Bully* - huge and hangry, these aliens will crush their "friends" to enrage himself, giving himself a buff, and becoming far more deadly. Either isolate them, or dump a bunch of bullets in them before they come knocking on your door.

Bomber* - lacking in armor but high in damage potential, these aliens will cause problems if allowed to pile up. They will attack the player and their defenses from range using an appendage at the end of their long scorpion-like tail.

Hunter - a nimble pain in the ass, these aliens are able to jump over your wall, sidestepping your defenses entirely, and attacking the player directly. One of these guys popping out at the wrong time can cause your whole defense to crumble.

* Planned inclusion in the demo

That's all I've really got to write about for now, in the next devlog I plan on going over either some of the narrative elements, or, if I have the time this week, going more in depth about exploration and how a typical day will look for our lone mechanic-survivor. (it involves a lot of pooping and eating, sometimes simultaneously (not really (unless..?)))

Thanks for reading, see you all in the next one

- BlueJay