Weekly Update

This past week has brought significant progress across core mechanics, art assets, and overall experience flow for IT TAKES THREE. Here is a breakdown of our latest developments and what’s next on our production schedule.

Gameplay and Core Experience Flow

We’ve locked in the current player journey, which takes playtesters approximately 7-15 minutes. The progression is set as: Lobby → Level 101 → Level Halves → Level Credit → Level 401 → Level SlingShot*.

Key Mechanics and Interactivity:

• Slingshot Mechanic: This system is being refined to be highly intuitive. Players will be able to recall the slingshot ball with a single button press on the VR controller or a physical button. The ball will snap to the target location if it enters the trigger zone, causing an effect to happen.
• Platform Support: The experience supports gameplay on Phone, VR, and PC, with corresponding mechanics like Shield (Phone), Ride Cat (VR/PC), and Wind (VR/PC).
• Placeholder Level Progress: We have made strides in the temporary Playground level, including placeholder work on the Wind Blower Model and Wind VFX. We are now coding the Mobile Phone Wind Controller and smoothing the Mobile laser input.
• Story Framing: We are creating distinct start and end moments for the narrative. The beginning will feature a “LieDown” animation and a random seat model to signify that “Cat is waiting to take actions”. The end scene will feature an animation that culminates in “Cat become robots’ god!”.

Art, Assets, and Animation

The star of the show, the Cat, received numerous updates, and various interactive assets are also moving forward.

Cat Animation:

• Completed Work: We successfully implemented blended animations for basic locomotion (stand, walk, and run) based on speed. Jumping is also now blended smoothly by velocity, applied to upward, forward, and downward movement, and when falling. The cat also has fun, randomly played idle animations, including playing with yarn and licking a hand.
• Work In Progress (WIP): We are currently enabling players to actively trigger animations like Tan (摊), Sitting on the Butt, Lying Down, and Meowing. We are also developing VR (and possibly Phone) interactions such as High Five and Cat Stick.
• To Do: Final polish for the cat involves adding facial expressions (specifically eye closure), adding whiskers to the model, polishing animation transitions, and developing more fun animations.

Art Updates for Devices and Environment:

• The Jetpack received updates to its model, animation, and VFX.
• The Riding Device has a model placeholder and updated animations. We need to add VFX and UI elements for this device.
• The Fan has an updated placeholder model, animation, and VFX.
• The VR Avatar is undergoing a re-design, and we need to update the model and Wind VFX.
• We’ve added an interactive Breakable Wall Dissolve VFX.
• Environment art updates are currently in progress.

Production and Next Steps

The team is prioritizing final asset creation for remaining core features:

• Assets are needed for: The Laser/Shield mechanic, Slingshot mechanic, Fan mechanic, the general environment, and the grand End scene (“God of robot”).
• Website Update: We will be updating the website to include short bios.