Introducing… the Intro

The next stretch of development is aimed at improving interface animations to further strengthen immersion.

This means more ASCII eye candy, and better sound effects.

I’ve started at the “beginning” by creating an intro for the game. It’s 34 seconds of procedurally generated particle effects, setting the tone and atmosphere of the game as Cogmind runs through a startup sequence and gets an auditory introduction to what’s going on around him before the core is fully operational.

Only a video could do the intro justice, but for now here’s a screenshot from a stage mid-way through the intro (minus the effects occurring elsewhere on the screen):

The content provides some background to the story, although how it plays in will only become apparent later on.

Parts of the intro will probably make their way into the first Cogmind trailer.

Like the original 7DRL progression will not be XP-based, instead occurring every time Cogmind reaches a new area and “evolves.” These evolutions will likely be accompanied by animations in a style similar to the intro, reflecting the current state of Cogmind and adding to the story via visual details (since the story is otherwise told mostly through text).

After the intro, and upon arriving in new levels, the map visualization is also animated/created gradually with sound effects as Cogmind “scans” the surroundings. For this purpose I expanded the functionality of the particle-driven interface, giving it access to map information that can inform particle spawning and movement, allowing them to trace walls, find specific types of objects, and more.

It’s even cooler with sound effects.

Once you’ve seen them, you can of course skip either/both intros with a key press (space bar), or turn them off completely in the options.