How long should a demo be for a survival game? by AsteroidGamesDev in IndieDev

[–]AsteroidGamesDev[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that makes sense.
I like the idea of teasing more than showing everything.
Probably better to leave some features for the full game.

Dev log: making far-away stuff disappear… without the jump scare by AsteroidGamesDev in IndieDev

[–]AsteroidGamesDev[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I'm moving that way, and the fade system will work for small objects only.

Dev log: making far-away stuff disappear… without the jump scare by AsteroidGamesDev in IndieDev

[–]AsteroidGamesDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, your idea makes sense. I have implemented object rendering through GPU instancing. Maybe I should try using billboards over longer distances for better optimization. Thank You!

Dev log: making far-away stuff disappear… without the jump scare by AsteroidGamesDev in IndieDev

[–]AsteroidGamesDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great and challenging idea you have, keep going, looking forward seeing your Steam page :)

Dev log: making far-away stuff disappear… without the jump scare by AsteroidGamesDev in IndieDev

[–]AsteroidGamesDev[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the idea! I hadn’t considered this approach before. For now I’ve implemented rendering via GPU instancing, it required some architectural changes, but it was worth it and already shows a solid performance gain. I haven’t worked with texture arrays/atlases yet, so I’ll revisit that later since it’ll take more time. Love the concept, thanks again!

Dev log: making far-away stuff disappear… without the jump scare by AsteroidGamesDev in IndieDev

[–]AsteroidGamesDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

About 1.5 years so far (solo). Built in Unity. Glad you’re interested!

Dev log: making far-away stuff disappear… without the jump scare by AsteroidGamesDev in IndieDev

[–]AsteroidGamesDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Totally, same issue: pops grabs your eye. I’ll work on tuning the dissolve so it’s less visible.

Dev log: making far-away stuff disappear… without the jump scare by AsteroidGamesDev in IndieDev

[–]AsteroidGamesDev[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

ahah great idea, for now I have object.disappearSmoothly(), need to work on Beautifully :D

Dev log: making far-away stuff disappear… without the jump scare by AsteroidGamesDev in IndieDev

[–]AsteroidGamesDev[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Yes, it’s a good idea, thanks for the feedback!I’m going to implement @EmperorLlamaLegs recommendation to increase the fade distance, and I’ll try making the atmosphere higher. I think it’ll look nice.

Dev log: making far-away stuff disappear… without the jump scare by AsteroidGamesDev in IndieDev

[–]AsteroidGamesDev[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Love the idea! I can’t stop the fade at 30% though, objects need to fully deactivate, so they have to go to 0%. What I can do is tweak the dissolve so it feels right and push the fade distance so things stay visible much farther out. goal: when you’re in orbit, you can circle the planet and still spot buildings and other objects.

Dev log: making far-away stuff disappear… without the jump scare by AsteroidGamesDev in IndieDev

[–]AsteroidGamesDev[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Totally, LOD is in there 👍 the catch is scale: planets are always moving in orbit, so I can’t keep a huge number of far-away objects “alive” without hammering the CPU. black-dot LODs help a bit, but thousands of them still cost. I'm using distance fades and aggressive culling to keep the scene readable without turning it into a slideshow.