Lust & Lead – Dev Log 02

Necromancer

Hello everyone! I’ll be upfront: I don’t have a lot of material to show off today. The past couple of weeks have been productive, but most of that work has been split between writing, testing and authoring assets that aren’t quite ready to show off yet.
That being said, I did manage to get one new enemy into a presentable state, though I had to scramble to put the render together. While still technically considered a work-in-progress, seen above is the newly added “Necromancer,” and more information on her will come soon. But first…
Script
The first draft of the game’s script is now done! I know, it’s not been that long since I talked about working on it and, yes, there’s still a lot to do. The script currently covers all the major story beats from beginning to end, but still needs a few more drafts and some polish. Generally speaking, though, I’m quite happy with the overall progression and the arcs of each character.
The script is currently sitting at around 90 pages. It mostly consists of cutscenes and important story moments, with gameplay dialogue and optional conversations relegated to separate documents.
Finishing the first draft of the script also means I have a good idea of the game’s scope regarding characters and can start preparing audition materials. As I mentioned last time, I’d like to get the process started before the game reaches Alpha. Casting and recording can take a while, and I want the game’s first impression to be as strong as possible.
I don’t expect to get the game’s story fully voiced within the next few months. Instead, my first major priority will be getting gameplay dialogue and sounds recorded.
Gameplay
The biggest gameplay additions have been the arrival of the Necromancer and further progress on the Artifact system. Up until now, most of the enemies have mechanically been very similar, just with different damage and health values. The Shambler and Executioner differ in speed, size and durability, but ultimately occupy the same space during combat, with the Executioners towering over the Shamblers.
The Necromancer is the first enemy to meaningfully change how the game is played. Rather than joining the main horde, she hangs back and fires homing projectiles from a distance. These can be shot out of the air, but doing that becomes considerably harder when you already have a crowd of enemies surrounding you.
Random Gameplay - I'll eventually have a better level for screenshots. Promise.

She can also dodge incoming shots and will switch to melee attacks if you get too close. Because she doesn’t stick to the main group, focusing on her is a lot easier, but doing so also lets everything else catch up to you.
Her addition pushes the combat closer to the more chaotic direction I was aiming for. Before, it was quite easy to kite enemies around the arena without much thought. Now, there's more of a scramble when trying to determine positioning and target priority.
The Necromancer’s visual design went through a couple of changes. The first version of her was a lot more Doom-esque, with no lips and sharp teeth. I decided against that, reserving the look for more demonic enemies planned down the line, and went with something reminiscent of the cover art for Inferno.
There are still a few more enemy types I want to make before I consider the initial roster for the vertical slice complete. My next immediate task will probably be creating more variations of the standard Shamblers, followed by at least two more enemy types.
Admittedly, everything is currently way overtuned. A lot of my testing time has been spent simply trying to survive beyond Wave 4, which is both a good thing and a sign that I need to dial the numbers back a bit.
Artifacts and Buffs
The Artifact system is functioning well enough for basic testing. I haven’t worked on the loadout screen yet, so for now I’m adding Artifacts directly to the player character. I’ve just finished setting up the map travel screen, so the loadout screen is next on the list.
I’ve also been toying with the idea of adding temporary buffs that can be bought from the shop during a match. These would only last for the current run, but would give players more ways to get stronger beyond buying weapons.
I haven’t actually implemented this yet, and it’s not high on my list of priorities, but considering Artifacts and other loadout options can only be changed before a match, I thought this might be a good way to throw a bone to players who either aren’t prepared enough or simply want to become overpowered.
What’s Next
There are a few other things I haven’t talked about yet, either because I forgot or didn’t think they were worth mentioning in detail. I try to keep these posts relatively short, so sometimes the latest thing I’ve worked on gets a lot more airtime than something I finished earlier in the week.
As for what’s next, the next couple of weeks will probably be split between preparing voice auditions, working on more enemies and creating the loadout screen.
There’s still a lot to do generally, but finishing the first draft of the script is a pretty large step forward and helps me better understand the game’s scope. That, along with the Necromancer giving me a better idea of how matches will play out, helps the game feel less like a collection of random ideas and more like something cohesive.
Anyway, that’s enough for today. I’ll see you all next time!