Devlog #5 - Pre Alpha

👋 Hello!

Hey y’all! Welcome to our fifth devlog for Gimme a Hand! We’re team Octogroup, and this week we’ve got quite a few changes to show! Most of our progress this time has been focused on informal playtesting

Game Design Updates

• We made a few plans for improving the User Experience in our game, based on feedback from playtesters.
  • The starting position for the octopus tentacles will be changed to face forwards, so that players can see where they are immediately upon joining the game.
  • Bubbles or some other visual signifier will appear when the player successfully anchors to the floor. This should make players less confused about whether or not they’ve anchored onto the floor, and will be able to move. 
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• A reset function was added to the game, so players can reset the room if they want to. Assets were made for it and are being updated to match more recent 3D assets. 

New Puzzle - Monkey Bars

We’ve added a new room to the game, featuring the main puzzle players need to solve to move forward: a monkey bar section that requires coordination to climb through. It continues our theme of traversal-focused challenges, and sets the tone for more complex movement puzzles to come.

The assets for the monkey bars are still work-in-progress, so expect visual improvements in future updates. Right now, our focus is on getting the gameplay feel right — making sure grabbing, swinging, and teamwork are all working as intended.

Visual Updates

• The Alpha version of Tickles the octopus is finished. The 3D model, rig, UV unwraps, and placeholder textures are all done.

• A logo was made for the start screen!

• An alternate, smaller version of the logo is in the works, which can also be used for our game’s icon in the executable, our itch page, and anywhere else it’s needed… like promotional materials for the future, for example. 

• Cel shader updated to work with shadows and multiple lights.
• Fullscreen outline shader updated to have the thickness be based on the depth texture in order to have outlines be the same thickness regardless of distance.

• Implemented a visual glow effect for the hammer using Shader Graph, including a Fresnel-based highlight and an additive unlit overlay to ensure the glow remains visible regardless of camera distance or lighting conditions.

Audio Updates

• Implemented randomized grab SFX using FMOD Multi Instrument with shuffle playback to add variation and responsiveness to tentacle interactions.
• Added background music to the start screen for improved atmosphere and user onboarding
• Replaced scripted volume transitions with FMOD-native AHDSR-based fade in/out for underwater and on-land ambience, resulting in smoother and more immersive environment audio switching.
• Created two new soundtracks for our game. One for the gameplay and the other for the start menu screen. We also created two new moving variations for our Octopus since we don’t wanted to be very repetitive to players.
• Tuned our SFX to capture a more realistic, but cartoonish style that our group was aiming for from the very beginning.
• In other to avoid our background music to stop and replay every time the audio is finished, we added destination markers in FMOD that work as transitions. In that way we achieve to replay our music soundtrack in a smoother way.

Etc. Updates

We’ve implemented a basic restart system, allowing players to quickly reset the level without needing to reload the entire game. This will come in very handy and be perfect for playtesting and refining puzzle attempts.

We’ve also started integrating camera cutscenes to highlight objectives and guide players more clearly through the environment, adding a touch of storytelling and improving player navigation.

Next steps/Goodbye

As we move forward, our focus will shift toward enhancing the game’s visuals, adding special effects, and preparing to present the alpha version of Gimme a Hand. We're excited to bring more polish and personality to the game, so stay tuned for what’s next!