Even though it looks like we just moved the camera, a lot more went into Third Person Standalone (TPS)'s development! Some of these changes include:
Graphics:
- We had to add all items and objects that were hidden or invisible, as well as elements to clearly separate the playfield and inaccessible zones.
- All textures and geometry was revised to be displayed from a closer point of view.
- Vegetation that was designed to be seen only from a fixed point of view was reworked, and other parts -- which were hidden with the previous camera -- had to be added.
- Playable characters now have up to 4 times more polygons and new texture sets.
- All shooting and moving animations have been changed, with new and reworked animations as well.
- Collision modeling is now much more accurate, with up to 5 times more polygons.
- The original HTS uses a single direction camera displaying the action from a far distance. Now it is up close and you can look anywhere.
- This isn't an exhaustive list but gives you a good idea of the changes!
Code:
- Windows XP and DX9 compatibility were kept in order to ensure any previous owners of HTS were not excluded.
- We had to change the aiming and animation system.
- Aiming is now in full 3D and the gauge-style headshot gameplay has been replaced so that you now have to target the head to pull it off.
- The damage localization system was changed. It was a single cylinder in HTS; now each zombie limb is handled.
- A new visibility system was written to define what should be displayed or processed, as well as developing a new enemy spawning strategy.
- Sounds are now managed in 3D.
- We had to develop a cascaded shadow map system to replace the standard one from HTS, which was not acceptable for FPS or TPS cameras.
- We wrote a DX9 version of Jimenez's MLAA to reduce the aliasing, and we developed a dedicated depth of field effect in order to provide feedback on weapon ranges.
- We added slow motion when the player aims in order to retain bonuses provided by weapons or buffs.
- We wrote the TPS controls for mouse/keyboard and controllers.
- Many small things have been added, fixed, and reworked to function properly with the POV change (strings to bows/crossbows, boomerangs, UI, etc.).
Team & Timeline:
- A full team composed of programmers, 2D and 3D artists, animators, and level designers worked on it.
- It took approximately 6 months to develop.
- A complete QA team tested the game in order to get it ready for its July 2015 release.