18 hour update
The sun has long risen and the bags are showing under our Jammers' eyes as they head to the business end of the competition! Here's what's been happening overnight...
We've seen some big progress from (symbol)(symbol), who have now added a dungeon as well as a forest environment to their survival horror adventure. A range of nasties are now in place to chase you around both locales and a new gameplay mechanic has been implemented. In times of panic waving your candle around too much will now see it extinguished, much like A Candle in the Wind (thanks Sir Elton.)
In shock news Team Highlander have replaced their game's signature bus with a VW Camper Van eerily reminiscent of 2000s comedy Little Miss Sunshine. The game is now in a playable state and currently sees you pick up and remove blocks from the road in order to let the van pass. The ability to add blocks to fill in the pictured gaps is now under creation, with some polish and tweaking to follow.
#BSD have been taking things in a sinister direction with a significantly more evil-looking antagonist cat than we saw last night. The design of the game's house has been finalised and we're already seeing a lot of polish in terms of the art assets. The team are currently setting up "safe" zones to give your little mouse a breather, while ambient lighting is next on the to-do list.
How is Possible hit playable state last night and have been full steam ahead ever since. The game's train station setting is now taking shape and we're seeing some particle effects and slo-mo coming in to make those assassinations that bit more visceral. The team have also added a wall clock to help you keep track of your time, a score table and some suitably dramatic music is being composed as we type.
8 Hour Update
It's 11pm. The Red Bull is flowing, the junk food pile is diminishing and some of our games are starting to take shape! While we're all still wide awake here's a quick recap of how the teams are doing.
How is Possible have reached their first playable build stage with their (now significantly more violent) Bourne / Guess Who mashup. The 2 player game sees one player act as the spy in a busy VR world full of people, while the other stays as the operator in the real world. The spy is given the name of a character to assassinate but no other info, while the operator has a scrapbook with info describing all the characters, everything from the colour of their hair to the size of their noses. It's upto the operator to accurately describe the target character from the scrapbook info, allowing the spy to identify the target and make the kill. If the spy gets it wrong or time runs out, it's game over, if the spy gets it right, it's onto the next target!
Meanwhile, the naughtily named #BSD are also coming along with their creepy "cat 'n' mouse" chase. As the mouse, the player explores an eerie house in first-person view and has to find and escape with a piece of cheese. The player must keep in the shadows and employ stealth tactics to stay out of the light and away from the cat, who is on the hunt for a tasty rodent snack. The team are currently experimenting with different starting points and also putting a lot of work into ensuring the lighting and physics behave in believable ways.
Elsewhere, Team Highlander have been getting to grips with programming for the Oculus Touch Controllers for their take on an endless runner, where instead of controlling a character you build the environment to be traversed. Players pick up blocks using the touch controllers and place them in the environment to allow a fast-approaching bus (complete with screaming passengers, hopefully) to pass. Getting to grips with the touch controllers and tracking systems has been a challenge but now that's been taken care of, things are progressing nicely!
Back with the spooky theme (symbol)(symbol) are currently hard at work on their forest-based horror adventure. In the game you have to explore the environment with only one candle to guide you, whilst something sinister lurks in the shadows. After running into some issues earlier with Unity, the team are now getting the forest environment together and working on the physics and lighting to give the game a suitably menacing atmosphere. No word as yet as to what abomination will be hunting you down in this game, but we'll find out in due course. Screenshots to follow soon!