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Posts posted by Paratus
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In Depth Look at Weapons
As we continue our work on the SWAT module, this last Friday we put live a new Identity Insider video showcasing the weapons in Identity. It's an incredibly detailed system. If you haven't seen that video yet, I'd recommend checking it out now before continuing in this newsletter, as the focus of this dev blog post is going to be going into detail about what you see in that video.
Check it Out!
If you haven't seen the latest Identity Insider video, check it out now. If you have, watch it again because it's awesome!
It's even better than it looks
We tried to keep the video short and to the point, so we couldn't talk in too much detail. I'm excited about where we are right now in development, and I've been itching to explain just how great this is.
We made some bold claims, such as no game in history having had weapons this detailed and it's quite true. Some games came close, but even then their calculations were approximations based on real data. In Identity, we've taken a physical approach to all things combat and vehicle related. That is, we're able to plug in data from real life into our system and our code drives true ballistic physics naturally. It means we're able to add new types of weapons and ammo incredibly quickly, and it'll just work.
Some people have been expressing that this hasn't been done in MMORPGs before because it's impossible for performance reasons, but our calculations are so optimized that the entire projectile is processed in fractions of a millisecond. It's detailed and accurate, but built from the ground up for an MMORPG, too!
Melee combat
I'm going to step through the key parts of the video and describe, in detail, what makes Identity different from anything you've seen before.
While we show off some cool weapons in the video, and there are many more not featured, it's important to note that powerful guns aren't going to be commonplace. Most people will be armed with a handgun or similar. Because of this, melee combat will be a frequent sight and we want it to feel right.
Part of the issue with melee combat in most online games is that it's just a click-fest and there isn't real room for player skill. This isn't the case in Identity, where a skilled player will almost always knock the other out.
Before I made Altis Life (an old and very successful Arma 3 mod) I worked on a game called Mortal Online, which was all about melee combat. Hand to hand fighting, or using melee weapons, works much in the same way here. Another game it could be compared to would be Mount & Blade, as the control system for blocking and attacking is quite similar.
In Identity, there aren't special "attacks" which deal artificial damage, but instead the actual physical movement of the body or weapon which applies a force on impact that is similar to that of real life. For example, if you were swinging a baseball bat at someone, it would be the actual bat shape which hits, and the material it's made of, it's weight, how fast it's moving and more which determines the damage it deals.
Note the red circles on the boxing gloves with the image above, and as seen in the video. These are physic impact points for the boxing gloves, which collide to deal damage. They're only shown for debugging and illustration purposes, and won't be visible in-game.
Weapon fidelity
On topic of the bullet jamming in the Insider video, there are many factors which are controlled at a detailed level in Identity. That's not to say it's something you'll have to worry yourself with often, though. Jams will be rare and will mostly happen with cheap firearms and/or those which are in poor condition.
A few of us on the development team spent a good deal of time at the shooting range here in Ottawa, paying close attention to these sort of details. You'll need to maintain your guns if you want to keep them in good shape, but don't worry as it won't be tedious.
If worry about the ammo in your gun isn't your thing, just buy the cheaper and commonly available ammo; however, if you want to maximize your effectiveness you can choose the right ammo for the situation.
The Insider video also mentions being able to customize your ammo. Our physics models are so accurate that a hollowpoint bullet will fly slightly differently than a full-metal jacket bullet. It'll be so slight you won't really notice, though. Where the difference really comes in is with penetration and damage. As in real life, in Identity you can have empty gun magazines (you don't drop them when empty, because they're actually valuable). If you buy a box of ammo you can then fill the magazine as you like. A single gun can fire different bullet types as well as different bullet weights (grains).
Gunsmithing
We have mentioned several times now that more powerful guns are rarer, and that's because illegal firearms can't be purchased in a shop. You'll find handguns, some shotguns and hunting rifles there, though. Outside of that you'll need to know, or become, a gunsmith and/or a gun-runner. These aren't forced classes or occupations, but with Identity your character is simply what you decide to be through action. Anyone can do anything.
Modifying your weapons will typically have pros and cons. For example, changing out a trigger could mean improved fire rate but have an affect on accuracy, as well. A new magazine release could mean faster reloads but less mobility. This will be based on several factors such as the type, quality and condition of the component. You'll be able to tailor the weapon to suit your needs and preferences.
Physical accuracy of ballistics and penetration
In the very first days of Identity's development, we got our hands on crime-lab documents which we based our in-game bullet ballistics upon. The result was absolutely true-to-life bullet behavior which we could expand upon with very little effort. In the video, you'll see this come into play when we shoot into the air. That might have been a bit better to show at night, though!
Since the release of the Town Square module we've been focusing on SWAT module development. Part of this was the improvements, based on documents from the US Navy, into penetration calculations. Because our systems are designed to take real-world units, using real formulas was a logical progression. The results were something few other games have done, and something no other game has done this accurately.
When a bullet hits a surface the system analyzes the material that was hit and knows the finest details of that material's real-world makeup. It then travels into the object, or bounces off of it with a ricochet. If it travels inside, we use other physically accurate formulas to penetrate exactly as far as it should, right down to a fraction of a millimeter. If the bullet is passing through a dense material, it can change directions from hitting hard spots.
An example of the hard-spot is when I shot the kevlar vest in the video. Most bullets did not penetrate the kevlar (this vest did not have any metal plates in it), but a couple did get through with a big loss in energy. That was not a random chance, but the bullets hit a spot that had slightly less kevlar. A few millimeters of extra kevlar was the difference between stopping and penetrating. Now that is detail!
Organ damage
The organ damage system you saw in the video is partly our ballistics system in action, and part the medical mechanics.
As the bullet enters a soft body, it can break apart and fragments can spread out, especially when using hollowpoint bullets. A shockwave also causes damage just inside the cavity. This spread can damage, or destroy, organs that it contacts.
We currently have modeled two lungs, the heart and brain. We may expand on this in the future, too. When the bullet, or a fragment, passes through the organs it will cause specialty damage to the character in addition to the base damage that happens from the impact. This hit will either cause instant death or hinder the character in addition to being damaged. Blunt trauma is a different story, and can affect vision or mobility.
As a paramedic, you'll need to examine the injured player and treat them accordingly. If the examination shows bubbles in the blood, for example, you'll know a lung has been hit. Paramedics will go through a quick class and test when they take the job to ensure they know best how to treat people who have been shot.
Step into the Town Square!
The Town Square module is now released and available on Steam. If you haven't had the chance to try the Town Square and experience a small piece of the Identity world, grab your Steam key and check it out.
With the Town Square now running smoothly, we've shifted much of our focus to feature development for the SWAT module. We'll continue to fix bugs and add other features to the Town Square, too.
Get your Identity Steam key!
To get your key, login on the main site at www.IdentityRPG.com. You can then go to the Account tab of your profile where you'll see an option to link your Steam account.
You must have BETA ACCESS on your account to claim a key!
ATTENTION! You can only attach one steam account to one game account, and it's permanent. Be sure you're logged into your game account which has the items you've purchased before attaching a Steam account!
Once you've obtained your key from the Identity website you can enter it into your Steam client, but be sure that you're logged into the Steam account where you'd like to own Identity. Click the Games menu in Steam, and then Activate a Product on Steam.
-- John VanderZwet
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Our medical system has been designed for quite a time, although this thread is such a great wealth of information that I've bookmarked it so that we can use it in our next review. Thanks!
PS: You're going to see a tiny bit of this works when we show off the weapons in a video quite soon.
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19 minutes ago, 4thdesign said:The elevator crash has always been an issue I believe, even BEFORE the release as this was the excuse that was given when it was supposed to be released on a given day, then delayed because a dev said there is an issue with the elevator and they were ironing bugs out so when its fixed, it doesnt bug something else.
The elevator bug is resolved in our internal build, and will make it into the next patch which will be quite soon. There are significant graphical overhauls and more stuff, too.
The elevator bug you're referring to is not an old bug at all, but came into being quite recently when we changed our VoIP backend system for better voice clarity. The bug was related to the switching of voice "channels" between your apartment and the outside world.
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Expanding the Square
While the primary development focus continues to be on SWAT, a smaller division of the Identity development team expands the features and controls of the Town Square. This brings new features to enjoy in the social module, and also prepares several features for the combat-oriented and faced-paced SWAT module.
Recent Changes to the Square
Since our last development blog update, we've made several notable changes to the Town Square. Drop in and check it out to see some of these changes first hand!
- - Marijuana is now grown by players! Plant seeds on a hydroponics table and dry grown plants on drying racks before harvesting. There are varying degrees of quality. This is the first step toward adding work and economy into the Town Square.
- - You can now watch YouTube videos with your friends using TVs in your apartments.
- - We've made significant changes to player movement and animation blending. You'll find your character movement feels much more natural.
- - VoIP (voice communication) has been rebuilt on a new technology to greatly increase sound quality.
- - Player's eyes and other facial features change depending on substance use. If you know the effects of a drug, you can tell if somebody is using by looking closely. This will be useful with police powers (see roadmap below).
- - You can now access the shooting range in preparation for the release of firearms.
- - Significant changes to the lighting have been made to give a more realistic appearance, especially during the day.
- - A large remake of the image processing means overall sharper graphics with more detail and eliminated "ghosting".
- - We've added support for chat commands. Write /emote for a list of emotes.
The Town Square Roadmap
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- Guns, guns, guns! The shooting range in the basement of the police station is now open and soon will give you access to a few guns to try out.
This will give you a taste of how guns will work and feel. We'll show you how awesome the gun systems are with a video when we come closer to this release. - - Paintball guns will be available for use and play outside of the shooting range.
- - We'll soon be adding the ability to drop items on the ground in public spaces. These can then be picked up by other players.
- - A trading mechanic will allow you to securely pass items to others around you.
- - Security and ownership systems for apartments, allowing you to assign roommates and more.
- - Police powers are on the horizon for select players (moderators). This will include jailing, restraining and searching.
- - Even more clothing and character customization options. We have a lot already created and ready to be added.
In addition to the features above coming to the Town Square, we're also expanding on jobs and tasks, both legal and illegal, to kickstart a small economy.
Step into the Town Square!
The Town Square module is now released and available on Steam. If you haven't had the chance to try the Town Square and experience a small piece of the Identity world, grab your Steam key and check it out.
With the Town Square now running smoothly, we've shifted much of our focus to feature development for the SWAT module. We'll continue to fix bugs and add other features to the Town Square, too.
Get your Identity Steam key!
To get your key, login on the main site at www.IdentityRPG.com. You can then go to the Account tab of your profile where you'll see an option to link your Steam account.
You must have BETA ACCESS on your account to claim a key!
ATTENTION! You can only attach one steam account to one game account, and it's permanent. Be sure you're logged into your game account which has the items you've purchased before attaching a Steam account!
Once you've obtained your key from the Identity website you can enter it into your Steam client, but be sure that you're logged into the Steam account where you'd like to own Identity. Click the Games menu in Steam, and then Activate a Product on Steam.
-- John VanderZwet
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Once you've linked Steam to your game account, you'll be able to claim a Steam key. If you enter that key into your Steam client as it describes, you can install the Town Square and play!
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This is a minor hotfix patch to address issues found with the previous update.
- * Fixed a bug which could sometimes cause people who did not use heroin to see the effects when another player on the server did use it.
- * Fixed a bug which could cause some microphones to queue speech by default on connection.
- * Soccer ball reset timer reduced to 5 minutes of inactivity.
- * A piece of the road clipping into the police station stairwell is fixed up.
- * It should now be easier to place wall-mounted TVs.
- * Drug effects on eyeballs will now be more visible. Bloodshot eyes are back. Heroin will also restrict pupils.
- * Street lamps are now brighter.
- * VoIP range has been slightly reduced to be more physically accurate.
- * House edit mode will now be properly forced off when walking out of an apartment area.
- * Adjusted lighting in streets and police department.
- * Cinema lobby chairs can now be sat upon.
- * Added support for might stronger security in the back-end.
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While our focus has been on mechanics for the next module, SWAT, we've put together a bunch of fixes and improvements for today's update!
We've been building on the weapon mechanics as our primary focus. Once we feel that the weapons are in a state that we feel is ready for the public, we'll be giving you access to a few in the Town Square. In preparation for this, we've opened up the basement of the police station where the shooting range is located.
The patch is rolling out on Steam right now. Drop in to check out the changes!
Identity Update v1.0.2.4826
* Added new VOIP backend system, greatly increasing quality of voice sounds.
* Character movement has been refactored to allow for better polish and feature expansion in the future. This also now allows you to sprint in all directions.
* TVs in apartments are now functional. Play YouTube videos, synchronized for everyone around.
* Added additional TV sizes in the furniture shop.
* The police have carelessly left the door to the basement unlocked. The shooting range functionality will be coming soon.
* You can now initiate emotes by using chat commands. Type /emote in chat for a list of options. For example, writing /point in chat will make your character point their finger.
* Added a soccer ball to knock around in the public area.
* Refactored the way the camera changes when sprinting. It's now based properly on your speed.
* You'll no longer hear people in other instances (apartments, cinema, etc).
* Added more ambient sounds in character selection. Adjusted the volume of the background music.
* Fixed bug with falling popcorn particle animation in the cinema lobby.
* Fixed display bug when sitting in a chair while crouched.
* The action radial menu will now appear more reliably when interacting with objects that have more than one action (hold your use key).
* Adjusted lighting in several interior areas at night.
* Lighting outside is now a bit brighter at night.
* Fixed a bug which could cause footwear to blink in and out of visibility when running.
* Added cloth physics back on the summer dress and flags.
* Placed carrots are no longer 6 feet tall. We almost didn't want to fix this one.
* Skin is now less likely to be visible through clothing during some animations.
* Fixed display bugs with females sitting in chairs.
* Fixed alignment issues on some seats in the hotel.
* Added missing bathroom fixtures to some apartment floorplans.
* Fixed positioning of hipster glasses on females.
* You can now properly toggle the display of helper messages. This can be done in your game settings or using the F1 key.
* Added a bunch of bandannas to wear. There are about 10 times more to be added yet.
* Chairs refactored so that players, especially females, will be seated more precisely.
* Fixed the sky flicker every several minutes.- 5
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Step into the Town Square!
The Town Square module has been released and available on Steam for just over a month. With a rocky start (the initial demand was a very large load on our servers), we devoted most of our development time immediately following to bug fixing and stability improvements.
If you haven't had the chance to try the Town Square and experience a small piece of the Identity world, grab your Steam key and check it out. If you played only in the first week of release, I'd recommend logging in again now as stability has vastly improved.
With the Town Square now running smoothly, we've shifted much of our focus to feature development for the SWAT module. We'll continue to fix bugs and add other features to the Town Square, too.
On the Horizon
While bug fixing and quality-of-life improvements continue to be a focus for our developers, we've also shifted much of our effort to bringing new features and content to SWAT and the Town Square. Most of this effort is geared toward our next module, SWAT, with the added bonus of being able to utilize it in the Town Square as well.
The Town Square Roadmap
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- Guns, guns, guns! The shooting range in the basement of the police station will be opening up, giving you access to a few guns to try out (like the one pictured here).
This will give you a taste of how guns will work and feel. We'll show you how awesome the gun systems are with a video when we come closer to this release. - - TVs in apartments. You'll soon be able to watch YouTube and Twitch with your friends in your apartment by using TVs.
- - Radios in apartments. Select from a dozen radio channels to stream into your apartments. In the full game, the available radio channels are chosen by the server operators.
- - Improvements to the control and animation of players. We'll be polishing up the way players move to make everything feel smoother.
- - Added security and ownership systems for apartments, allowing you to assign roommates and more.
- - Lots of added clothing and character customization options.
In addition to the features above coming to the Town Square, we're also pondering work/job elements that can be brought into the Town Square as we'd like to introduce currency.
Get your Identity Steam key!
To get your key, login on the main site at www.IdentityRPG.com. You can then go to the Account tab of your profile where you'll see an option to link your Steam account.
You must have BETA ACCESS on your account to claim a key!
ATTENTION! You can only attach one steam account to one game account, and it's permanent. Be sure you're logged into your game account which has the items you've purchased before attaching a Steam account!
Handing out the keys like this allows us to reduce load on our servers. We currently have another batch of 10,000 keys in the system and we'll be adding more as necessary.
Once you've obtained your key from the Identity website you can enter it into your Steam client, but be sure that you're logged into the Steam account where you'd like to own Identity. Click the Games menu in Steam, and then Activate a Product on Steam.
Identity Steam Community
Now that Identity is on Steam, Valve has been so kind as to set up our official game Steam community. Drop by to join in on discussions, get updates when we release patches and more. This will also be a great spot to see screenshots and broadcasts from others playing the Town Square.
Come visit the Identity Steam Community.
-- John VanderZwet
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- Guns, guns, guns! The shooting range in the basement of the police station will be opening up, giving you access to a few guns to try out (like the one pictured here).
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That's Motown's face on my body.
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The legality of marijuana will be up to the governor currently in power!
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A part of us dies inside when we have to fix bugs like this.
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It'll be three modules, which are independent (yet connected in some ways) games. Once they're all complete, we'll move to the full game which is much, much larger and a single game encompassing all of the content from the modules and more.
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What features were advertised which are not present?
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On 30/07/2018 at 8:01 PM, JohnnyHyde said:m4 carbine, beretta m9, marksman rifles galore, pump shotguns, and a severe lacking of explosive devices, games get ruined by everyone with rocket launchers
You'll be satisfied on all accounts. All of those guns are already present for the SWAT module and you won't see explosives at all in the open world.
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The elected government can set the default values of the signs like this around the world. They can be hacked, but it'll affect only that one sign for some minutes.
I fully expect some less-than-pure messages to show up. I think we all know what is going to happen with graffiti, too!
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I do understand your concern, and it's well placed, but it really doesn't have much affect on us at this point as we're working through the weekends a lot already. Hiring temporary developers is almost impossible, though, as with our complex systems it can take weeks or even months for the new developers to fully understand them well enough in order to fix or develop upon them.
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Identity and the Town Square are now listed on the Steam store page! We have only a short time before Steam's approval process is complete. The Steam release date for Town Square is in only three weeks time!
Head on over to our Steam store page ( https://store.steampowered.com/app/792990/Identity/ ) for all of the exciting information. Also, don't forget to stop by the Steam community section which you'll find on our store page.
It's almost here! Thank you to all of our supporters who have allowed us to come so far. This is the first major milestone for a game which could spawn a genre.
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We're almost there! Identity's Town Square module has been submitted to Steam and is pending approval. You'll find the Steam store page either today or within the next day or two.
Enjoy the trailer above, fresh off the Steam listing.
Following Steam's approval of the Town Square within the next day or two, you'll be presented with the official Steam release date. This date will be in November, 2018!
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It's a sad day when you're in one of the top brackets in these things!
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The time has finally come!
I'm going to start this dev blog update with the news you really want: the Identity Town Square module will be published to Steam before the end of this month (October)!
This means that you'll be able to create your characters, meet other players and set up your homes very soon. Here's how it'll work: before the end of the month, the Identity Town Square store page will be published. At this point, we need to wait for Steam's approval of our application which takes a couple of weeks. Once approved and released, you'll be in the square!
The great news here is that when the Town Square does show up on Steam, the date shown (which will be quite near) is the absolute date that you'll be playing.
We're so very close to getting the foundation of Identity out there for you to get your hands on!
Next to come, the SWAT module's development will take but a fraction of the time to create as the Town Square has the foundation in place for the entire MMORPG. The back-end we need to push forward is here and from the point of the Town Square release our development focus is switched over to gameplay features. As a developer, this feels great!
Get your Identity Steam key!
We're getting close! You can now connect your Steam account to your Identity game account and obtain your Identity game Steam key. This key will add Identity to your library so that when Identity is released, you can download it and start playing immediately without having to do anything else.
To get your key, login on the main site at www.IdentityRPG.com. You can then go to the Account tab of your profile where you'll see an option to link your Steam account.
You must have BETA ACCESS on your account to claim a key!
ATTENTION! You can only attach one steam account to one game account, and it's permanent. Be sure you're logged into your game account which has the items you've purchased before attaching a Steam account!
While you won't get Identity in your game library just yet, you will as soon as we're published and approved. Handing out the keys like this allows us to reduce load on our servers. We currently have 20,000 keys in the system and we'll be adding more.
Once you've obtained your key from the Identity website you can enter it into your Steam client, but be sure that you're logged into the Steam account where you'd like to own Identity. Click the Games menu in Steam, and then Activate a Product on Steam.
Identity Insider: Prison Life
Another Identity Insider is here, giving you a detailed look into the prison mechanics of Identity. You can see more Insider updates on the about page of the Identity website.
Identity prison concept artEventually, your luck is going to run out. Crime does pay, and it pays well, but the long arm of the law will catch up with you. For minor crimes you might see a ticket or time in jail, but serious offences will land you in prison.
In Identity, prison has a culture and lifestyle of its own. You might be there as punishment, but there’s a lot going on while you’re serving your sentence. Put in your time in your cellblock’s relative safety, or choose to step out and join a prison gang.
Prison Gangs
Prison gangs are the core of your activity behind bars. With three gangs vying for control around you, you’ll need to choose a side to stay safe on the inside. Those without gangs are even more vulnerable when they step outside the safety of their own cellblock.
Each prison gang has access to a private contraband market, providing its members with unique looks, makeshift weapons and more. Don’t get caught with illegal goods, though, as some police officer players could be serving as prison guards in their down-time.
Infamy
You’ll need to pull your weight if you want the protection that a gang can offer. Your gang is going to ask a lot of you; prison life is incredibly dangerous.
Each gang member will be offered tasks to carry out for cigarettes, the prison currency of choice, allowing access to equipment and items from the contraband markets within the walls. You may be asked to shank a rival inmate or to destroy a treasured artifact deep in hostile turf, for example.
Special achievements available within prison, often related to nefarious activity, will unlock customizations such as tattoos or haircuts so that you can send a message to those around you on the outside.
Sentencing
You could be serving up to 45 minutes behind bars. That is, unless you take matters into your own hands!
As a good and obedient inmate, you have the options of working for the prison with small jobs such as pressing plates or cleaning up trash in the yard. This work will reduce your sentence time.
Time is money, though. Sometimes you just can’t wait. If you’re willing to take the risk, you can force your way out. When conditions are right and the inmates are ready, you might be able to get into a guard room and get your hands on a weapon. This can kickoff an entire player-versus-player scenario between a group of inmates and the guard forces. Fight your way out through an increasingly difficult situation and you’re home free; you’re going to have an even bigger bounty on your head, though.
Prison breaks can also happen from the outside. If the prison isn’t on lockdown, outside gangs can gear up and bring the fight to the police. These conflicts are much more intense, though, and there is a lot of risk involved as the police are well equipped and the attackers can lose everything if killed or arrested.
Trial by Jury
If you hate the idea of getting your hands dirty with work but you’re not up for risking a longer sentence trying to escape, you might want to try your luck in front of a jury of your peers.
Those with a heavy term can request a trial. Several random citizens around the land will be summoned to jury duty, being paid if they answer the call. Your fate will be in their hands, and also on the shoulders of your attorney.
You might represent yourself or hire a smooth-talking legal corporation to help get you off the hook. You or your lawyer will have a short opportunity to explain how the law must have wronged you (you’re innocent, right?) and then it’s all up to the jury. If most of the jury declares you not-guilty, you’re free to go; however, if only a few don’t buy your story it’s back to your small cell.
Serving Your Time
When you’re not in the mood for the gritty and competitive life in gang warfare, find your way to the common areas in the prison. Common areas are safe zones with all sorts of ways to pass the time with other inmates around you.
The common area gives you safe access to weightlifting, TVs which play from a variety of streaming services, billiards and more. You might be locked up, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have fun!
DasMEHDI plays Town Square live!
Earlier this month, DasMEHDI, a popular Twitch streamer, had the chance to hop into our development build and explore the Town Square with his friends. Check out the hilarious footage below!
Note that this is an early development build, which was already outdated at the time of play, and is not representive of the Town Square's current state. Still, it's a lot of fun!
DasMEHDI Early TS Development Build PlayNew website is here
The Identity website has had an overhaul to prepare for the Town Square release and Steam integrations.
The new website brings all kinds of cool new features, mostly for the game account systems and the Identity shop! We're also going to be filling up the About page with all sorts of new information from the Insider releases.
Now that the website has a true and proper shop, you can now get your hands on cool new items without having to buy entire packages.
The shop now has all kinds of exclusive items, including apartment pets! You'll be able to get your hands on friendly critters for your home in-game as well, although those featured on the shop are only available there. Some of these items are only available for a limited time.
Some of the new items include:
- Custom T-Shirt Graphic - Upload an image which can be placed on T-Shirts you create in-game! Each image can be used on 10 shirts.
- Vanity License Plate - Show your style with a custom license plate, visible on your in-game vehicle.
- Vanity Phone Number - Want a number that's easy to remember? Get a vanity phone number for yourself or your business.
- More Apartment Floorplans - Floor plans which haven't been available since Kickstarter, including the enormous Penthouse.
- Huge Clothing Packages - Clothing packages including clothes with dozens of original brands.
- Pets! Cats, dogs and more - Pets currently available include sphynx and tabby cats as well as pugs, maltese and the shiba inu (doge?).
Another important note: when the new payment options (aside from PayPal) go live, we'll shortly after be removing all of the old packages. We will at this time never again be selling cash, so there's not much time remaining to get starter cash before Identity goes live. This is not something we plan to sell again in the future, but all who have it in their account will be able to claim that cash once on each server.
The Twitch Clips
If you've been following Identity's development closely, you probably already know that developers stream their work live on the Identity Twitch channel every Tuesday and Thursday. We also use that time to answer almost every question that gets asked about Identity's development and gameplay.
Now that we've been doing this a while, we've answered a lot of questions. Our awesome community manager, BeachBall, has taken the time to compile a massive list of questions linked to clips where they're answered by a developer.
Get comfy and head over to the Twitch Clips Directory forum thread. If you haven't found this already, be prepared to spend a good bit of time listening to all sorts of awesome information. This is the best place to learn of Identity's fine details!
-- John VanderZwet
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On 04/10/2018 at 4:19 PM, abababababa said:Proof that building a game does NOT take as long as identity says it will. Some of the stuff may not feel polished on this trailer but they got more done in less than a year than identity has gotten done in how many?
Just saying theres other options for yall who want a similar game but don't want to wait another 10 years for a No Mans Sky
We're very open to additional competition. In fact, I don't even see them as direct competition as any growth in the "life RPG" genre is a great thing. Identity and Nine to Five are incredibly different and will not play the same at all.
That said, Identity's promotional trailer and overview video took about two weeks to produce.
I wish them the best of luck. It's not an easy road to travel but it's very rewarding.
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The latest Identity Insider is now live on the website's about page! You'll find more detailed explanations of what's going on inside the walls of the prison. Do your best to avoid getting arrested, but those on the wrong side of the law are bound to end up in there eventually.
Learn more about how Identity makes your time served fun and interesting. We expect that some people might just choose to stay in prison even when their sentence is up -- it's a whole new world in there.
Check out the new Insider release, Prison Life, right here. There's still more cool information to come on prisons in the future, too!
A new developer blog is also scheduled to go out this week with some exciting news!
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The reasoning for this policy is out of our control, for the most part. It's very difficult for us to manage the process when the Steam key is activated outside of our own systems. We don't have control over your Steam installation, and so the policy must exist this way.
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Update Regarding Newsletter
in The Town Square
Posted
I've had to explain this more than I should have already because of the video posted above. Claims made there, aside from the fact that I'm the director of both corporations, are simply not true.
Phony Games is a mobile game producer, hence the punny name (ie: phone-y). Furballs began as a small project I'd work in on my off time. It took a while to create because I'd only work on it a few hours a week as Identity was my full-time project. To continue it's development faster, Phony was established. Furballs has had about a dozen people work on it, including artists. None of them, not a single one, had any involvement with Identity. They are two ENTIRELY different companies with entirely different people behind them. Furballs was funded out of my own personal pocket.
The email is worded as it is because, well, it's entirely accurate. Phony and Furballs exist without Identity, and the email has nothing to do with its development or release. Phony is a new company and has little reach publicly on it's own. Asylum, on the other hand, can reach out to hundreds of thousands of people. Thus, it makes sense to have Asylum help publish for Phony as it has and will continue to do far outside of the single email sent. In return for this added value, Phony will be providing a royalty to Asylum and Identity; this will happen with or without Kickstarter funding.
Phony gains access to marketing and publishing services, and in return provides royalty income. It's quite simple and an extremely common practice.