Is anyone following this project these days? Probably not, but it's fun to make a devlog post!

Obviously, this game has been "on hold" for quite some time now. Quite some five years. Why? I've been in college, studying game development! In fact, I just released a whole-ass game I made with some friends called Raw Metal a few months ago! I'm proud of how much I've improved, and I've been thinking about what my next project should be. I've never forgotten about Delta A.R.C., and I'd like to come back to it soon. However, looking back on it, this game is not very good. The writing is long-winded and boring, the artwork is subpar, and the gameplay is slow and unpolished. So, I've been thinking of ways I can improve it. I won't go into too much depth here as things will likely change in the future (they always do), but I'll lay out some of the ideas I've been tossing around!

1. Make the game 3D. After making Raw Metal, I'm more comfortable working in 3D, and I've realized that it's probably easier to make a good-looking 3D game than a good-looking 2D game. In addition, I think moving into 3D could make the gameplay feel more dynamic and engaging. I don't think I'd go for full 3D movement – probably more like a rail shooter. I want to keep that arcadey vibe.
2. Make the game faster. I think one of the main issues with the old Delta A.R.C. is its slow gameplay. It can be exciting to precisely dodge bullets, but in general the game feels a little boring because of the slow movement speed. I think I'd like to increase the movement speed and add a dodge mechanic instead of or in addition to the slow-move feature.
3. Add more abilities. To increase the depth of the gameplay, I'd like to add more abilities for the player to use, such as lock-on missiles, buffs, etc. These would probably be unlocked through a skill tree.
4. Add more playable characters. If the game is 3D, there's not much reason to keep Lan and Takako as unplayable team members, as many animations could be copied over with minimal adjustment. Instead, I think it would be cool if you could tag them in. They could either tag in temporarily to use an ability or swap in permanently. It would basically work like a tag system in a fighting game i.e. MVC, DBFZ, etc.
5. Add animated cutscenes. This one speaks for itself. The original game wants to have an engaging story but doesn't execute it well. Part of that is just the writing, but having at least a couple animated cutscenes would be cool, too.

I've been working a bit on re-implementing character movement and a bullet emitter in 3D (in Godot) as a proof-of-concept. I'm enjoying working with Godot, although it is a bit buggy sometimes (not that Unity was perfect in that respect either).

Of course, this is a lot of stuff. I'd basically be rebuilding the game from the ground up. It's probably too much to add, but they're just ideas. Anyway, don't expect too many updates in the near future – right now, looking for a job is taking up a lot of my time. However, if I do go forward with a new version of Delta A.R.C., I'll probably use this same page rather than making a new one. I won't take the old demos down, though.