It's no secret that our team behind the scenes have been incredibly busy, given our recent uptick in video content - this level of output is going to remain the same (if not increasing!) right up to the beginning of the Kickstarter campaign!
Despite not being announced yet, we can confirm that the exact dates and times for when the campaign will start & end are locked in! Such information will be released to the community over the coming weeks, but in short - the campaign is right around the corner! Our top hog scientists have been carefully engineering the necessary stretch goals and pledge tiers to help ensure that this campaign is to be a worthy investment, after all - we only get one shot at this!
In the build up to the start of the Kickstarter campaign, we've been sharing more of the development processes & ideas with the community. Uniform Etiquette discussed the possible inclusion of different hats and head-wear that would be unique to each team. Our aim here is to provide the player with a basic level of customisation for choosing hats (some being class specific, others viable across all pigs), while also keeping the hats themselves grounded in the military theme of the game. We don't want to get too swept away with the idea of cosmetics, after all they are going to remain secondary to the game tasks we have at hand, but its definitely something we feel could help enhance Lardcore in the long run!
Speaking of game tasks - in another one of our more recent videos we discussed the possible return of the Ace Class. In the original game this was one rank of pig that sat unused within the game files, but we hope to bring this hog back through Lardcore! The Ace was designed way back during the original development of Hogs of War, however it was shelved after the removal of flyable planes/aircraft. This class of pig was placed in-between the Hero and the Legend, boasting the same amount of health as the Hero (150HP) and a very similar arsenal of weaponry/abilities. So in Lardcore we intend to do one of two things with this class via the Kickstarter campaign:
Basic > Include this rank of pig (in its current form) within enemy ranks in the singleplayer campaign (players will fight against the pig, but won't be able to access him via the promotion tree)
Advanced > Adjustment of the existing promotion tree to include the Ace (so players will be able to upgrade to this class), while also overhauling their weaponry to become a unique class that differs from the Hero/Legend
Whichever level of inclusion will depend on which stretch goals can be achieved on the Kickstarter, however we remain very positive to the idea that this community can smash every goal put in front of them!
Elsewhere in the video 'Ham vs Machine', we revealed our first 3D model concepts for the vehicles in Hogs of War Lardcore, each offering up their own newly added details to help give further context to how these metal monsters work & how pigs get in and out of them! Take a look at our turnarounds below!
Pillbox
Default Health - 100HP
Weaponry - x3 Heavy Machine Guns, x3 Flamethrower
Artillery
Default Health - 200HP
Weaponry - x3 Long Range Shells, x1 Mine Shell, x1 Poison Gas Shell, x1 F-Rain Shell, x1 Shock Shell, x1 Thousand Pound Shell
Tank
Default Health - 150HP
Weaponry - x1 Airburst, Infinite Bazooka
Aquatank
Default Health - 150HP
Weaponry - Infinite Bazooka, x1 Mortar
Duck/Truck
Default Health - 150HP
Weaponry - None
Of course from a gameplay perspective - pigs will still be able to jump into and out of these vehicles using the same 'press triangle' method as the original game, although it would be cool to have unique animations for this process that wouldn't impact the player's turn time!
And finally our latest release - 'Bacon, Bombs & Bayonets!', showcasing the first installment of our in game weapon models! The game's original models were certainly distinctive in design, however we hope to bring further detail and uniqueness as development progresses!
We've certainly got a little way to go before our models are finalised, especially when it comes to the more iconic weapons from the original (Jetpack, Shotgun, Flamethrower, Heavy Weapon models), but we hope we can maintain that sense of originality within our own art style as development progresses. The way we see it - Hogs of War Lardcore has to strike that perfect balance between grit, humour and colour. You have the one side of the original art style that was saturated, blending colour tones and emphasising this through the use of humour in the pigs themselves and the voice work. Then on the other side it encompassed a real world conflict that affected so many around the world, and that message is hammered home through the game's settings, models and general contents.
We hope to strike this balance within all the development work that is shown in future, and as always from myself and the team - we hope to see you all in the next video! A massive thank you to everyone who has gotten involved in the discussions across our development video series, the input we've had from the community has been incredibly helpful so keep those comments coming! Expect to see further development videos in the coming weeks, quickly followed by our Kickstarter Announcement Video, during which time the dates will be posted across our social media! See you then soldier!