Hello hello!

I've been working hard on this update, as I've been learning a lot from a secret secondary project I've taken up (may or may not be a re-implementation of the original Deus Ex)

One thing that I immediately did better was the UI implementation, so for the past two months I've been working on a complete rework of how the HUD and all menus are created/swapped/updated.

UI REWORK

Previously each menu was created and destroyed every time it was to be switched to, this was alright but very very inflexible. Variables are discarded when widgets (menus/screens/HUD/UI elements in Unreal Engine) are removed/deleted from the screen.

The new system allows for easy switching between menus and is more smooth. So now you can use ESC to pause and TAB to back out of menus with ease!

MOVEMENT REWORKS/ADDITIONS

AC BOOSTERS

In New Orleans and The Farm, there is an AC vent that boosts you up and forwards in whatever direction you're moving. This should allow for new traversal options, will definitely work on getting more added into the levels.

WALL-JUMP

From a lot of feedback I've gotten, the previous state of wall-jumping made the game way too frustrating. This is exacerbated by my level-design choices but also the system is a little too unforgiving. I've implemented a grace period after you decouple from a wall that should make wall-jumping significantly more forgiving. There is unfortunately a bug within the wall-jump code that makes approaching jumps from the left very difficult, this will be fixed in the next version.

MANTLING

The main change with mantling is that it'll place you more accurately onto a surface, which should make it more consistent and might even speed up movement!

SLIDING/SLIDE JUMPING

I've accidentally implemented bunny hopping :)

PARTIAL CONTROLLER SUPPORT

If you plug in your preferred controller you should now be able to play the game just fine! However you cannot change sensitivity/etc. so it's very difficult to do jumps where you have to turn quickly, might add a dedicated quick-turn button for consoles to make life easier.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Now that everything is a lot smoother and more consistent, I'm going to start work on getting the levels finished and maybe reworking some of the goals and level design for each level. As much as the current levels are playable/completable there's not much to do in them, however I think rails and grinding (and the occasional air vent) will definitely help in the future.

That's all for now! Hope you enjoy, please let me know of any bugs and how to recreate them/where they happen, etc

THWEK