I’m thrilled to pieces right now with the look of REVO’s glow effects. I had to do an awful lot of work to change things and keep it running as intended, but it was so very worth it. The game is finally looking as dramatic as I envisioned it should. And now, after over a month of waiting, you can play REVO graphically reborn.

Graphics & Glow Upgrade

Built & Rebuilt

The entire graphics engine was yanked out and replaced. For those familiar with Unity technology, I have converted things over to URP and the 2D renderer. (And if you like that technical stuff, read the more detailed REVO Change Log.)

This required quite a few alterations to the configuration and behavior of the game, including a shift to (ironically) full perspective 3D which utilizes actual 3D layering for the 2D graphics instead of a faked sense of visual depth. It’s nicer, too.

Some effects have been lost, hopefully only temporarily, including blast wave and energy shield refraction and the beloved screen glitch interference. However, the entirely rebuilt post processing now has nicer bloom and a lens dirt effect for added immersion.

Glorious Glows

With these huge changes to how rendering works, I have unlocked a special toolset that gives me access to much more realistic and rich glow effects using High Dynamic Range color values that can be applied to anything in the game world.

Literally every object in the game was given major adjustments to shader, color, and 3D layering. You will see glows like you’ve never seen before in REVO and precisely the kind that I had always wanted to achieve and could not until recently.

To Be Continued

The look of the game still requires more technical problem solving, such as the now dull looking HUD and menus, but it’s only a matter of time before everything falls even better into place, so expect more graphical upgrades in coming updates.

Cinematic & Beam Gameplay

Room For More Story

The opening sequence has been extended just a little to emphasize how the mysterious, glowing object drifts through space before being picked up by our familiar support ship and readied for combat.

This intro only plays one time, as you begin a new campaign. Each time you play afterward, it is skipped and the only way to see it again is to reset your save back to the beginning of the game.

Now that multiple cinematic moments can be chained together, I have room to tell more story in later updates. I’m still trying to decide how to tell that story, but the general plan is in place, so it’s just a few details to storyboard more clearly.

Laser Play

Beam weapons are expensive as they are powerful. Once the player unlocks the Super Beam, it’ll only fire when the ammo meter is 100% full, otherwise, you must rely on other tactics in combat. Collect enough ammo to unleash gloriously glowing destruction. I find this more interesting and very rewarding.

This was done in response to the oddly backwards costs of two beam weapons the player can access. The weaker cost more and that was clearly a point of confusion. I may have done that intentionally just to allow players to temporarily test out the more powerful weapon with fewer restrictions, but either way, it feels more reasonable now.

Additionally, ammo no longer fills up the meter quite as fast as it did before, as another way to increase challenge, but if you’re mindful of your resources and learn how to manage them, this won’t be a major alteration to how you gear up and fight.

Game Testers Needed

You’ve got to see this glow in action for yourself. Plus the game needs testers to help ensure it has been tuned for maximum fun and challenge. Fire it up, give it a try, and send me your feedback. You don’t have to be a gaming expert to make a huge impact on the quality of REVO’s experience. I need testers of every skill level, so please consider giving even just 10 minutes of your time.