Greetings, all! ːvcdmopː

With the new year already well underway, we wanted to share with you a little bit more of what we're up to and give you an early look at some of the design changes and vision we're going for in VCD 2 ahead of the showcase.

We're confident that we have more than enough material for a sequel and lots of interesting improvements to add. While it's going to be a very long road, we are now confident we can achieve it in the more modern Unreal Engine, rather than just a simple port of the original.
A port of the original levels will benefit from its development in one form or another.

With that, we can say that the goal of a Viscera Cleanup Detail 2 is very much within reach.

Just keep in mind that a lot of the developments you're about to see are subject to change.
So without further ado, let's get into some of those developments shall we?


As of right now, the project has been upgraded to Unreal Engine 5.
There are a couple reasons for that.

1. It contains a richer feature set that, in some areas may prove beneficial.
   
2. Unreal Engine 4 is gradually going to be phased out and see less support.
   
3. Upgrading now saves us a ton of headaches as VCD's code-base grows more complex. Migrating code is never fun...
   
4. It's the natural next step.
   
5. It has 5 in the name, which is a higher number than 4 if you can believe such a thing!

With that being said, we still have some experimenting to do to assess whether or not UE5 is in-fact too advanced for a game like VCD, which needs to run on a variety of systems and not be pointlessly demanding. Fortunately, UE5 is very flexible, so we're confident it'll suit our needs.


With VCD 2 we're aiming for improvement and refinement over radical changes.
We're trying to trim some of the fat and make it more streamlined while keeping the quirkiness and overall insanity of a VCD game. Then just build on that with more quality and new levels.

However, there are a few key alterations.


One thing the original suffered from was an over-reliance on the same mechanics.
Bullet Holes and casings, I'm looking at you!

So, rather than having each level be a reskinning of the same mechanics of body and shell-casing cleanup with just a few minor additions, we've decided to make each new level center around a strong theme and carry that theme into all or most of the mechanics present in that level. More in line with how its DLCs were structured.

This means that if the level is about a mining facility, then you can bet you're going to be having to fix up a lot of mining machinery.

If it's about a medical facility, you're going to have to do a lot of blood cleanup and restoration of medical supplies, etc.

So the focus will be more on making interesting mechanics for a level that won't necessarily appear in other levels, and to make the process and final result of the level's restoration a satisfying and beautiful thing to witness.
To that end, each level will feature a set of thematically relevant mechanics that build toward the ultimate state of cleanup.

In addition, levels will often feature smaller hurdles to overcome and mechanics to exploit to make your job easier as you go. Such as powering on the lights, activating conveyors, restoring lifts instead of taking the stairs, things like that. Not necessarily essential, but a little something extra.

Also, while there may be some familiar themes you know and love, there will most certainly be some vastly different ones for new levels.


The drop-pod is an all-purpose janitor deployment capsule / craft that will both land on planets you are sent to, and dock to stations.

Inside of it you'll find many of the most essential tools you need to perform your duties.
This includes:

• A vending machine for replacement parts and essential items such as med-kits and work lights.
  
• A place for the 'dispensing' of replacement janitors, should one of your number carelessly succumb in the course of fulfilling your duties.
  
• A tool-rack kitted out to provide you with a variety of tools you're likely to need, some of which are familiar, many of which are new. Their numbers are limited, and not every tool is needed to perform your duties in that level, but you'll have access to them regardless; heaven help us!
  
• A briefing screen to remind you of the essentials.
  
• An airlock to facilitate the transition to and from hostile environments
  
• A toilet; space janitors are human too...

The pod will be your starting point in each mission, and the point from which you depart after you are done.
It'll serve as your one stop shop, but notably it is by no means there to make your job any easier. Nor does it serve as an adequate source for bins and buckets. For that, you'll need to look elsewhere.

Also, you'll use the drop-pod to bring items back to the office with you, instead of the janitor's trunk.
Although, we may find other reasons to keep that faithful companion alive.


Your office, previously a poky out of the way corner in one of Aerospace Sanitation's facility basements, is now a larger yet still poky janitorial deployment section in one of their facilities.

The key difference is that customization will be much more extensive than before, and tied to things you bring back from other levels in some more tangible ways.

From the office, you'll select your next destination and return to it after you are finished.
There will be small sections of the facility that you can muck about in and experiment with some mechanics and tools. There will be more interaction, and a more lived-in feel.

In addition, the office will aid in teaching you some of the basics.
To that end...

It's no secret that some of VCD's mechanics are very hard to pick up naturally.

How do you know what the sniffer's modes do?
What does that strange welding laser do?

There are two ways to look at this:
1: The game is about discovery and experimenting with things yourself to learn about them, thus feel accomplished.
2: Not knowing what you're doing and being frustrated by hidden yet essential mechanics is a real pain, especially when you're punished for it, and you could really use a tutorial and not have to look up web-pages to play a game.

We're not believers in hand-holding or outright tutorial stages thrust upon you, nor endless pop-ups with advice. So we're going to avoid that, it's really not very VCD-ish.

Instead, we have some much better ideas for teaching players some of the basics.
To that end, the Office Hub(and probably other locations) will feature basic step-by-step guide posters/brochures on the walls for various(less obvious) mechanics to aid your learning.
This is an unobtrusive way to show you something you need to know while still allowing you to discover it for yourself. But it'll be obvious what it is when you see it.


We're still considering some things here, but we're in favor of removing the scoring system as it currently exists. Giving you a number at the end of the day just seems so...reductive.
It's also an endless source of confusion and frustration; "Why was I punished? I wasn't told anything about those damnable nitrogen canisters!"

It's not really about the score at the end of the day, but rather your work ethic and the general consequences of a poor effort. This is in truth, a hard one to solve.

We're all for keeping the interesting newspaper articles, and the general fired / vs good boy dynamic.
However, we don't think a number and precise goals for everything is the way to go.
VCD struggled from trying to incorporate both a number's game AND a vague "do as much as you want" approach. The two can't really exist together without a high degree of frustration and confusion for some people.

So we're looking into solutions, and part of that may be in the form of progression, or a two-sided reward system, where there are consequences and rewards to either path, but no clear "best way" to play.
Don't get me wrong, there should still very much be consequences to doing a lousy job just as before, but they should not be reduced to a simple number's game and single success/failure state.

Stacking is another area in a similar vane. That should be an innately satisfying experience regardless of any bonus to the numbers you receive.


There is a lot of other stuff to discuss and many new additions to run through, much of which we're still working out and considering, but for now that's the big picture.

Please, feel free to give us your thoughts. We're excited to hear feedback, and that will be an essential part of narrowing in on a good design as we move forwards.
To keep up to date and give additional feedback, be sure to follow our Viscera Cleanup Detail 2 thread over in the forums where I hope to post regular progress updates as and when I can, and respond to feedback.
Announcements will be reserved for significant milestones in future, when we have something a bit more polished to show off.

In the meantime, here are some more very much 'work-in-progress' images of what we've made so far. Well, some of it at least.