First of all, thanks to everyone who came to our talk this year at EGX! We were thrilled to see so many people there!! It really does mean a lot to us. Here's a photo of Connor, Matt & Osian on stage in their shiny new COPA merch! Big thanks to Barclays games for their invaluable support.

Just a quick update from our dev team. We have made some fantastic progress recently with our development. A quick summary below of some work in progress to keep you in the loop!

We're proud to show you some before and after of our character design work over the course of the last couple of months. Here's a work-in-progress version of DCI Morgan Lewis (The first photos were taken end of 2022 and the second photos were taken this week)



We've also been hard at work creating custom clothing for the characters in the game. Here's a quick preview.

Our 3D artists are also creating authentic UK police assets. Here's a quick behind-the-scenes video of one of our 3D artists creating the PAVA canister used by UK police forces.

And here are some other work-in-progress models too!

We're really picking up steam with the development. Our small but mighty dev team has grown from 2 to 5, We're super excited for the next couple of months. This week we are focusing on UI and investigation mini-games. More on this in the near future!

If you'd like to chat with our dev team and keep up to date with all things COPA gaming, please join our discord - we'd love to see you there!

https://discord.gg/EwqTsBuvHd

Thanks again for your support and see you on the next one!


Diolch yn fawr!
COPA Gaming

Hello, detectives! We've got some fresh updates from COPA Gaming that we can't wait to share with you. Our team has been super busy working on cool new stuff to make your crime-solving adventures even more thrilling. Let's dive right into what we've been up to!

Main Menu and GUI Overhaul: A Fresh New Look

We've given The Department's main menu and GUI a complete makeover! We wanted to make sure you feel fully immersed in the world of crime investigation, so we've spruced things up with a modern and sleek design.

Evidence Processing Minigames: Boosting Your Investigative Skills

Being a detective is all about digging into evidence. That's why we've been working hard on evidence processing minigames. Now, when you're at the police station, you'll have the chance to extract fingerprints from weapons found at crime scenes. These crucial pieces of evidence will give you a major advantage in your pursuit of justice. Sharpen your skills and pay attention to every little detail. Solving the toughest cases will depend on your mastery of evidence processing!

Studio Growth: Becoming the Best COPA Gaming

We're thrilled to share that COPA Gaming was recently a part of a UK-wide program called Indie Labs Games Accelerator program! A Handful of games companies from across the UK were selected to be a part of the 2023 cohort and we spent time in Glasgow, Cardiff and London learning about business development for video games in addition to a lot of other useful skills!

We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to the entire detective community. Your ongoing support and feedback mean the world to us. Your enthusiasm keeps us motivated and drives us forward every single day. The Department/Trosedd wouldn't be the same without your unwavering commitment to justice.
Remember, you're always invited to join us on our official forums and social media channels. We'd love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, and even your own crime-solving stories. Your voices matter, and we want to make sure The Department/Trosedd grows and evolves in ways that resonate with all you awesome detectives out there.

Thank you for your unwavering dedication to unravelling mysteries and seeking justice within The Department/Trosedd. Stay tuned for more thrilling updates, because we've got lots more in store for you in the coming weeks and months. Together, we can make a game we are all proud of!

Greetings, Detectives!

We are thrilled to provide you with our weekly devlog update as we work tirelessly to bring you the best gaming experience possible. We are committed to keeping you informed about our progress in developing The Department.

In the past few weeks, we have made significant strides in the development of the game. We have conducted extensive research into different chatbot AIs and have begun developing the suspect chatbot AI. This feature will allow players to ask questions to the AI and get dynamic responses based on the individual suspect, making the game all the more immersive and interactive. Any events that happen throughout the game will be represented in these interviews.

We have also been hard at work on updating the volume settings, reworked the suspect questioning interface, and integrated ChatGPT into the project. The ChatGPT integration means that the player can ask an AI questions and get a dynamic response based on the individual suspect. We are excited to see how this feature will enhance the overall gameplay experience.

To facilitate the player's interaction with the AI, we have created a UI for the suspect interviews chatlog, making it easy for players to keep track of the conversations they have with each suspect.

Our environment artist has been tirelessly working on the police station hub, ensuring that it is a rich and detailed environment for players to explore. Take a sneak peak through this rainy window...

In addition, we are continuously developing and refining the core gameplay to make it more challenging and fun.

We want to assure you that we are doing everything we can to create a game that is not only engaging but also highly immersive. We appreciate your patience as we put the finishing touches on the game, and we look forward to bringing you more updates in the weeks to come.

For more updates make sure to follow us on Twitter and join the Discord server!

Stay sharp, detectives!

Detectives! 👮‍♂️ 👮‍♀️

Our ever-expanding dev team (4 devs and counting!) has made remarkable strides this week in multiple areas, including game mechanics, environmental design, and overall gameplay experience. Our team's growth is enabling us to accomplish even more in less time!

Over the weekend, we've been diligently crafting an updated developer roadmap, which we're eager to share with you as soon as it's ready. Your support and has been absolutely invaluable to us, and we can't thank you enough for your continued encouragement.

In the near future, our primary focus will be completing the Police Station Hub—an essential in-game location where players can process evidence through various methods, examine bodycam footage, delve into suspect backgrounds and previous police records, and so much more!

To expedite development and deliver the game into your hands as soon as possible, our dev team has adopted a goal-oriented approach, with specific objectives to be achieved each week. This milestone-based strategy is a game-changer, as it allows us to streamline the development process and make significant progress at an accelerated pace.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates, and thank you once again for being a part of our journey! Diolch!

_________________________________________________________

Ditectifs!

Mae ein tîm datblygu sy'n tyfu'n barhaus (4 datblygwr!) wedi gwneud cynnydd aruthrol yr wythnos hon mewn sawl maes, gan gynnwys mecanweithiau gem, dylunio amgylchedd, a phrofiad chwarae cyffredinol. Mae twf ein tîm yn ein galluogi i gyflawni mwy mewn llai o amser!

Dros y penwythnos, rydym wedi bod yn gweithio'n galed ar fap datblygwyr diweddaraf, yr ydym yn awyddus i'w rannu â chi cyn gynted ag y mae'n barod. Mae eich cefnogaeth wedi bod yn hynod werthfawr i ni, ac ni allwn ddiolch i chi ddigon am eich anogaeth barhaus.

Yn y dyfodol agos, bydd ein prif ffocws ar gwblhau'r Gorsaf Heddlu Hub—lleoliad hanfodol yn y gêm lle gall chwaraewyr brosesu tystiolaeth, archwilio fideo cam-gorff, dilyn hanes blaenorol amheuon a chofnodion heddlu blaenorol, a llawer mwy!

I frysio datblygiad a darparu'r gêm i'ch dwylo chi cyn gynted â phosibl, mae ein tîm datblygu wedi mabwysiadu dull gweithredu wedi'i seilio ar nodau, gyda gweledigaethau penodol i'w cyflawni bob wythnos. Mae'r strategaeth garreg filltir hon yn newid y gêm, gan ein galluogi i drefnu'r broses ddatblygu a gwneud cynnydd sylweddol ar gyflymder cynyddol.

Cadwch lygad am fwy o ddiweddariadau cyffrous, a diolch unwaith eto am fod yn rhan o'n taith! Diolch!

Greetings detectives,

We're back with another weekly update for The Department, and we've got some exciting news to share! We've been hard at work implementing changes and addressing issues based on your feedback. Here are the key changes we've made this week:

• We've continued to squash bugs to improve your gameplay experience. We're committed to making our game as smooth and enjoyable as possible, so keep your feedback coming!
  
• We've added more Welsh translations to make our game more accessible for our Welsh-speaking players.
  
• We've been working on environment changes based on your feedback. We want to ensure that our game world feels immersive and engaging, so we're making adjustments where necessary.
  
• We're thrilled to announce that we've started work on an interactive in-game computer system that will help you learn more about the game's core mechanics and enhance your overall experience. Stay tuned for more details on this exciting new feature!
  
• We've fixed several bugs, including issues with the options menu not disappearing, the player not having a shadow, and the killer sometimes not running away as intended.
  
• Lastly, we've added a new audio feature that allows you to modify the game audio for separate tracks. Whether you prefer to focus on the music, voices, or the sound effects, you now have more control over your audio experience.

We hope you're enjoying the updates we've made so far and that you're excited about what's to come. Thank you for your continued support and feedback. We couldn't do it without you!

Best regards,

COPA Gaming

Welcome to this week's devlog for "The Department! We have some exciting updates to share with our dedicated detectives, so let's dive right in!

First off, we are thrilled to announce that we have brought on a new team member to help with time-consuming tasks. This will allow our lead developer to focus on larger and more important core mechanics, meaning that our overall progress will speed up. We are excited to see what our new team member will bring to the table!

As always, we have been working hard to squash bugs and make the game as smooth as possible. We are happy to report that we have made significant progress on this front, and the game should be running more smoothly than ever.

We have also added some new audio elements to the game. Specifically, we have imported Dan's translated voice lines for the beginning of the tutorial, which should make it easier for new detectives to get into the game in Welsh. Additionally, we have implemented SFX for turning on and off the bodycam, as well as for the van engine. We have also lowered the sound of the police van sirens, so they should be less distracting while you're on the case.

Our team has been hard at work on optimisation for the nightclub tutorial level, and we are thrilled to report that we have achieved a further 28% FPS boost. We know how important smooth gameplay is to our detectives, and we are committed to providing the best possible experience.

We have also started on an options overhaul, which should make it easier for you to customise your game experience. Specifically, we have removed the language selection from the main menu and moved it to the new options menu. This means that you won't have to select your language every time you go to the main menu. We have also removed the language option from the save and load per game, meaning that you can change your language part way through a game.

Finally, we have made it so that the police sirens are muffled through walls. This should make the game more immersive and realistic, while also making it easier to concentrate on your investigation.

That's all for this week's devlog! We hope you're as excited about these updates as we are, and we look forward to bringing you even more improvements in the future. Happy investigating!

Greetings detectives!

We've got some exciting news for you regarding our latest updates for The Department. Update 0.1.4.0 is now live, and it includes some fantastic changes to enhance your gameplay experience and address issues or concerns that have been reported to us.

Let's dive into the details. First and foremost, we've implemented an 8-way directional movement system, which will enhance player controls and character animations. You can now move your character in eight different directions, giving you greater precision and control over their movements.

We've also added a tutorial prompt for using the flashlight, as some players were unaware that this was a feature. Additionally, we've enabled saving and loading for the nightclub level, so you can pick up where you left off if you need to take a break from the game.

We've fixed several bugs, including minor issues with the options and pause menus, and a bug that was preventing players from looking up or down in first-person mode. We've also fixed a bug that caused the player to slide when moving with the taser equipped.

We've added a clue counter in the top right of the screen to help players keep track of how many clues they've found and how many are left to find. Note that not all clues need to be found to progress, so use this counter as a guide to help you along the way.

Due to popular demand, phones in the nightclub level are now interactable. You can mark them as evidence and turn them off, so keep an eye out for any clues or information you may find. This sparked a big update to the overall clue and evidence system for the full game, stay tuned for more about that!

We would like to thank all of our players who participated in the playtest of "The Department" and helped us identify these bugs. Your feedback and support have been invaluable in helping us improve the game and create the best possible experience for everyone.

In summary, we've made some fantastic improvements in this update, including an enhanced directional movement system, a flashlight tutorial prompt, and a clue counter to help you keep track of your progress. We've also addressed several bugs and added the ability to interact with phones in the nightclub level.

We appreciate your continued support and hope you enjoy playing The Department. As always, if you are a playtester please keep your feedback coming, as we'll continue to make modifications and improvements based on your suggestions to create the best gaming experience possible. Happy gaming, detectives!

Attention all detectives,

We bring you an update on our game development progress! We recently entrusted a select few of you from our Discord community with a private playtest to gather your insights and feedback on gameplay. We have been collecting your feedback on a regular basis and have been working hard to implement the changes needed to create a game we can all be proud of!

However, as is often the case with game development, we have faced some challenges. Our team has been working tirelessly to identify and fix the bugs and issues that were reported during the playtest. The process has been a big learning curve, but we have been determined to deliver the best possible game to our detective community.

Despite the challenges, we have persevered and have made significant progress in addressing the most pressing issues. We have been impressed with the level of dedication and commitment shown by our community of detectives, and we are incredibly grateful for your support and patience.

We want to assure you that we are fully committed to delivering a top-quality gaming experience. We understand that you are eagerly awaiting the final product, and we promise that we are doing everything in our power to make it worth the wait.

Thank you for your unwavering support in our game development journey!

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Annwyl ditectif,

Yn ddiweddar, rydym wedi ymddiried ychydig o chi o'n cymuned Discord i gael peilot preifat a chasglu eich adborth. Rydym wedi bod yn casglu eich sylwadau yn rheolaidd ac wedi bod yn gweithio'n galed i roi'r newidiadau sydd eu hangen i greu gem y gallwn fod yn falch ohono!

Ond, fel sy'n digwydd yn aml yn datblygu gemau, rydym wedi wynebu rhai heriau. Mae ein tîm wedi bod yn gweithio'n galed i adnabod a thrwsio'r unrhyw problemau a nodwyd yn ystod y peilot preifat. Mae'r broses wedi bod yn dipyn o lwybr dysgu, ond rydym wedi bod yn benderfynol o gyflwyno gem allwn ni gyd fod yn falch ohono.

Er gwaethaf y heriau, rydym wedi parhau i weithio a gwneud cynnydd sylweddol wrth ddatblygu. Mae'r lefel o ymroddiad a ddangoswyd gan ein cymuned o dditectifs wedi bod yn anhygoel ac rydym yn hynod ddiolchgar am eich cefnogaeth a'ch amynedd.

Rydym yn deall eich bod yn aros yn ddiamynedd i weld y cynnyrch terfynol, ac rydym yn addo ein bod yn gwneud popeth yn ein gallu i sicrhau ei fod yn werth y disgwyl.

Diolch am eich cefnogaeth ddi-dor yn y daith gyffrous hon o ddatblygu gemau.

COPA Gaming