Today's update is mostly all about simulating sound. Specifically, the sounds the player makes by running and walking. Seems simple enough, but this actually required a rewrite of many core systems. 

The bold print is: Mons will now flee from you based on how much noise you're making. If you're walking, they run away when you come within 6 or so meters of them. If you're running, it's twice that. 

A few more details: the system for mon skittishness used to be controlled by their path system, which would interact with the player and then tell the mon where to go. This seems so backwards now, but the triggering device was more like a "shyness radius" around the mon, rather than a "disturbance radius" around the player (which now expands and contracts based on how much noise the player makes). In the future, these two approaches could be combined, so that mons will wave different spheres of awareness, as well as responding to how stealthy the player is. 

Fallout from this feature: This whole dynamic needs to be telegraphed to the player in as many ways as possible. Some of the ways I tried to accomplish this were

• The footstep sound effects get louder when you run. 
• A "sound lines" particle bursts from the player's feet when they run, and a similar-looking particle pops out of frightened mons. 
• Adding footstep sounds also finally forced me to let the player wade into the river, which slows them down, makes watery footsteps, and a big splash when they jump in. 
• Needed to make different animation states for the player's Bernband arms for running and walking. 

Hopefully these new features give the player more of a sense of tension and anticipation when they are creeping up on mons. 

Other stuff: I switched the scan button from [RIGHT MOUSE] to [E]. I hope this will promote standing still while they scan, but I will need to test and see if that's the case at all. 

Thank you very much for reading! Please try out the game and let me know what you think. I'm hungry for feedback. 

Happy Lunar New Year!

Carter