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[adamprack]

Oh my

This really looks fantastic. I'm downloading the demo and will have some thoughts on it once I get through it, but you've already hooked me on the looks so far.

The main character has a resemblance to the protag from BRAID, though it seems you haven't settled on the look, so that's good. Otherwise the lighting, the depth of field, and the effects look top-notch.

Excellent work! Mind if I feature this on my blog?

Please do!  And be sure to link me to it so I can help share your blog around, too.  If you do, hold off on posting the demo up quite yet.  Thanks!

And I guess I should post the controls!
Keyboard: 
A/D  or Left/Right for movement
W or Up for jump
Down for special
Enter for menu selections and pause

(mirrors a controller a bit)

Xbox 360 pad:
D-pad for movement
A for jump (should also be menu selections)
Right Shoulder for special
D-pad

[sonicblastoise]

Sure! No problem. I'll send you a PM once the article goes up. Anything I'm okay to show for the preview? Screens? A short interview perhaps?

I hope you're not thinking it's like HUUUGE coverage, but I think I have like 20+ daily readers and 200 unique hits per day. Some of those may be crawlerbots, though.

Anyway, playing it now!

[adamprack]

Sure! No problem. I'll send you a PM once the article goes up. Anything I'm okay to show for the preview? Screens? A short interview perhaps?

I hope you're not thinking it's like HUUUGE coverage, but I think I have like 20+ daily readers and 200 unique hits per day. Some of those may be crawlerbots, though.

Anyway, playing it now!

No, no, I just don't want the demo spread much past a couple forums until things get more solidified.  You're fine to show anything you'd like.  Screens are fine, video's fine, questions are fine.

[sonicblastoise]

It's visuall compelling so far. Amazing how deep the levels look from the foreground to the background. There's a lot of attention to detail.

I have issues with some of the mechanics, but I think I need to spend a bit more time with it before I say anything more.

Either way, good work!

[sonicblastoise]

Hey, I played the demo through a few times and have some thoughts about it. I was hoping also to bump this thread because I love the visual style of this game and I really hope you can get it made. I'll send you a PM with some of the more specific thoughts.

Keep up the good work Prack!

[adamprack]

@sonicblastoise: Thank you very much!  My internet will be unreliable at best for at least the rest of this week (I just moved).  Thank you for giving things a look, I hope to hear what you've got in mind in your pm.

Will do!

[adamprack]

Aug 07


I made a hud/gui finally! No numbers at all. In fact, no more lives. For a time, I've had a 3-heart meter like Mario 2 (vertical, I mean). And I finally convinced myself that lives and game over screens are worthless these days. So dying still puts you back to the start of the level segment you're on (again, two segments/layouts per level). I didn't want to take you back to the most recent failed jump or anything--I think that's counter to the point of platformers.

But with no lives, the orbs are worthless, right? No, there just won't be health pickups anymore. The orbs translate into health. You have 3 hits before you die. Every 25 orbs you collect, you recover a hitpoint. If you have full health and you get 25 orbs, you get a short bit of invulnerability.



There's the new hud! The level is still in-progress (i'll be shrinking the cage, adding details around like a cot, etc.), but the circles are the new design. The outer circle stays like that, but it glows when you get the invulnerable state. The 2nd circle in starts dim and glows more are you collect orbs. When you get your 25, it returns to dark and changes the 3rd circle in (the smallest one). This is your health meter. It's green for full health, yellow down from that, red, then black and translucent when you die. You start with full health but no orbs when you start the level or die.

[sonicblastoise]

Hud looks great. It's a much more integrated look than before.

Still figuring out what I think exactly about the game.

I did feature it as a WIP and up-and-coming on my blog though. With the kickstarter link.

http://mediocritycodex.blogspot.com/2011/08/indie-cred-kitty-who-became-axe.html

Hope everything is going well. Keep up the good work!

[adamprack]

Thank, sonic!  I appreciate it.  I've made some changes and added more stuff.  Here's a new trailer showing some of it off:

New Trailer for Blight!

[adamprack]

I had a little time off to do some other things, but I'm back into it all full-swing.  I wanted to share a couple shots from the desert area and mention my devlog on my site.

Check 'em out!

Desert

And More desert!

I will be adding sand flying through the air behind the main layer to help differentiate things to the player.

[adamprack]

I'm horrid at updating my thread and did, indeed, take some time off.  But everything is still underway and going fine.  Here are some shots from the latest build:

[adamprack]

Story-Telling

So there's a particular tale that is meant to tie the Blight experience together. The game starts off in a pristine environmental setting. Each locale you visit will be increasingly covered with mechanical parts, pollution, and general corruption. Something along the lines of how Donkey Kong Country did it, but I'm shooting for more poignancy and some other small sub-themes. There will be a brief intro cinematic and a brief cinematic at the end of the game. Otherwise, I want things to be unobtrusive, but still delivering on the theme. This will be done partly through the environments as you see them progress, and then the level titles will reflect an overarching, poetic story. Each level title is a short line in an overall poem, but each line also corresponds with the theme of the level it represents as well. A tough writing task, to be sure, but I think it'll make a big difference.

The level titles for the first world are as follows:
At the Outset
The Future was Steeped
With Sprawling Vistas
And Heights Unknown
But Below the Surface
Lurked a Danger
Sealed Deep Within

And no, they're not going to rhyme.





The text gets more corrupted as the game progresses to match the environments.

Here's a first look at the level selection for Blight. It's still early and more will be added to it, but it shows a great way to get into levels.

As you can see, while level 1 is selected, you can see a blurry forest in the background. When that level is selected, it seamlessly fades into the corresponding level. Also, while switching between which level is selected, the background crossfades between each. Lastly, the music continues from the selection on into the level and continues when you head back to level selection until you begin a level with a different theme. So no real gaps in the music, but a cohesive experience.

And yes, this is the first world--there are more levels than just seven.

I'll save the rest of the titles for when you play the game!

On a side note, if you've made it through the wall of text, I'm planning on a mid-july to early august alpha release on Desura, so keep it in mind!

[adamprack]

Here's a shot from the [fully skippable] intro.  I hope you enjoy, and keep the early-august alpha release in mind!

[adamprack]

Blight is coming to Desura this August!  An alpha release (the first world) will go up then, and any purchasers during the alpha period get the rest of the game free.  It's available for preorder now, and the alpha release opens August 3rd.  Check it out on Desura!

[sonicblastoise]

congrats on getting it on desura! I'll track it on there.

Best of luck to you, sir!