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[jctwood]

Wow reading through the devlog so far the aesthetic change is brilliant! I feel like it is one of the best looking 3D platforms I have seen in a while. Reminds me of Ty the Tasmanian Tiger which is a PS2 series I adored. Lovely variety of environments too!

[_Rob_]

That's great to read! It's taken a long time to get the game looking as it always should have in my head. So it's a great to hear it's finally paying off! I loved Ty, very Banjo in it's execution (at least the first one), colour me humbled!

[_Rob_]

Hey everyone,

It's been a while, but that just means there's quite a lot to go over. So, sit back grab a coffee and relax...

First up, we've had another couple of our main characters redesigned by our favourite artist Luigi Lucarelli! Done in the same style as our titular duo, we see both our evil villain Dr Daucus, and Clive's time-machine-creating cousin Prof' Nancy Merricarp! Our cast is really starting to take shape!



Next up, art. For a while now, I've been wrestling with exactly how to make the games art work. Up until recently things were pretty lackluster, but then our recent character overhaul and the inclusion of dynamic fur happened; this gave me the kick I needed to overhaul the in-game art and match it up to the characters and the style I'm aiming for. As such we've now settled on a much cleaner detailed looking set of environments; aiming more for a good PS2 style aesthetic as opposed to the PS1/N64 style we've had previously. This has resulted in a much more appealing and interesting set of environments to traverse.



The last big thing today is Clive and Wrench's moves, and by extension their animations. Our dynamic duo can now double jump! Yes indeed, gone is the need for the glitchy ledge grabbing, and in comes a new more acrobatic and fluid feeling double jump. Moves can be mixed too, you can double jump into a glide, jump once, glide, and then jump again... heck you can even jump, belly flop, jump and then glide! In order for these new features to work well, it is important that our animation is up to scratch! There are now thousands of extra frames of animation, created in such a way that moves blend together as seamlessly as possible. All of these things are really moving Clive 'N' Wrench beyond what I could have imagined when starting the project all those years ago!

Here's a quick video covering the above:

[Samson]

You have shown a level of awareness and willingness to improve that I see in very few designers and projects in general  .

If I'm honest I played the Clive 'N' Wrench demo around the start of the Kickstarter and found it underwhelming. I love the old collectathon style, and it makes me very happy to see you iterate and refine this the way you are. It's not just the art, but things like the doublejump/ledgegrab change that give me confidence. Make it great.

[_Rob_]

Thank you! That was good to read. I admit, at first when the reaction was fairly negative I did take it to heart, and shortly after denial hit. However I took some time to evaluate, and found a lot of truth in what I read.

It's really nice to see that the improvements we've been working on are paying off!

Your post made my day, so thank you!

[_Rob_]

I've been working a lot on creating consistent looking worlds, with an aesthetic that feels more "lived in" as opposed to mathematical (if that makes sense), here's a quick look at the town center of the medieval level "Middle Age Crisis".

[_Rob_]

Still plugging away! I've been playing some AC Syndicate this weekend, and it got me in the mood for Victorian London; so I've got back to work on Clive's "Great Wen" level!

I'm focusing a lot on lighting and atmosphere as it's paramount to sell that classic gloomy London look. From linear fog, to some drifting particle effects and even dynamic rain this level feels rather nice to run around already!

[_Rob_]

I've been working more on atmosphere, a slight green tint seems to really help with the smoggy London look (cue Kate Moss). Here's a shot of the level's enterable Museum!

[Sphere]

I've been following this for a while, it's certainly making progress, but the new screen shots look a bit dark and cold to me. Personally I'd like to see you make the worlds bright, colourful, and full of warmth, if you get what I mean. Plus I'd be wary of making the environments too realistic, most games along these lines don't have very detailed textures at all. It definitely shows promise though, and the new character designs look a lot better, though more so in the illustrations than in game, so I'd keep tweaking them if I was you.

[grayhaze]

This is looking good so far in terms of gameplay, but I echo the comments made by others about the graphical style. The redesigned character illustrations look awesome, but they don't quite match up with what you currently have in game, with the 3D modelled versions having a bit of the creepy, uncanny valley about them. What you currently have is leaning more toward the Howard The Duck movie than the fun, cartoony look that the illustrations have and similar games like Banjo-Kazooie and the upcoming Yooka-Laylee have. Paired with the environments which are leaning more toward realism than cartoons, it makes the characters seem a little odd - almost like Five Nights At Freddy's: The Platform Game.

Please don't take this as an insult, as you're clearly pushing in the right direction with the recent character redesigns. I just think there's a little way to go before your graphics match up to the look those redesigns are aiming for. Graphics aren't exactly my strong suit, so I know how hard it can be to get what you have in your head onto the screen.

[_Rob_]

The balance of graphics seems to be a much more delicate one than I had anticipated early on for sure! Here's a quick video of things in motion. I'm making sure that animation and sound effects are used to help with the cartoony tone as well.

[oahda]

Meh. Where's the fun if every game is the same? I think this is a cool take on the genre. Exploring big places like this seems like fan, and actually reminds me of Banjo Tooie.

[gimymblert]

suscribing because i forgot

[oahda]

Just stumbled across your YT channel and your HDTDT series! Great stuff! <3

[_Rob_]

Thanks Prinsessa, How Did They Do That is a really fun side project to have, it's been a little while since I last posted one but the next is on how Portal's portals work, and as such is quite the challenge!

Whilst I'm here; I'm still working on The Great Wen. I've started work on the interior of the Unnatural History Museum, complete with probably dead dinosaurs and patrolling "Walrozzer" guards. The guards allow me to introduce some simple stealth elements, helping to add variety to the gameplay. They can detect both when you get close enough to be heard, or if you enter their lantern's light!



Additionally the Museum leads to a secret entrance to London's sewer system. The section of it below consists of a cylindrical room with a fixed camera in the centre. This allows for some intricate platforming around the room whilst the camera tracks your movement. Because there's a certain amount of smoothing to it, you end up with a very natural feeling setup. And again, it allows for some interesting gameplay elements!



Overall though I've been tweaking the lighting and atmosphere for the level. I think I'm getting closer to the final look of the level now.

[_Rob_]

It's been a busy week! We've finally announced our last main character, Olga Chestycough.


Artwork - Luigi Lucarelli

Hailing from Mother Moschoof she leads Dr Daucus' army, as well as acting as his personal bodyguard!

Her regular workout routine includes bench pressing a bull and pulling double-decker buses with her ears. Thanks to the replacement bionic hand built by Dr D, she's stronger than the average bear... well err, rabbit!

I've also finally started work on our ancient Egyptian level, Tempus Tomb. In an effort to make each level feel unique and interesting, this one in contrast to the Victorian is bright and full of colour. Set in the middle of the Egyptian desert in the year 1352 bc, you'll be able to explore the streets and tombs within.



There's a fair few technical additions to this level too, firstly Clive's ears are mostly inside his new helmet, but the tips are sticking out of the top and have dynamic bone physics to help keep his fluidness. The second part is footprints, as you move through sandy areas you will leave imprints and clouds of sand in your wake, really helping the sand feel less like a solid object and more like particles; not quite on the level of Journey though!

[_Rob_]

The level itself will focus inside the city of Tempus and it's surrounding desert. Tempus Temple serves as the centre, surrounded by a gorilla based god. The decision has also been made that the main inhabitants of Ancient Egypt will be simians!

[flipswitchx]

*GASP* Banjo-kazooie fans. I don't even need to read a single thing, I wish you the best of luck.

And now for the readin'...

[_Rob_]

Hey, thanks!

Time for a proper video update; if a picture speaks a thousand words, a video must speak more, right? This time showing off new moves, overall bug-fixing, polishing of animation, tightening of swimming mechanics, improved enemy AI and more!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/7m9akj5vwsE

Plus a screenshot!

[oahda]

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