next »

[clockwrk_routine]

  thanks you two

I forgot what the old colors looked like, because it's been gradually getting more colorful and contrasted, so here's a comparison



They all give a different feel, there's a stronger atmosphere in the old ones, but they also feel a little unpolished.  This is going to be a commercial title, and I think it's most important to feel polished, I also think the new colors fit the gameplay well.  

Then again there are games like those by team ico which I really admire and have a very unsaturated palette, but I don't think this really falls in line with what those games are trying to do.  This is much closer to a zelda/spelunky like game.  Zelda series in particular achieved a lot of different kinds of atmosphere in their various ecosystems, mixing both very colorful and contrasted vibrant areas with rather stoic fog filled dark unsaturated areas.  I think in general it's good to have a full range of these which also reflect a full range of possible expression/emotion/personality the player can feel or see in the game.  A richer range of colors also mean I have a lot more to work with, which is very nice imo.

[clockwrk_routine]

                                                           

[retrostark]

Didn't read to much into the devlog, but I have to say that I really like the art style. 

[SolarLune]

Working on swimming, I see. Good to see actual swimming implemented as opposed to just walking around slower. Will you still be able to attack / control as well as above water?

[clockwrk_routine]

we're actually discussing that now, there's probably gonna be some drawback to fighting in the water unless you specialize maybe in swimming/water fighting (which actually could be great tactic to lure bad swimmers into water).  Right now we discussed the player slowing down to an upright position so we can mix out-of-water attacks with in-water attack animations.

[DarkWanderer]

What do you mean by specialization? Is that something players will configure as the game progresses or part of a skill tree picked out at the start of the game?

[clockwrk_routine]

oh yea regarding specialization there's been a lot of changes (a lot of changes in general but all for the better).  So originally part of our design for customizing the character were in upgrading a set of affinities the player picks at the start, acquiring new ones as they progress.  We're trying something different, where all the branches are available at the start, however active spells have been separated out from the original design and are their own thing you pick up as you progress.  So most of this is your typical rpg affair, weapon proficiency, different magical elements, and movement probably a host of other stuff.  This sort of skill tree grants stat, passive skills, and changes the way certain elements work like you'll have more ways of swinging your sword.

Swimming is one of those things you can upgrade through items or through this tree, swim deeper, swim faster, hold your breath longer under water, possible no weapon penalties.

I dunno it still feels pretty early for the leveling system, but we'll keep iterating until it feels right.

[DarkWanderer]

Thanks for the elaboration.
Is it pretty streamlined? It'd suck to configure all that in a game with permadeath. But I haven't played alot of Roguelike(-Like) RPGs with that kind of stat system so I can't speak from experience.
I guess I mean to ask if the system isn't too cumbersome to set up before hopping into a new game?

[clockwrk_routine]

good question, There's actually very little character setup before jumping into a new game, more on that later / when it's implemented : P 

I meant character progression, earning "skill points" to assign to affinities.  We'll definitely do our best to make it add to the experience, and not take away from it.

[clockwrk_routine]

different area mockups

Much needed work on tiles underway.  I wished someone would make a plugin to preview autotile combinations.  I've used Tiled map editor in the past to preview tiles but I like not switching between programs which keeps me focused.  In the meantime I came up with this over the weekend in ps, it boils down to making a smart object for every tile in your autotile, using layer masks you can separate out each tile.  Saving the edited smart object updates the referencing document.  Using the Alt+Move tool to duplicate tiles(smart object layers).

so the doc looks like this, where I fit together different autotile
combinations to check seams as I'm working.  I can also use the doc as a
 mockup tile editor.

To save alot of time I created an Action that automates the tile creation.  You'll want to check auto-select layer in the move tool to pick tiles.

Some caveats, the time it takes to update smart objects depends on how big the source document is, so I separate each autotile into manageable ps docs.  Also dependent on how many clones there are of the smart object, so I get rid of combinations when I'm done testing and try other ones.

+ Working on another environment
+ throwing action
+ bombs
+ Scrolls for casting single use spells
+ wireframed the new level up system
+ swimming is improved
+ oxygen bar
+ killer fish

[Minion Studios]

Love the art! (and the prospects of candy) There is a nice color palette in these scenes... good animations, too.

[clockwrk_routine]

tiles tiles we're all working on editors, Eugene's been working on an ingame room editor pretty excited for when it's done.



I took a dive into making photoshop extensions, and finished the last features this morning.  It's a tile editor that looks at open documents and imports them as tile palettes, it updates as you make changes (refresh/on-off are there for debugging).  Supports multiple layers, bucket tool, and switching on/off autotiling per document.  It's pretty awesome for making seamless autotiles. Been interested in making my own paint and animation programs, so it's pretty cool I can extend photoshop and use it's awesome tool base.

[Rat Casket]

You kids and your programming.

[clockwrk_routine]

Class: Rogue/Trickster



This guy's sort of like a mage thief,
agile, good with a bow, and
trained in deceptive arts.

We started work designing and implementing classes, each class has a starting item, base stats, and a set of unique affinities along with shared ones the player levels up over the course of a playthrough.  I'll introduce more of them in the following weeks.

[Ticebilla]

Super excited to see class systems.  Especially a mage/thief combo class.

[migrafael]

loving this so much. Going to take some notes for my own projects Following! 

[clockwrk_routine]

thanks!  we're excited too : )  here's something for screenshotsaturday

look a new kid on the block.

still working on this classes avataar, so more on him later. 
the rooms kind of a mess not just from slaying demon spawned fools.
we're now capable of editing a room at runtime.

we made a big move to integrate bosses into the actual levels rather then their own rooms, they now gaurd locked chests, and when you kill them you get a key to that chest.  Couple of reasons we decided to do this:  bosses after a while of playing got old quick as their attack patterns were predictable, by moving them inside the level the fights became more dynamic, but still somewhat optional to the player.  There's more tension also within the levels themselves which is a good thing.

[Rat Casket]

y-your game is p-pretty... I...

*runs away*

[clockwrk_routine]

rabbit ... scuttle back scuttle scuttle back yo

[clockwrk_routine]

oh hey my laptop can make okay gifs

ugh early days for the hookshot, but I luv it.
our melee and thief classes are almost fully implemented.

For me I'm revisitng the tileset, and trying to get over my shortcomings.  Sprites I can do, but when it comes to making an area fleshed out and rich, it's my head in the wall.  What I'm doing now is filling up tilesheets with just random ideas for props and material I could I use, at first with just silhouettes, but then going in detailing just in grayscale.  With silhouettes I can focus on the designs, something about looking into a blob makes you imagine what could be there, and that I think is stimulating on a lot of levels. 
With grayscale I'm no longer worrying about what colors I'm picking out, and how different elements look with one another, or how colors separates each layer, so I'm working less so I can focus more on the environment itself.

I actually like the atmosphere that's happening with these grayscale images, even with the in-color sprites