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[RealScaniX]

Here's a first peek at the axes in action. They've a pattern with 3-8 phases (swing or pause) depending on the difficulty level.
 
You will either get cut in half or get mad by listening to those sounds.
 
(It's still in the construction bay, so no torches.)

[oahda]

Scaaaryyy! Great sound design and nice touch with the sparks!

[RealScaniX]

Scaaaryyy! Great sound design and nice touch with the sparks!

Thank you! And especially thanks for the bit about the sounds, I was thinking it might be a bit... extreme. ^^

[JobLeonard]

[RealScaniX]

Hehe, loved that movie.
 
It's not the engine of the tomb, though. It's the typical mechanism to prevent anyone getting into the holy tomb.
Unless they are clever or have good reflexes. ^^

[Thaumaturge]

Aaah, so this is an "Early Axes" game.

More seriously, those look and sound really good--and nicely deadly! ^_^

I do think that the sound of the axes hitting the floor might get a little irksome over time--I might suggest trying either reducing the volume of the sound, or making a version with less "clang" to it. But then, I'm not great at sound design, so take all of this with a grain of salt!

Those swinging sounds however seem really good to me, and I love the blue light on the blades! ^_^

[RealScaniX]

Aaah, so this is an "Early Axes" game.

XD

More seriously, those look and sound really good--and nicely deadly! ^_^

I do think that the sound of the axes hitting the floor might get a little irksome over time--I might suggest trying either reducing the volume of the sound, or making a version with less "clang" to it. But then, I'm not great at sound design, so take all of this with a grain of salt!

Thanks for the input. I will surely adjust some things when I playtest the scene.

Those swinging sounds however seem really good to me, and I love the blue light on the blades! ^_^

Thanks again! I manipulated the normals for quite some time to get a shininess that worked for me.

[uthamon]

I've read all 11 pages and I'm very impressed by your progress so far. You nailed the voxel aesthetics and I think it's a good choice to use it in pair with the story you described. Interactivity of the house is amazing and I love the fight mini game.

I would like to point out two things I'm worried about though. First, in my opinio regular pixel art paintings look out of place. They look really good per se but with the voxel world around, the final effect is kinda jarring.

Second, aren't you worried that the title is too generic? Your game looks like something that could financially successful but I wonder if the title wouldn't hold the game back.

[JobLeonard]

I do think that the sound of the axes hitting the floor might get a little irksome over time--I might suggest trying either reducing the volume of the sound, or making a version with less "clang" to it. But then, I'm not great at sound design, so take all of this with a grain of salt!

You could try giving the first swing a relatively loud volume for the jump scare, and then tone down the volume a bit

[RealScaniX]

I do think that the sound of the axes hitting the floor might get a little irksome over time--I might suggest trying either reducing the volume of the sound, or making a version with less "clang" to it. But then, I'm not great at sound design, so take all of this with a grain of salt!

You could try giving the first swing a relatively loud volume for the jump scare, and then tone down the volume a bit

Hi! Thanks for the suggestion!
I really HATE sound jumpscares. ^^
Also, I like the way you can hear those things from a distance. Did you play Grimrock? I loved how you can hear some sounds through the walls and start to wonder what it is.
 
I've already reduced those "clank" sounds and I think I am getting there. Will return to the sounds when the scene contains all elements.

[RealScaniX]

I've read all 11 pages and I'm very impressed by your progress so far. You nailed the voxel aesthetics and I think it's a good choice to use it in pair with the story you described. Interactivity of the house is amazing and I love the fight mini game.

Hi! Thank you for your interest and your kind words.
 

I would like to point out two things I'm worried about though. First, in my opinio regular pixel art paintings look out of place. They look really good per se but with the voxel world around, the final effect is kinda jarring.

Mm... I had those thoughts as well. Then again: Pixel art is just voxel art with a zero scale in z direction.
One thing bugging me is that they need a vastly different "voxel" size to be recognizable. But: You need to break free from the voxel resolution for a few elements: texts, symbols, some effects like particles, etc.
I've played a short horror voxel game and it did the same: combine voxel graphics with pixel art textures for signs etc. At first I was like "Ha! Fail!", but then I looked at it and realized that it looked totally fine.
 

Second, aren't you worried that the title is too generic? Your game looks like something that could financially successful but I wonder if the title wouldn't hold the game back.

The title is the original name of the short story this is (very roughly) based on.
Having said this, I do have the idea of renaming it to something more recognizable in the back of my mind. Thanks for giving your opinion on this matter.
 
And thanks for saying that it might be successful. If I'm lucky I will earn enough money to get back the fee for putting it on steam this time...   Xd

[RealScaniX]

Turn around, there might be a secret behind you!
 
The sequence for raising the stairway is finished.
It was quite a bit of work with all those sounds etc.
And you will only see it twice in the whole game. Unless you just keep playing with the button...
 

[Thaumaturge]

Ooh, that is really cool! I'm loving some of the detail that you're infusing into this project--in this case, the way that the stairs clank and clatter and raise imperfectly, the way that the chains jounce, and so on. It adds a lovely verisimilitude to the thing, I think. And of course, a hidden passage behind a staircase, opened by a secret button, is a lovely thing to have, I feel. ^_^

[RealScaniX]

Ooh, that is really cool! I'm loving some of the detail that you're infusing into this project--in this case, the way that the stairs clank and clatter and raise imperfectly, the way that the chains jounce, and so on. It adds a lovely verisimilitude to the thing, I think. And of course, a hidden passage behind a staircase, opened by a secret button, is a lovely thing to have, I feel. ^_^

Thank you very much! The first version of the sounds didn't sound very promising, but I like the end result.
The whole animation is "procedural" as kids say these days. I like doing stuff this way. Those sparks and dust will appear at different times and places each time and the chains will move differently for both stairways.
I've probably spent more time than necessary (because it's only played once or twice in the game), but I think it will be a great scene for the player that finally found out the right combination and was able to raise the second stairway. (You will only see the first one from the side while it raises and you need to return to this location at a later time to be able to find all 4 buttons and the right combination to raise the second one.)

[Thaumaturge]

The whole animation is "procedural" as kids say these days. I like doing stuff this way. Those sparks and dust will appear at different times and places each time and the chains will move differently for both stairways.

That's pretty neat. Procedural methods, used well, can be very effective I do think! ^_^

I've probably spent more time than necessary (because it's only played once or twice in the game), but I think it will be a great scene for the player that finally found out the right combination and was able to raise the second stairway.

Although not frequent, I feel like it might make for a nice "moment" in the game, something memorable--in part because of that extra detail, perhaps. ^_^

[RealScaniX]

Tip of the day: Don't take longer breaks on the floor tiles with holes.
 
This is the last obstacle for the tomb scene, so I can add the missing sounds and finish the layout tomorrow.
 

[RealScaniX]

"Wanna get back to the start real quick? Try one of our axes! They offer some great shortcuts..."
 
The layout of the tomb scene is finally complete. I will now start working on the main puzzle of the scene. And some silly workaround for solving it...
 
I have worked for a while on this and could make some nice progress recently as I don't have to work for my day job at the moment.
I'm glad that the lighting finally worked out nicely and I think it's a nice parkour for the player.
This whole thing obeys the action difficulty setting, by the way. On easy, you will have lots of time to pass the spikes and axes. And you can change the difficulty at any time without any penalty.

[RealScaniX]

Some screenshots for a higher quality look at the scene:
 

[JobLeonard]

I go away for one week and come back to all these wonderful updates! 

Anyone else who would be very cautious about pushing a button that's described as "badly hidden", btw?

[RealScaniX]

I go away for one week and come back to all these wonderful updates!  

Welcome back!
 

Anyone else who would be very cautious about pushing a button that's described as "badly hidden", btw?

When did ever happen anything bad after pushing a secret button in a dungeon? ^^