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[ANtY]

This magma looks like in top-down view, not side view.

[James Edward Smith]

I can't say I really understand the artistic direction of your walls and barricades. I would think that structures made by the player would match the look of his suit more and also look more sort of metallic and temporary looking. I would think they would look more portable and reusable than your current designs which look more like old ruins to me or something like that. They look like they are part of some ancient alien temple to me, not really like something a player would plop down to protect his temporary dig site.

[AlexDJones]

(I know it's been done before, but it bears repetition)

The game looks gorgeous and sounds really intriguing. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this! Great work so far!

I echo previous comments about the magma texture. I seems out of place when seen from a side view like it is.

[mokesmoe]

I like the lava.
I think that if you made the shader more pronounced on the lava, it would help it look better. Some fancy lighting from the lava would be neat too.

It would also be neat if you had a more detailed texture near the top, and a less detailed one farther down. It would easier to make that way too.

[Scut Fabulous]

Just a quick bump to let you know I'm in the middle of another ship:


I expect to have it finished in a day or two.  Been working day-job / life-stuff this week.

[AlexDJones]

Looks intriguingly ambiguous! Looking forward to seeing the whole thing!

[Fallsburg]

So, I'm just curious.  What's the actual state of the game?  I mean, the art looks fabulous, but is there actually a game to go along with the art at this point?

[Ben_Hurr]

Just a quick bump to let you know I'm in the middle of another ship:


I expect to have it finished in a day or two.  Been working day-job / life-stuff this week.

is it
a pirate ship? 

[J. R. Hill]

Wow man, this is all kinds of awesome!

Is it possible to change the shader for ground that's near the magma?  I think it'd make more sense for that area if you pillow-shade it scaled to a yellow-orange near the magma.  (so it looks like the rocks are just near melting-point there)

[Scut Fabulous]

So, I'm just curious.  What's the actual state of the game? 

As noted in the OP, there isn't a 'game' you could play at this time.  Fear not, this project is less than half a year old (I think).  Everyone is stoked for Fez and it's been in dev since 2007 (good food takes time, jus' sayin').

If you'd like a recent example of jkd's programming, go download This Game is Wizard:
http://www.pixelprospector.com/2010/11/this-game-is-wizard/
It's a really fun game, and I think the first indie game to feature a cracktro.

is it
a pirate ship? 

Yep!  This will drop off Privatiers once in a while to steal your loot and make players hate me.

Is it possible to change the shader for ground that's near the magma?  I think it'd make more sense for that area if you pillow-shade it scaled to a yellow-orange near the magma.  (so it looks like the rocks are just near melting-point there)

That's a really good idea.  It's likely possible, but it might need an additional pass by the shader engine.  It's kinda hard to describe how the engine's shader works because the game doesn't really understand the shape of the terrain.  It just sees a pixel, checks it for neighbors, checks those neighbors for neighbors etc etc.  At least that's kinda how I understand it.  I'll try mocking it up at least.

[Scut Fabulous]

http://scutanddestroy.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/salvage-privatier-raider-vignette.png

Okay... might have gone a bit overboard with the lighting, but it was too much fun to stop!

[santaragione]

just 2 words: so good!

[Lizardheim]

That's one sleek ship you got there.

[Aquanoctis]

I really like that design as well as the lighting, but you're right, I think the lighting maybe makes it looks a little flat.
Anyway, I don't think I've said yet but this is looking really epic. Keep being awesome!

[oyog]

Okay... might have gone a bit overboard with the lighting, but it was too much fun to stop!

This is now my desktop 'cause I use low resolution.

Also, it fucking rocks.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

As noted in the OP, there isn't a 'game' you could play at this time.  Fear not, this project is less than half a year old (I think).  Everyone is stoked for Fez and it's been in dev since 2007 (good food takes time, jus' sayin').

yeah but fez was a playable game even in 2007; fish didn't do six months of creating mock-ups

that said everyone develops differently and this game looks excellent, keep us updated on its progress (as you've been doing)

[Scut Fabulous]

Welp, I guess 'it's done when it's done' has yet to catch on.   


Moving on, I've been improving the sky background!


http://scutanddestroy.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/salvage-debris-ring-01.png


http://scutanddestroy.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/salvage-debris-ring-02.png



I think I'll break it up into tiles to make it easy to animate.  At some point I'll need to revamp the starscape as well.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

oh, i totally believe in 'it's done when it's done' -- in fact the game i'm working on now has been in production for 3.5 years. i just feel that, from my own experience, it's important to get something playable early, something to build off of. otherwise the chance of me giving up on a game to start something new increases. for instance, my first big game i never finished, because i spent seven years planning it (including a 2000 page design document) and relatively little time actually developing it.

in other words, what i mean is that one should spend as much time in *development* as the game needs, but that in my experience (i've been making games for 15 years now) it's important to actually begin development, and not spend too much time in the planning phase if one hopes to ever see it finished. but as i mentioned, developers differ in how long they spend in the planning phase; chris crawford was actually a big proponent of spending 6+ months designing a game before a single line of code is written. so results may vary.

the new sky looks very good, thanks for the update!

[Fallsburg]

Sorry for sparking the powderkeg. 

It was just that the art looks very freaking good, there have been a ton of posts on the art, and almost no posts on the progress of the game.  Which is fine, it's your prerogative on how you want to go about making your game.  I just want to echo Paul and say that it's easy to get stuck in the design phase and then have the development phase go south.  I would just hate to see all of this awesome work go into a game that never actually becomes a game, that's all.

Anyway, it's looking great, and I can't wait to play it. 

[Scut Fabulous]

I don't disagree with anything you guys are saying, but there are a couple points I need to make which might clarify my position a bit.

1)  I am not a programmer.  Other than some logarithmic instincts buried in my cerebral cortex, my math skills are non-existent.  If you need someone to write an essay on the link between the adoption of black powder and its role in creating the middle class in Europe (or some other academic rambling), I'm your man.

2)  I am building assets.  All the mockups I post are built from elements that will be transferred over, in most cases without alteration, into tiles and sprites and scenery used in the game.  Assuming a worst-case scenario; like my friend becomes a traditional Mennonite and turns away from all electric technology, all the assets are still usable.  They can be placed into a completely different game if need be.

I mostly work on this stuff in my spare time, I get a lot of enjoyment just from drawing up concepts and showing them to people who can appreciate them.  That's one part of the equation, the other part is that I have a friend who's an excellent programmer and I've worked with him in the past.  I could try to rustle up coders who have lots of time immediately to work on this project, I know that.  However, I wouldn't have the same rapport with a stranger, I wouldn't have that baseline of past experiences and gut judgement of capabilities.
For the time-being, I'm happy with the way things are progressing, and more importantly I have yet to reach a point where there's enough incentive to get mercenary with the development process.  If someone happens to see my work, and wishes to propose a greater incentive to me, I'm certainly willing to listen.

So, once again, I don't think your points are factually incorrect, and I thank you for the constructive input, but I hope I've made the relevance of my position more clear.