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[neko.works]

@bakkusa: Thanks!

A few more shots from the same area. It is the first gameplay area in the game, just before the first city.

(please click to zoom in!)

[neko.works]

Here's a short video featuring the character viewer scene, still WIP though.

This is the first public video from the project. A good opportunity to check out some of the characters animated, and hear a few tunes from the game!

(please click to go on Youtube!)

[SolarLune]

Scaling the characters up from nothing is a bit odd - perhaps a smoother transition would be nice. Nonetheless, it looks nice and interesting. Good work.

[neko.works]

I did try a transparency fade transition, but still prefer the scaling transition, which looks great with hair physics (not visible in this video). Any suggestions?

[SolarLune]

Maybe the figures could fall from the top, or slide in from another edge?

[neko.works]

Actually, when switching the leader in the field gameplay using L1 / R1, the characters fall down from the top with a nice animation.

I think I will keep the current scaling transition for the character viewer for now. Thanks for your suggestions!

[Tuba]

Looking nice, I think the art style resonates with the jrpg public, the cute 3D characters with more detailed portraits remind me of SNES and early PSX/Saturn RPGs. Nice work.

How's the battle part going?

[neko.works]

Thanks!

I really think that J-RPGs should have chibi / SD characters in-game. The cute and naive drama stories just don't feels right using realistic models.

The battle system is currently at a prototype level. I'm currently mostly working on the exploration / cutscenes systems.

[neko.works]

1st teaser video for Project Light released! Including only realtime, pre-alpha footage. Please check it out:

(please click to go on Youtube!)



Any comments?

[Osteel]

Cool! It has some really strong FF7 vibes, which is great.

[archgame]

Osteel is right, I immediately got some FFVII vibes, which I hope you take as a huge compliment!

How is the exploration aspect of the game going to work?

How big and differentiated are you planning on making the levels? I think the industrial landscape you've created so far is what gives off the strong FFVII vibes so I'm hyped to see what other level designs you are conjuring!

[neko.works]

Thanks guys ^^

You guessed right: FF7 was the major inspiration for this project.

My goal is to make an epic journey for the players, spending on multiple episodes (3 to 5 planned, depending on the popularity).

For the first one, there will be 3 cities and 3 dungeons, along with some small areas. You can see the first city in the background on this teaser, along with the snowy - last dungeon of episode 1 at the end.

Most of the underground cities will keep this industrial feel, with some variations.

[neko.works]

Here's a few exploration systems I've been working on recently.

In-game party leader switch:



Dynamic interactions, depending on the current party leader:



Dynamic cutscenes, depending on the interaction position / party leader:





I've also restarted working on the battle system. The battles now occur directly in the field, without any transition / loadings.

Any comments?

[Osteel]

I like that the battles happen right then without transitions. Transitions are fine, but it slows things down, and I feel like in today's world people would get annoyed if they have to go through the same thing every time.

[neko.works]

The battles are still random. What I meant by no transition is that the battle happens in the exploration environments, without changing the level to a special area after a loading time, such as in most mid-90's JRPG this game is inspired from.

I've made a quick GIF, still a WIP though:

[neko.works]

A few more battle GIFs, showing new spells and foes.

Please check out the official web-page for higher quality, 60 FPS MP4s (just above the "Downloads" section): neko.works/projectlight

[archgame]

I like that you are keeping a continuity between the battles and the world the player is exploring, this could have some cool impacts on the game play. Have you thought about the particular environment effecting the battles (i.e. if there are boxes, maybe the player gets some bonus points for dodging projectiles, water slows down speed, etc.)?

Additionally, referring to your gif in update #75, I was wondering how you decided the camera movement? It appears the camera just cuts to the battle, I think it would be really nice (and if you are going to go to the trouble of having the battles in the same environment) if the camera itself created a continuous shot into its battle state, that way the continuity is obvious (otherwise it could just be a parred down version of the environment and the player might never know). Just a personal preference, but I think it could do a lot to tie the battles and exploration together.

[123dan123]

Nice looking visuals, good luck with it!

[Joh]

Got to say, this looks great! Pretty cute too :D

I too think there should be a pan to "battle view" instead of a cut, the way it happens is already super cool (monster pop + ally pop) So I think id be a nice way to make it even more fluid.

I haven't played FF7 (<- WHAT HAVE I DONE!) but its pretty cool seing a 3d turn based rpg (or would that be j-rpg?) made by an indie dev.

I tried checking your "humble beginings..." Why you redacted everything?!(pictures) Not that it really matters, but I find it slightly odd, either way it looks great today

Best of luck!

[neko.works]

@Archgame: Good idea about the environments affecting the battles. There was a similar system in Breath of Fire 5, for instance, you could put a bomb in the environment before the battle, then activate it in the battle when close enough.

I will also try the camera transition to battle, though I think this might not work, as the camera can be very far from the characters in some places, so the animation will be too fast or strange. Also, there might be collision problems during the animation (with walls ect.).

@123dan123: Thanks!

@Joh: You really should play FF7
About my "humble beginnings", do you refer to this? http://neko.works/upload/340.png, though the game looks even better than this now...