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[Catghost]

More in-game screenshots!

[TonyManfredonia]

I am LOVING the silhouette-like depth perception. Wonderful work. I love all the information on your website, too! It's coming along nicely

[Catghost]

@amanfr01 That's awesome to know! thanks!




Decided to do a process tutorial on how we did the above environment.



Since the time of day is an important factor in distinguishing the different scenes, we start off by creating a color script to establish the mood and overall color scheme we’re aiming for.



Once a general idea of the colors are decided, the next step is thumbnailing the layout of the scene.



Because of the first-person format we’ve chosen, scenes have to be created with the player’s viewport in mind. We’ve decided to go with a narrower POV than the original color script, where the player can look at each individual parts of a scene as if they were actually standing on the deck of the ship. A mockup gif is created to get an idea of how it will work.



The next step is adding color, and since we already have a color script prepared, we can simply color pick until the scene looks the way we want it to. At this stage we add very basic gradients and effects to get a feel for how the final scene should look.



Now that the layout is completely fleshed out, we throw together a quick mockup to visualize where we want to go from there. The viewport size is decided and some minor polish is done, including chromatic aberration and film grain.



Once we have our mockup, we move on to painting the rest of the scene.



Every part of the scene is painted on a seperate layer so it can easily be broken down into its individual pieces, which will later be used to build the scene in Unity.

Our assets are now finished, and the next step is to rebuild the scene in Unity, adding additional effects, animation, and parallax to bring the environment to life.

[Jasmine]

It's disgusting how beautiful this is. Can't wait to start seeing some dialogue and gameplay!

[Catghost]

It's disgusting how beautiful this is. Can't wait to start seeing some dialogue and gameplay!

we plan on getting a demo out soon! so you'll definitely see some in the next few weeks.






Concept art for one of the earliest areas in the game. The Inspections Headquarters is a giant government building that sits on the edge of the port, under a slanted jut of rock named Ksam's Spear. The strange columns that surround it are skeletal remains of another ancient building, long since fallen apart along with most of the original architecture of the city.



Thumbnail layout for another scene, the wharf that lines the edge of the port. Possibly the most diverse place in the entire city, where thousands of merchants and travelers pass through every day. These passersby leave pieces of their culture behind, including temples and homes, art and ships, resulting in the distinct look of the First Port.






And some bonus test footage of those gifs we shared earlier.

[Catghost]

hey! we recently moved servers and it turns out I haven't been getting any emails to either the catghost or admin @midorea.com accounts. If you sent an email on/after July 10th and never received a response, please re-send it and I will be sure to get back to you.

[Bricabrac]

Following because of all the prettiness.

[bacon]

This Art 

Reminds me of Disney work like Treasure Planet and Atlantis.

[Catghost]

(thanks both of you!)

I was out of town all last week, but somehow still managed to get a lot done. Most of what we’ve been doing is scene work, including scene layouts, compositions, unity dev, and concept art. We’re finished with all of the environment layouts that’ll be featured in the demo, now it's a matter of coloring and detailing them.



Quick mockup of one of the layouts in-game. We’ll tweak and modify this until we’re happy, and move on to coloring the assets.



The story is linear and progresses throughout a single day, so we’re working on a color script to help give each scene a distinct look to define the time in-game.


While working on the color script, we realized that we needed something visual to identify and distinguish each area and not just scenes, something unique. So each each area you can travel to in-game features its own landmark.



The first area in the city is the Inspections Headquarters, situated right at the center of the First Port, circled by a skeletal ruin. It sits in the shadow of Ksam's Spear, a slanted jut of rock that points towards the city. The docks are usually lined with inspectors, collecting tariffs and checking papers from all ships entering the city.



The wharf that lines the edge of First Port, and in the distance the Inspections HQ can be seen, along with Ksam’s Spear that sits across the horizon.



The City Square at the heart of the Western Holm, the biggest district in the city. At its center lies the remnants of a massive statue, referred to as “Ahyr the Drowned” because the rest has sunk below the city, deep into a flooded cavern.

We have roughly 6 different areas planned and 14 scenes that will comprise the game, along with multiple cutscenes and possibly some additional, hidden areas.



Cutscene wip.


and my favorite part of this update is our first rough mix of music.  

[Bricabrac]

Everything looks so pretty. Music also sounds nice.
Keep up with the good work!

[Catghost]

thanks bricabrac!


I've been out of town and busy with writing, but I redid the first post and clarified some of our goals. Everything should be more organized now.

[Catghost]

I've run into a roadblock with scene development/env art, so we're taking some time to focus on our characters until development can return to it's original pace.



Yaelsun Valhyr is a tall, charming ship captain who hails from the upper region of Jobe. His life in the mountains left him ill-suited for life on the sea, but with little other prospects after the loss of his homeland, the young Jobian plunged himself headlong into the ship trade of The Gated City.

 Yael grew up in the harsh climate of northern Jobe surrounded by a nurturing community, making him a hardy man with a gentle nature. He grew up in one of the smallest settlements and, like all Jobians, Yael considers family the most important facet of life. He never once thought of leaving, until he was banished by the Jobian Councilae for crimes against his people. He denied the accusations, but it was no matter. The leaders and community he once considered family had made up their minds about him. With no other choice available, he accepted the ruling. He even embraced the name ‘Valhyr,’ the mark of exile from Jobe.

 Never one to give up, and always looking forward, Yaelsun worked his way into the sailor’s trade in The Gated City. He eventually became captain of his own ship, The Faring Sky. He takes good care of his crew, even if he works them hard, and he has earned their unfailing respect. He sells mainly textiles and wine, and his tenacity and silly charm is what makes him a successful merchant. Yet no matter how determined he is to keep his face turned to new winds, his past seems to follow close behind, refusing to be buried.


ah, yaelsun. the only character that owns a see through night robe that literally covers nothing. thankfully (or sadly) he was wearing pants this time.

[cloudgods]

Oh my god this art is incredible!! Looking through this devlog is such a treat.

[Catghost]

Made a lot of progress but there's not much to show, I've mostly been focused on improving my own art skills through studies so I can apply it to the game assets. Anyway, here's some stuff since the last update:










We also livestream every Wednesday, 3PM to 9PM EST on Twitch!

[Catghost]

a quick composition mockup, tryna push through the last of this background work.

[Catghost]

Moving on to more complicated dev stuff (I'm an artist so anything remotely dev related is hard) and it's been pretty satisfying, so far. (all gifs are in-game)



To start, the framework for a new scene has been completed. It's the hold of the ship from that other scene. The basic camera movements and parallax are there, but otherwise there's nothing really going on. The plan is to be able to interact with basically everything within the scene itself, including books and props that you can view and take. Including...



A city map, complete with map markers for areas you will eventually be able to travel to.



And the thing that's the most underwhelming visually but is actually the most complex feature so far(coding is hard, guys): Rune Puzzle. It doesn't show the mouse, but you click on the runes to the right until they match what's listed on the left. This is a text based mockup of the planned puzzle feature, the complete rune puzzle will be image-based. I'd rather not give away too many details about this for now because a lot might change as we work on it.

That's it for this update.

[Catghost]

I had a change of heart with the puzzle, so now I'm trying something a bit different than what was planned originally. Eventually it'll track how accurately the line is traced over the pattern.



Yesterday we streamed character designs on Twitch and this was the result. A more detailed look at one of the first characters you’ll interact with in the game: Roiqer, a Naquirfan Priest fleeing to the city on your ship. (he's the silhouette in some of the GIFs from before) He won't remain a silhouette facing away from you forever; expressions will play a big role in the story and will change in response to dialogue choices.

[Catghost]

This week's livestream results as we round out the last details of this character design, encompassing all of Roiqer’s holy(fish)ness.

Being a priest from Naquirfa demands that his clothing present a certain level of extravagance, making him stand out almost wherever he goes, displaying his rank in the clergy. Which is still a low position among Naquirfans, who delegate the menial clerical tasks to men while reserving the more revered positions, such as seer, to women, who they believe are the only ones able to interpret the true will of Ushe.

This only allows men to repeat what they’re taught, usually through missionary work in other provinces. But priests like Roiqer remain within the motherland for their lifelong careers, serving their congregation and tending to the needs of their superiors within the clergy. Their role of servitude in the Naquirfan culture is often attributed to the story of Yaelsor, a male theodae who fell in love with a daughter of Ushe. Yaelsor dedicated his entire mortal life to serving both her and her wife, becoming their paramour and taking the name Ubeshe, and even to this day the tradition of Naquirfan wives taking ubeshe continues.

There's a lot of worldbuilding that's been going on behind the scenes, and eventually as we share more story related content I'll release the codex alongside it. That's it for this week though, I've been stuck on some dev stuff that's been slowing down progress. Hopefully I'll figure it out and move on in the next few days.

Demo is still planned to be released sometime during the upcoming months, probably late spring - early summer.

We stream ever wednesday on twitch.

[Catghost]

Curio prop concept sheet and final asset from yesterday's livestream.



The puzzle prototype is finished and now tracks how accurately a line is being traced over the pattern. The puzzle will become more complex as more features are added, with layered patterns and swipe limits.



(Bonus valentines day art. )

[Catghost]

Roiqer(roy-ker), the Naquirfan priest.


In-game scene.


Character design - Ksartham and Yaelsun.


Visual development of props and world design.


Geinoras is a city built on the ancient ruins of the original settlements of the region.


The city of Geinoras in the Yonarys (Neutral Zone) region. Mausoarys (Dead Zone) is located to the south.


We’ll be releasing the demo within the next couple of weeks.