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[sambloom]

Here's a new gargoyle sculpt I've been working on over the last few days. The quality of the original gargoyle enemy sculpt kinda sucks, but I still like it, so will probably use it as a prop. I also wanted to make a new gargoyle because I think it would be cool if it had some subtle animations (wing/head movements) instead of just none like the old one.

The tongue hanging out makes the gargoyle look a little bit more silly, might be good in a casual sense but if you wanted to go for a more horror look I'd say skip tongue

Overall it looks great though 

[Thaumaturge]

That's a really cool gargoyle! I especially like the texture on its wings--that does rather look like a soft material wrinkling and sagging a bit due to position and physical forces.

Overall, good work, I do feel! ^_^

Regarding the extended tongue, I think that it can work--just look at all of the actual gargoyles that have their tongue extended. I think that what might help would be to have the tongue be held straight (and downwards) rather than hanging loosely--the latter is perhaps a bit too close to an animal with its tongue lolling.

[sambloom]

tongue extended. I think that what might help would be to have the tongue be held straight (and downwards) rather than hanging loosely--the latter is perhaps a bit too close to an animal with its tongue lolling.

Good point

[Ian_A]

That's a really cool gargoyle! I especially like the texture on its wings--that does rather look like a soft material wrinkling and sagging a bit due to position and physical forces.

Overall, good work, I do feel! ^_^

Regarding the extended tongue, I think that it can work--just look at all of the actual gargoyles that have their tongue extended. I think that what might help would be to have the tongue be held straight (and downwards) rather than hanging loosely--the latter is perhaps a bit too close to an animal with its tongue lolling.

Thank you! 

The tongue hanging out makes the gargoyle look a little bit more silly, might be good in a casual sense but if you wanted to go for a more horror look I'd say skip tongue

Overall it looks great though 

Thanks for the kind comments  Yeah, the game is kinda half way between cute and horror, so I'm happy with your comments. This one looks significantly less goofy than the original gargoyle in my opinion, but hopefully it still fits within the art style of the game.

[Phodex Games]

Hey just found your game. You pretty much realized the same game idea as I currently do with my project Raidborn, also a first-person action RPG with randomly generated levels. My approach is a little different though as I wanted to created an Elder Scrolls-like game, but condensed to mainly the dungeon crawling aspect. Or like I use to say a Skyrim + Diablo mix.

It's awesome to see somebody elses interpretation of the same idea. I think when I got some time I will get myself a copy of your game and try it out. I am always super excited to see what other small teams are doing.

I sadly recognized your game didn't do that well on Steam. I am not sure if that was your first release on steam, but my first one didn't do very well either. It's a tough market.

Anyways I just wanted to come by and appreciate your work. I am looking forward in trying your game.

[Ian_A]

Hey just found your game. You pretty much realized the same game idea as I currently do with my project Raidborn, also a first-person action RPG with randomly generated levels. My approach is a little different though as I wanted to created an Elder Scrolls-like game, but condensed to mainly the dungeon crawling aspect. Or like I use to say a Skyrim + Diablo mix.

It's awesome to see somebody elses interpretation of the same idea. I think when I got some time I will get myself a copy of your game and try it out. I am always super excited to see what other small teams are doing.

I sadly recognized your game didn't do that well on Steam. I am not sure if that was your first release on steam, but my first one didn't do very well either. It's a tough market.

Anyways I just wanted to come by and appreciate your work. I am looking forward in trying your game.

Your game looks really cool!! Wishing you luck with it!

[Ian_A]

Concept for a hungry ghost type enemy I'm planning. At the moment I'm thinking it will use ranged control abilities to slow the player, and will steal food stat from the player as well as lowering their other stats with their melee attack.

[Thaumaturge]

That sounds like a neat enemy, I think. ^_^

[Ian_A]

That sounds like a neat enemy, I think. ^_^

Thank you!

Been working on the town above the mine, Larkstead  

[Thaumaturge]

A cool-looking environment thus far, I think. ^_^

(I do rather like that gargoyle in particular. I think that I recall it being shown previously, is that correct?)

[Ian_A]

A cool-looking environment thus far, I think. ^_^

(I do rather like that gargoyle in particular. I think that I recall it being shown previously, is that correct?)

Thank you!

Yes, I've been finishing up the gargoyle. Here is the low poly (~10k triangles) within 3d coat:

[Thaumaturge]

That is definitely a very cool gargoyle! And I do like the attention-to-detail put into it, such as in the inclusion of horizontal grooves that would seem to speak to the manner of its carving. ^_^

[Ian_A]

That is definitely a very cool gargoyle! And I do like the attention-to-detail put into it, such as in the inclusion of horizontal grooves that would seem to speak to the manner of its carving. ^_^

I appreciate your kind words as always. Always trying to improve my art, but hopefully keeping it within my style.

I've been working on a new font for the game and since the name is changing and I will need a new logo, I've decided I want to make the logo out of pieces of the font. Here's my progress so far with the font. The task at the moment is cleaning it up and deciding where it's too flowery or not fitting. I'm pretty happy with the cartoony skull I replaced the @ symbol with.



the top one is the first overall pass, and the one below it is the one I've started to refine and dial back a bit. I want it to be readable and functional but still a distinct flavor, and nice as a logo.

[Thaumaturge]

I do like that new font! (And indeed, the included skull, too!) ^_^

It looks... Fun and fantasy-ish, I would say, which seems appropriate.

Looking at the lower-case character-lineup, I do worry that legibility is going to drop if the character-size decreases much beyond what you have there. However, if this font is intended only for titles and the like, then this is perhaps not a problem.

Do I take it that the name being changed is that of the game (as opposed, say, to the name under which you develop)? If so, then that's intriguing! "Larkstead" feels softer and more ambiguous than "Crimson Keep"--whether that's fitting I of course don't know, but I am curious.

[Ian_A]

Looking at the lower-case character-lineup, I do worry that legibility is going to drop if the character-size decreases much beyond what you have there. However, if this font is intended only for titles and the like, then this is perhaps not a problem.

Do I take it that the name being changed is that of the game (as opposed, say, to the name under which you develop)? If so, then that's intriguing! "Larkstead" feels softer and more ambiguous than "Crimson Keep"--whether that's fitting I of course don't know, but I am curious.

Thank you for the feedback! Yeah, good point about the lower-case, I've also heard some of the lower-case are too thick or tilted, so I'm going to go through and try and make them more consistent and hopefully legible in the process. But still retain some character and uniqueness.

The name change is all-encompassing, I'm just kind slowly getting there and rolling it out, especially since I'm not done with the font/logo. Yeah the font is for the logo and for use in the game and promotionally, maybe it's a weird idea but I just think it's cool to have font synergy across the whole project be the same and custom if possible.

My new goal is to make the first area easy enough that anyone can play through it, first try, so I think the name sounding more ambiguous/softer is okay. But, the logo in full form with wrought iron gate aesthetic and blue fire in the background, will convey some distress.

[Thaumaturge]

Overall, I think that what you describe sounds like a good set of plans! ^_^

And indeed, I think that it makes sense to have that consistency and uniqueness in the presentation of your project, both in the game itself and in its promotion! ^_^

[Ian_A]

Still working on this font, and tests/thoughts about how I might want to design the logo. The blue flame is magic fire created by the game's antagonist, fires which burn continuously in Larkstead, around the bones of those who wronged the antagonist.

[Schrompf]

Are you sure about renaming your game? You *are* known a bit by now, and "Crimson Keep" does a very good job of delivering an impression of what your game is about. "Larkstead" on the other hand could mean anything. I'd need to google what the words mean, and I'm fairly fluent in English.

Please reconsider. Renaming is sort of a last measure in my books. You do this when your previous name is burned and your now perfect experience is wrongly dismissed because of it. If this is not the case, you'll just lose any recognition and gain nothing.

[Thaumaturge]

Still working on this font, and tests/thoughts about how I might want to design the logo. The blue flame is magic fire created by the game's antagonist, fires which burn continuously in Larkstead, around the bones of those who wronged the antagonist.

Ooh, that looks really cool! (Literally, in the case of the colouring. ;P)

I will confess that Schrompf's concerns are a worry--but I don't feel that I know well enough to comment on the matter, myself.

[Ian_A]

Are you sure about renaming your game? You *are* known a bit by now, and "Crimson Keep" does a very good job of delivering an impression of what your game is about. "Larkstead" on the other hand could mean anything. I'd need to google what the words mean, and I'm fairly fluent in English.

Please reconsider. Renaming is sort of a last measure in my books. You do this when your previous name is burned and your now perfect experience is wrongly dismissed because of it. If this is not the case, you'll just lose any recognition and gain nothing.

I've thought about it quite a bit, and I agree with you on a few points about the new name, but I feel like it's unavoidable.
1. SEO: 59 million results for crimson keep, there are many many media properties with the word 'crimson' and 'keep' in them, and some sound almost exactly like mine "Crimson Peak", the crimson court expac for darkest dungeon, slasher's keep, there is a free to play flash rpg with hentai/porn elements that is called literally "Crimson Keep" and is among the 3rd image results when you google "crimson keep". There is also a non-porn(?) visual novel game on steam called "assassin at crimson keep" lol. Some game sites that scrape to automatically create a profile on games with screenshots and stuff, have combined screenshots from both games. Larkstead has 1500 results as of right now and is 1 word, two syllables, and it is the name of the small village in the game, the game was always taking place in the dungeons and stuff below this village, and the plot of the castle sinking deep into the earth and becoming hell castle, is how I got "crimson keep", and in 2015, I think the only thing I saw when I researched the name was like an area in that sidescrolling mmorpg. But now it feels flooded and even more generic than it originally felt. Larkstead is the first word spoken in the story video for my game, it's highly relevant and I think works for me.