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[foofter]

I fixed some bugs in the party and made it so that once you talk to every monster at least once (although each monster has at least two things to say), a monster steps forward and you can talk to them to move on.

Then the party is over, it fades to black, and you think the game is over...










...But then after all this will come the secret endings that are triggered by befriending individual monsters over the course of the game. So it's all secretly a friendship sim...or something.

I also made this gif:

[foofter]

I fiddled with colors and layout all day today, but I think it ended up being worthwhile.

My original idea was that the garden starts out wide and empty, but fills with plants and monsters as you advance. BUT I decided make it start out cluttered and cramped instead, and then it gradually becomes bigger and more open and full of monster friends. I think that looks/works better, and is also easier to navigate at first.

So here is how the garden progresses:

1) Initial cluttered:


2) After completing Seedling 1, the blue rocks disappear to open up the lower area, with plants and monsters from the seedling:


3) After completing Seedling 2, the trees on the right disappear to open up a new area, leaving little stubs where they were:


As you can see, I also made the 2nd and 3rd seedlings blocked off by blue rocks at first so there's nowhere to try to go besides the first seedling.

Keep in mind, this is just the path for one monster, and other paths might involve other things appearing, but the blue rocks and trees function the same way.

[foofter]

I've been sidetracked lately with work stuff lately, but got to check off a few things today.

Tried to animate the mane and eyelids on Alfred, who I lovingly refer as a dragon lord:

But I think it's too subtle AND doesn't look good. It's better than nothing, so I'm leaving it for now.

I also filled the left part of the garden with tall trees to give it a bit more personality:

This involved making the shading on the trees a bit darker, too, but I think it's too subtle for anyone besides me to ever notice.

I tried changing the color of the water to lighter blue, but it just highlighted how bad the animation is. I really need to work on my water animation game, but not sure how...

I also streamlined objects that can appear post-Seedling 1. For example, large rocks appear in the spots where monsters could've appeared, so there is more connection between different versions of the garden...if that makes sense.

So mostly minor, imperceptible, or failed attempts at changes...LoL.

But next is the long awaited MONSTER PORTRAITS so you can easily see who is talking in conversations! 

[Madamin_Z]

Art style reminds me undertale

[foofter]

Art style reminds me undertale

I often hear that, which I take as a compliment, but honestly I don't feel they're TOO similar. I mean these days retro pixel games aren't uncommon, but I guess it's that the characters are weird, non-human creatures, maybe...? Anyway, thanks!

[Jin Zakk]

I think you've done a great job of making the world feel outlandish but well lived in by these monsters. Especially in the first level, having the game be responsive to the play style was neat.

[foofter]

I think you've done a great job of making the world feel outlandish but well lived in by these monsters. Especially in the first level, having the game be responsive to the play style was neat.

Hey, thanks a lot. That's exactly what I was going for, so that's great to hear.
And sorry the demo is so short, but the game is coming out soon! (January or February)

[JindrichP]

Although it looks really simple I really like the colours and monster design. It looks even better in the trailer with the music.

[foofter]

Although it looks really simple I really like the colours and monster design. It looks even better in the trailer with the music.

Thanks! I think the thing I get the most frequent positive feedback on is the music - the one thing I didn't do!  Haha.

Some people are even like "I didn't like the game, it was too confusing and weird...but awesome music!" So I feel really lucky to have my musician on board. 

[foofter]

I did some extra stuff I'd been wanting to do - add a third blue man in Seedling 3 that you can bring home to your garden.

But for each blue man you don't recruit, red men will appear stacked on top of each other (that zoom around frantically, since you get them if you rush, essentially).
So you get some new mustached heads in your garden either way! Yay!

New blue man, who asks you lots of playful time-wasting questions:


Frantic red snarfers:


I made a bunch of other small changes to garden layout and stuff that happens after the first seedling, which is finally starting to feel pretty finalized so I can move on.

I have a list of a few more small things I wanna get done by Wednesday, when I finally start on MONSTER PORTRAITS!!

[foofter]

Hm well, another day of adjusting small details of color and location of graphics BUT I think it makes a difference.

Just check out the garden with subtle shadows (hopefully you can notice):


And I spent hours on monster fruit. Pixel graphics are still pretty tough for anything besides the monsters without a reference. 

[Think Inside The Box]

Tried the demo and must say it's a quite interesting concept indeed. Characters are weird, but that what makes them stand out from any other video game characters. Glad to see some unique games in here.

[foofter]

Tried the demo and must say it's a quite interesting concept indeed. Characters are weird, but that what makes them stand out from any other video game characters. Glad to see some unique games in here.

Thanks a lot for playing! People always say, our only hope to stand out as indies is to be super weird because that's the one thing big studios can never be. 

[freank]

straaaaaaaange 

[foofter]

straaaaaaaange 

Haha, perrrrrrfect.

[foofter]

Monster portraits! Dang I was looking forward to it a lot, but didn't realize quite how fun it would be! Just confirmed for the millionth time that my favorite part of anything is making the characters. 

Not that I'm 100% happy with the results - would love to hear your feedback!



Dragon Cart (purple dog monster on bottom) feels a bit simple to me, and slightly terrifying...not sure what to do about it.

[foofter]

Another day another three monster portraits with two simple expressions each (I wanna go back and make wildly different poses, but gotta make sure all 16 monsters have a portrait first). I also fixed up yesterday's with better shading (need to go back and fix up Foofter and give him a second expression, tho...)

Here are all of them so far, new ones on top:

[Bricabrac]

The portraits are lovely!
My only nitpick is that you seem to have an issue with "pillow shading": your shadow color often follow closely the outline, thus flattening the image. Try to think about where the light comes from, instead of just darkening the areas around the outline!

An example I found, from this excellent tutorial:


I don't think it's a big issue, for it fits the whole goofy style of your game instead of feeling wrong :3 but I think some portraits, like the pink one, would benefit from a less "pillowy" approach.

[foofter]

The portraits are lovely!
My only nitpick is that you seem to have an issue with "pillow shading": your shadow color often follow closely the outline, thus flattening the image. Try to think about where the light comes from, instead of just darkening the areas around the outline!

An example I found, from this excellent tutorial:


I don't think it's a big issue, for it fits the whole goofy style of your game instead of feeling wrong :3 but I think some portraits, like the pink one, would benefit from a less "pillowy" approach.

Thanks a lot for the link! That was one of the most detailed and clear guides to pixel art I've read.

I know I like more flat and bright images than most people, and I don't want character portraits to suddenly be 3D-rendered images with clear light sources (because of the goofy style, as you mentioned), but I definitely want to make the graphics at least a little more readable and appealing to others, since people often say the graphics are too bright and flat to the point of being confusing. So there was some good stuff in there! And I agree Foofter needs some work to be less pillow-shady (glad to know that term now! ).

Mini-rant: Personally (and maybe I'm an out-of-touch, style-less amateur, but) I found some of the "bad" images in the guide kinda nice (like the "oversaturated" images). I've always liked bright colors that others find jarring my whole life, though, and actually I wondered if I'm slightly color-blind. *shrug*

[foofter]

Here are today's monster portraits. (Didn't get a chance to do a second one for Roofy yet, woops.)


Mel (the turtle blob) was tough since she doesn't have a face or any expressive features...guess that's my fault as a character designer! 

And Tookis is definition of pillow-shading, but that's how his in-game shading is, which I like 'cause he's supposed to be kinda unearthly and ghostly with a cool glow.

So anyway, not totally satisfied with this batch...but onwards to the next monster! ...Which won't be until Monday 'cause no progress this weekend while I'm afk.