next »

[Alain]

Hey Thaumaturge! I just played your demo and I want to be honest: it was not easy to get into it, because it feels quite bulky. If you were making your game as a personal project, I would not be so direct. But since you are putting a lot of time into it and want to find a publisher, I feel like you need to work on the basics. If you want my advice, I'd say that before you add more content and features you need to take a step back and try to make your core interactions fun and juicy. Have them playtested a lot and find a way to improve your visual style by maybe going a more abstract route.

I hope you don't take this the wrong way and I admire your dedication and diligence a lot!

[Thaumaturge]

Thank you for your feedback, and for playing indeed! ^_^

Honestly, it's meant to be a little bit bulky--or rather, a little more "human" than most games. It's not meant to be fast-paced, or superheroic, or over-the-top-juicy--I think that gaming has plenty of that.

Take climbing, for example: I've considered a few times having the climbing be much more fluid and swift. But the thing is that I want climbing to feel like it takes effort. A bit like climbing in Thief: The Dark Project, but less stiff.

(This is, I'm aware, a bit of a niche style of gameplay.)

As to the visual style, unfortunately I don't think that reworking it is likely to be feasible at this point. (And honestly I'd rather avoid too abstract a style, personally. It wouldn't suit the feel of this particular game, to my mind.)

All that said, please know I do appreciate the feedback, and indeed, your being direct about it! ^_^

[Alain]

I am really glad you take my criticism for what it is, which is just my opinion. You clearly have a vision about what you want and what not. I will definitely continue following your project and I'm looking forward to see more

[Thaumaturge]

Thank you, on all counts! ^_^

I'll confess that I had been a little worried since posting that I came off as dismissive, and I'm glad if I didn't. ^_^

[Alain]

I'll confess that I had been a little worried since posting that I came off as dismissive, and I'm glad if I didn't. ^_^

You did not at all

[Thaumaturge]

You did not at all

Ah, of that I'm glad! ^_^

[Thaumaturge]

Blog post (31st of May, 2021)
An Enchanted Sarcophagus

Summary: In which natural cavities and their blockage are depicted; a logogram is made; labels and descriptions are written for logograms; a mist-effect is added; a level is believed near-complete; and a new level's rough draft is begun.

Greetings and salutations!

This week's screenshot shows a bit of detail added to one of the tombs in level eight:



Such polish was the main work of the week just past--that and a bit of preparatory writing:

The tombs of level eight are, as has been shown, carven into the side of a sheer gorge. And in being so, they in places break into natural caves or cavities. Where these align more or less with the intended tomb, they're incorporated--hence some of the turns or dips in the tomb-corridors. But in some cases, they're simply superfluous. In these cases, they're instead just bricked up, closing off the unwanted section from the intended tomb-space.

In the week just past, then, I added two such places, one to each tomb. The first is shown in the main screenshot above: a place where a natural cave enters from above, and which is thus blocked off above the corridor. Here below, then, is the other: a smaller cavity that would open on the side of a passage-wall:



You may recall from last week's blog-post that I indicated that I had completed all but one of the tomb-signage logograms. In the week just past I finished that set, adding the final of these logograms above its entranceway:



On which note, I also added names and descriptions for each of the accessible logograms.

And one more element of polish was added in the week just past: As you may have noticed in previous blog-posts, the king who lies in the first tomb is rather well-preserved. This isn't simply a matter of freshness--he's been there for a while--nor of embalmment. Instead, this is accomplished by magic, and powerful magic at that, embedded in the sarcophagus.

It's powerful enough that the weave of it is visible in places: mist that curves and flows in and out of the stone.



Now, there are a few touch-ups yet to be done--offhand I recall that I may want to improve that mist-effect a bit, and that there's a name that I have yet to insert. However, those aside, I believe that I have this level pretty much done!

[edit]A minor correction: there is also one lore-entry and the level's preceding cutscene currently unmade.[/edit]

And with that, I've moved on to writing the "rough draft" for another level. Not the next level, funnily enough, but in fact the previous.

This sees our adventurer travelling through the ruined, abandoned, city named Kevesha--the place that the kings entombed in level eight once ruled. It is there that she finds the clue that leads her to those tombs--but not without encountering danger and discovery along the way!

That then is all for this week--stay well, and thank you for reading! ^_^

[Alain]

To me the mist curve looks as if it was alive and had a mind of its own. This is creepy, good job

[Thaumaturge]

Thank you very much! I really appreciate that! ^_^

[Thaumaturge]

Blog post (7th of June, 2021)
A Period of Quiet

Summary: In which mist is touched-up; a sarcophagus is labelled and described; a king is named; changes are made to project-activity; and a hiatus is announced.

Greetings and salutations!

This week's screenshot shows a touched-up mist-line on the sarcophagus that's found in level eight:



Only a little was done in the week just past--let me elaborate:

As shown above, I enacted some touch-ups to the mist-lines that weave in and out of the king's sarcophagus in level eight. Specifically, I thinned out their mist a bit, and I rounded their profiles a bit (to better hide their polygonal nature), and I tweaked their movement parameters a bit.

The changes aren't huge, but I think that they improve the effect!

I also made the sarcophagus itself examinable, and with that, gave it a name and description.



Sticking with writing, I had previously left a place-holder where would have been the name of the king in the tomb. In the week just past, then, I found and filled in that name.

Now, I mentioned previously, I believe, that I had begun work in earnest on a pivot-project, a project that might replace A Door to the Mists should the latter not be taken up by a publisher.

In the week just past, and aside from the changes described above, I decided to switch to working on that project full-time, setting aside work on A Door to the Mists.

Should I hear from a publisher expressing interest in taking up A Door to the Mists, then this will I daresay change.

Of course, this means that there's likely to be little-to-no progress to report for A Door to the Mists. As a result, I've taken the (slightly weighty) decision that this blog will likely go into hiatus, and remain so until I have news to post regarding the game. I think that this may be the first such hiatus that this blog has had.

(That said, let me clarify that I don't intend to simply let the blog fade away with this post. I intend that if the point comes at which I take the decision to officially cancel A Door to the Mists, I will post that decision here. At the least I intend that story of the game's development will have that conclusion.)

As to the pivot-project, I think that it's coming along well. It is, however, yet early enough that I'm not quite comfortable with showing or discussing much of it.

Still, should A Door to the Mists be set aside and this pivot-project become my "official" project, I do intend that I will start up a dev-blog for it.

That, then, is all for this week--stay well, and thank you for reading! ^_^

[Alain]

Thanks for the update! These are difficult decisions you have to make. But as you say, nothing is set in stone at the moment. I hope things turn out in a way you feel content with and I'm excited to hear about your new project!

[Thaumaturge]

Thank you--I really appreciate that. ^_^

Yeah, as things stand I'm not giving up.

Conversely, at the least the new project is one that I'm excited about. ^_^

[Thaumaturge]

Blog post (28th of June, 2021)
Conclusion

Summary: In which an announcement is made; an e-book is released; small news is given on another project; and a "thank you" is said.

Greetings and salutations!

This week, in place of a screenshot, I will simply post the logo for A Door to the Mists:



Let it be a book-end to the project.

Because, with a heavy heart, I hereby announce that A Door to the Mists... is cancelled.

In short, with no publishers expressing interest in taking on and thus supporting the project, I fear that it's no longer viable for me.

Should that someday change, perhaps I will take it up again, and indeed I've thrown almost nothing away, I believe. But as things stand I've boxed it up, and shelved it.

A Door to the Mists has been my primary project for... well, for a long time now. It has been, and remains, something special to me.

And I've learned, I believe, over the course of my work on it. I have (I hope) a better appreciation for scope. I've improved (I think, at least) in various skills. And I've developed code-modules that remain useful to me--in some cases very much so.

In closing the project, let me leave you with one more thing:

Before I began A Door to the Mists, before indeed I found the concept for it, I wrote a short story in its setting. Indeed, it was in this story that I originally found the setting.

As the story was written for a small writing competition on a forum that I frequent, I made it freely available, and so first publication was out of the window.

But with A Door to the Mists I've long had it in mind to include this story as a freebie, and to that end put together a PDF e-book version. After all, it may not be directly part of the story, but it does take place in the same setting, and involves the mist-world.

And so, with A Door to the Mists cancelled, let me at least release that story today. I will likely post tweet it out too, but here is a link at which the story should be available:
https://thaumaturge-art.itch.io/a-warrior-of-the-khayeht

So, I've mentioned before, I believe, that I've been working on a pivot-project. I'm still not yet ready to reveal it, and in any case I don't want to distract too much from A Door to the Mists in this post. Let me for now only say, then, that I feel that it's progressing, and that I want to start up a dev-log for it sometime soon.

And finally, let me say thank you, to all of you who have read any of these devlog posts. Know that it has been appreciated.

So, that, then, is all--for this week, and for these devlog posts, it would seem. Stay well, and thank you for reading! ^_^

[Alain]

A Door to the Mist has been a very special project and everyone following it can see that you put a lot of hard work into it. It is sad to see it being shelved, but sometimes tough decisions have to be made. I raise my hat to you! I am sure all the things you learned are invaluable and I'm looking forward to your next project!

[Thaumaturge]

Thank you very much, on all counts! Your kind words and your support are both appreciated. ^_^

Indeed, sometimes a project doesn't work out; sometimes it's better to set it aside, even if you do love it. So I think, at least.

[Whales]

A bit late here, but I'll also say: it's been great following your writeups.  The screenshots have always been a lot of fun to look at and ponder, you have a unique art-style that puts a lot into your games and augments the world.  Thankyou for the demos you have published so far

[Thaumaturge]

And thank you for your kind words! I'm gladdened that the game, and that these dev-logs, have found some value for some. ^_^

[RealScaniX]

Oh, my god. I know I am veeeery late to the party... or is it a burial?
It is saddening to hear that you had to cancel the game.
But I am glad that you have already started a new project and I think that nothing was done in vain. You gained lots of knowledge that your new project will surely benefit from.
I wish you all the best!

[Thaumaturge]

I know I am veeeery late to the party... or is it a burial?

A wake is a party of a sort, I suppose. ^^;

It is saddening to hear that you had to cancel the game.
But I am glad that you have already started a new project and I think that nothing was done in vain. You gained lots of knowledge that your new project will surely benefit from.
I wish you all the best!

Ah, thank you, on all counts; what you say is indeed appreciated. ^_^

And indeed, I do feel like the experience and in many cases the code gained over the course of A Door to the Mists has been helpful. ^_^

(For a code-example, the inventory system in the new game uses the inventory code from A Door to the Mists (only slightly touched-up)).