
Introduction Video (WIP)
03/27/2013 Progress
WATSUP everybody. Just sharing the progress here. Graphics are now a toonish style using a combo of photographs (for scenes) and 3D renders (for characters and object animations). Go here for more images. Game title will change. Story is yet loosely defined: you play an orphan girl who gets into some bad hands, has to escape, and survive on her own until she finds some trustworthy friends. You'll find you're still being stalked. It will play as a point-and-click adventure-style game except with some RPG elements, and choices in story path. There may be some voice-acting. After a long time of experimenting I've found this project's path. Still, I don't know how long until a demo. I'll keep working at it, though.
10/26/2011 Return to Hand-Drawn Style
Besides constantly improving the engine for this game, I've decided to switch back to a hand-drawn art style. The 3D style has not been abandoned, but it is a little time consuming. Even though I'm not a great pencil-artist, this hand-drawn style moves a little quicker, feels more artistic, and has a classic look. It's all about experimenting and learning, so I apologize that it may not be developing as quickly as some hoped. It's a slow but steady labor of love. I'm coming to the point where a demo should be easy though. The pixel editing after scans, including hand-dithering, is the bottleneck for development, as well as character animations which include selections of clothing. Thanks for your interest.
03/23/2011 Introductory Video
A short movie with voice-over is available now. Just a little something so you can see the engine in action. I will also release a demo soon--it would be great to get feedback about FPS. I'm itching to know if it's really going to slow down on older systems. Pardon my amateur narration, I've not done a video with my voice before. There is a lighting defect visible on some objects, especially the fountain. That will be fixed shortly. Thanks for any suggestions or comments you may have, and thanks for watching!
02/17/2011 Continued Changes In Graphics
If you're not aware already, Google SketchUp is a wonderful (and free) 3D model builder. Many of the scenes in this game are being designed with this tool. Please give me feedback on the screenshots. While I like realistic proportions and dimensions, I am trying to avoid a 3D-rendered look, coming closer to hand-drawn artwork. After all, the characters and objects of the game are hand-drawn, so the scenes should match closely and not look out of style context.
09/30/2010 Big Changes In Graphics
Found a little drawing pad in a store, bought it. Started sketching scenes and after completing a few, scanned them. Then I colored them on the computer and added some details, and I realized they looked better than my previous pixel art for this project. I've always wanted to have some good art in this game, and for it to be something like the old Kings Quest or Quest for Glory games. I'm pretty pleased with the results, even with that slightly rough/sketchy look to them. The freedom of hand-drawing on paper first is really nice. The scene-like perspective feels more atmospheric, and with this lower angle, I can actually do skies and clouds! Let me have your feedback on this style. Thanks for checking it out!
07/09/2010 Recent Development
- Turn-based battles take place on the immediate map, as soon as you enter the sensing area of a monster. All monsters in the same group engage in combat with you.
- NPCs can path-find using the A* algorithm. Since this is not a tile-based engine, the general area around them is overlain with a mesh of 8x8 squares, instead of per-pixel pathfinding. If 8x8 turns out too slow with more NPCs, might step up to 16.