Pixel Hearts…err no Art !
Hi everyone!
Here is another update from the game’s development.
Bosses and enemies are done and we’re moving forward with the final level designs. Once this is done we’ll handle the game balance (enemies hitpoints, weapons damage, cooldowns and heat values, experience points for each level, etc.) and then hit the beta-test period.
In the meantime, here’s a level preview.
What awaits you in the heart of this level?
Ok, i was lying, there’s no giant rainbow unicorn in the game…But there is indeed a space dragon ! He’s got a hot temper and he’s out to get you…
Check out this video preview from the fight:
Hi everyone!
It’s been a while since i last posted here but i have been quite busy working on the game.
I am happy to say that everything is going fine even though i did understimate the amount of work still needed to complete the game.
As a result, the game will probably not be coming out until early 2017 at best.
However, this is good news, as the enemies are nearly done and most of what is left is bosses and then finishing the level designs. The next part will be balancing the game out while looking for any bugs, before we get the game to beta status and allow people to help us fight off bugs and balancing issues.
Here is a preview of one of the latest boss i have been working on… the “Prophet”.
And another little animated preview of the maintenance bot that built the AI base in the Cylon sector (he’s the midboss):
Stay tuned !
Today I don’t want to show you entire image of what I am working on. It is too ugly ^ ^
… uh… what is it? Can you guess it? I can’t myself. I wonder where it comes from – and where it goes. No, I know where it goes: nowhere, because you will kill when playing Dreadstar!
And that’s good news. I don’t want it arriving on Earth.
It is time for last graphics, and also for details and adjustements. It is not the most interesting part, but it gives the feeling that all small details are okay. I am a bit of a perfectionnist, so I have often to stop myself of refining graphics, I should say.
However, last week I did some adjustements on level 2 graphics, because I have new and old graphics – existing before I take part to the project, or that I did at the beginning, 6 months ago.
I had to adapt old graphics a little bit to fit my new graphics. Here is a view of old and new graphics together :
Last week I told you graphics for levels 1 to 5 were finished… my mistake, I forgot one boss!
(no laughs, please, it was written on my planning, but I didn’t read it properly, these things happen on Friday, don’t they?)
It was a pleasure to do this one, as I never really drew dragons until this one. I did sometimes, but didn’t really finished them, if I remember well. I may change it a little bit, I’m still working on it and on its background, but for the big picture, that’s it.
It’s some kind of space dragon. I don’t want to be bitten by it, and it should go to the dentist. So, male or female?
Level 1 to 5 graphics are now created. There will probably be some little changes, but I see the end of drawings slowly pointing the tip of his nose, which is great.
I let some surprise for the game, so I am not going to reveal all from this level, but you are going to face this sorcerer playing with energy :
In this level, I have done some animations with light energy. I find that moving energy renders well, and I guess that it probably is because of the contrast. I would like to do more, as usual, but I have to carry on.
So next week, another sprint, another subject. See you!
The atmosphere of level 5 is dark and shadowed, with a feeling of greatness, to change from level 4. For the depth, I took my inspiration from Carthago, a french comic with very nice big drawings giving a feeling of immensity.
It is a style that I like very much and I would like to do more and more, but I have to carry on, the next bosses are waiting for me!
Don’t tell it to anyone but I think I have more inspiration for this level than for the last one – that I really enjoyed also when I was doing it… it is good news for the following.
I enjoy what I do from the beginning, but I enjoy it more and more, I hope you feel it in the results.
Let’s carry on, then 😉
Here is a little preview for the 5th level’s background:
We have a new logo!
ClemenC has been working on this site (the old one was something i quickly threw together a long time ago and forgot a bit about) and has created us this beautiful new logo which will also be used in a new splash intro to replace the old (ugly) one.
As for myself, I have been working on finalizing the enemies for the Betelgeuse sector (the infested planet one) and ran into some trouble with a simple bezier curve (mainly because i had forgotten how to use the function which is, in fact, fully functional). But the enemies are coming along nicely and should be done shortly.
Next up will be the boss which i know will be a fun one. We want to keep the surprise for the full game but believe me when i say you’ll have fun fighting it !
Things have quieted down a bit after the alpha demo launch but thanks to Gamejolt which put us on the front page, we have had a lot of exposure and, as a result, videos of the demo and the first previews of the game on softpedia, indieretronews and other websites have surfaced. The feedback is very positive and we are glad to see people like the game. We have a lot of areas to improve, obviously, but this means we are not working in vain and our efforts will pay in the end. Can’t wait to finish the game and see people play it on a full release.
With that said, removing new undiscovered bugs (there were only a few, thankfully), launching the demo and marketing it and communicating a lot around the game has taken me more time than i wish and as a result, i am lagging a bit behind schedule. I hope to turn this around by working more this week than usual (i’m probably going to end up working all weekend).
That’s it for now…