I was going to make a post referring to my Twitter account for future info, and saying the Devblog was probably not the most useful thing for getting the game out there, but decided that advertising really isn't the point here. Shit. I should have gone with the devlog spelling.
This week hasn't seen the leaps and bounds that the previous one has, partly due to increased distractions, and partly due to the most important work being slow, noodly and iterative by nature: frame-by-frame sprite animations and getting projectile behaviors to the minimum acceptable level of awesomeness.
via Gfycat
via Gfycat
And there really IS a minimum. The boulder and water bolt will feel better with cast animations, better target hit effects, and things like debris trails or water that isn't made of little circles. But the boulder slowing down when it hits something and dragging killable targets to the ground, and the arcing, accelerating motion of the water bullets -- those have to be there for the spells to feel cool and unique in the first place.
That's most of what I got done this week, though there were also a few little touches to spell icons, UI, and the casting animation. I think it's about time I really push the element 'system' in Carmot, since I've tried to put a great deal of thought into differentiating the way they each play. I hope that players will be able to pick an element (or a mix thereof) to perfectly match their playstyle.
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Carmot Devblog #3 - Alchemical Principles
This was a huge week!
I made a ton of progress that I'm quite pleased with. To name a few: -Arcing projectiles
-New camera system better suited for scrolling the view, especially upwards
-Spells that can deal multiple staggered hits of damage with a single easy command
-Zones that pulse damage to all available targets
-Basic Air effects
-Basic death effects +-a much more satisfying death explosion
-And fundamental groundwork for some major systems, like having multiple targets to destroy and being able to trigger the end of multi-enemy encounters to spawn loot! I ended up drilling down into the mutagen system instead of adding a bunch of elemental effects. Making those is great, but it felt right to refactor a lot of old stuff and finish a few nearly-done features first. With so much of that out of the way, though, I can get back to the juicy stuff. Art!
I made a ton of progress that I'm quite pleased with. To name a few: -Arcing projectiles
-New camera system better suited for scrolling the view, especially upwards
-Spells that can deal multiple staggered hits of damage with a single easy command
-Zones that pulse damage to all available targets
-Basic Air effects
-Basic death effects +-a much more satisfying death explosion
-And fundamental groundwork for some major systems, like having multiple targets to destroy and being able to trigger the end of multi-enemy encounters to spawn loot! I ended up drilling down into the mutagen system instead of adding a bunch of elemental effects. Making those is great, but it felt right to refactor a lot of old stuff and finish a few nearly-done features first. With so much of that out of the way, though, I can get back to the juicy stuff. Art!
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Carmot Devblog #2: Building a Ruin
It's time for a weekly update on Carmot development!
This week has been all about getting a functioning background system into place:
I call it a 'system' only because there's a little bit more code there to allow for switching the images around or changing how dramatic the parallax effect is. It can (and absolutely will!) be expanded upon, and will hopefully be one of the key factors in making the stuff you do feel MEATY and IMPACTFUL: my hope is to have the background layers like leaves be capable of responding to your spells to shake, animate and blow around.
This clip also gives you a look at the player character in Carmot: a mysterious little crimson-robed... alchemist with a nice jaunty, floppy run animation. This is the only look in their wardrobe for now, but I love the idea that powerful upgrades and the like could add visual flourishes to the character -- hat bands, neck clasps, eyewear, and so on -- such that you can work toward looking like a powerful specialist of your chosen element(s). The character also has frames for jumping, falling, crouching, focusing/channeling and firing off spells, but you'll get to see those in future updates!
Starting next week, we'll be looking at what you can expect from combat in Carmot, including an overview of the elements and item/loot system!
Have questions, comments, feedback or suggestions to share, or just want to keep up on the latest Carmot news? Join me on Discord with the link below! I'd love to start building a community, and I'm looking to use Discord to share snippets of work-in-progress development. Of course, you can also join just to chat -- I hope to see you there!
https://discord.gg/HaA6kSQ
This week has been all about getting a functioning background system into place:
I call it a 'system' only because there's a little bit more code there to allow for switching the images around or changing how dramatic the parallax effect is. It can (and absolutely will!) be expanded upon, and will hopefully be one of the key factors in making the stuff you do feel MEATY and IMPACTFUL: my hope is to have the background layers like leaves be capable of responding to your spells to shake, animate and blow around.
This clip also gives you a look at the player character in Carmot: a mysterious little crimson-robed... alchemist with a nice jaunty, floppy run animation. This is the only look in their wardrobe for now, but I love the idea that powerful upgrades and the like could add visual flourishes to the character -- hat bands, neck clasps, eyewear, and so on -- such that you can work toward looking like a powerful specialist of your chosen element(s). The character also has frames for jumping, falling, crouching, focusing/channeling and firing off spells, but you'll get to see those in future updates!
Starting next week, we'll be looking at what you can expect from combat in Carmot, including an overview of the elements and item/loot system!
Have questions, comments, feedback or suggestions to share, or just want to keep up on the latest Carmot news? Join me on Discord with the link below! I'd love to start building a community, and I'm looking to use Discord to share snippets of work-in-progress development. Of course, you can also join just to chat -- I hope to see you there!
https://discord.gg/HaA6kSQ
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Carmot Devblog #1
Welcome to Carmot!
Hi, I'm Explodjinn, and this is where I'll be posting news and developments as I work on bringing Carmot to life!
Carmot is an action game of alchemy and artifice, inspired by the incremental genre -- with the usual emphasis on deep, rich systems to exploit for wealth and power!
In Carmot, you'll control your player avatar directly, using your keyboard to move, jump, dodge, and interact. Harness the legendary Philosopher's Stone and bind powerful spells from 10 distinct elements to your mouse buttons and wreak havoc! Choose your level of challenge (and reward) with a broad range of craftable and lootable mutators that can change your Stone's form and function, awakening challenges both baleful and benign for you to overcome. Optimize rewards for a playstyle that you define with your choices of mutators, spells, and piles of customizeable random gear and modifiers!
Carmot is pre-alpha and heavily work-in-progress, but I'm excited to start sharing details and glimpses of the game as systems are hammered into shape and populated with content. I'm here to create a game I've always wanted to play, with a massive focus on awesome loot, big spells, and enabling clever builds and playstyles. I'd be thrilled if it turns into something others can enjoy, too, so stay tuned for details in the coming weeks!
Hi, I'm Explodjinn, and this is where I'll be posting news and developments as I work on bringing Carmot to life!
Carmot is an action game of alchemy and artifice, inspired by the incremental genre -- with the usual emphasis on deep, rich systems to exploit for wealth and power!
In Carmot, you'll control your player avatar directly, using your keyboard to move, jump, dodge, and interact. Harness the legendary Philosopher's Stone and bind powerful spells from 10 distinct elements to your mouse buttons and wreak havoc! Choose your level of challenge (and reward) with a broad range of craftable and lootable mutators that can change your Stone's form and function, awakening challenges both baleful and benign for you to overcome. Optimize rewards for a playstyle that you define with your choices of mutators, spells, and piles of customizeable random gear and modifiers!
Carmot is pre-alpha and heavily work-in-progress, but I'm excited to start sharing details and glimpses of the game as systems are hammered into shape and populated with content. I'm here to create a game I've always wanted to play, with a massive focus on awesome loot, big spells, and enabling clever builds and playstyles. I'd be thrilled if it turns into something others can enjoy, too, so stay tuned for details in the coming weeks!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)