Hail, Loinclothed Heathens!
Let's get some bad news out of the way RIGHT NOW, shall we? It is becoming crushingly apparent that I won't get to a 100% finished Savage powerhouse of a game by the end of this year. BUT, what I've got right now is fantastically close. It's feeling better (mechanically and content-wise) than I could have ever imagined, so we're getting there!
There is indeed a shiny new playable build to talk about, too, so let's dive in!
Item number one for me over the last couple of months has been to MAKE. THE MAP. MATTER! I'm churning out stages, levels and areas like crazy, so here's a sneak peak at one of the more complicated areas I've had to tackle:
Here's a visual guide I've been using to manage this maze-like location known as "Hell's Teeth" (which has some equally menacing lore behind it. Details will be found in item descriptions and NPCs for players to piece together)....
... And, upon entering any of those lettered "nodes", or entrances, we wind up in the above grid (this is pretty much my ode to the Death Mountain stage in Zelda 2).
Navigating the catacombs, ruins and caves that comprise this area is no joke, and you can expect some nasty surprises!
Here are a few glimpses into some of the new nightmarish locations:
These new areas also feature a host of new props and background assets:
With new places comes new faces. And things with which to murder them. Among them is the Nocturm Cult - a clan of Gosenian death worshippers. Specifically, they bow to The Noctwurm, an aspect of the horned serpent, Abhan Yloth. The two have been seperated so long, they have confused each other for separate entities and have therefore become enemies, one attempting to devour the other.
Some of the new pieces of gear:
It was personally exciting to me to FINALLY get in some heater shield type designs, as well as finally getting in some two-handed axe slaughter time!
One of the hallmarks that I have really tried to get right about the game world I'm trying to create has been interactivity and rules. Rules that all other actors/entities/objects should adhere to (albeit in a whacky 2D barbaric environment). A lot of the feedback I've gotten from viewing folks playing the game has shown some holes in the delivery of this philosophy - one of them being, EVERYBODY tries to pick up corpses!
Well... be disappointed no further!
Yup - you can now pick up, carry, and throw corpses (this includes all the savagely hilarious situations that spring from this, like picking up a downed undead warrior, tossing him into another, and both of them shattering in a shower of bone fragments).
On a related note, this following depiction of more fun with corpses is coming in the next update:
You can see there that corpses will be affected by fire and will stop arrows, making them (corpses) makeshift shields against hazards coming at you from above (including things like falling spikes, acid, etc.)! This also means LIVING enemies, where applicable, will ALSO be affected by things like fire, acid, etc.
Here's a peak at some of the tunes I'm working on that you'll hear in a later game *spoiler*, where *spoiler* summons the *spoiler* causing the player to *spoiler* the *spoiler*:
Though there's work yet to do, all the art, programming, music and mechanics are already blending together to create something that is not just fun, but satisfying to play for you all, and a world full of interesting things and places to discover.
That about wraps it up for the highlights of the update. Here's the usual detailed breakdown of what's new in the latest build:
There has been a whole HOST of very talented and entertaining people taking a crack at the game and introducing it to their audiences. To them, I say THANK YOU for giving the game a shot and spreading the word!
Click on those links and give those fellas a follow, if you'd be so kind!!
(SourKoolaidShow's stream specifically had me in stitches: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/207509016)
And that's a wrap on this update! If you want to follow along with development more closely, come take a look at my Twitch page where I stream live development!
https://www.twitch.tv/toborprime
If you're curious for more insight, I have the HUGE pleasure of hanging out with my friend Tim to bring you a brand spankin' new podcast! We're going to make this a thing every other Wednesday from now on!
I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season! Thank you SO MUCH for all your support, and I will see you next year!!
-Matt