DESOLACE & BLACKSPIRE PEAK (0.3S.18)

WE'RE GETTING INCREDIBLY CLOSE TO THE END OF THIS MILESTONE

...a phrase which is incredibly fun to say. 0.1 was Infra. 0.2 Was UI and Core Functionality. Those each took about two months. So for the first four months of the project I had this little tiny test room, with pads to test things on. (A space we will rebuild/return to when it's time to perfect combat and Puzzle Tools in 0.4 & 0.5). 

But when we began 0.3 I created a Hub for the Development and QA team. It's a place you can teleport back to with a command in the ESC menu. This hub has appeared in a handful of screenshots. It's meant to allow us to quickly navigate between the 21 worlds with ease. 

Soon, it gets a refresh into 21 chambers, each containing 12 Main portals, and between 10 and 50 doors. These will allow us to QUICKLY navigate to any place in the game... without resorting to a Menu... because... you know... it's more fun to imagine you're playing .hack// the way Helba did. 

But for the remaining 3 worlds which need to be created, and the Icon Refresh/Audio Sphere creation (we're finally choosing music for the worlds now that I know WHAT they will look like), and the creation of one of each of the Races in the game for reference and consistency, this hub will continue to exist in its current form.

THIS MILESTONE WAS SUPER FUN TO CREATE

As you likely know at this point, this game has a RE:BOOT habit of poking fun at the internet, youtube, and meme culture. It's a satire of itself. It takes itself incredibly seriously, but then pokes tongue and cheek fun at... a lot. 

The first zone for this build was DUSTBASIN TEMPLE. 

There are two 'Demi Human Animal' races in the game. One of which is called the AARD, and is incredibly bright. They're lively and fun, and emulate human behavior. The other is the URRD. These folks are not as friendly and bright. They're stolid, and have nearly grey color schemes. Both races were made by... someone... in the Lore. But that individual, who gave sentience and life to a collection of carved Animal Like humanoid statues left them behind with no marching orders. As such, the two factions chase different goals in life. The AARD want to surpass humanity by learning all of what the mortal races take for granted. Where the UURD crave to be nothing LIKE the mortals. They view themselves a replacement for the the Mortal races, and therefore embrace a culture of Stone, Emotionlessness, and a lack of color. In that Spirit, their world is a 1930's styled black and white adventure (at least until you beat the Temple and break the curse on their thinking). It's windmills, in a marsh, with a familiar steam boat, and a friend from the distant Disney past who will be making a guest star appearance.

THE SECOND ZONE FOR THIS BUILD IS BLACKSPIRE PEAK... OR IS IT BLACKPEAK SPIRE... 

I keep mixing it up... We'll make sure I've spelled it right in post.

This is the FIRST zone to be entirely inside of a structure. The Elder Scrolls concept of being 'Outside... then Inside...' was a feeling we really wanted. But even Ocarina of Time had the Zora's Domain, which was almost entirely enclosed inside of a structure. In honor of, but in an attempt to be very different from our mentor, this Endgame World is ALSO blue, but features an Aetheric Sea at the bottom which melts anything it touches. 

Centuries ago SOMEONE occupied these once hallowed halls, until something destroyed their holy settlement. Players watching carefully will notice some lore similarities with one of our more enigmatic races elsewhere in the Sea of Steam.

New residents have taken up home in the Ruins however. The dark cowled Ashen race, with their demonic features, calls this quiet, bleak place home. Feared by the other races, for their ability to wield arcane forces with ease, and their standoffish personalities, they find it hard to make any inroads with the other Skylands. 

But when you tackle their story you'll come to understand that impressions can be deceiving. The Ashen are not what they appear to be, and with your help might break out of the shell they find themselves stuck in. For those who's favorite color is blue, The Spire will make for a very fun, Energy wielding world adventure, which breaks out of the Mould of Blue meaning a Water Temple. 

So plasma lovers rejoice; the Spire is now complete.

Three levels remain, and then we'll do the Icon Refresh, Demo of Each Race, and the Music Spheres for each world to bring a new level of life to the world before we break ground on the Main Story, and Tools Systems.

NPCS, Dialogue, Cutscenes, Camera Rigs, Progression, the Wired Time System, Spells System, and Basic Melee will all happen in the next arc of building. So I'm excited to get past the world creation to begin building the game's linear flow. It's time to wire this baby up soon, and fill in these coloring book pages I've spent a year making.

We aligned our roadmap to the tools release schedule for Game Creator 2 in Unity, so we're on deck to use the features when they come out. Look forward to announcements regarding Mounts, Wall Jumps, Climbing, Gliding, and other fast movement systems which will come out... as soon as we know what the Developers have planned for us...

But long before we see the complicated mechanics, expect Behavior's interactions, and complex NPCs to come into the game. When we release the first public Beta, you'll be able to tackle the Intro to the game, and the first Dungeon with all of the toys.

For now, thanks for reading along. We'll do a Twitch Demo of the levels once we're done with the last three, and then post that video for the community!

Game on friends!