caroo

Weekly Roundup - Prisoner Statue Ideas!

Hi everyone! Hope you had a great week!

This week was spent developing some prisoner statue ideas. Let's get into it:

1: What's New?

So the environment artist I've hired for the new dungeon wing wanted me to come up with some designs they could work from in terms of statue designs.

Because this new Dungeon Wing has a Gallery/Treasure theme to it. The idea is to make a number of stone/metal statues with prisoners posed in bondage as if part of an art gallery.

The current design is planned to have a number of 1x1, 2x1 and 1x2 sized dungeon tile'd statues.

Here's some 1x1 designs:

Some 1x2 designs

And some 2x1 designs as well!

In terms of if these statues are just stone and metal, or if it's magically encased prisoners or something else I'm still deciding on.

If I do make interactive prisoner statues then that'll need to be drawn and animated by me. So we'll see.

But overall a good number of ideas so far! :D

2: What's Next?

Next up it's back on what I was talking about last week and getting into some new enemy design!

The Bindmancer - May 9th Build Released!

To Download for Windows OS = Click This Download Link

Install instructions are at the bottom of this post.

For Linux Users: Experimental Linux Version at the Bottom of the Page

--------------------------------

What's new in the Build?

May 9th Build:

This build introduces a new in-dungeon static trap and a new peril encounter.

The trap is the "Gas Trap." A trap that appears from the ground when you get too close and releases a gas. If you spend too long in the gas you'll be knocked out and taken to the wall-trap peril encounter.

The new "Wall-trap encounter" is the Bindmancer helplessly bound to the wall and teased and tormented. The player needing to fight to escape!

The animation itself has a few different equipment and face states that are randomized each time you encounter the trap.

A new game-over event has been made as well utilizing the wall-trap peril animation.

These traps have been integrated into 8 new tiles that are now part of the dungeon randomizer.

In addition to this new feature I also tweaked the level select screen to be more clear that there's no more concept past the first boss room for the time being.

I hope you enjoy the new trap and encounter! :D

To Download for Windows OS = Click This Download Link

Key Info for Linux Users:

Download the Linux version from this link

You'll need to add an executable permissions to the file The "The Bindmancer - Linux - 2025 05 09.x86_64" to get it to run. The following commands should do the trick:

cd /path/to/the/extracted/files

The Bindmancer - Linux - 2025 05 09.x86_64

./The Bindmancer - Linux - 2025 05 09.x86_64'

Weekly Roundup - Coming Next Week! = New Bindmancer Build

Hi everyone,

I hope you're all doing very well!

Posting the weekly roundup a few hours earlier this week as I need to be in bed early for a weekend event.

I do have great news in that a new build of the Bindmancer will be ready to release next week.

The new gas trap feature and wall trap encounter are more-or-less completed. It's now a process of bug fixing as much as I can and making sure they feel solid to play and fun to watch.

1: What's New?

This week I did a bunch of stuff wrapping up this new feature:

I added a art asset for the dungeon environment. It's the back-wall of the wall trap you get placed into after succumbing to the gas-trap. It has a new and a broken state that changes after the trap event.

Once you're knocked out you're transported to the tile in front of this asset. It's always very near to the trap itself. So it's not too disorientating.

I also added sound effects to the Gas Trap!

I added some reward spawning if you destroy the gas trap.

I bug fixed some lighting change quirks.

I placed the Gas trap into new dungeon tiles. in Total adding 7 new dungeon tiles to the game. The gas traps themselves wont appear in every level but should appear 1-3 times on larger maps.

And in general just did a lot of gameplay and logic bug fixing surrounding the feature.

2: What's Next?

Next up will be just a bit more bug fixing and adding 1-2 more art assets. And then we're good for a release! :D

I'm excited to get what's gonna be the last two months of solid work to you all! :D

Cheers!

Caroo

Weekly Roundup - Game Over Variant and Trap Logic

Hi Everyone!

Got a few bits of progress to show off from the last few weeks of development for the new trap encounter! Lets get into it!

1: What's New:

I've done a few things this week. At the start of the week I went into the photoshop file and made a few extra assets:

These assets are for the "Freed" animation when she gets free of the bondage. As well as a more intense version that'll be used for a Game-Over screen. As people have been requesting I Make a game-over version of this animation.

The game over adds in extra bondage and a mask to make her extra helpless.

I've also been working on the logic for the trap itself in the environment. Ultimately the idea is that you can trigger a floor-appearing gas trap that's hidden until activated. That gas trap will give you a few seconds to get outside of the influence of the gas, the camera zooming in and the light in the level dimming.

If you stay in the gas too long you'll be knocked out and appear in the encounter bound to a wall. To which you'll then need to escape.

2: What's Next:

Next week's focus is going to be on refining the capture logic and the sequence. I need to make art of the Bindmancer falling down and the screen fading out to the trap.

I also need to make the art for the trap itself in the dungeon as well as the gas.

Cheers!

Caroo

New Bindmancer Build Out Now!

Hi Everyone!

It's been a while since the last update so I'm excited to release the newest build for the Bindmancer!

You can download it here!

And let's get into it!

1: What's New?

this week was spent finalizing the loot pickup system and doing some bug fixing and polish items for it. Inc things like adding sound effects.

And for the dropped loot pickups I decided to make the amount pop-ups omit the word like "Treasure" Just because of how many appear at once.

Another minor feature I added was fulfilling a request to allow the intro cutscene to be replayable once you've got a save file. So now at the title screen you can replay the scene:

The rest of the week was on bug fixing a few little bits and pieces that went wonky when converting from Unity 5 to Unity 6.

I also made it more clear on the level-select screen that floor 7 can't be accessed and played at the moment.

Again, you can download the new version here!

2: What's Next:

Next up will either be a new enemy type or a new peril for the Bindmancer. Next week will be spent concepting various ideas for it! So I should have some fun sketches to show!

Weekly Roundup - Loot Drop Feature Incoming!

Hi Everyone!

I've got some great gifs to show this week. And an announcement that I'm trying to get you all a fresh build before Feb is out. More then likely somewhere mid next week! Keep your eyes peeled for it!

1: What's New?

My work with a programmer to make a new and more dynamic loot-drop system is almost through it's integration into the game. There was last weekend spending bug fixing some issues, which is why a weekly roundup post was absent last week. But we powered through that and making solid progress.

First off. Here's a view of the new loot-drop art I made. More or less it's treasure (coins) materials (Mechanical parts) and purple crystals (Essence)

The glows around them are colored in-engine. Just white for importing into unity.

The objects correspond to the loot type color, and different loot types are sized differently and give a different amount of the associated currency!

These loot drops appear after defeating an enemy and scatter across the dungeon to be picked up now:

I've also tied the type of loot to be dropped more often on the type of enemy: IE: Treasure for humanoids, Materials for mechanical enemies, Essence for monsters.

They also appear in the loot canisters. Flowing out lots of loot as you interact with them once they've been unlocked.

As you can see there's effects going on like bouncing around, an idle animation, and also an organic pickup effect.

I think it's turned out really nice!

2: What's Next?

Next is getting a build out to everyone. There's still some polish left to do but my aim is absolutely getting a build out before the end of Feb. Even if it's on the 28th.

So there we go! I hope you enjoy how the new loot system looks!

Cheers!

Caroo

Weekly Roundup - Design Doc Work and Art Asset Lists

Hi everyone,

Hope your January has been going well!

Over the past two weeks I've been working on some design and production docs for the Bindmancer! Mostly docs that others can use to help me make assets for it.

Let's get into them:

1: What's New?

The first doc I made was for a programmer, it's based around trying to make the pickups that drop from enemies and treasure a little more physics driven and dynamic. I'll be reviewing how that process is coming on within the next few weeks.

The second doc I made was a asset list based around making new environments and dungeon wings for the tower.

Making the static assets for the dungeon is something I should be able to hire an artist to do. Which focuses my time on making prisoners, enemies, and traps for the dungeon.

There's a plan for 5 wings in total:

The next wing to be produced is called "The Den of Treasures" with a focus on the past heroes and their gear being put on display:

I want this environment to have an emphasis on gold, silver, bronze, and rich-looking environments. A kinky display of trophies!

2: What's Next?

With these docs created it'll now be a point to get them in front of other artists and get these assets commissioned. That may take a while to get started as I'll need to reach out and see who's available to make art assets to the quality standard we want.

With these docs made, I'll be focusing on some new content for the game whether that's a prisoner, trap, or new enemy type.

More kinky concept work next week!

Caroo

Loona's Time to Shine - Sinful Edition! - Out Now!

A massive project to finish off 2024. I present to you the largest animation set I've ever done!

This 50 part animation set follows a very kinky and consensual BDSM tale as Loona tries her hand at showing up all the Imps at Ozzie's. During which many familiar faces will lend their hand to tease and pleasure the kinky hellhound.

Will Loona show them she's got what it takes? Or will she be tamed by a bunch of kinky Imps and their seemingly endless supply of gear and ideas.

Download it here:

Best Option: Interactive Gallery, Still Images, and Videos

Animated Gifs with Narratives

Animated Gifs

This Pack Includes:

- 50 Narratively Linked Animations

- A Secret Bonus at the end of the animation set!

- Written narratives for each part of the animation.

- 100 HD Quality Video Renders

- 100 Still images

- 100 Animated Gifs

Kinks Explored Include: Bondage, Teasing, Tickling, Orgasms, Fucking Machines, Gasmasks, Chastity, Edging, Body Mod, Latex, Dildos, Femdom, Pleasure overload, and more!

And here's some features that improve upon the original:

- Tweaked animations for the original 22 parts, including better face expressions.

- The option for 3-toed or 5-toed feet.

- For the latex scenes you can select what chest/breast type you'd like Loona to have.

- Better transitions between parts.

- More effects and objects in the scene.

And here's some examples of what you're in for:

How to view and enjoy the Animation Set:

1: An interactive gallery that can be viewed in any resolution at a glorious 60 FPS. (Playable on a Windows PC) <- This is the best way!

2: Video Renders - These are at HD quality at 30 frames per second. <- Best way to watch if you don't have a Windows PC

3: A collection of still images. + Stills of the written narrative.

Steps to View:

Interactive Gallery: (Windows Only)

Step 1: Download and Unzip the file "Hellhounds Time to Shine - Game, Videos, & Stills.zip"

Step 2: Enter the folder "Interactive Animation Set"

Step 3: Double click on the file "Loona's time to shine"

Video Files, Images, and Gifs:

Download and unzip the associated files and enjoy!

Credits:

This Animation Set was made with the generous and contracted help of:

Iceleung = Who wrote the narrative log entries.

I hope you all enjoy this new set! :D

- Caroo

Progress Update on Hellhound Redux

Hi everyone!

Apologies for skipping on a weekly roundup. A combo of getting busy on the prior weekend and a lot of the progress being game logic and inserting dialogue and the like meant that I just didn't have much to show.

But lets' show off where we're at!

1: What's New?

So the past two weeks has been focused on a few aspects of the pack. Including:

- Adding in all the new Part Written Entries and Screen quotes.

- Layering all the assets so they appear correctly.

- Fixing up a few assets that needed to be taken out of the main PSB file because the files texture map was getting too big.

- While not yet animating each part, taking the time to assign the right assets to each part so that when I do animate them they're easy to look at.

- For example: here's Luna in her latex suit. <3

2: What's Next?

Next up is working purely on animations now. Taking all those components and making them move for the full 50 parts of the animation set.

I think we're probably about 2 weeks away from this being finished. So expect a release around the last 3rd of the month.

Thanks for the patience!

- Caroo

Weekly Roundup - Moved in and new Animation Pack Project!

Hi Everyone!

I hope you've all been well.

It's been two weeks since I posted but I wanted to give everyone an idea of what I've been up to and the next project.

1: The House Move

It's been just a few days under two weeks since I moved from my rental Unit to my House and overall the move has gone well.

Most of my stuff has been packed out of boxes and set up. My office for the most part is now fully set up to work which is great.

I have burned a hole in my pocket with the sheer amount of savings I've spent over the past two weeks in both moving and getting the new place setup, but it's to be expected. I did get slogged with a few surprises like a $1,200 repair bill for a gas heating system that needed parts replaced. On the other hand I have a system that works perfectly now. So that's good!

Overall I'm loving the new place. I've been doing things I've never done before previously in my prior rentals such as gardening and even a bit of landscaping.

There's still some key things to happen. I'm getting a couch set delivered and I'll have a fully decked out loungeroom for guests for the first time. I'm also getting the internet upgraded from copper lines to fiber.

But overall from next week onwards I we'll be back to full weekdays of work and once a week roundup posting! My apologies for there being a lack of content. We'll get back into delivering the good stuff!

2: Loona's Time to Shine Redux

So I think it's fair to say it's been a few months since I've been able to give you all something really fun and kinky to enjoy. My game updates have improved the game but new kinky content has been slow going due to focusing on game dev.

So we're gonna focus over the next month to make a big addition to the Loona Animation Set.

There's two reasons for this:

1: It's by far the most popular and enjoyed animation set. People really liked it.

2: It was the set I released just before my prior house move and migration back to Australia in late Oct 2022. So there's some nostalgia and meaning in updating the animation set that oversaw a prior life transition.

The updated set will still have all the current parts to it. I just plan to elaborate and add in more scenes that are interesting!

Here's a few potential ideas I've sketched out so far:

Moxxie and Millie having some hands-on fun.

Beezelbub getting her four hands into it.

Some X-ray views for some of the gear.

A 5-toed alt for her feet.

Enlarged body parts.

The idea overall though is to give you more devious teasing of Loona. :D

3: What's Next?

Next week will be a combo of both fleshing out what I want to do in terms of scenes for the animation set. As well as getting started on making the artwork for it.

So that's it! I hope you're all excited for the Redux! And thank you for waiting for me to complete my house move!

Caroo

New Bindmancer Build Released!

Hi Everyone!

Hope you've all been having a great weekend.

For those who didn't see it, the Loremaster Rescue level has been added.

It got released a few days ago but over the past week I've been updating the playable build to fix some bugs. Download it here: https://mega.nz/file/tOU0EDQC#OWhzGz7l1NwZTr3N7O1-IAlC7zumaXMNIlqB1g5W028

1: What's New?

So the latest build includes a brand new level with the Camp prisoner rescue event.

Now you can rescue the Lore master and return her to the Camp.

This new event also comes with its own gallery entry!

In addition to the new content I've also fixed some bugs! Mostly to do with interacting with objects within the world.

You can now use the keyboard arrow keys to solve puzzles just like how you can use them for movement. Giving complete playability to use you prefer to use those buttons instead.

2: What's Next?

Bug fixing and some extra content here and there in the current build I've been wanting to add for a little while. Just want to spend one more week focused on making the game play as stable and solid as possible before moving onto some new content for the game.

I hope all enjoy the new build and the bug fixes! :D

Caroo

New Bindmancer Build Available!

Hi everyone,

A very short post this month but a productive one!

1: What's New?

There's a new build of the Bindmancer available.

You can Download it here!

Namely the update adds in a dedicated loading screen. So there should be no more multiple second black-screen hanging.

I also bug fixed the UI menus so that they have a dedicated mouse UI. So if you don't want to use the keyboard to navigate you can alternatively use your mouse.

2: What's Next?

The next update for the game is in 2 weeks. So I plan to add some kinky content to the game as it's been a while since we've seen some.

Bound up Bandicoot! - Animation Pack Released!

Hi Everyone!

I'm pleased to announce that Bound up Bandicoot is here and ready to download and enjoy!

A 23 Year Old Coco Bandicoot has found herself in a pickle; A devious teasing chastity belt threatens to drive her nuts through ticklish teasing and pleasuring.

Can Coco use her wits to pick the chastity belt in time? Or will the compounding pieces of teasing bondage gear doom her to a very pleasurable fate?

This Pack Includes:

An Interactive Gallery playable on Windows PCs. Featuring 60 FPS animations and unique lighting options.

- A 15 Part Sequence including written narrative logs!

- 30 HD Quality Video Renders

- 30 Still images

- 30 Animated Gifs

Kinks Explored Include: Bondage, Chastity, Edging, Tickling, Teasing, Latex, Gags, Encasement, Pleasure Overload.

Other features include being able to change the UI displays in-game!

How to view and enjoy the Animation Set:

1: An interactive gallery that can be viewed in any resolution at a glorious 60 FPS. (Playable on a Windows PC) <- This is the best way!

2: Video Renders - These are at HD quality at 30 frames per second. <- Best way to watch if you don't have a Windows PC

3: A collection of Still Images and Gifs

Steps to View:

Interactive Gallery: (Windows Only)

Step 1: Download and Unzip the file "Bound Up Bandicoot Game" directly from this Post. (100 mgb)

Bound Up Bandicoot Game

Step 2: Enter the folder "Bound Up Bandicoot Game"

Step 3: Double click on the file "Bound Up Bandicoot - It has an icon of Coco.

Video, Gif, And Still Image Files:

Step 1: Download the ZIP file "Bound Up Bandicoot - Gifs - Videos - Still Images" from Mega.nz (1.27 Gigs)

Step 2: Unzip the files to a folder.

Step 3: Enjoy.

Weekly Roundup - Adult Coco's Captivity Animation Set - Part 3

Hi Everyone!

A short roundup but a progress filled one. let's get into it:

1: What's New?

So this week I completed 11 out of the 14 animations for this animation pack.

It's for the most part just the pure grunt work of animating each part. Which takes around 2-3 hours. So about 25-27 hours of animating done this week.

Here's a sample:

While doing that it was also just doing work on improving the animation rig, fixing up bones etc.

2: What's Next?

The next week should be the final production week for this animation set. More or less need to complete the animations, do a lighting pass, starting page pass and some extra goodies and this animation set will be ready!

I can't wait to give you all the finished product! :D

Cheers,

Caroo

Weekly Roundup - Adult Coco's Captivity Animation Set - Part 1

Hi everyone,

Hope you've all been doing great this week!

I've got some fun screenshots taken from out of Photoshop to show off this week as I work on the Adult Coco Animation Set.

1: What's New?

This week was spent in photoshop making many new additional layers for the Adult Coco Animation.

this includes things such as tickle devices for the thighs and feet, stimulators for the nipples, Gag and Blindfold, Latex suits, and more.

This narrative will definitely be a story of Coco being part of a peril'd competition and bit by bit she loses her freedom and mind to escalating teasing and treatments.

Trying to Pick the Lock

Distracted by her feet being bound down and tickled

Entrapped in multiple tickling devices.

Squirming within an almost full latex suit.

So as she can see she's going to go on a journey. >:D

2: What's Next?

Next week will include:

1: Working out a narrative and now many parts are in this animation set.

2: Commissioning one of the many story writers to create fun story logs for each part.

3: Working on a few more options and layers in photoshop.

4: Getting those layers into photoshop to start animating.

I hope you all enjoy the new progress update! More Coco goodness to come next week.

Caroo

Weekly Roundup - New Bindmancer Build

Hi Everyone!

There's a new playable build for the Bindmancer.

You can check it out over here!

What's new in the Build?

This update improves a number of aspects of the new Camp feature set. It includes:

- UI navigation in general for the Camp features is more clear and clean. Mostly focused in the Outfitting screen.

- The "Return to Camp" Key now has a unique graphic that's been placed in all relevant UI and Pickups.

- Getting a game over will now only remove the resources collected from exploring that floor. Although you will lose any items spent on the floor you previously had.

- Returning to Camp without a key will now only cost you 30% of your expedition recourses collected.

- End of level screen now makes it more clear that the resources being collected are from that expedition into the tower.

- Resources that make it to the Camp are now classed as "Stored" and safe from being deducted from any "returning to camp" penalties.

- Fixed a bug where a level tile was spawning that locked you out of accessing it.

This update also includes Materials being able to be found in treasure chests. There's about a 1/3 chance of a chest containing materials instead of treasure.

I hope you enjoy this new build!

- Caroo

The Bindmancer - Camp Feature Released!

March 30th:

This massive update contains a number of large game-flow and gameplay changes revolving around the introduction of a home base Camp Feature:

The Camp feature can be accessed between exploring the Tower floors and you can use the camp to buy items and upgrade your skills and even the camp itself.

Download the newest build from here!

Feature list includes:

A home base camp where you can:

- View the gallery

- Purchase Items

- Upgrade the Bindmancers Clothing

- Upgrade the Camp.

- Recover your willpower back to full.

In addition to the camp, each level now has a end of level stats screen where performance for the player is displayed before they choose what to do next.

The resources called materials and essence has also been added to the game. Collect these to spend them at the Camp.

The EXP and level-up system has been replaced, as upgrading the Bindmancer is now more focused around collecting essence around the dungeon.

Also: A more clear notice has been placed on the title screen to give players the option to erase their save data if the demo mode doesn't unlock.

Artwork for the Camp is currently placeholder and very temporary. So please bear with the art quality as better assets are commissioned and worked on.

Game Difficulty:

While the enemies in the game haven't gotten more difficult it should be known as getting potions to replenish health back (Willpower) are now very, very rare. And damage persists between floors.

Purchase potions at the item shop and use the number 1-3 keys to replenish your Willpower when low.

I hope you enjoy this new version of the Bindmancer!

- Caroo

Weekly Roundup - The Camp Feature - Week 11

Hi everyone!

It was a very productive week with a few things to show off! Let's get into it!

Upcoming Build:

The feature sets I've been working on will be far from complete but I will be doing my best to get a playable build out to you all on the 30th of March.

They'll be more to add to it in the weeks after. But once the new build is up we'll be returning to new builds at least once a month. As any additional work in April is expanding on the framework of this new camp feature set.

1: What's New?

So a bunch of visual stuff for the UI as worked on this week:

I made the temp character model for the Builder. The plan in the long term is also to do the same for the outfitter and researcher.

I also made "Locked" and "Purchased Icons" for the UI elements in both the Item Shop and Builder Shop. To better communicate what can be purchased and what can't.

As you can see the same logic is applied to the item shop!

Something else done today is working on making assets in the Camp that reflect upgrading the camp via the builder shop. So for instance the Tower Portal has 6 different states. (Which will represent your ability to delve keeper into the Tower.

And here we can see the same logic applied to the outfitter as the pieces of The Bindmancers armor becomes more available.

The logic has also been applied to the item shop and the researcher!

So overall this week got a lot of putting more polish into how the UI and visual interact in the camp.

2: What's Next?

Next week is the final week of as much work as I can get done before releasing this new feature set. Gonna be a challenge but I'll work on all the critical stuff first!

Cheers!

-Caroo

Weekly Roundup 184 - The Camp Feature - Week 10

Hi everyone!

It'll be a short weekly roundup today as there's not too much to show that's visual. But let's get into it!

1: What's New?

So all of this week was spent on the back-end logic and the UI layout for the "Camp Builder" feature of the camp. Pretty much 99% of the week was in unity plotting out logic state machines and the like.

(Forgive the lack of new art and the reuse of the character model, more camp artwork is being made next week.)

The camp builder is where the player goes to upgrade all the structures in the camp. That includes:

The Loremaster: Upgrade the gallery UI to expose more information.

Item Shop: Unlock more powerful items to purchase and use.

Gear Dealer: Upgrade to expand the gear the dealer can unlock and upgrade. (this replaces exp level-ups.)

Tower Portal: Upgrade the portal to allow the Bindmancer to delve deeper into the dungeons!

So the builder is where all the materials the player collects in the dungeon get spent!

All this work included minor UI refinements to the item shop and gear screen as well. In particular showing off what shop level it's currently at.

What this all does mean is that all the UI screens and their associated logic are now present in the Camp. It would be very, very rough and unbalanced to play but the full feature loop of the camp is now present in-game.

2: What's Next?

Next week is going to be focused on making lots and lots of art assets for the UI screens for the camp. I've got other characters to draw for their portraits for instance.

There a lot more temp art to do and game balancing. But we're in the final weeks before I can get a version of this out to you all.

Cheers!

- Caroo

Weekly Roundup - The Camp Feature - Week 9

Hi everyone!

Lots of progress on the camp feature this week! Let's get into it:

1: What's New?

A range of bits and pieces was done this week to bring the camp feature closer to a release:

A) Made new icons for the Treasure, Materials, and Essence resources. (Yellow, Green, and Red)

B) I changed the level-up screen to now take essence as the form of payment for upgrading gear. With the shop level now unlocking the gear the Bindmancer can equip.

C) I changed out the treasure icons in the provisioners shop.

D) I changed out the location of the camp exit to be different from where you enter. So now you'll enter at the south end of the camp and visit shops to exit at the north end.

You'll also get a confirmation pop-up that appears to make sure you're ready to enter back in.

E) Integrated the new icons in the treasure, essence, and materials pickups.

2: What's Next?

Next week's focus will be on on the camp construction UI. So the functionality to upgrade the camp using materials.

The aim is still on to have a build I can share with you all by the end of March!

Cheers,

- Caroo

Weekly Roundup - The Camp Feature - Week 8

Hi everyone!

This week I've got some progress on the Camp to show off. Let's get into it!

1: What's New?

This week was split into two different pieces of work. The first half is hard to show but it was more or less more coding on the dungeon gameplay end to make the new currencies feel better to collect in the dungeon.

And the second half of the week was spent creating and adding more temp assets to the camp and then putting them together. I've added some things like the border of the level, floor tiles and light sources.

I've made a small start on the lighting pass, but it is currently a bit too dark and needs more work.

But overall the camp environment continues to develop into its own fun space!

And here's a video shot of the WIP background.

2: What's Next?

Next up will be more camp environmental work and perhaps working on the camp upgrade UI screen. Where building materials gathered can be exchanged for improving the camp.

Next build release?

Everyone has been patient waiting for me to release a new build. I'm aiming and trying to get one out before the end of March. It's been hard to release a new build sooner because of the scope of the changes and needing all the pieces to be working before we can get a build out.

But I'll be working hard to try and get it out before the month ends!

- Caroo

Weekly Roundup - The Camp Feature - Week 5

Hi everyone,

Apologies for the short delay in posting the weekly roundup this week. I just ran out of time on my Friday due to needing to be up more early then normal on my Saturday.

But let's get into this weeks progress!

1: What's New?

So this week ended being a focus on implementing the UI change to the dungeon UI to accommodate the new currencies and pickups.

Once more the art is currently temporary but we now have the currencies of Treasure, Materials, and Essence in the Dungeon UI. located at the bottom right of the screen.

We also have the health potions and keys displays.

In addition to doing the UI for these I also went through and created the means for enemies to drop these new currencies. And Created the UI pop-ups for them.

And finally, I made sure these resources are being counted corrected in the floor cleared UI.

I will say from a gameplay perspective with the removal of dropped health packs the game feels much more tense now. You collect more rewards and the risks have grown!

The intent this week was to get started on Item Shop UI in the camp. But it's been deferred to next week as I got stuck in this dungeon-level UI work.

2: What's Next?

Work on the Camp Feature continues! Next week is getting back to the Shop UI for purchasing health packs and Keys!

Weekly Roundup - The Camp Feature - Week 4

Hi everyone!

This week I've got some User Interface work to show off! So let's get into it.

1: What's New?

This week was spent on making one of the UI screen needed to compliment the camp feature. And a UI screen in general I've been meaning to make for a little while.

This UI is the floor-cleared screen. When you complete a level you get presented with a UI screen that shows you how you performed in the level and where you want to go next.

The two options of where you can go includes:

- Return back to the Camp. To do do you'll need to collect a dungeon exit key in the level. Every level will have one but where to find it might take some exploration.

- Progress to the next floor: This will take you back to the level select screen.

The screen also reveals some design in progress work. As said previously, things like keys and health packs are going to drop a lot less and instead you'll be collecting the resources known as Riches, Materials, and Essence (For now)

Everything will use a little of each. But the idea behind it will be:

Riches = Used to purchase items off the provisioner in the camp.

Materials = Used to upgrade the camp.

Essence = Used to upgrade and level-up the Bindmancer.

We'll see how it progresses as the design evolves!

The UI and the images used in it are of course temporary as well.

2: What's Next?

The next UI screen to work on is the "Provisions Shop" UI. Which is where you'll go to purchase things like Health Packs and Keys.

That will also facilitate me making some changes to the dungeon-UI as well to display new resources and consumable potions and keys.

Weekly Roundup - The Camp Feature - Week 3

Hi Everyone!

It was a very productive week and I've got some gifs and screen shots to show! So lets get into it.

1: What's New?

So this week was wholly stuck in photoshop making a start on getting the camp feature implemented.

I created a new scene in unity and imported all the temp assets and made a little encampment that the player character can currently walk around in.

I need to stress it's all very much temp art. But the ideal right now is to get the gameplay loop sorted, then replace the art with refined assets.

Currently you can:

Load into the camp.

Move around.

Access the lore master UI. ( The gallery)

Access the Upgrades/Skills menu.

Exit the camp to return to the level-select screen.

What I need to implement:

Full environmental collision so you don't fall out of the environment.

UI and Mechanics for the consumable shop.

UI and Mechanics for the Inn Keeper.

You can currently access the camp through the level select screen (Once I've released a new build, which is a few weeks away.)

Another thing of Note is that I want the camp to also showcase who you currently have to save. So as you save each team member the next one will show off in the "portal of villainess taunting."

2: What's Next?

Next week will be spent working on the UI and functionality of the consumable shop. So buying and stocking up on keys and health potions and the like!

The pace of development for this very big feature is progressing well. I think it'll be about a month before I can really demonstrate something that's fully integrated and playable. And then once the core design is done, it'll be down to a lot of art creation to make it all look great!

But overall I'm excited! I think it's coming along well!

- Caroo

Weekly Roundup 177 - The Camp Feature - Week 2

Hi everyone!

Just a little bit of progress to show off and talk about this week so let's get into it!

1: What's New?

This week was spent making some temporary art assets for the camp environment.

First off I redrew and mildly tweaked the character designs for the perspective angle of the environment.

Which was fun to do!

Then I sketched out and created some temp environmental assets to use: (Characters not to scale with the environment.)

It should be enough to get started on the feature itself.

2: What's Next?

Next week will be the start of making the Camp level in Unity. Taking these temp assets and arranging them together to start prototyping the feature out in earnest.

Cheers,

Weekly Roundup - The Camp Feature - Week 1

Hi everyone! Hope you've had a great week.

I've made a start on thinking about, documenting, and concepting artwork out the out-of-dungeon experience for the Bindmancer. Let's get into it!

1: What's New?

So this week started with a design document. Nothing too in-depth there but it was me figuring out from a conceptual standpoint what I want the out-of-dungeon experience to have:

The overall design theme I want to go for with this feature in the game is to increase tension in the dungeon.

That means health pick-ups in the dungeon will be far less available and you'll instead stock-up on health recharges in the camp.

In addition, screens like the level-up and gallery screens will be connected to places and characters in the camp. Giving them a much better context and narrative connection then just being UI screens:

The high level idea of the camp itself is to be placed just outside of the tower with the tower in view. Each of the main characters you talk to will be very close by so you don't travel far to get what you need.

Finally, I spent a few hours on some initial sketch designs for these assisting characters. I think a few of these you'll find early on in the dungeon and they'll aid in your quest to free your party.

These character designs may evolve with iteration. But I want to make them all fun and diverse. We have a Item Shop Donkey Girl, A canine tailor who fits your level-up upgrades on. A lizard researcher who records the lore, and a feline inn keeper who keeps the peace.

2: What's Next?

Next week will be more pre-production work just continuing to flesh out the design ideas, visual concepts and intent of the feature before I start committing to prototyping it in unity.

It's almost often the case that some time spent in pre-production can save time in the future in the long run. :)

I think this feature is going to take quite a time investment to get it working. A few months for sure, but once its in I think it'll add a whole new dynamic to the game!

Early days on it! - Caroo

Weekly Roundup 175 - New Build with more dungeon tiles!

Hi everyone!

Welcome to the new year and let's get into it! We do have a new build uploaded and ready to play! It contains a new slew of dungeon tiles that have been added to the random spawn pool.

1: What's New?

This week I wanted to start with something that added value to the game but also didn't melt my brain.

One thing I wanted to fix was the logic behind spawning levels tiles before the level starts. Previously the state machine I made for spawning levels was very, very complex in terms of adding any new content to. But it didn't need to be.

Each of the 4 directions that a tile could spawn from had its own list of tiles that needed updating. And the state machine display that was getting out of hand.

With my knowledge learned from the past year I consolidated the logic into 1 easily updatable state machine with much more manageable ways of adding new tiles into the mix.

And I also did some documentation and created a level tile design doc where I now list and keep management of all the level tiles. This helps in me quickly reviewing the types of tiles I have and identity which style and type of tile needs more.

And finally, and being the lions share of work this week I added 10 new level tile designs to the pool. The pool was previously 30 tiles. Now it's up to 40 possible tiles that can spawn!

Overall these changes should amount in dungeons that have some more layout variety!

2: What's Next?

Next week I'll be starting the paper design phase of what sort of meta-game the player can encounter when they venture out of the dungeon. Somewhere to spend resources and the like!

it'll initially be a bit slow going, and this feature is gonna take some time to craft but I think overall once it's in it'll give the game a fun cycle of looting the dungeon, and then spending the resources collected!

Cheers!

Bindmancer Build Release - December 22nd

To Download for Windows OS = Click This Download Link

Install instructions are at the bottom of this post.

What's New in the Bindmancer Build?

December 22nd:

This update contains a reworking of all the UI screens to make them all keyboard (And maybe gamepad) friendly.

All UI screens should now be navigable with only the keyboard.

(Note: However, if you do click off a button with the mouse while the mouse is visible then you'll need to click a button to get back onto using keyboard controls)

In addition there's some UI improvements as well, most to do with interacting with objects in the game and declaring what you need to press to interact.

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To Download for Windows OS = Click This Download Link

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Requirements & How to Install:

Playable on a PC using a Windows OS.

The game will boot up full screen and set to your monitors native resolution.

You can now change the resolution in the options menu to an adjustable windowed mode where you can set it to your preference.

To Install it:

Download the zip file

You MUST unzip all the contents of the zipfile to any folder. The game cannot run from inside the zipped file.

Windows can unzip it by itself. You don't need to download any third party software like WINRAR.

You can run the demo by entering the unzipped folder and double clicking on the file named: The Bindmancer

Common Install Issues:

Delete all prior files from previous versions / public demo if you're installing to the same folder location.

If you don't unzip the contents of the folder, you can't play the game.

If the game opens and then closes without a screen showing, that's typically a graphic driver issue, update your graphics cards drivers and restart your pc.

Unity games don't like being placed in folders deeply nested in multiple folders. This is due to long file directory names messing with Unity. 3 to 5 folders deep is fine. More and it gets wonky.

If controls don't respond = It's probably a controller you have plugged into or connected to your computer. Remove it to use Keyboard controls.

Game Projects: Playing from Demo to Supporter Version FAQ:

Issue : You purchased and downloaded the supporter version on Patreon / Subscribe Star and it says you still have the demo version when you play it:

Fix 1: If using Windows. Go to your main hard drive and find the folder "Users". From there: (Users->You->AppData->LocalLow->Kangaroo Games) and then delete the bindmancer folder. (The demo's windows user save data has caused the issue.)

Fix 2: Don't install the full version in top of the demo version in the same folder.

Issue: I can't download from MEGA if I use the Opera Browser:

Opera users have to use the Opera intern VPN function

Weekly Roundup - Keyboard-Only UI Pass

Just now

Hi everyone!

I've worked on something interesting this week for the Bindmancer and while it won't look glamorous it is a good addition! Let's get into it:

1: What's New?

So all of this week was spent on making every UI button, slider, and screen 100% keyboard-only friendly.

As of the current addition this isn't the case and all UI screens demand use of the mouse to navigate which is clumbersome for a game where the main buttons are 4 directions and the Spacebar key.

And making UI keyboard-only friendly is actually a lot more work then just letting buttons be pressed by the mouse. For every UI screen you have to set-up a "Navigation" flow so each button can be navigated between each other.

And I had to learn how to activate the default button position for each UI screen that appears as well as how to show buttons that where currently selected but also not interactable.

When the build is updated this change will apply to the Title Screen, the level select screen and in-game itself.

The mouse can still be used, but now players who wish to play the game with one hand. ( ;D )

It's hard to appreciate the difference without feeling it in gameplay, but the lack of mouse moving around in these gifs shows you the work:

2: What's Next?

There's a little bit more work to do on the keyboard-only pass. But after that it's back onto polish.

I'm considering releasing a build of the game next Friday. We'll see how stability goes, and while it wont have new content, it will have more fixes and love put into it.

Cheers!

- Caroo

Weekly Roundup - Back into Bindmancer!

Hi Everyone,

This week showcases me getting back into development for the Bindmancer. So let's get into it.

1: What's New?

So shaking off the dust this week was me getting back into the build and looking to fix a few bugs and playability issues first. I'll run over what I got done!

First off was fixing some of the timing issues with the chest open and prisoner freeing puzzle.

Previously if you rapidly tapped once you got a successful input you could cheese out the other two taps. Now you can't do that.

I've also just tightened up the acceptance bars a little more so that it's slightly more challenging!

I've also added a "Spacebar" UI element to all non-combat areas of interaction that's applicable. As I got feedback that some people didn't understand that you needed to press the spacebar button.

And finally, I've re-done the name and health displays for enemies. On the visible end the text and heath bar will be a bit more sharper to see. On the back end they're all now a generic asset and will be easier to apply over to make a full enemy.

2: What's Next?

The next week will be spent doing more quality of life and bug fixing. There's a range of feedback accumulated over the past two months and I want to do my best to address the biggest issues before moving on to work on new content.

But new content will come! Just taking some time to polish up aspects of what's already there.

Cheers!

- Caroo