Knick-Knack Games

More NPC Work and Dialog UI Updates

Hey Patrons!

We've been working hard on some more NPCs by getting their rigs and animations set up. We're also working on revamping NPC dialog system with new UI and a better camera!

Also, the game will now update most of your UI depending on if you're using a keyboard or gamepad (although some buttons in the UI are incorrect for now). This also applies to the player Hud on the bottom left.

Iris 3D Print and Progress

Hey Patrons, recently, as a side project, I decided to 3D print a statue of Iris!

We gave the finished statue to our concept artist, Kat, but I thought you'd appreciate seeing the process!

What do you guys think?

Royal Reef Resort Concept Art

Hey Patrons!

While we're still trying to get World Partition working, we've been working on concept art for the new level, Royal Reef Resort!

Let us know what you think of some of the props and colors! We're going for an underwater/ coral reef theme!

Advanced Facial Rigging and Character Blendshapes

Hey patrons!

We've been working hard on a new way to do facial rigs. This will be used on Hero Characters that haven't been rigged yet, such as Iris, Lilac, and Stanley.

Also, check out some of the blendshape progress on Iris and Stanley! Hopefully they'll be fully rigged and in the game soon!

End of September Patron Update Thingy

Hey Patrons! Here's an update on things.

World Partition

Currently, we are testing out converting our world into World Partition. This is Unreal Engine 5's new method of world creating. We're doing this because the previous method, Level Streaming, is being phased out and we were told World Partition will make things run better.

Because of this, there might not be any new Patreon builds for a bit while we figure this out. This is a pretty big change and some...

Iris Synergy: Final Model and Progress Shots

Hey Patrons!

Well, Iris' model is about finished! I think we might tweak her textures a little more, but she's about done and we're really proud of her!

We've also included more progress images and an image comparing her new model to her older ones. We hope you like her!

More Iris Sculpt Progress

Hey Patrons!

We're almost done with Iris' sculpt! Just have to tweak the face and hair a bit more then work on her pinky, then it's time to retopo!

Also, check out her backpack, modeled by Paul!

Iris - Turnaround and Sculpt Start

Hey Patrons!

We're finally working on Iris' model after Brandt and Kat finished her turnaround. Brandt started the sculpting process this week and has an early block-out almost done!

Work on Lilac will begin shortly, too. Her turnaround just needs a few more tweaks!

McKayla Final Models and Textures

Here are McKayla's final models and textures! I also included the concepts and sculpts in case I didn't post them before. We hope you like them!

Wiska Final Model, Outfits and Alternate Colors

Hey Patrons!

Here's Wiska's final mode along with her outfits and alternate color combos for said outfits!

NPC Sculpts with Ref

Hey Patrons!

The sculpts for two new NPCs are done! Check them out compared to their refs!

Rad Venture SAGE 2022 Trailer Submission

Hey Patrons!

Here is the 15-second trailer footage we made for the SAGE 2022 trailer! Submissions needed to be turned in a few days, so the real trailer should be going up sometime soon!

Also, the new logo animation was made by our friend Zach (https://twitter.com/PopPunkGameTime)!

NPC Group 2 Progress Sculpts

Hey Patrons!

We've been working on the sculpts for a couple new NPCs this week. Take a look!

Neon Renders

Have some sick renders of Neon that I did to show off their model. Also, a short idle animation gif <3

Neon Final Model

Hey Patrons!
Here's a look at Neon's final in-game model and textures!

We've also been given permission to turn Neon's outfit into an alternate costume for Rad!

Rad Venture Cross-Over Character

Hey Patrons!

We've got some sick news. Neon from Advent Neon will be making a cameo appearance in Rad Venture!

Here's a look at his current sculpt and model progress. This kinda just started as a little fun side-project/ gift for CryoGX, Neon's developer, but he agreed to let Neon cameo in Rad! We'll keep posting update as we go, and maybe we'll get other cross-over characters, too.

You can find the Advent Neon developer at: 2022-06-27 14:29:02 +0000 UTC View Post

Patreon Update June 2022

Hey Patrons! Here's a quick update on some things:

Recently, a lot of our dev team has been burnt out and depressed, so we're going to be taking a little bit of a break from working on the game in-engine and instead step back and work on some more planning to get a better perspective of the future.

We're not sure if we'll have new builds in the coming months just because we probably won't work on much. We'll still try to post concept art, music, and other stuff when we can.

...

Concept Art - Vistabell NPCs Pack 2

Hey Patrons!

Here's some concept art made by our concept artist Kat that she did a little while ago!

These are various NPCs with alternate costumes that will be made for Vistabell!

You can find Kat here:

Twitter:https://twitter.com/arZeeK_art

ArtStation: https://www....

May Build Update Update Update etc.

Hey patrons!

We've FINALLY got a build ready and will be uploaded later tonight. 

We're really sorry for the wait, but updating to Unreal Engine 5 has come with more than a few issues. As such, the build we're uploading will have various issues, but still should be mostly playable. 

I'll list some of the issues bellow:

• Level Streaming: The way our game is built is by using Level Streaming Volumes to load in and out levels as you progress through the gam...
  2022-05-10 15:28:58 +0000 UTC View Post

May Build Update Update

Good news: We were able to package a workable version of the game!

Bad news: A lot of the Level Streaming Volumes are busted, so levels don't load properly unless you teleport to them. We're either going to try and fix it asap or try to switch to World Partition, which is what is replacing streaming volumes, but that might take longer depending on what we learn about it and how much help we get.

Some more good news: The game runs WAY better in Unreal Engine 5 using DirectX12. So, ...

Early Access Music Tier Change

Hey Patrons, we've decided to lower Early Access to Music Tracks down to the $5 tier. We just think that's fair since we stopped doing other stuff for lower tiers like wallpapers.

Rad Venture Alpha 0.0.6.0 May Build Update

Hey Patrons! We're going to be a little late getting the May Rad Venture build uploaded. Since updating to Unreal Engine 5, we've been running into an error when the game launches and instantly crashes saying that DirectX is crashing and there doesn't seem to be a fix for it atm.

The only solutions we've heard from people so far is to keep packaging and launching and HOPE it works or wait for Unreal Engine 5 to update and fix the issue.

We're going to take bit to figure out what's...

Synergy Silo & Boss Arena Update

Happy Friday, Patrons!

We've got more updates for Synergy Silo. We've started updating the boss arena (not just the platform) as well as adding some neat effects and other parts of the boss level.

We've also bee playing with Sequencer in Unreal to create doors, lifts, and other moving parts which will hopefully make the level more interesting and impactful! Take a look!

Synergy Silo WIP Environment

Hey Patrons! I thought I'd share our progress on Synergy Silo's environment. The tunnels and silos themselves are coming together and are lookin really cool!

We're also making small details like having the boss robot bein built as you run through the level. I included a GIF showing off what one of those sections would look like, with robots working on an arm.

Let us know what you think of the first boss level so far!

Boss McGuffinite Toll WIP

Hey Patrons!

We had an idea for some McGuffinite tolls for the boss levels. This gif is a quick concept I made, where each boss level will show an animated image of the boss of the area.

This example shows Lilac in front of Synergy Silo!

We are currently commissioning out some pixel art for the boss heads and McGuffinite icon, so we look forward to seeing how those turn out!

Synergy Silo Entrance WIP

Spent yesterday using our Synergy trim sheet to start working on the entrance to Synergy Silo! It'll have an elevator that takes you down into the level.

Synergy Metal Trim Sheet Update 2

Hey Patrons!

Here's another update on the Synergy Metal Trim Sheet in the form of platforms for Synergy Silo!

Also, one of these is a remake of the first boss arena, which is WAY more optimized than the old one, so this will be replacing it soon.

Synergy Metal Trim Sheet WIP

The end of last week I was working on a new Trim Sheet for Synergy tech purposes. With this we can start making some assets for Synergy Silo so it doesn't look so empty anymore.

I'll keep updating on progress of the trim sheet and show off some meshes I make with it later!

April Build Update

Hey Patrons! We're currently working on a new build for y'all that should be uploaded soon.

BUT, something interesting happened today. Unreal Engine 5 was release!

So, we're gunna do a silly port with no knowledge of what'll break for shits and giggles and we'll try making a build there, too. So, you'll get TWO builds this month maybe hopefully we'll see!

Vistabell City Update

Hey Patrons!
Here are some updated screenshots of the work we've done in Vistabell this month!

We've made a lot of new props to flesh out the city and have finalized a lot of the building shapes. We've even made Rad's Pad! The game is starting to chug, but we'll be working on a fix for it once we have more of the buildings finished.

Another reason the game is running kinda slow is that the cull distance volumes aren't working in our version of Unreal. They should be fixed once ...