oldmanofthefire
@oldmanofthefire
Artist, gamedev, enigma. Freelancer, open to work.
beginning section wasn't as straightforward the blockout has less going on, weren't as many shapes to work with—which made me think about what the shape language is in the first place and figure out how to introduce those elements think I'm landing on a good approach here
tube pass, aka, who let tsutomu nihei in here not sure I like tube pass. There was some fundamental simplicity to the first pass I liked. I might test that first in engine before complicating it further
recently my process has been to take screenshots like this, print them out at low opacity, and doodle on them with a pen partly because drawing with my hand on paper gets at things differently in a creative way, and partly because I go analogue every chance I get
haven't had any time! but next step is to draw over shots like this to flesh out the environment I feel pretty confident about the platforming concept. Saw someone post gameplay that confirmed core ideas
build #3 is up for toy vehicle project: now with flight 👉 oldmanofthefire.itch.io/little-vehic...
updated build, link in the repost below swapped out wheel colliders for a custom raycast thing as a number of folks recommended. I think I like it, I can see how I can get the control I want. Pretty bouncy right now but fun to drive around also colors and an island and pretty
since I kind of know where I'm headed in terms of enemy AI, I'm starting Abyssal Fugue's combat from poses and player motion. My thought is if it feels awesome to move and strike, then I can build these known systems around that
mm, forgot about this one. Not so much a combat system, but exploration into the kind of poses / movement / feeling that was missing from earlier prototypes
next prototype was named nothing more than "little zelda" and was mostly an exercise in rewriting the dark thicket code after all those learnings. Thinking more rigorously about timing, pacing, knockdowns, combos, etc. And the result felt more fluid and dynamic—but still not enough.
additional context here that's maybe interesting I've made a few combat prototypes before but never been totally satisfied with them. This concept sits on top of those, is meant to really get at the thing I want first real prototype was in Dark Thicket (more in thread)
was struggling to wrap my mind around attack states, and had so many competing ideas. So drew up a plan for myself, derived from what I want things to feel like
from 1982, before I was born. Why I like reading old things. He's not talking about AI, or NFTs, or whatever. He's talking about a continual cycle of anxious misdirection. Don't be distracted Rainer Maria Rilke, Appendix to the Sonnets of Orpheus
of course I'm a lunatic and have a whole city block sketched out, but I need to ignore most of that. But it helped me answer the question of how I want the platforming sequence weave around
ok, so I basically have these two rooms blocked out to a point where I want to start drawing, really think about platforming paths / patterns through them set dressing was a bit of a digression but I was into it and I like where I landed, so 🤷♂️