Xavi (@xavibell) · DIRTY

Xavi

@xavibell

Writer and game maker. Sometimes in Melbourne. Play Calamity Cait:

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Xavi@xavibell· 7d

I'm getting the hang of it now

Screenshot of a game I'm working on. 3D, semi-realistic scene of the worst apartment you've ever seen. Shutters on the window cast orange light and shadows on the floor. The whole room is mostly empty, besides a mattress on the floor, a wardrobe shoved in the corner, and a small dining table. There's also two doors in the back of the room, one leading to a bathroom, and the other to parts unknown...

Xavi@xavibell· 12d

I was partly inspired by the goat of videogame staffrooms

That one room from the first level in Half Life 1, with the vending machines and the microwave you can mess with.

Xavi@xavibell· 12d

Staffroom of desolation and dread ❤️

A very uniformly lit staffroom, devoid of any bright colours. It's mostly browns and faded yellows. A shitty table sits in the corner, surrounded by even shittier chairs. There's also a small kitchen to the right, with a sad looking fridge beside it. It's all soul-crushing, and not a place anyone would want to spend their lunch break in.

Xavi@xavibell· 17d

Subway station from previous post. Camera looks down a very long set of steps, lined with rails. Tiled walls are very grimy. Roof is concrete. It's all very dated and gross, as far as subway stations go.

Same subway station. Camera is now on the platform, facing some toilet doors and a bench. There's also a very low res map on the wall. Fluoro lights bath the scene in a beautiful piss yellow.

Xavi@xavibell· 20d

Baked lighting is the future

Same scene as first post, now with much nicer lighting. Walls are lined with fluoro lights, making the scene kinda yellow. Two red lights shine through the darkness in the subway tunnel.

Xavi@xavibell· 21d

Making another game

A very rough blockout of a subway station I'm making in Godot. Faded yellow tile walls, plus some orange tiles mixed in to represent the subway line colour. Most details from the scene are missing, so really it's just walls, supports and a few low res textures.

Xavi@xavibell· 24d

Currently rediscovering how fun it is to draw squiggly coastlines

A very rough map of a fictional continent I made up just now. The coastline is drawn in a thick white line (on a black background), somewhat resembling somewhere like Ireland or Iceland. Lots of jagged edges. Marked with red crosses are a five different places I'd think would make sense for a city to be. They're mostly on the coast or next to a river. I've drawn some rivers in blue, emanating from the centre of the continent. That's where some very tall mountains would be, although I haven't got around to drawing those yet.

Xavi@xavibell· 25d

Some extra details: - Roughly 1-2 hours long - Fully playable on Steam Deck - I think it's pretty good

A decrepit information board, overlooking the vast seas. On the board, most of the words have been worn off. The title remains, saying "Weep Not Traveller". The letters ACAB have also been scratched into the board. Not sure what those stand for.

Xavi@xavibell· 25d

Calamity Cait is out! A story of love, whales, pubs, lighthouses and the great outdoors. And it's free! Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/4200450 Itch: xavibell.itch.io/calamity-cait

Low angle shot of a small catamaran. A man in a hawaiian shirt sits on the back steps, looking down at the water. A woman stands behind him, hands behind her back, staring longingly into the distance. Behind her, on the roof of the boat, another woman sits, her eyes glued to a pair of binoculars. Orange and blue sky in the background.

A dirt paths winds off into dense bushland, with a wooden fence following it. Powerlines criss-cross the scene, dissolving into the distance. Mountains and wind turbines arejust barely visible in the background, smothered by overcast, purple and orange skies.

An almost empty wharf, overlooked by a large hotel with many balconies. Camera is at the end of a pier, looking back toward the foreshore. Lots of small poles and signs. A large group of clouds sit in the sky.

A small, rectangular lighthouse sits on the edge of a cliff. In front of it is a viewing platform, overlooking the ocean. A woman and kid sit on a bench in front of the lighthouse, looking very small in comparison. The silhouette of a jagged coastline juts out to the right of frame.

Xavi@xavibell· Jul 10

Calamity Cait releases July 21, free for everyone. Be there or be square.

Calamity Cait screenshot. A small catamaran is docked in a wooden pier. A pelican sits at the top of its mast. An orange and blue sky looms in the distance, in contrast to the rest of the scene, which is low detail black and white.

Another screenshot. A gravel path winds off into dense bushes. Powerlines criss cross over the scene. In the distance, mountains and wind turbines. A dark, orange and purple mass of clouds smother the sky, then fade to white on the horizon.

Xavi@xavibell· Jun 26

F

A very unnatural cloud formation (created by cooling towers at a coal power station, out of frame). It's almost in the shape of an uppercase F, backlit by the setting sun. Orange to blue gradient in the sky, black silhouettes of trees and houses on the bottom of frame.

Xavi@xavibell· Jun 15

Wilson’s Prom (from a distance)

Deep blue ocean and sky covered by multiple layers of thin, semi transparent clouds. On the horizon is Wilson’s Prom, jutting out from the water.

Xavi@xavibell· Jun 3

This game will feature every animal ever, including the world-renowned mudlark

Calamity Cait screenshot. A mudlark (small black and white bird, kinda looks like a magpie) stands on a wooden post. Behind it is a lighthouse surrounded by gravel and dense shrubbery. Tumultuous cloud formations in the sky.

Xavi@xavibell· May 31

EXCLUSIVE first look at Calamity Cait gameplay

Xavi@xavibell· May 28

Video games allow us to answer impossible questions, like: what if you were haunted by a whale?

Screenshot of Calamity Cait. Two women sit at a table in a pub eating dinner. In the background, the aforementioned southern right whale watches them through a window. Shades of evil and intimidating horse.

Xavi@xavibell· May 28

Southern right whale 😀

A very rough approximation of a southern right whale I made in Blender (for use in Calamity Cait). Black and white textures, high contrast and low detail, no lighting. Floating in a grey void.

Xavi@xavibell· May 20

Close enough?

Low poly pelican (made for Calamity Cait) standing in a grey void. Black and white, high contrast textures. There isn't a single thought in its head.

Xavi@xavibell· May 14

Low angle shot of a pelican sitting on top of a street lamp. Blotchy clouds in the background.

Pelican standing on a street lamp, looking left. Funky clouds in the background, kinda like flour spilt over a blue tabletop.

Xavi@xavibell· May 7

Had two incredibly friendly Facebook marketplace interactions this morning

Dark Souls character resting at the Firelink bonfire, HUMANITY RESTORED text on the screen.

Xavi@xavibell· May 3

Different angle of the first image, now taken from the side with a much wider view of the scene. You can see the rest of the car park, with street lamps and line markings repeating in all directions until they fade into the darkness. Clear night sky with dim stars.

Xavi@xavibell· May 3

Calamity Cait screenshot. Birds eye view of two women laying on the ground in an empty carpark. In the center is a black circle with a white outline, meant to be an abstract visualisation of a street lamp (it makes more sense if you look at it from a different camera angle). Two bikes lay in the circle. There's also a shopping trolley turned on its side.

Xavi@xavibell· Apr 28

Steam page for my next game is up. Calamity Cait! A visual novel about the wonders and horrors of workplace romance. store.steampowered.com/app/4200450/...

Screenshot of Calamity Cait. Low angle shot of a catamaran boat. In the foreground a woman stands, looking longingly towards the sky. Behind her, on the roof of the boat, another woman sits, binoculars held to her face. In the background are long orange clouds, contrasting against the low detail black and white 3D models.

Screenshot showing a section of dialogue in Calamity Cait. The main character, Cait, is talking to a child about something bad that has happened to her, and also whales. The scene shows the two of them sitting on a bench beneath a small lighthouse. In the background are powerlines and distant mountains. Same artstyle as first image.

Screenshot of an environment from Calamity Cait. Camera looks across an empty wharf, overlooked by a large hotel/apartment block. Large orange clouds loom over the scene. In the distance wind turbines stand atop rolling hills. Same artstyle as previous images.

Screenshot from Calamity Cait, showing an eftpos machine at the Bayside Hotel. On the screen, it says "Would you like to add a tip?" There are four options: 50%, 20%, 10% and "No thanks, I don't support local business." Same artstyle as previous images.

Xavi@xavibell· Apr 25

At the beach

Photo taken at Woodside Beach, looking parallel to the ocean. Bushy dunes on the left, wide beach covered in tracks in the centre, ocean on the right. Clear blue sky above.

More beach, slightly wider angle than first photo. Ocean and small waves on the left, wet, compacted sand on the right.

Now perpendicular to the water. Small waves crash into the sand. Some wispy, vague looking clouds in the sky.

Xavi@xavibell· Apr 9

Pub classics

Screenshot from my current project. A line up of various dishes, all pub style, in high contrast black and white. Very low detail. Highlights include a bowl of chips, a steak, some trout, the most dubious Caesar salad ever, and four nondescript pizzas.

Xavi@xavibell· Apr 5

Unwashed pan in the sink, for authenticity

Same scene as previous post, from a different angle. Player is now in the kitchen, looking down at the sink. In it is three glasses and a frying pan (implied to be dirty).

Xavi@xavibell· Apr 5

Screenshot from my current project. Player is looking at a small (or large, depends on the suburb) rectangular apartment. On the back wall is the kitchen, with stools lined up behind a bench. In the middle of the room is a lounge, with a couch, glass coffee table and TV. In the corner to the right is a bookshelf, filled with nondescript novels. Whole scene is extremely stylised in high contrast black and white, almost entirely solid colours, with very little detail.

Xavi@xavibell· Mar 17

Looks good

Comparison image of the MC from my current project. On the left is the normal character model, showing a woman with a solemn expression, very minimal, intentionally stylised. The subtitle states this is without DLSS 5. The image to the right is the same, but the facial features have been replaced with the smug Roblox face. The subtitle says this is with DLSS 5. In case it wasn't obvious, this is satire.

Xavi@xavibell· Mar 16

More pub

Same pub as quoted image, now with a lot more detail. Camera is in front of a bar, focused on a bald guy sitting on a stool, asleep on the countertop. Shelves in front of him are filled with nondescript bottles of booze. In the background two women sit at a table with beers in front of them.

Different angle of the pub, looking out the windows onto a street that runs alongside the ocean. It's around sunset, with orange clouds fading into purple. Two women sit at one of the tables beside the windows.

Xavi@xavibell· Mar 9

Makin a pub

Pub scene from my current project. Low angle shot from the back corner of a big open area with tables and chairs, an empty bar, and a staircase leading up to some doors. Scene is high contrast black and white (mostly white). Slightly unfinished and sparse for detail, as it is WIP.

Xavi@xavibell· Feb 19

Trail of the wretched steam deck verified btw

My new steam deck, sitting on my desk. On the screen is the opening scene of Trail of the Wretched, a visual novel I made a few years ago.