This week we’ve kept focusing on the phase puzzles, and we’ve finally decided on a set of prototypes! There will be no less than 5 phase puzzles as part of this challenge, although the first ones will be kind of easy and serve as an introduction! :)

Here are some GIFs showing parts of the upcoming puzzles you’ll see (all with placeholder graphics that will be replaced ASAP):

Prototype01

Prototype02

Prototype03

Prototype04

As you can see, we’ve upgraded the block graphics now, so the arrow blocks/barrels that suck you in are actually more or less in their final state. The green ones always point in the same direction, while the pink ones change the direction in which it will launch you when you next press the phase button. We’ve also added proper mirror blocks and squares to this prototype, but we’re gonna do some additional work on them.

Basically, since this place has been abandoned for hundreds of years, we figured they shouldn’t look as clean as they currently are. So, we put Vilya to work, adding cracks, moss & greenery to them in order to make them look more worn. We’ll be continuing this work and show even more variations next week, so stay tuned for that!



Blocks01Now, back to the Phase Puzzle lobby from last week! We already created the basic room, but left out details, as these blocks weren’t made yet and we definitely wanted to incorporate parts of them as decorations in the room. Time to dive back in:

LobbyGIF

LobbyGIFResult

And speaking of diving back in… In between this Vilya has also been making more improvements on the Time Travel Zone, this time improving upon a garden, as well as adding another portrait, of a priest’s apprentice:




Garden02 Portrait

Next week we’ll continue transforming our crude prototypes into real areas with real art. Teddy has already started putting everything together, so hopefully you’ll be able to venture through these challenges from start to finish in the not too far away future! And after that it’s finally onto the next temple… :3

Another week has  gone by, and it’s time to show you some more stuff from the upcoming Mt. Bloom challenges!

As we’ve mentioned before, the final challenge will be a series of Phase Puzzle- and poison gas challenges. Well, the Phase Puzzle challenge parts will take place in a complex of the same origin as Flying Fortress, hidden in the mountain! And as such, we needed a lobby to set the mood for the upcoming challenges.

Here’s a BG for this, that Vilya has been working on (details such as greenery pushing through from the mountain, and other smaller decoration will be added later):

00 - BGGIF

01 - BG

Now, as for the Phase Puzzles themselves – we’ve begun prototyping them and here’s our VERY CRUDE starting point (ALL graphics are placeholder and will absolutely not be in the final version, lol):

02 - Phase01

Basically, you’ll phase shift from one point to the other, but have to avoid platforms floating back and fourth while doing so! In this image, the platforms are represented by boulders, but in the final version they will be actual Flying Fortress-esque platforms driven by the same kind of magic that keeps Flying Fortress afloat!

To spice things up a bit, we’re also adding mirror blocks, that like the mentioned platforms, float back and forth as well, so you have to mind your timing when shooting at them:

02 - Phase02

Here’s a little GIF showing it all in motion, with a third special obstacle, a moving platform which sucks you into itself, and keeps you in there until you press the Phasing button again:

04 - Phase03

We’re currently working on applying the correct graphics for each of the puzzle blocks, so hopefully they will look more awesome in the next update! In the meanwhile, here are some other things Vilya has been working on for the Time Travel Temple, which will be your next destination once you get through the Phase Puzzles!

First up, another portrait:
05 - Portrait

Then, some more detail work on that first map that we started improving last week. First up, some more flowers:

06 - Zone01A

Also, something bamboo-inspired and some other types of greenery – cause, why not?

06 - Zone01B

We also played around with recoloring the barrels and crates around the map, to see if we could have them fit the theme better:

06 - Zone01C

Finally, Vilya improved on the entrance decoration, editing the colors and adding a bit more detail to it:

06 - Zone01D

And here’s what it all looks like right now! I think it’s starting to come together, and it’s time to move on to the next part of the map :) What do you think?

06 - Zone01E

As the title says, we’re back, and we’ve survived our first week back at the office after the holidays! Both Vilya and Teddy suffered from the flu over the christmas break, but now they’re excited to be back and work on the game :)

So, this week Fred has been working on a bunch of NPCs for Mount Bloom! I’m sure you’ll all be very excited to meet these guys:

Animation - Adventurer

Animation - Coin

Animation - Jones

Animation - Marshmellow

Animation - ScaredMiner

Meanwhile, Vilya has focused on reworking & adding details to the first time travel map, as we’re drawing ever closer to actually start implementing it! Here’s some video coverage of that as well:

Detail01

Detail02

Detail03

Detail04

Detail05

Here’s the lower part of the map, the way it looks right now (more work incoming):

Current

She also threw in a portrait of one of the miners Fred made (shown in the last blog post):

Portrait01

And what about Teddy? Well, he’s been working on a new type of puzzle (kind of), that you’ll be facing up against in Mount Bloom, before you reach the time travel area! Next week we’ll show you some prototypes of that, so stay tuned :)