As you know, we’re drawing ever closer to the completion of this game, and since I’m usually a bit ahead of making the background art and such, we’re nearing a point where I’ll run out of stuff to do! So how to keep me busy?

Well, we’ve had a budding idea of having me prepare the graphic assets and likely, most of the writing, for a little side project, or a companion piece if you’d like: basically, a visual novel where you’re a Collector, interacting with other collectors and sentient artifacts!

This game will be a very short game to go along with the Grindea universe, so we’re not talking any big investments of time here, even for me – but it’ll give me something to do while Teddy and Fred finish the last bits of animations and code for the main game. And it may also serve to give you guys a bit more insight in the world of Grindea!

Because of the planning needed, you’re likely going to start seeing some sketches and rough ideas for this project come up on this blog soon. So how do you guys feel about visual novels? Any particular ones you like, or dislike? Features you’d like to see in a project like this?

Again, keep in mind our goal here is just to make a little companion piece, so it’s not gonna be very long or super complex – just a little side project in the same world :)

Next up with actual Secrets of Grindea stuff though, for the Grindea boss fight we’re looking at having a total of three different HP-bars! Time to take a look at those:

Now with the Grindea boss fight drawing ever closer to completion, it’s time we start working on a proper victory UI for Arcade Mode instead of the standard Game Over one!

Here’s the regular version, as a reminder:

And here’s the post-Grindea one, which will be more blue. It has a star instead of the floor number, and will most likely show up against a black backdrop as seen in the second picture below, as it’ll appear after the credits:

Of course, in the above examples there’s still the usual Game Over text, but in the actual interface it’ll say “Victory!” one you’ve defeated Grindea. We’ve made three versions of the next now, though, with “Victory?” showing up when you finish the game without battling either Bishop och Grindea, and “Victory” showing up when you defeat Bishop!

Next up, for Grindea’s big battle, we want to add a starry space-like background for one of her attacks, and as such, I was tasked with making a simple space background! Let’s have a look:

As we draw ever closer to you being able to finish your Arcade Mode journey, it’s time to add a proper way of getting up to that island where your fate will be decided. Using a standard portal? Nah, let’s do something a bit cooler: flying up yourself! Have a look: