The Kristala Dev Blog - Issue #7
Now that the dust from the holiday season has started to settle, we thought we'd bring you another riveting round of dev updates to hold you over until the New Year.
Speaking of which...we're ridiculously excited to announce that the countdown to the Kristala demo release is officially on! We'll of course share all the juicy details about that as it nears, but you'll be able to finally explore the world of Ailur very soon on itch.io and Steam.
Until then, we'll hold off your appetite with some of our latest dev updates.
As always, please join the conversation and let us know your thoughts about this week's updates, the direction of the game, or even some of the things you'd love to see in a dark fantasy RPG that you haven't yet seen. We're all ears.
Programming
We'll have a whole heaping helping of programming updates for you soon as Will gets ready to dive head-first into gameplay. But first...he's had to make sure all our menu systems and general UI functionality are working properly.
This week, Will implemented a Pause menu to offer you a break from the mayhem while playing (or, y'know...just to heat up that leftover pizza you've been eyein' up in the fridge since breakfast), and he's also continued work on stats and combat-damage functionality.
Stay tuned for some in-depth Programming updates coming your way soon.
Character Design
Our Masarusa swamp mushroom character recently got a terrifying facelift thanks to Kieran's expert eye for detail. What started out as a common enemy for the Dalamese' level has now been upgraded to full boss status.
While this Masarusa might appear slow and cumbersome at first, he's equipped with some super secret weaponry up his sleeve, so don't be fooled. Curious about what they are? You'll just have to play the demo and see...
In Nick's neck of the woods, he's finally finished up the Hooded Armor set he's been working on revamping for a couple weeks now. We can't wait to see this textured and applied to our new main character model.
...Can you say "ready to kick ass and take names"?!
Our last entry for Character Design this week brings us to Bianca's work. Though you've seen her previous work for our Menu and UI design mockups, Bianca is a woman of many talents.
Here's her rendition of our eight-legged nemesis, a mutant spider with more to worry about than just two fangs.
What do you think we should name this enemy? Let us know in the comments below.
Environmental Design
Now that Cass has finished up the cathedral ruins for our Nasahara level, he's shifted his focus to a few stone buildings we'll be using throughout the game's many levels.
Here's a look at the first small, stone house Cass has designed and textured.
We'd tell you what you might be able to find in this baby, but then we'd have to cast a ridiculously damaging curse on you, and well...we don't wanna subject you to that until you're actually playing the game.
Level Design
What's an eerie fantasy game without a little doom, gloom, and fog? Tiffany has recently wrapped up adding some foggy detail to our Dalamase level's Blight Shield Village, and she's also tweaked the lighting environment too.
What do you think of the changes? Would you dare to venture into this fog unarmed?
This week, Joe shifted his focus to a very important area of the Dalamase level. Here you'll meet an interesting NPC with a dark and sordid past.
We don't want to spoil the surprise for you though, so we'll just show off Joe's work for now.
Animation / Rigging
As we work tirelessly to get our updated character model into our game build, Allie has been hard at work creating some revised facial animations to bring her to life and allow her to properly emote.
Here's a look at the character's resting facial features in comparison to her smiling face and her angry, snarl face.
...Don't mind the creepy, eyeless shots. This witty kitty will definitely have her pretty peepers back very, very soon.
Allie has also been working with our marketing team to finesse our teaser trailer for use in various promotional spots.
Most video ad units have to be trimmed down in length for those of us with short attention spans (including yours truly), so here's a look at an ultra-condensed version of the trailer.
What do you think about the sped-up mechanics? How does this version make you feel in comparison to our original, fully cinematic piece?
Translation
Speaking of the teaser trailer, we've recently created a Spanish version of the feature for our Spanish-speaking audience, all thanks to Bode's translation work.
We'll use this version not only to share with our Spanish-speaking comrades, but to use for promotional and press purposes with the intent of widening our overall audience too.
Take a look!
Thanks again for tuning in to another installment of the Kristala dev blog. Whether you're an indie game nut, a fanatical fantasy freak, or just a curious gamer interested in upcoming ARPGs, we're glad you're here and we're incredibly thankful for your support.
Be sure to follow us on our socials to stay in-the-know about all our exciting updates coming in 2020. You can also join our Discord community for a special, inside scoop at some of the dev updates you won't find here, plus all the juicy deets on our upcoming demo release.
