And the next Arcade Mode interior.... is the Inn! Or the tavern! Whatever you wish to call it. True, it does not have beds, but who's to say there isn't a hidden door somewhere that leads upstairs?
In either case, this is sort of an upgraded version of the old Tavern in Arcadia. Doesn't look exactly the same, but I went for the same sort of feel and the overall layout. When everything is implemented this place will probably have more visitors than it currently does, [.....]
Next up we continue the Arcadia rework, today starring the the farm interior! This place will have the same look and feel as the farm in Evergrind West, only with updated graphics and more stuff.
We're actually considering replacing the old farm interior in Story Mode with this one, but we haven't fully decided yet. On one hand it looks a lot better graphics wise, on the other it's kind of nice to have the unlock in Arcadia be a bit more special. On the third [.....]
While I continue doing Arcadia stuff, Fred returns to the desert! Over the weeks I've made quite a bunch of portraits for people in the desert, and now it's time for Fred to start making their sprites~
Here's a bunch of the inhabitants you'll be able to talk to in the upcoming desert town, also featuring their WIPs and various stages before the final versions were picked (the final selection are the one in the circle on top):
There's also a bunch of fishes being [.....]
Now, finally time to move indoors and start doing some cool house interiors (it's been a while now)! Today, we're starting off with the Clock Tower, featuring the world's longest GIF. I should have just recorded a video of this whole thing but I've been doing GIFs so much now that I just completely forgot I also have a YouTube channel for these things. Oh well! Maybe next time ;)
This place was actually quite a bit of a struggle! I'm working on my rendering [.....]
Time to get back to the Arcadia rework, and we begin with a quick update with some random improvements/additions! First up, I felt the Farm outdoors looked awfully empty, so I added a bunch of hay for your pets to eat, just to make it look a bit more special:
Second, way back we decided that the furniture salesman should have a little sign like all the other shops, so I went back and added it outside the player house:
Speaking of the [.....]
One thing we didn't mention in last weeks posts are what will happen to your old potions. We aren't so cruel as to simply remove or disable the pots you've bought so far - instead they will turn into pet food (which, honestly, is probably what most of you have used them for so far).
As such, we'll be adding a new shop to the game: Oak's Pet supplies, found at the farm in Evergrind West! At Oak's Pet Supplies you'll be able to buy dishes [.....]
And so, the potion patch is up! This patch includes the complete potion rework, a ton of new pots, a rework of Remedi and his first quest plus a brand new quest involving Remedi and his nephew (which will be available if you've finished his first quest and have started your journey in Mount Bloom).
As always, especially with new systems, we're eager to hear your input on these changes to the potion system. There are a bunch of potions to test, and we're interested to hear how you feel about the effects: are they powerful enough compared to the recharge time? Is it satisfying to recharge potions in battle? Are you more inclined to use potions [.....]
Like me and Teddy, Fred too has been busy doing potion stuff this week!
As Remedi got a new, older self, his first mission was to make the old man version of the sprite, to go with the new portrait. As usual, when deciding on a look for a new sprite, he made a whole bunch of iterations until we selected our favorite:
Which one do you like best?
Since we needed Remedi's nephew to do some pretty advanced stuff in the upcoming new [.....]
Finally, some finishing touches before I'm done with my parts for this patch! First up, the Speed and Loot potions mentioned before:
...which of course also were in need of proper interface icons:
I also made small versions of each of the icons, to serve as buff icons / timers for the potions that work over time (and whatever else we might need them for)!
Then, there's another portrait for poor Remedi, who will go through quite a number of [.....]
Now, what in the world is this?! A portrait of a cave troll? What is it doing here? What part will it have in our story? For now, all I'll say is that it's related to the potion quests, and will appear in the next patch!
Unfortunately I had to cut all of its back or it wouldn't fit the text box without covering the letters! Oh well... :D
[.....]
So as we're drawing ever closer to finishing up the whole potion business, it's time to pump out a bunch of new portraits to fit in with Remedi's new questline which will grant you the empty bottles you need to use this new mechanic!
First up is his old man version, which will be the original form in which you meet him, rather than the kid-self you're probably used to right now:
He won't stay this way for long though, as that pesky accident with [.....]
So one of these days we had a really long discussion about how to get the new potion bottles (specifically bottle number three), which resulted in us doing an overhaul of Remedi the Alchemist's character and planned questline.
A perhaps little known fact about Remedi is that he is in fact a rather old man trapped in the body of a youth after an accident in the lab. He mentions this briefly if you talk to him when he's not involved in a quest, but it hasn't been very clear this far. In order to amplify this, we've decided that he should start off as an old man, and be transformed into his young version when he [.....]
Time for Fred's Friday! This week Fred has been busy finishing up the Solem...
.., and starting work on his part of the whole potion business! This includes a sprite and animation for Remedi's nephew, who will stand outside the potion shop with a signpost. This way we hope people will easily come across him and learn how to get a bottle on their way to the Pumpkin Woods and Flying Fortress:
Next up will be more potion stuff, as we've decided to [.....]
Cheers!
