Vilya's Workblog

Stable Animations

posted by Vilyaon Friday, November 30, 2018

And now an update from the programming and animation department!

Teddy and Fred have been working hard on adding the remaining Flashback Orbs, which which means there's a ton of new sprites and animations needed. First one of young Zhamla casting a spell:

Vilya beating someone up:

Young mandrake's design and animations of him walking threateningly and running away from something scary:

And a bunch of designs for an ancient piece of weaponry, once meant for Phaseman. Unfortunately (?) for [.....]

Equipment & Drops Portraits Secrets of Grindea0

Flashback Orbs & Desert Treasures

posted by Vilyaon Thursday, November 29, 2018

Alright, so previously I've mentioned three flashback orbs that will be available, dealing with Zhamla finding his first card, Young Dad meeting equally young Ivy and Charlotte, and Charlotte speaking to the winter elder after saving Santa Fae from the legendary Goblin King.

Since then we've decided to add two more such orbs, one that details how the Black Ferrets gang came to be (which yes, weirdly enough involves professor Mandrake!), and one that features Professor Pine and Tannie working on the weapons they used when trying [.....]

GIFs Portraits Secrets of Grindea0

Young Mandrake?!

posted by Vilyaon Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Alright. Hold your horses. Mandrake. Out of all characters, why Mandrake? What did he do in his young days to warrant a portrayal in a flashback orb? What's his connection to the Black Ferrets? Has he really always looked this ridiculous?!

I guess y'all better find this memory orb and find out (once it's been implemented) :D

[.....]

GIFs Portraits Secrets of Grindea0

Young Teddy & Freddy

posted by Vilyaon Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Next up, unsurprisingly... Two young gangsters in the making, and now I think you most certainly can start to guess who will be the subject of this flashback orb:

However, there's one more character involved in the events that will be portrayed... [.....]

GIFs Portraits Secrets of Grindea2

Portrait of a Young Girl

posted by Vilyaon Monday, November 26, 2018

Time to make some more portraits for the flashback orbs you'll be able to find throughout the world in that upcoming stable patch (and the frontline patch that naturally will precede it). Perhaps you'll be able to recognize this silly young girl, and imagine what awesome trio will be featured in the next orb we're making:

Any guesses? ;)

[.....]

Game Design GIFs Secrets of Grindea0

Mixed Stuff II

posted by Vilyaon Friday, November 23, 2018

...so here we have the first iteration of the poltergeist attack! First as a WIP in Evergrind City:

... and then as a more finalized version inside the ghost ship, looking more like it should in the end:

This attack definitely make things more interesting! With this set of enemies, things are already pretty hectic and fun, but in the end we'll likely make one more; a crab of some kind that is a 'regular', that is, living enemy that works the same both [.....]

Game Design GIFs Secrets of Grindea1

Enemy Progress

posted by Vilyaon Thursday, November 22, 2018

We're not only making progress with the stable patch, there's been a ton of progress in the enemy department as well! Let's take a first look at our set of enemies, starting with the sword-wielding sailor:

As you can see, his sword is part of the physical world and can harm you even outside of the ghost world. Unfortunately, you can't damage the sword, so you'll have to toggle into the spirit world, where his ghastly form is visible, to do damage to him!

On [.....]

Backgrounds Secrets of Grindea Timelapse Videos0

Hidden Library

posted by Vilyaon Wednesday, November 21, 2018

And now... What's this?! A new kind of room, not exactly fitting into any of the sceneries we've been working on lately? Where could this be?!

Alright, so this is a "hidden" (not exactly) room that will be added to the church of Port Monnaie, where you'll be able to read some interesting (?) documents on the history of the faith and Grindea herself.

...Because that's clearly the kind of things one would keep in a damp cellar such as this...

Not sure [.....]

Backgrounds Equipment & Drops GIFs Secrets of Grindea0

Mixed Stuff I

posted by Vilyaon Tuesday, November 20, 2018

As we've also decided to add the season orbs needed to reach certain parts you haven't been able to reach yet, I've been making some snowy paths around Grindea to get you across where you need to go:

We've also decided to add a housing item in the form of a bowl of cat food! This will be awarded in a quest, and if you place the item in your house you'll soon find you have a guest... :)

As such, Fred has [.....]

Backgrounds GIFs Secrets of Grindea0

Backgrounds from the Past

posted by Vilyaon Monday, November 19, 2018

Continuing with the memory orb stuff, it's time for me to make a bunch of edits to the backgrounds! Since the world the memory orbs show are several (sometimes hundreds of) years in the past, it's only natural some things have changed.

For one, since we've seen the Rabby statues be made around the time of your completion of the Collector's trial, it needs a background version where they don't exist yet:

And in Santa Fae / Seasonne, the NPCs comment on how it's [.....]

Fred's Friday Secrets of Grindea1

Fred's Friday: Skeleton Enemies

posted by Vilyaon Friday, November 16, 2018

Meanwhile, Fred has been a busy necromancer, animating a bunch of skeletons (haaaaha - get it?):

The above are, as you might realize from the sword, the melee version! The magic user version looks slightly different and has another color scarf as well:

As Fred made these sprites, he came up with a rather interesting idea: to be able to cut off the head of the skeletons and have it turn into a different enemy (kind of like a Jumpkin). The idea [.....]