Blistering Beach preview #1

 Hello all!

I appologize for the lateness of this, not that anyone is waiting with baited breath for these, but I got a new work laptop for modeling while away from home and while that has been helpful in speeding up the process of creation, it has had a bit of a learning curve. I suppose that I am saying that I blame the laptop for the lateness of this, which is absurd, but here we are.

Alliteration plays a large role in the naming conventions for levels in ASU, to be honest, that's where most of the ideas for levels comes from. I take a place that one could find in another video game, like the ocean, and then play with alliteration until I come up with something that both includes the original idea and satisfies my annoying desire for the name to only start with one letter. Anywho, that's how we arrived at Blistering Beach. 

The original idea was a level that took place both above and below water level. 

Below water level

Above water level

The above and below sections will serve different functions for traversing the level itself. With underwater being the main area that you'll spend your time in, whereas above water will function as a way to scout ahead, along with find different treasures and whatnot above the waves. 

All the creature designs, as one would expect, are based around underwater creatures, but with the Saren Glass mutation twist that you've come to expect from the likes of the hawog or hanged acacia. 

I'm still working out the idea of this dang blog, but I'll get it one of these days. I suppose I could post it as a companion to my Steam updates, but, we'll figure it out. 

In any case, this was a short-ish one, but here we are!

Until next time,

-Lucas

Project Director

A Storm Unsung #2

 Hello all!

Since this is a development blog, I figured this next post, with a very creative name, would go over some in-development screenshots that have been taken and I could talk a bit about them and whatnot. I'm still not sure what I'm going to be talking about here, so, bear with me. 

This is the very first screenshot I could find of ASU. It was a bit of a teaser, I believe, for my wife. Because I was talking about showing off the bush there in the front, which some of you may or may not recognize as one that was used in Wind Carrier, but as the eagle-eyed among you can see, there is our first character there, Whispering Willow, hiding out in the grasses that would end up making up the Into the Rushes event in the Putrid Plains.

Next up, we have the very first iteration of our dungeon system. Well, you know what I mean. Originally, there were going to be objects blocking each ending of a tile, denoted by the garishly colored rocks there, but I opted for leaving them open ended and added a bit of a rounding to the edges instead. I believe it's good for looking out over the horizon. But, yeah.

For those of you who don't know, ASU uses dungeon tiles, basically large mini-sections of an area and weaves them together randomly to create unique dungeon experiences each time you go through a run. 

These screenshots are raw, as I'm sure you can see. But, this is the first screenshot of the dungeon system working with actual tiles. I think this also incorporates the cap tiles as well, which are like normal tiles, but only have one entrance to the tile, instead of four, and they end up as the 'caps' of certain other tiles. Not all tiles exits will have caps, but, yeah, more variety, I believe, was the idea that I was going for with that one. 

Variety is the name of the game in ASU, with each dungeon having unique: enemies, traps, events, and tiles. I'm a sucker for variety in my games, and that's why ASU has so much of it. 

Here we've got Tabitha the Phoenix fighting an in-progress Overgrown Sentinel. The Sentinel is the first boss that you'll encounter in ASU, not necessarily the first in any given run, but he was an important step. Especially since I can't just make things that deal damage, they have to do other things to keep it interesting. 

For example, the Overgrown Sentinel deals large amounts of damage with that breath attack there, but also summons permanent traps along the path that the breath takes. 

But, yeah, you can see the in-progress UI there as well, along with a name above Tabitha's head. There was a moment in time when I was considering making ASU multiplayer, but I ultimately decided against it, thus the names were removed. 

This is the first pass of the character changing widget from the inn. The format has remained, essentially, unchanged, but the proportions and the general in-progressness of it have been improved. 

For frame of reference, this is the current widget. Now that I look at it, I may want to make it larger to hide the other character names there in the back so it's less distracting. Anywho!

And here we've got the first iteration of the inn! Which also is largely unchanged. Got Tabitha there as the innkeeper, not that she'd make a good one. But, it stayed this way for a very long time. It wasn't until relatively recently that the innkeeper became her own character and the inn itself was populated a bit. 

And there it is as of now. Still not thrilling, but I feel like it looks a bit better. Y'know, I feel like I could stand to add more decorations, probably in general, to all of ASU. I'm going to write that down: 'Decoration Pass.' Something that I need to do once we're getting closer to full release, I think. 

In any case, that's all I have to share today, so I hope you enjoyed our little trip down memory lane. Next week, I'll probably be talking about upcoming things, like the next level that will be released, the Blistering Beach. 

Until next time,

-Lucas

Project Director

A Storm Unsung

Hello all!

Been a bit since I've posted anything here. I am here today to talk about our new, current project, A Storm Unsung, ASU for short. If you are interested in what happened with Wind Carrier, I will be adding a section near the end of this post for that. 

A Storm Unsung

ASU is an action rogue-lite game in which you play as different characters that are all distantly related by blood. Levels are generated procedurally from sets of 'tiles' and all the action is directed by a bot that I have named Glass's Eyes. 

Glass's Eyes chooses which tiles to spawn and where, what enemies, events, and traps as well. All of this is determined by various parameters that run the gamut from the player's current vital statistics to the amount of time that you have spent in any given level, with, of course, random added to the top for a nice seasoning. 

All the characters feature different strengths and weaknesses. They all have unique abilities which can be upgraded in various ways, some of which can vastly alter the way that certain characters can function. 

ASU features four difficulty settings along with infinitely scaling +1 levels called hymns. The difficulty system doesn't simply affect the stats of the enemies either. It changes everything from which abilities are available to certain enemies to trap density to spawn timers for events. 

ASU has been in development since, wow, the end of 2020, as it turns out. I had no idea that it had been that long. I suppose that means ASU has been in development for 4 years, but as most of 2022 and 2023 were a wash for personal reasons (in the span of two years, my father, grandmother, and dog all passed away), I will say 2 and a half years. In any case, the tentative plan is to have ASU finished here in the next year to a year and a half. It's mostly adding levels and all the things that go with them - enemies, traps, events, bosses, etc. 

But, yeah, I'm uncertain why I decided now to start blogging about it, it's on Steam and everything at this point, but maybe part of me was worried about it ending up like Wind Carrier did and I didn't want any one to be disappointed again if it were to end that way. I can say with as much certainty as I can that it will not, however, and it will be completed in a timely fashion. 

I'll be updating links and whatnot as time goes on - I kinda need to relearn blogger. I will likely be posting here most Sundays. I'm not 100% sure what I will be discussing, but I find that Steam updates don't really feel like they are the best places to discuss some things at length. Any who, yeah. 

Wind Carrier

Wind Carrier has been shelved, as I'm sure you all have figured out by now, assuming there are any of you left reading this. I realized at some point in 2019 that Wind Carrier was going to take me a ridiculous amount of time, some 10 years by my estimation, to finish. I would like to return to it, or, really, something like it. ASU was supposed to be a quick project, a kind of a pallet cleanser, but we see how that turned out. It seems I am incapable of simple, but I suppose that's why people enjoy the things that I do - I put everything I have into projects that I make, even if it's not the wisest thing to do.

Anyway, the realization that Wind Carrier was going to take some much time crushed my spirit and in some way made me lose interest in game making as a whole. In fact, it was about a year and a half after the shelving of Wind Carrier that I started working on ASU. ASU has blossomed into something that I can say that I am proud of, even if it's not really anything like Wind Carrier at all. They're set in the same world, as everything that I do is going to be, but at different times, of course. I'm rambling and losing the point besides.

I apologize for not posting an update about the shelving. It was wrong of me and I deeply regret that. There were actually a few of you who reached out to me, some years late, wondering about Wind Carrier's fate and for that as well, I am deeply sorry. I should have treated you all better. 

Until next time,

-Lucas

Project Director

Wind Carrier, Alpha 31.7.19

Hello all!


I only managed to get the creature and enemies that I spoke of last week up and going - the transformation card will be finished for next week.

Not a ton of other changes; it was hot as hell here this last week and I had trouble focusing on anything for more than a few minutes at a time.


Changelog


Enemy Updates:

-Added Roura
-Large terrestrial bird
-Doesn't spawn normally, spawns occasionally in a swarm of minor creatures by the same name


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a visible hitbox for the Ilhkor'sei
-Fixed a few bugs with the new skill menu

A male Roura with a group of smaller females. 

The roura are a common sight in Goldrath, found from the west coast all the way to the edges of the great desert that lies in the east. The female roura pose no threat to anyone, but the larger, more vibrant males are very territorial and will attack intruders on sight. 

The Zin'ahlope learn from a young age how to transform into the creatures. They themselves are quite slow, being barely taller than most other sjjena's waists, but with their mastery of transformation magic, the Zin'ahlope can pose a large threat indeed.

The male roura spawns in a different way than most enemies do; it spawns from the spawning of the female minor creatures. It ends up with them spawning in surprising places. I found it rather interesting myself - I may just have to play around with unconventional spawning more in the future.

Anywho, until next time,

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Wind Carrier; Alpha 24.7.19

Hello all!

Been working on a new enemy/minor creature/transform card this week. Not quite ready to show it off, but other than that I didn't accomplish a ton.

I did make a couple of significant changes though. I'll let the changelog speak, then I'll talk below about them.


Changelog

-Merchant stock now updates every morning

-Removed the crafting bench from the player's home

-Changed the color of AoE around EIR encounters


Player/Civ Updates:

-Added Miner's Mark, Chopper's Mark, and Trader's Mark skills
-5 level each
-Miner's: Increases drop rates for stone and clay
-Chopper's: Increases drop rates for hides, produce, and lumber
-Trader's: Increases drop rates for mana crystals

-The player now gains skill points at every level

The first larger change I made this week is that now the player gains skill points every level. To me, it feels like there is more customization this way and it allows the player to make choices at every level, as opposed to every so often. It also allows for more skills to be created in general and allow the player to tailor themselves more how they would like.

The other, probably larger, change is the removal of player gear crafting. Wind Carrier isn't so much about the player herself, but rather the world and the impact that she has on it. With that in mind, I thought it better to remove that aspect. The player can still find and purchase new gear, of course, this way, however, all of their resources go to improving their civilization as opposed to themselves. And since improving the civ improves the player, it puts more focus on the civ than there was before, making it more important. This may turn some players off, but it feels like the right thing to do in my eyes. To be honest, the player gear crafting never really felt like it fit as far as I am concerned. 

Anyhow, I'll be working on the aforementioned creature this next week along with probably working on the decrepit influence levels. 

Until next time,

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Wind Carrier, Alpha 17.7.19

Hello all!

I noticed today, when I went to put this blog up that I never informed that I was going to be taking a short vacation. I suppose I had just thought about it enough to have convinced myself that I had done it. I apologize for that.

Anywho, this week there are a few changes, some restructuring, same old, same old, more or less.


Changelog

-Added icons for transformation HUDs

-Updated the transformation HUD to reflect the updated normal HUD

-Added day/night transitions

-Added a particle effect to the card projectile

-Updated the weather effects for the following conditions:
-Rain
-Fog
-Arid

-Weather is now hidden when placing/managing buildings

-Made AoE markers more visible in general

-Followers no longer block the player's movement

-Followers now take damage over time, which can be reduced by taking different skills

-Followers which heal allies passively no longer heal themselves

-Added the ability for civs that have reached a higher influence level than their current to spawn 'decrepit' levels in accordance with the highest influence level they have attained


Player/Civ Updates:

-The building upgrade widget now has insufficient material amounts displayed in red for better visibility

-Ritual of the Dancing Shrines can now be taken at level 1

-During character creation, can now control the alpha level of the player's markings

-Updated the way that taking skills works
-Skills only need be hovered over
-Clicking will take the skill

-The player no longer naturally regenerates health during combat

-Updated the skill system to stack the multiple levels of skills as opposed to having them all spread around the skill widget

-Added the skill Sate the Spirit
-Reduces the spirit burn of allies
-3 levels


Card Updates:

-PackHound now only spawns minions on transform if there are fewer than 6 followers following the player


EIR Updates:

-All EIR encounters which have negative effects on the player have an AoE around them, encounters changed where:
-Beehive
-Black Arrow Offshoot
-Lavaleaf


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed the scale for the Builder's Hut
-Fixed an oversight, where the follower icons in the HUD would not carry over if the player used a transform card or de-transformed
-Fixed a bug where the old, broken hut wasn't despawned when the quest A Lost Staff was completed
-Fixed a rare bug where a follower bot would despawn for one reason or another and their widget would not get removed
-Fixed the scaling issue with the follower widget

The new, cleaner skill menu - with a new color, might I add! Green indicates a skill that you have taken at least one level for which you can take the next level of. 

The change comes after discussing with a few people about how they felt the skill page looked. It looked messy to me as well, I just needed enough people to tell me to fix it, I guess. :p

It seems that that is the only screenshot that I have this week.

This update seems larger than it really is. Most of this was done the week prior to my vacation, but next week it'll be back to regularly scheduled updates.

Until next time,

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Wind Carrier; Alpha 19.6.19

Hello all!

I am back from my bit of a break and come bearing some updates!

I spent about three hours one day playing Wind Carrier without even noticing that it was that long. To me, that is the mark of a good game: you feel like you've accomplished something and it has held onto your interest without seeming like time was moving at all.

Anywho, changelog!



Changelog

-Added gravesites
-Have a chance to spawn after any enemy is killed
-Can be desecrated or prayed at for 30% of the enemy's influence
-Interacted with by some spells

-Increased day speed

-Upgraded the minor creature spawner to increase usage speed along with increasing the variety of random creatures that can be spawned in any given biome

-Updated the stone material nodes to increase visibility

-Greatly increased the amount of spawners for:
-Stone
-Minor Creatures
-Flying Creatures
-Eir Encounters
-Random Encounters

-Added Wandering Allies to the random encounter spawner pool

-Increased the speed at which the music changes from Day to Night

-Added a night post processing volume which actives at night


Player/Civ Updates:

-Lowered the out of combat regeneration from 3x to 2x
-Also lowered the in combat regen to 0.5x the displayed amount of regen


Card Updates:

-Added PackHound
-Transformation
-T2
-Transforms the player into a hound which also summons 3 faithful hounds as it does

-Added Horned Charge
-T1
-Spawns horns on the player's head which increase their MDM plus replaces their jump with a charge
-Charge has a small chance to stun

-Added Blast of Bone
-T1
-Creates an explosion of bone which scales with the number of gravesites nearby
-Causes negative influence for each gravesite


EIR Updates:

-Added a new completely random spawner type

-Blackarrow
-Offshoots now stun as opposed to paralyze


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where if the player returned a building to their inventory after starting to place it, but before actually placing it, the player's civ points would not properly reflect this
-Starting civ points are now correctly displayed
-Fixed the scale for the item type pickup icons
-Fixed a bug where the Vulpine fishing village of Tonorhanko would spawn without the prerequisite quests being finished
-Fixed a bug where the Oriilound's death animation looped incorrectly

A gravesite.

The idea totally didn't come to me while designing Blast of Bone. It's another way that the player can make up lost influence, however, so it's a win in my book because there needs to be more ways for the player to affect the world around them.

Horned Charge

The wife designed this one. As I said above, the player's jump is replaced by a charge which does scaling damage and has a small (10%~) to stun.

There is also some art for it which is almost complete. I will show it off once it is done.

PackHound

A transformation card, upgraded from the common Faithful Hound Card. Spawns three Faithful Hounds along with it.
Taking this screenshot, I realized that the transformation HUD could use some work, even ignoring the fact that they attack icons have not been properly made yet.

And here is the card art for PackHound, credits, again, to the wife.

And that's all I have for this week. I think I'll try to make it a habit to play Wind Carrier for an extended time at least once a week, because I noticed tons of issues which weren't brought to my attention, probably because they are tiny things that I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't the one that designed them. I've still a ton of things on my to-do list from my last play time which range from quality of life, like making the number of resources red when a player doesn't have enough of them to perform the function that they are looking at, to bigger things, like the follower's AI still getting stuck if there are too many enemies around them at once. 

I've still a long road ahead of me, but at least I'm learning shit to make the next one easier to create.

Anywho, until next time,

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Wind Carrier; Alpha 29.5.19

Hello all!

This week I added a new system: the elemental affinity system. It'll be explained lower in the change log.

The next couple weeks, I'll be filling in for a co-worker at work, so I will have less to post about until the middle of June, give or take. I'll probably not post a blog next week, we'll see though.


Changelog

-Added a random merchant that specializes in warpaints

-Updated the merchant 'Aggy' to specialize in cards
-She also now has a larger chance to spawn with more random items in her inventory
-Has a chance to carry any tier 1 or 2 card available in the game, barring uniques


Player/Civ Updates:

-Added elemental affinity
-Each card the player uses increases or decreases their elemental affinity
-A higher affinity increases the damage/healing/status effect potency of cards of the associated type
-A lower affinity lowers the aforementioned effects
-Each race starts with two raised affinities: one major, one minor
-The higher level the player achieves, the more difficult it is for them to change their affinities


Item Updates:

-Added Swirling Sapphire warpaint
-Can be purchased from the aforementioned warpaint merchant


Card Updates:

-Added Saariioisound card art, credits to the wife

-Added Fiery Ribbon card
-Tier 1
-Deals fire DoT then has a chance to stun a single target
-Idea credits to my wife

-Added Oriiolound's Game card
-Tier 2
-Oriiolound's capture card
-Spawns a stationary Oriiolound which allows the player to switch places with it
-Spawns a damaging aoe at both places when switched

-Removed Time Dilation
-I decided that I didn't really care for the idea of playing with time like that. Spirit Walk, both the card and the effect, are still present however.

-Added Sun Blast card
-Tier 1
-After a delay, does a large amount of fire damage

-Added Miirä'dar Nova card
-Tier 2
-Upgrades from Sun Blast
-Miirä'där SunDancer capture card
-Summons a SunDancer which charges a nova over 5 seconds, burning everything around it and finally releasing the charge as a large amount of fire damage


Enemy Updates:

-Renamed Haljuhurtta to Oriiolound and Brass Haljuhurtta to Brass Oriiolound

-Added Miirä'där SunDancer
-Neutral alignment
-Deals AoE fire damage with most techniques
-Only appears during the day

-Miirä'där WaterCarvers now only spawn during the night


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where the mouse cursor would remain visible after moving away from a building the player was interacting with

The Saariioisound card art, again, credits to the wife.

Probably my favorite card art in Wind Carrier as of now. 

The Miirä'där SunDancer

The opposite side of the Miirä'där monastic society, the SunDancers revel in the light and warmth of the sun which keeps their race mobile and alive. Neither the SunDancers nor the WaterCarvers begrudge the others at all, they both know very well that they need both the sun and the sea to survive. SunDancers guard So'ri'ara by day, while the WaterCarvers guard the night.

And that's all I've got for this week... and probably for weeks to come. 

Until next time,

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Wind Carrier; Alpha 22.5.19

Hello all!

A new blog on the right day - amazing isn't it?

Not a huge amount this week either, mostly gearing up to push the map out further - probably what I'll be working on next week.

I realized this week that the map, physically speaking, is about a quarter complete. I've decided that finishing that should be my next focus - that and adding the remaining races. I finally decided the locations of the other race's home cities as well, though, that doesn't mean a ton when the map isn't finished.

Anywho.


Changelog

-Added a new landscape material
-Adjusted the current map accordingly

-Updated the last of the pine trees

-Added a new idle for the male Saurians


Card Updates:

-Crack art updated
-credits to my wife

-Added Frozen Standard art

-Finished adding sounds to all the card effects

-Added Saariioisound card
-Tier 2
-Upgrades from Fennoc fire
-Follower


Enemy Updates:

-Added Saariioisound
-Aenahi
-Fire aligned
-Capturable


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed some pathfinding bugs with the follower AI class

Saariioisound

It which immolates itself, a minor aenahi aligned with fire. Saariioisound are often seen at a distance on clear nights, glowing brightly and howling at the moon. 

The new Saurian male idle along with a warpaint that isn't quite finished yet. It will likely be named Swirling Sapphire.

The updated Crack art (right) and the new Frozen Standard art (left.) I definitely like the Crack art better, the original thing was far too old. 

As always, credits to my wife for a job well done with her art. 

Anywho, that's all that I have for this week. 

Until next time,

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Wind Carrier; Alpha 16.5.19

Hello all!

We're a few hours and a whole day late! Woo!
I was out yesterday for the most part on a date-day with my wife. Today, I had 9-5 kind of work, so here we are, late.

Reworked stuff and updated some others. Not a ton of stuff, but stuff all the same.


Changelog

-Updated the way that minor flying creatures spawn
-They now also spawn in random sizes
-Turn speed reduced across the board as well

-Updated sound effects for a number of cards

-Finalized the influence levels for Ardor

-Adjusted the follower AI

-Added a bite effect to things which bite

-Day/Night spawners now spawn different things based on time of day as opposed to one or the other


Player/Civ Updates:

-If there are no cards in the deck or the discard pile, the deck widget will no longer be visible


Enemy Updates:

-Added the Kairan minor creature

-Redid the meshes, animations, and textures for the Faithful/less Hounds

-Added the Wolf and Packleader enemies
-Stronger than dogs, but with less armor
-Also have access a backwards leap
-Packleader also has the option to summon more wolves


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug with the shuffle indicator; it should no longer suggest to shuffle the deck on game load

The new hound model along with the Wolf and Packleader.

The Treefeller is just there for size reference. 

The floating Kairan.

Mostly a passive creature, very few hunt them for anything even sport.

And that's all for this week. The only creatures left that need a bit of a redoing are the Haljuhurtta and the Ilhkor'sei. And both of those mostly need skeletal fixes and some updates to animations to make the snappier. Probably a few more for both as well.

Until next time,

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Wind Carrier; Alpha Demo 0.1.7

Hello all!

This week is a build week and as such, you can download the newest build from here or from the header up top.

To the changelog!


Changelog

-Updated the fern texture
-Updated the pine tree branch texture
-Added dynamic moss to the stone texture


Item Updates:

-Added the Miiriöyrä Väärääte accessory
-Unique


Card Updates:

-Added Iron Herald card
-Tier 3
-Provides the same benefits as Iron Eye, but none of the drawbacks

-Added the Upheaval of Stone card
-Tier 2
-Upgrades from Crack
-After a delay, does large amounts of earth damage and either knocks enemies up or stuns them


Enemy Updates:

-Added the Crystalline Mushroom enemy
-Spawns swarms of smaller, projectile spawning mushrooms
-Drops large amounts of stone and mana crystals upon death

-Added The Iron Herald unique enemy
-Leonen
-Stronger and more durable than a normal Iron Head
-Drops the unique card Iron Herald on death


Quest Updates:

-Added A Lot of Water
-Leonen
-Requires Feeding Ardor to be completed

-Added The Iron Herald
-Leonen
-Requires Feeding Ardor to be completed


Dream Updates:

-Added A Lot of Water
-Leonen
-Spawned by the quest of the same name


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug with quest spawning on load
-Fixed a bug where at the end of A Few Leaves, the quest giver didn't actually take the leaves
-Fixed a few bugs in the quest log

The dynamic moss. Not super exciting, I know, but it was a bit of a test for myself. Plus, it adds a bit of dynamics to the environment.

I'll probably make a better mask for the actual moss itself, though.

Miiriöyrä Väärääte

Lit. Watering Stump. The unique reward for completing A Little Water.

And at last the new fern texture. 

I'm a bit impressed by myself as it looks to be in the same style as the grass, which, of course, was done by my wife. 

And that's all I've got for this week. 

Until next time,

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Wind Carrier; Alpha 1.5.19

Hello all!

I didn't get a ton done this week. Mostly worked on refactoring and upgrading some existing systems to allow me to create better content in the future.

Anywho, changelog.


Changelog

-Reworked random merchant logic to make creating new merchants quicker
-Only one of any given merchant will spawn now

-Upgraded the capabilities of the quest system to allow more complex quests to be created

-Added another possible Fateful Encounter


Item Updates:

-Added Bundles for each resource to the sales list of all bots
-Each costs 50 mc
-Contains a random amount of the stated resource
-The amount scales based on the player's resource bonus stats


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where enemies stunned outside of low health conditions regained health when becoming unstunned
-Fixed a couple bugs with the stat comparison widget in the equipment screen

Yeah, as I said, not super duper exciting, but it allows for more exciting things to be added in the future.

Until next time,

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Wind Carrier; Alpha 24.4.19

Hello all!

I'm almost back up to speed, not a bunch to say.


Changelog

-Random merchants now all have certain types of items that they sell that others do not

-Updated the clothing_object logic to include a unique mesh for each race/gender combination


Player/Civ Updates:

-Health and mana regen rates are now tripled outside of combat and when not dreaming

-Added a bit of screenshake/hit stun when the player is hit

-Added the Fan weapon class
-Medium range
-Heavy combos provide refreshable buffs
-In order:
-Armor Up
-Regen
-Atk Up
-Buff effects scale on the player's damage and MDM or MCM stats, depending which is higher


Item Updates:

-Added A Trickster's Hide
-Unique
-Dream reward

-Added Primitive Fan

-Added S'Hae Typhoon

-Added Crystalline Macuahuitl


Enemy Updates:

-Enemies stunned when about the health threshold are no longer able to be finished


Dream Updates:

-Added A Trickster's Trove
-Dynamic
-Drops from Vulpine Tricksters
-A veritable mana mine to those that are observant; something more akin to a deathtrap to those who are unwary
-Has a chance to drop a large number of items from the burlap sacks scattered around


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where the mouse clicker icon wouldn't show up above the hand widget when adding cards to an empty deck

A Trickster's Hide

The unique reward for A Trickster's Trove. 

On display is also the fan idle along with the S'Hae Typhoon. 

The design of A Trickster's Hide is to be credited to my wife.

And that's all I have for this week. 

Until next time,

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Update; 17.4.9

Hello all.

As I (didn't) mention last week, there won't be a proper blog this week as the wife and I moved recently. My changelog is only three things long, and two of the three are bug fixes, thus I will shift them onto next week.
Everything went much smoother than last time, so I expect myself to be back up to the proper speed again sooner rather than later. It also helps that I've got a short commute now by something along the lines of 45 minutes, so, that'll help too.

Until next time,

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Wind Carrier; Alpha 10.4.19

Hello all!

Got more than I would have guessed for this week, so, yay.



Changelog

-Resource gain and mana crystal gain widgets now spawn in a normalized widget akin to the item pickup widget

-Re-textured the grass for a final time (credits the wife)

-In the process of finalizing the civ stats icons (credits the wife)

-Added a new class of random encounters which have a lower spawn rate than average random encounters


Player/Civ Updates:

-The player can no longer spirit walk in dreams

-Lowered the delay between the last attack and the combo reset for melee attacks from 3 seconds to 2 seconds

-Spirit Walk

-Updated the mats and post process volume so the spirit orbs are actually visible
-Each orb now increases health healed by between 10% and 20%, up from a flat 10%
-Each orb lasts longer now
-Spirit Walk now ends when the player collects 100% health and mana
-Spirit Walk can now be ended with Escape and Backspace as well as 1


Item Updates:

-Added Consielle Skull material
-Drops from Vulpine Shamans and Sundrinkers

-Added The Gilded Ostaar head item
-Greatly increases all production rates
-Greatly increases population rate


Card Updates:

-Added Ancient Stump
-Earth
-Tier 2
-A simple wall until it takes enough fire or air damage; turning into an inferno or a heavy, blunt object respectively

-Added Crystalline Mountain
-Tier 3
-Upgrades from Crystalline fountain
-A stack of three fountains, each of which fire faster than the original and at different angles, covering a large area with crystalline shards


Enemy Updates:

-Dragonbone Shaman
-Now has a chance to drop the Witch's Crown head item


Building Updates:

-Added Totem of Li'Kuntuu
-Vulpine crafting
-Large amounts of pop rate


Dream Updates:

-Added The Gilded Ostaar
-Vulpine aligned
-Spawned by a random encounter with Fate

The new grass texture, courtesy of my wife. It finally actually looks good. 

New scale texture, replacing the literally two year old thing that I made in a hurry before I even started using Photoshop, let along Krita. 

The two new icons amidst the old ones. The rest will be replaced eventually as well. I'm looking forward to the consistency that her work will bring to the UI.

A couple other textures, courtesy of my wife.

The Gilded Ostaar

The legendary Gilded Ostaar is spoken of in Vulpine mythology. It is said that Li'Kuntuu breathed life into the first Ostaar millennia ago in the form of this golden flower. 

The common ostaar is deeply entangled with the Vulpine race; it's quick spreading and its propensity to prosper where others do not. A common prophetic ritual among Vulpine involves a bonfire and ostaar seeds. They toss the seeds into the pit which they have prepared for the fire, set the bonfire ablaze with specially prepared oils - which cause the flame to burn hotter and faster, and then dance the night away. Once the procession begins to awake, a shaman will read the ashes and the ostaar; some of which may have already grown overnight after the fire had died down. The number and configuration of the ostaar both play a part in the reading. A healthy field of ostaar is a good sign, but horrible things await in the near future if the field is bare.

Until next time,

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Wind Carrier; Alpha 03.04.19

Hello all!

Not much to say about the changelog, I'll let it speak for itself. But I do need to mention that we are moving again, just across the city, but the next couple of weeks, maybe a month, will be a bit slower again. After that though, things should theoretically pick up again, faster than now, since I will have a shorter commute to work, thus more time to spend on Wind Carrier.

Anywho...


Changelog

-All buildings which offer no stats now have their description prefaced with "Decoration"


Item Updates:

-Added A Twisted Spire
-Unique
-Spear
-Has a chance to spawn Rockdancer's akin to the spell card, Rockdancer's Drop, every time the player attacks in melee


Card Updates:

-Added Effluvia Gel 
-Dream reward
-Massive explosion
-Damage to everything
-Negative influence when cast

-Added Condemnation
-Upgrades from Effluvia Gel
-Damage to everything
-Large negative influence when cast


Enemy Updates:

-Added Väälhäiliilhiöynd
-Syyenä
-Lit. Pebble Collector
-Heals self with piles of stones which its other abilities spawn
-Gains armor as it heals
-Bleeds with melee after it gains enough armor
-Nature alignment


Dream Updates:

-Added An Alchemical Armament
-Vulpine aligned
-Vulp influence 50+ required for it to spawn
-Negative influence
-Short

-Added A Dancer's Descent
-Dynamic (Saurian Rockdancer)
-Saurian aligned
-Platformer

A Twisted Spire; the unique reward from A Dancer's Descent

A Väälhäiliilhiöynd

Not all syyenä are wise enough to build civilizations. The Väälhäiliilhiöynd are such a breed. These physically strong creatures care for little more than their stones. It is unclear why they care so much for their pebbles, but each takes a large amount of pride in his or her collection - oftentimes jamming the stones into their gashes, allowing the wounds to close around them.

As I said above, things'll be slowing down a bit for a while again, but I'm excited all the same. 

Until next time,

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Wind Carrier; Alpha demo 0.1.6

Hello all!

This week is a build week, and as such you can find the newest build from our header or from here, as per usual.

I've been working on getting everything set up and ready for a couple new, bigger things that should be rolling out soon and the changelog reflects that.


Changelog

-Added Wargroups
-Wargroups are scaleable groups of enemies which spawn after the player has lowered a race's influence enough
-The power and size of the group scales based on negative influence
-Wargroups have a chance to spawn everyday, in the morning
-Spawn within a certain range of the player
-Will never spawn if no influence is below -10
-Added a wargroup random encounter as well

-Prepared the code base for civilization destruction

-Refactored the influence logic
-In addition, finally clamped influence between -100 and 100

-Updated the random merchant's stock with new items

-Updated the signpost in front of player buildings


Item Updates:

-Added Lavaleaf Oil crafting material
-Vulpine crafting
-Used in other Vulpine crafting

-Added the Violet Mist potion
-Dropped from most Vulpine enemies
-Deals 50% of the player's currently health in damage to them then heals 100% of their mana

-Added Li Feather crafting material
-Vulpine crafting
-Used in other Vulpine crafting


Enemy Updates:

-Updated the drop lists for all the Vulpine enemies to include Lavaleaves and Violet Mist


Building Updates:

-Added Feathered Barrel decoration
-Vulpine crafting

-Added the Feasthall of Li'Kuntuu building
-Vulpine crafting


EIR Updates:

-Doubled the chance for Kiwi to drop eggs


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed the rotation on all the mana crystals I found

Feasthall of Li'Kuntuu

A small hall designed to venerate Li'Kuntuu, It Which is Made of Feather and Bone. The "feathers," which amount to not much more than plant fibers fashioned around a wooden frame, are Li Feathers. Their design comes from the accounts of many a ritualist, who swear that Li'Kuntuu itself is adorned by thousands of such feathers.

The updated signposts. There are three, one for each upgrade level of a building. Adds a nice visual distinction and continuity to the upgrade process, at least, to me.

Anywho, that's all for this week.

Until next time,

-Lucas Cady

Project Director