Wind Carrier; Alpha Demo 0.1.1

Hello all!

I apologize for the delay, this is now the latest changelog and build in history! Woo...

My upload speeds today were atrocious and I've no idea why. It took 5 hours to upload the newest test build to Google Drive for testers and another 3 to upload the actual build to itch.io.

Maybe it was going slow because of the horrendous heatwave that we've been experiencing recently.

Yes, that's probably it.

As this week is a build week the new build can be found here and from the header up top, as always.

A fair number of changes this week, nothing drastic that I can remember, but still a fair few.

I've got a couple of larger changes that I've been considering for the past bit, trying to take care of a couple problems that I've felt Wind Carrier has had; the fail state of death, for example. We'll see if I can get something up and going for the next update.

Which reminds me, there may very well not be an update next week as my wife and I are moving across town this coming Wednesday. I may work Monday and Tuesday, but I doubt I'll get much done during the latter half of the week. Along with that, there is also a chance that I will not have access to the internet by next Friday. It depends heavily on the whims of the Finnish postal system. :p

One thing that I fell needs explanation is the grass fix.

Note: This was written at a different time than the larger portion of this update. Please ignore the tonal shift, if there is one.

I fixed the grass and for anyone who may have something similar I am going to try to explain what I think was happening. I have used Simplygon to make LOD's for my landscapes and generally, since this computer is 8 ish years old, I play and work on Wind Carrier on the lowest setting. I had noticed that doing this does not have the LOD's for the landscapes properly switched, nor does it allow the LOD's for other things to switch, but when testing that really doesn't matter.

So, I noticed that grass maps built entirely fine on maps that I had not created LODs for yet, so when I switched the engine to 'epic' settings, it cleared up the entire problem. It was because the proper LOD landscapes were not loading in, so it couldn't build maps on something that wasn't loaded.
Kinda weird, but hey, it's fixed now! Woot!

Anywho, to the changelog!


Changelog

-Grass is back!

-Updated the way that weather is handled and added the option for more types in the future

-Updated most wind-based spell effects (Hurriscale, Scale Dance, etc.)

-Optimized the aforementioned spells' particle effects as well

-Added Pinecone Bomb and Crystalline Barrage to random NPC stock
-Pinecone Bomb and Crystalline Barrage have also been added to the random stock of the Hummingbird and Mirrä'där merchants respectively

-Shrines now spawn wind priests
-Priests have a lower chance to gift, but they only gift population normally
-Have a low chance to gift Wind Priest Garb

-Once the player's home has been upgraded, random civilians have a chance to spawn as home-upgrade specific NPCs which gift different equipment and items


Player Updates:

-The Priest path now begins with a Wind Priest Garb instead of a Loincloth


Item Updates:

-Added Wind Priest Garb
-Randomly gifted by wind priests
-Offers little in terms of combat use, but increases the population gain rate by 10%


Card Updates:

-Added the Ashen Charge card
-Unique reward from A Single Drop
-Spawns a fan of Ashen Miirä'där which charge forward, dealing damage and leaving a damaging pool behind them

-Added Pinecone Bomb card
-Tier 1
-Can be harvested from pinecones high up in pine trees
-Sizzles for 2.5 seconds, then explodes, dealing damage and sending shards outward

-Added Pine Tree Guard card
-Tier 2, upgrades from Pinecone Bomb
-Heals
-Deals damage to enemies as they pass over the ring of pine needles


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where, if a creature only had rare drops and no normal drops, they would occasionally drop null items

-Fixed a bug where, on load, the quest indicator would not properly change if the player was too close to the quest location

Wind Priest Garb

I originally had this on a Saurian, but the default green didn't feel like it really showed the garb too well. :p

Pinecone Bomb

Just a size comparison, since it's just a pine cone which explodes.

Pine Tree Guard

This card heals those that stand nearest to the tree along with dealing damage to those that cross the ring of pine needles. I will also probably change the name of this card as it was a first draft name and I was unable to find anything better just yet. >.>

Scale Tornado

Just a quick shot to show the new wind effects. 

The priest inside the tornado is just for scale. 

So, until next time,

 -Lucas Cady

Project Director

Wind Carrier; Alpha 21.7.18

Hello all!

Another short-ish changelog this week, due in part to the heat.

We had a meeting with a company which provides free consulting to new businesses, Ensimetri, yesterday and got a whole host of information to scan through and work on. It'll be a lot of work, but it'll be good to get an idea of how the business side of things will run once we get there.

Anywho, changelog


Changelog

-Quest boxes and random dialogue boxes now play a small sound after every 3rd printed character

-All items are now picked up by walking over them
-Their name and type is also added to the scroll box to the left of the screen as creature materials were before

-Unique items now have a warning before breaking them down

-Key items now have a proper warning informing that it cannot be broken down

-Can now break items down by right clicking them as well

-Optimized the unique item effect code from last week

-Added the main part of So'ria'ra, the Miirä'där city

-Updated Wandering Allies to work properly with the text pop-up widget

-The text pop-up widget now waits until the text is finished printing before beginning to fade

-Added a widget, which needs its own art, to the beginning of dreams to indicate its name


Card Updates:

-Added the Poisonous Deluge card
-Tier 3
-Does moderately more damage than its previous form along with poisoning everything that it touches for 15 seconds


Dream Updates:

-Added A Single Drop
-found within the Great Cistern of So'ria'ra


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where the quest indicator for Put to Death wasn't properly being dismissed after the quest had been taken

-Fixed a bug where the quest receiver for A Lost Staff could spawn multiple times

-Fixed a bug where the hummingbird sprite wasn't spawning properly

-Fixed a bug with Saurian wandering allies, where they were unable to be rescued

So'ria'ra

The ancestral home of the Miirä'där. The largest percent of Miirä'där live and work within the cloister dug into the adjoining mountain. Only the fisher and merchant classes of Miirä'där live outside of the cloister. 

Set into the center of So'ria'ra is the Great Cistern. A massive, blasted clay structure into which the cremated remains of all Miirä'där are sprinkled, forming a dense silt on the bottom of the cistern proper. Seated in the center of the water is a dream.

A Single Drop

A deep pit in the earth flows silently inward. A single drop of well water is found within the well seated at the bottom center of the pit. Take the water with caution. 

I realize now that I have forgotten to finish the unique reward for completing A Single Drop. That'll be done before next week, though. 

On that note, I think that this week was supposed to be a build week, but I am delaying it until next week, because I have no idea how long it will take to get internet at our new apartment - really, it depends entirely on the mail service, so it could take a long, long while. 

Anywho, that's all I have, 

Until next time,

-Lucas Cady

-Project Director

Wind Carrier; Alpha 14.7.18

Hello all!

Not a huge amount this week, I spent a fair amount of time running around and playing with paperwork. That's because the wife and I found a new, nicer apartment and we were working on getting that all sorted out. We'll be moving in on the 1st of August. So, expect smaller updates until that is done with.

What I did get done were a few bigger changes.  I'll just let the changelog speak.



Changelog

-Added the framework for implementing unique behaviors and conditions on individual items
-akin to the way that Diablo handles unique equipment

-Spawners should no longer spawn enemies at the beginning of the day/night if the player is already overlapping them anymore

-Added a small animation to draw the eye to the mana crystal widget whenever the player gains mana crystals


Player Updates:

-Players can now use cards when their mana is insufficient by sacrificing an equal amount of health
-Spell cards cast this way have their damage increased proportional to the health used
-Cannot cast the card if the player's health + mana is still not above the mana cost

-Cards in the player's hand widget now only show up if there is something in the slot

-Card in hand widget now changes the color of the mana cost depending on whether the card can be cast without using health or not

-Added a Mana Crystal widget to the inventory screen in the bottom right corner


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where Erin, the enemy in Put to Death, could spawn more than once

-Fixed the aforementioned's animations and AI as well



The aforementioned framework is quite robust in its implementation, allowing for custom effects on a whole host of different conditions.

I had intended to make something like it for a while, but my wife had an idea that would need the framework and it inspired me to actually build it. :p

It will allow me to truly make dream rewards unique.


Anywho, that is all I've got for this week.

Until next time,

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Wind Carrier; Alpha 7.7.18

Hello all!

Small-ish update today. I spent most of the week creating assets for the, as of yet, unnamed Miirä'där village, which should be mostly ready to unveil by next week.

Other than that, mostly worked on quality-of-life stuff and polishing in a few places.

Anywho, changelog!


Changelog

-Added an indicator to shops and shrines to inform the player whether any given card is new to them or not

-Added a visual effect for the Crystallize finisher

-Re-did the finisher icons

-Added traditional Question/Exclamation marks for quest givers

-Quest text now slowly prints


Player Updates:

-A sound now plays when a dodge counter has regenerated

-Added Naturalize skill
-Finisher
-Double positive influence gained, nullifies negative influence gained

-All skills in the skill tree are now visible regardless of player level


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug that caused ranged enemies to miss more often than not

-Fixed some bugs with AI facing

An exclamation point!

Not exciting, but definitely makes finding quests simpler.

The New Card widget.

Since a large part of the idea of Wind Carrier is to build an ever growing collection of magic cards, I figured this would help with that. At least it helps me. :p

Note: This widget is also on the card upgrade screen.

The Naturalize tree.

The tree will spawn when the Naturalize finisher is used. It and the crystallize tree are also vaguely useful as dynamic world markers for the player, as they are both large and stay until the game session is restarted.

The Crystallize tree.

As the naturalize tree above, but after using Crystallize. This tree is also harvest-able, dropping between 8% and 12% of the health remaining of the poor creature from which it grew as mana crystals.

A second shot of the crystallize tree, for scale. The naturalize tree is just about the same size.

A Miirä'där Home.

The building itself is constructed from clay that has been baked via magic from Miirä'där SunDancers. The outer shell is made of watercloth, woven by WaterCarvers. An atmospheric condenser hovers above the main build, taking moisture from the air to continually keep the watercloth moist. 

The bed inside is essentially a clay basin, in which cool water is stored. The sheets and pillows are also made of watercloth.

Note: Will be available as a building in the future, along with the other Miirä'där buildings shown today.

A Miirä'där Salespost

Another bit of artisanal work by the SunDancers, the Salespost allows the shopkeep to man their station without needing to move elsewhere to hydrate. It is essentially a clay vase filled to the brim with water to keep the Salesperson hydrated. 

And at last, a tiny thing that I almost forgot to add. A small element icon (credits my wife) for the fire element. It has replaced the old, boring red-ball which was there before. 

I am also now reminded that I need to make the actual icon larger on the deck screen and probably the cards in hand.

That was more screenshots than there have been for quite a while. :p

Anywho, until next time,

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Wind Carrier; Alpha 30.6.18

Hello all!

This week we've got a fair number of changes and additions. I had a nice, second-hand conversation with someone who has been helping/testing with us and made a host of changes that they had noticed, most of which I too had noticed, but was too lazy/swamped to get around to fixing.

One of the more major changes is updating cards, especially tier 1 cards, to be more useful in comparison to melee. Tier 2 and 3 cards, of course, already out class a single melee attack by virtue of their scope or single target damage, but I had noticed, and our associate noted, that Tier 1 cards almost felt useless. With that in mind a few changes were made to cards that are generally accessible in the beginning for most classes (Fennoc Fire, Wall of Ice) to make them more useful and a real alternative to melee combat.

I will continue to roll out changes for Tier 1 cards until all of them have about the same power/cost ratio.

Oh! I have also a fair amount of concept art from my time on vacation; most of which has to deal with Miirä'där and their associated buildings/cards/dreams.

Anywho, changelog!


Changelog

-Days are now 50% faster

-The quest log buttons now work on hovered as all the other buttons in the game do (or should)

-Increased the size of all material node particle effects and relocated them to a more visible position

-Finally remembered that I hadn't properly implemented collision during building placing and got around to that

Player Updates:

-Attacks with weapons now deal more randomized damage

-Health and Mana per level are now functions of Race, Gender, Path, and In Game choices

-Implemented a rudimentary targetting system
-T: activate/deactivate
-Keeps the camera focused on the target
-Currently still in testing phase, will decide on whether it is a permanent addition after testing

-Added Ritual of the Dancing Shrines skill
-Unlocks the ritual of the same name
-Allows the player the fast travel to shrines that they have visited before, not including shrines placed by the player

Item Updates:

-Added WaterCloth drop
-Dropped from various Miirä'där
-Used in various Miirä'där crafting

Card Updates:

-Updated Shimmering Bubble
-Duration up from 5 secs to 10 secs
-Now spawns a weak, stationary metal mist when popped
-Mist deals 3 damage a second

-Fennoc Fire
-Increased damage per tick from 4 to 20
-Now smolders out after 1 second, leaving a small burning patch which does 5 damage per tick for 2 seconds
Note: Gave the same treatment to the Vulpine Ritualist's Fennoc Fire

-Wall of Ice
-Doubled range of effect

-Bastion of Ice
-Tripled range of effect

-Crack
-The last strike now knocks enemies up briefly

-Healing Bomb
-Increased heal from 50 to 100
-Increased launch speed by 50%
-Added a decal

-Healing Motes
-Healing now scales based on the number of enemies in the AoE effect
-Fixed a bug where it was technically unattainable
        -Updated the spell effect from a skeletal mesh to a particle

-Added the Vampiric Motes card
-Spawns three swarms of motes
-Latch onto nearest enemies and deal damage which is transferred, in part, to the player
-If an enemy dies, they regain part of their lifespan and latch onto another
-Evolves from Healing Bomb


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where channeling would not remove a card from your inventory which you only had one of
-Fixed a bug where Ritual of the Circling Skies was causing the player to get stuck
-Fixed a bug where beehives would continue to cause damage even after destroyed

Kährä; formerly Sisilisko

The new card art (credits my wife) along with the filigree (also credits to the wife) which now surrounds all cards in deck and hand widgets. 

An example of the filigree in the deck widget. From what I understand, she is thinking about redesigning my crappy deck widget as well. :p

And that's all I've got for now. Another week where I feel like Wind Carrier is in a much better condition afterwords. Not a lot more to say, just happy that this is still happening. 

Anywho, until next time

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Wind Carrier; Alpha Demo 0.1.0

Hello all!


A new build has been uploaded and can, as always, be found from here or from the link above.

I also decided that I'm going to stop just needlessly naming the updates between builds. I'll probably just do something like, "Wind Carrier, Alpha 6.9.18" or something. But, that way the demo build and the development build sync up in terms of naming, which makes it a bit less confusing for me.

This week, in addition to the changelog, I work quite a bit on getting the world map to the size that it should be. The entire west coast of Goldrath has been blocked out, along with all the territory inland up to Granforn. Most of this is unimplemented, of course, but the actual map has been started. I realized a new way to deal with map building and seams at the same time. I've just made a single, huge map which I will cut up once it is finished and then slowly implement maps as I finish them.

I have also been playing with the "new" procedural foliage tool in UE4. With it I can actually make forests that look like forests, which is great. :p

Next week, there will not be a blog update, as my wife and I are heading to her family's cottage for the week. I'll likely still work during the week, mostly on concepts and maybe a bit in Blender. I've been needing some time to work on concept art for a while.

Anywho, enough of blogging on my blog. :p
To the changelog!


Changelog, 0.1.0

-Purchasing from shops and crafting from crafters now increases influence


Player Updates:

-Added Scarification II - V skills


Card Updates:

-Added Miirä'där WaterCarver follower card

-Added Splash spell card
-Tier 1
-Water

-Added Undertow spell card
-Tier 2
-Water
-Upgrades from Splash

-Added Torrent spell card
-Tier 3
-Water
-Upgrades from Undertow

Enemy Updates:

-Added Miirä'där WaterCarver enemy
-Tough spell caster
-Capturable
-Uses water magic


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where material nodes weren't showing the proper icon
-Fixed a bug with influence gain from enemies that caused it to work erratically

Miirä'där

An amphibious sjjena, the Miirä'där lived in awe of the power of the oceans. Their power in the Leonen age was quite small. Their home was in a small, partially underwater village, Kaarnar Viir, on the north western coast. Their monastic class were powerful spell casters, some dedicated to the power of the waters they worshiped and some dedicated to the powers of the sun, which kept them warm and mobile, even in the coldest of winter months. 

Miirä'där WaterCarver

The monastic WaterCarver dedicated themselves to the powers of the ocean. Living in a small cloister, just outside of the main compound of Kaarnar Viir, the WaterCarver practiced their craft along with the SunDancer caste. 

Odds are, I will work on a design for the SunDancer for next week, along with a proper design/layout of Kaarnar Viir. I also need to design some clothing for them, as they don't really need to be running around naked. :p

Anywho, until next time

-Lucas Cady

Project Director

Wind Carrier; Alpha 0.1.1

Hello all!

A little late in the day, but that is something that happens with me occasionally, so it shouldn't a too huge a surprise at this point.

This week was mostly focused around A Stormy Night and all that was necessary for implementing it; this includes the building, the level itself, the Carving Doll enemy, and the overworld map which houses it.

Along with that I've made a change to the dodge mechanic, requiring more thought behind its use, instead of just being able to spam it until you are out of danger. I've also added 6 skills, the max being a level 30 skill, which upgrade dodge charges.

Anywho, onto the changelog.



Changelog, 0.1.1

-Worked on Dreams logic and stability
-As far as I am aware, they are working 100% as intended now

-Updated Completed Dream saving to be more stable

-Added a fair amount of map to the north of Kerankohora


Player Updates:

-The player now has a limited number of dodges they can perform
-Starts at 2 dodges
-Base recharge is 1/ 6 seconds

-Dodges now have a 1 second cooldown

-Added Nimble I - III skills
-Each adds to the max number of dodge charges

-Added Recuperation I - III skills
-Each decreases the time each charge takes to recharge

-Health and Mana gained on level is now also tied to player level along with current maxes

-Lowered exp requirements substantially


Enemy Updates:

-Added the Carving Doll 
-Early game night enemy
-Contains a sigil in its chest which informs the player of its abilities
-Currently only "mana" sigil is implemented
-Allows the carving doll to absorb mana from the player and causes a massive explosion based on the amount absorbed


Dream Updates:

-Added A Stormy Night
-Static type, found north of Kerankohora
-First true platforming dream

Building Updates:

-Added Niir'nite Vaare
-Lit. "Sleepy Wood"
-Legendary
-Unique reward from A Stormy Night
-Spawns a pair of Carving Doll guards
-Contains an AoE effect that deals high amounts of spirit damage over time

Bug Fixes:

-fixed a bug where the Haljuhurtta wasn't properly dropping materials

A pair of inert Carving Dolls

An active Carving Doll

A wooden doll housing the mana of something or another. Each has a sigil carved into its chest to indicate which type of entity is sealed within. Some dolls are benevolent, some violent, and others still are completely inanimate; the mana within insufficient to animate the being at all

Niir'nite Vaare

The Sleepy Wood

Once home to a pair of Leonen lovers, Niir'nite Vaare fell into disrepair after a stormy night in which both of the pair were cast into the sea. Carving dolls which house the pair seem to protect the remnants of the building though. 

It occurs to me that this week was supposed to be a build week. I have not even begun to prepare for that, however, and a such will be pushing the build back until next week.
I could have sworn that the most recent build was only, like, two weeks ago. Times flies and all that.

Anywho, until next week,

-Lucas Cady

Project Director