Wednesday, April 3, 2019

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

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

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

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Wind Carrier; Alpha 20.3.19

Hello all!

Got a couple updates this week, but nothing spectacular.

To the changelog!


Changelog

-Racial buildings now spawn villagers of the corresponding race, regardless of the player's race
-Ex. Vulpine Campsites will now spawn vulpine villagers, even if the player is a Saurian or a Leonen

-Added the word "back" to the back button

-Worked on updating the quest log's functionality
-Quests now fail as the quest giver is killed
-The player is informed as it happens

Player/Civ Updates:

-Reworked Population Chance
-Works almost the same as before when below 100%
-Above 100% there will be an additional guaranteed villager spawn per 100% of Population Chance
-Ex. The player's Pop Chance is 210%. They will get a guaranteed 2 villagers/roll plus a 10% chance roll for a third.
-With new changes to the population chance, the number of rolls per day has been changed as well
-Civs under pop 50 will now have their population/2.5 rolls per day
-Civs above pop 50 will now have their pop/3 to 6 rolls per day


Building Updates:

-Added Advanced Vulpine Campsite
-Final tier Vulpine Campsite
        -10 population
        -20% population rate

Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a weighting issue on the Vulpine male's left wrist
-Fixed a weighting issue on the Leonen female's LOD 1




The final Vulpine Campsite, a two tiered camp fitted for 10 occupants. The campfire has been replaced by a spirit-fire bonfire, almost immune to the rains that plague Goldrath. 



I didn't get as much done this week as I would have liked to (do I ever?), but it is what it is.

Until next time,



-Lucas Cady
Project Director

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Wind Carrier; 13.3.19

Hello all!

I finally got the gumption to (technically) add all the rest of the races that will be in Wind Carrier. The process took about 2 and a half hours between all the places that had to be updated, but they are all there now. Just have to actually model them, which will take time, of course, and then create armor for those that do not fit any archetypes.


Changelog

-Reworked most of the light combo animations to feel as though they have more weight behind them

-Added all the remaining races to the code base


Item Updates:

-Readded Kuutar Regalia
-Now craftable
-Requires Saurian crafting

-Readded Kuutar Hood
-Now craftable
-Requires Saurian crafting


Building Updates:

-Added Intermediate Vulpine Campsite

-Added the Spirit-Fire Stake decoration

-Added the Builder's Hut
-Upgraded from Builder's workbench
-Decreases generic material costs by 20% and specific material costs by 50%
Note: The crafter upgrades will also get this treatment and the level 3 crafter and builders will get a further decrease in costs
Note: Having at least one upgraded builder's hut will also decrease the material costs of upgrading all buildings


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where the player could not interact with any widgets after completing Of Feather and Bone



The Intermediate Vulpine Campsite

More population and some population rate to boot. The third level has been designed already as well and it should be ready by next week.


Spirit-Fire Stake

A simple decoration in the vulpine crafting tree. I will probably begin to roll out more decoration objects in the coming weeks as there are only 3(?) of them thus far. A fair number will probably also be racial crafting.


And the re-added Kuutar Regalia
I had almost forgotten that this armor hadn't been updated yet. 
On top of its re-addition, it is now craftable, which makes it much easier to obtain - though, it does require some mats from a couple different creatures, namely: Ob'dar and Consielle.


Anywho, that's all for this week. One of these weeks, the Zin'Ahlop will be ready to show off. The female mesh is about done, just have to tweak some of the bits here and there until it is good enough for the wife. :p
After that, it's not much until the race is added as our 4th. I'll need to expand the map to fit their racial home, which isn't too too far off. On top of that, Granforn needs to be actually added at some point. The damn city has been done for a while now, it just requires the land between Ardor and it to be finished first.


Until next time,



 -Lucas Cady
Project Director

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Wind Carrier; Alpha 27.2.19

Hello all!

Not a super long changelog, just simply a changelog


Changelog


-Buildings are now saved based on an offset as opposed to an absolute world position
-Older saves will have problems with this update

-Updated the current meshes for all the races for the last time

-Updated Kerankohora 75+

-If a player has unlocked racial crafting for a race, there is now an indicator in the influence menu

-Adjusted the location of the new card indicator for shopping

-Tho-to is no longer killable


Quest Updates:

-Added the quest A Helping Hand
-Vulpine aligned
-0+ influence
-Gives access to Vulpine crafting

-Added the quest A Special Breakfast
-Vulpine aligned
-No influence reqs
-Written by our Chris


Building Updates:

-Added the Blooming Bramble building
-Vulpine crafting
-Increases produce and clay rates


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where if the player dodged within any civ, including their own, the civ would despawn, then respawn after the dodge had been completed
-Fixed collision for pear trees
-Fixed the collision capsule of the crafter
-Fixed some map tears
-Fixed some water collision
-Fixed an issue where the player could get underneath the mountain near So'ria'ra



The Blooming Bramble building

Tiny Vulpine and pine tree for size reference


A shot from the front of Kerankohora at influence 75+


And finally, the last update to these three. From now on it will be moving forward and that's that. 


And that's all I have for this week. Next week will probably be a bit bare as I am taking a trip for a few days, but we'll see what I can accomplish for next time.


Until then,



-Lucas Cady
Project Director

Thursday, February 14, 2019

Wind Carrier

Wind Carrier is the first game being created by Clouds of Glass Games. It is an adventure RPG centered on the continent of Goldrath. The player, the titular Wind Carrier, directs their small civilization from a simple camp to a continent spanning empire throughout the course of the game. They will encounter a tentative eight different opposing civilizations that they can either help advance or destroy. The entire game world will bend to the player's choices, though the player must be aware that they are a director, not a god - most choice, intentional or not, will have unforeseen consequences for the player in the coming ages.

As the player advances in the game, they will learn different rituals to perform which will aid them, a couple of which will allow them to advance further in time or revert back, seeing the fruits of their labors play out for them in the coming ages. Remember, the only choice that can be undone is inaction.

Ultimately, my team and I are looking to found a game development studio to produce quality, anthro-centric video games.


---


A bit about me:

My name is Lucas Cady, as I'm sure you can see on the side bar up there somewhere. My experiences in storytelling and game systems run deep. I started young, DMing for my group of friends and acquaintances (3.5, D&D, for those that care.) I was never given a respite from doing so, never once was I allowed to actually play within the system, so I learned to love changing and warping it however I liked. It was almost like playing a character.

After high school, I took my love of storytelling and attempted to write a book. It did not end well. Failure to communicate between myself and my co-author at the time lead to it being rushed to production through some self publishing platform that I cannot recall the name of at the time of this writing. I did not write with him again.

I had given up on anything related to that, life took me hither and thither, meeting my wife and being whisked away to the ancient, magical land of Finland before I knew what was happening.

I thought my love for the craft was dead, but about a year and a half ago, amidst some turmoil, I found that spark once more. I began writing a new series of books (which may or may not ever get finished :p) centered in the land of Xeren, a land filled with only anthros. Through the course of writing this I developed a character that I loved very dearly, and a land from whence he/she once held inconceivable power - Goldrath.

Our story here, will begin several hundred years before the happenings within the series. From him/her the idea formed, the basis for the entire story for Wind Carrier. And, no, I'm not revealing who it is.

Before Project Wind Carrier, I had not once touched a 3D development tool, but that has, of course, changed.

Currently, I have been doing the lion's share of the work: modeling, animating, texturing, coding, world building; and as such I have quickly gained a moderate understanding of all of these fields. Most of the good, unique ideas come from my wife, however. :p

---

Wind Carrier Now:

We are developing using Unreal Engine 4. All of the 3D models are being created using Blender, though we have plans to upgrade to Maya as soon as the funds for the studio become available. All textures and the like are made using Krita.

Our technical build is still Alpha 0.1.5, all of the main systems within the game are complete and are being expanded with more content everyday. These systems include: an inventory, a influence system through which the player affects the world, a combat system, a magic system based on cards a la Lost Kingdoms, a civilization building system, a simple crafting system, the aforementioned age system, and a questing system.


---

Wind Carrier Then:

Currently we are working on polishing the content that we have along with adding more. Every system is in place, as I mentioned, it is simply filling the world up and then releasing. This, however, will likely take a long while at my current pace as I am still the main work-horse for Wind Carrier. Along side me are: my wife who does whatever she can whenever she can and our playtester Chris.

The second and third ages, while technically being there, are also completely empty. They, while important, are not what we are focusing on as of now. The intention is to probably release Age 1 (the Leonen Age) in early access once it is complete and then release the next two ages as free content to those that have purchased in early access.

---

I update this blog every Wednesday and we have new builds, which I post links for, once a month. The newest build can always be found at the top of the header.

I really need to take more random screen shots while I test stuff. Alas.






Have the new itch.io icon! Credits to my wife, of course.


-Lucas Cady
Project Director


Note: I decided to write this after my wife noted that the previous featured post was almost two years old and really not that relevant anymore.

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Wind Carrier; Alpha demo 0.1.5

Hello all!

It's been three months and here we are!

Finally a new build!

All the changes since last time can be found in the above link, and below, as usual, you will find the changelog for this week alone.


Changelog

-Quest NPC's can now have names


Item Updates:

-Added the Glimmering Shawl
-Craftable
-Head item
-Saurian crafting required

-Added the MarshGlimmer Keratin and MarshGlimmer Scales material drops


Card Updates:

-Added the Dizzying Cloud card
-Tier 2
-Upgrades from Daze
-Leave a miasma that has a chance to stun enemies on tick over the duration
-Has a slightly lower stun chance/tick than daze does on contact


Enemy Updates:

-Added Brass Haljuhurtta
-Haljuhurtta variant


Quest Updates:

-Added the quest The Fantastic Find
-Vulpine aligned
-Available from -50 influence and up
-Found in Kerankohora
-Unique reward (still requires implementation)


Building Updates:

-Added the Glimmering Bath
-Craftable
-Saurian crafting required
-Increases mana regen and population rate
-Slowly heals the mana of a player standing near it at a rate of 5%/sec


Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where the player was able to build within other civilization borders
-Fixed a bug where racial crafting objects were incorrectly added to the crafting list
-Fixed a bug where A Lost Staff was not able to be completed


And that's it for this week. More than last week, but less than the most we've had. We're almost back up to speed though, which is really good.

Until next time,



-Lucas Cady
Project Director