Knock on the Coffin Lid
Class portraits for Bjorn and Percival
KOTCL Developer Diaries: a mini-interview, animations, and a nice surprise
Another eventful workweek has flown by! In today's diary, we'll interview the head of our art department; tell you about the process of animating characters, and reveal some developments for your Steam accounts. Rest assured we have plenty of interesting content for you!
Mini-interview with the head of the art department
As you know, true magic happens behind the doors of our art department – our artists work tirelessly to make our game a visual delight for you, dear players. Today, we’ve prepared an interview with the person in charge of our team of artists. Enjoy the read!
How did you become an artist in game development? Were you inspired to choose this path by some childhood games, or were there other reasons?
I've been drawing since childhood and quite early on, I realized that I would connect my future work with drawing, design, and creativity in general. I couldn't see myself in any other professions. I also started getting into games at a young age, and I guess the combination of these factors led me into game development. I'm relatively new to the game development industry, and you could say I'm a budding little art lead who's working very hard.
What is your work process like?
It all starts with the project brief. We’re given tasks, usually by the game designers, and then I distribute these tasks among the artists. If needed, we clarify the brief, conduct research, and search for references; I also might provide some comments on the topic. Then the artists create rough sketches, we approve ideas and discuss them, and then they move on to the final drawings. If necessary, we cut them for subsequent animation. Of course, this is all accompanied by feedback and revisions. Something like that.
What was the most challenging task you’ve encountered while working on Knock? What task was easy and enjoyable to work on?
UI, it's very intimidating, very. Although I wouldn't say that there were extremely difficult tasks, they were more unusual, perhaps initially daunting because of their briefs, or their monotonous nature, for example making character images for videos. Drawing content for social media was easy and fun. For example, drawing comically long snouts for wolves for a YouTube short or a Christmas bow with bells for the game icon with a coffin, ha-ha-ha.
What do you like most about working on Knock?
I simply enjoy feeling like part of the team, taking on various tasks, and then watching how what I've done becomes a part of the project.
Name your three favorite games.
The Last of Us, Uncharted 4, Portal 2. I love games with a good storyline and charismatic characters.
And finally, what would you like to say to the players personally?
Eat well, get at least 7 hours of sleep, go out for some fresh air regularly, and play Knock!
Animating, animating, and animating some more
And now, let's get back to the summary of this week’s work, starting with animations.
Our animators put their hearts into breathing life into every character and creature in our game (and they do it exceptionally well!). Take a look at this hefty guy living in the swamp; he's always ready to engage in battle with you and drown you... in not the freshest of breath, so we recommend being cautious.
And also, a new character has appeared in our game! It's a tiny midge, but unfortunately (primarily for the midge itself), its role in our game is far from significant.
Even the main heroes of the story couldn’t overlook this wee little insect!
In our previous posts, we shared images of the mysterious priestess who appears in one of our unique events. Today, we have great news – thanks to the efforts of our animators, we present you brand new animations of this enigmatic lady.
Steam Survey
While we're experimenting with animation, loud war horn sounds are echoing in the Frontier... Recently, we asked you on our social media which dwarf animation you liked the most. Your responses were very quick, which made us very happy!
We listened to your comments, tweaked and improved the animation, and here it is the final version!
Thank you very much for participating in the survey; you’re genuinely helping us make our game better.
Backgrounds, frames, and avatars for our beloved players
But that's not all! Our artists have also been busy creating unique backgrounds, frames, and avatars for your Steam profiles. Each element is designed to be stylish and attractive, so that your profile looks fantastic! And now, we're ready to show you some of them.
That wraps up this week! We continue to work diligently in order to be fully prepared for the release of KOTCL. We’re fixing, repairing, and adding new features and content again and again, striving for perfection! We'd be delighted if you dropped by our Discord for a cup of tea! There, we share the latest news, discuss our current progress, and more.
Wishing you a great weekend! See you in the next diary
Poll: what animation do you like most?
We are experimenting with character animation and would like to ask you which of the options below you like best. We will be very glad to receive your feedback 😊
We are looking forward to your comments!
KOTCL Developer Diaries: there’s no such thing as too many cards!
Another week has passed, and we continue to work on the upcoming update for Knock On The Coffin Lid. There isn't much news this week: we've dedicated all our time to bug fixes and small improvements, which you'll see in the game very soon.
Are you really a UI designer?
Heated debates are underway in our art department as they try to choose the perfect UI for the glossary. Which version do you like more, travelers?
There’s no such thing as too many cards. Or is there?
We're sharing with you new cards for our archer before they take their place in the deck:
An elf, a dwarf, and a golem walk into a bar...
Oh, it's been a very creative week! The animated residents of the Frontier have been joined by:
The dwarf and his four-legged friend
The hospitable golem
The disgruntled father
There's still a lot of work ahead of us, but development is heading towards its logical conclusion. To stay updated with recent news, follow us on our social media.
See you in the next diary!
KOTCL Developer Diaries: something ends, something begins!
Knock-knock, travelers!
Today is a remarkable day – the first day of autumn and the last work day of this week! So we’re in a somewhat lyrical mood.
As you might have noticed, we took a short break last week, but we are back now and ready to share with you events and notes about the game process!
For example, our animators have created a visualization of how our team looked at the beginning of the sprint and how it looked at the end:
Doing it with style
The art department continues creating beauty; as a result we have these new, stylized portraits of the characters for our project:
Furthermore, we are currently focusing heavily on tooltips and UI friendliness.
We'll try to showcase the updates in future diaries!
Mystery sound
But games don’t survive on good design and programming alone. Our sound designer has also been diligently working on some misplaced and mixed-up sounds in some game locations.
Can you guess where this is from? Write your answer in the comments!
Overheard in RedBoon
And finally, we'd like to share a short conversation with our game designer, Green, which took place over morning coffee:
- When you joined the project, was it difficult to integrate into the new environment?
- I joined the project in the spring of 2022. It wasn't difficult to integrate; if anything, it was the opposite. I was very motivated and inspired. I had completely changed my line of work, but my previous experience in IT helped me settle in quickly. Of course, figuring out someone else's work was problematic, as we practically completely reworked the initial concept and significantly expanded the story that accompanies the gameplay.
- What was the most challenging task you faced while working on "Knock"? And which task was easy and enjoyable to work on?
- The most challenging task was answering this question. Probably, the events in the game became both the most complex and, ultimately, the simplest tasks for me. It's not a secret that this part was significantly changed at some point. It expanded to incredible sizes, and I had to take into account an impossible amount of information from the writers. But once you get into the flow, everything becomes clear, understandable, and easy to implement. What's disappointing is that I learned the whole plot right away.
- Did you encounter any amusing incidents during development that later became easter eggs in the game?
- Of course, and we tried to highlight those in the developers' diaries. I wouldn't want to spoil too much, but for example, once the scaling of a regular boar broke, and it became gigantic, and filled in half the screen (laughs). It's probably one of my most favorite bugs in our game. And now there's a chance to actually encounter that boar in the Frontier.
And now, like the elf from this updated animation, we’re going vanish into the weekend! Don't forget to drop by our Discord and other social networks.
See you in the next diary!
JOIN US FOR THE DREAMHACK BEYOND SUMMER INDIE SHOWCASE
Knock-knock, adventurers! Join us for the Dreamhack Beyond Indie Showcase in which we are participating! Watch the stream on the Steam page of Knock on the Coffin Lid.
The event ends on Aug. 27, 2023 at 1:00 PM EST
See you on the roads of Midian!
Yours, Redboon team!
JOIN US FOR THE DREAMHACK BEYOND SUMMER INDIE SHOWCASE
Knock-knock, adventurers! Join us for the Dreamhack Beyond Indie Showcase in which we are participating! Watch the stream on the Steam page of Knock on the Coffin Lid.
The event ends on Aug. 27, 2023 at 1:00 PM EST
See you on the roads of Midian!
Yours, Redboon team!
KOTCL Developer Diaries: we pressed a button, and everything broke down!
Well, this week turned out to be quite something – we finally sent the build to be tested, meaning, we started testing it ourselves, and... Of course, the trap snapped shut. We did over 200 tasks that involved changes since the last update, and true to tradition, those changes broke many branches in the game.
So now we're all working on fixing those fresh bugs so that when the game is updated, it is exactly as we envision it.
One of the most significant events of the past week was the release of Baldur's Gate 3. On the weekend, our team entertained themselves by creating characters and sharing their impressions in the common chat. On our Twitter, you can already find all the best attempts to recreate our heroes in the Baldur's Gate universe, as well as check out all the fashion trends reflected in the team's screenshots.
However, the gaming fever didn’t affect our animators – they continue to finish up animations while the rest of the team tries on splendid leather outfits.
Kiara has learned some new magic, and the swamp guy can now move about briskly – you would have trouble telling that he died quite some time ago!
The weekend is coming, which means there's another work week ahead before the new meeting. Don't forget to drop by our Discord and other social networks.
See you in the next diary!
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KOTCL developer diaries: a surprise in a sack
It’s August out there, which means we’ve entered the final stage of development – polishing. This means that our game is almost ready, with only small changes left, which we’ll be working on all the way until the release. Currently, we’re actively preparing for the last update, which will be as usual described in detail in a separate post with a list of changes.
But for now, let's take a look at what we've been up to this week. It seems Mortis noticed our presence in his study, so he left us very little material in his wonderful books.
Shaman's vocabulary
We almost forgot about a very important man here when we were finishing up the character cards. Fortunately, he let himself be known. We won't be quoting any of his words here, though. But our artists illustrated the scene vividly!
The entries in the book never end…
Still, our artists have almost finished the events for Mortis's book of knowledge. That trickster Mortis left us with only 4 illustrations to show you; apparently, he really does not want all the surprises he has prepared to be revealed.
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By the way, speaking of surprises
It seems someone dropped a sack in our abode. We don't know what's inside, and we’re afraid to open it. We hope that during the game, you’ll find out what this intriguing item is filled with, but we cannot guarantee your safety. Consider yourself warned!
What’s next?
The most exciting part lies ahead. We’re preparing a series of interviews with the team, where they’ll tell you about all the pressing production issues, as well as share anecdotes and secrets.
But for today, that's it for now. Feel free to visit our social networks, leave questions for the team under this post, and finally, have a great weekend!
See you in the next diary!
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KOTCL Developer diaries: roads, travel notes, and potions
We’re happy to see you here again. Our whole team is actively working on polishing and finalizing everything before the update and future release, so we don't have much new material. But as little as there is, even Mortis couldn't hide that from us. We’ve traveled together a lot, and gathering in the library to examine new content is some well-deserved relaxation. Well, the pages are waiting, so let's go!
What are these marvelous curiosities?
It turns out that there are magical items tucked away here that we haven't seen before. Apparently, they were created not so long ago – we've obtained sketches of early concepts and final images. It's always fascinating to trace the process of finding the right shapes and variations.
Sparring partner for a newbie
Recently, we told you that we're preparing a special unit for the game's beginner tutorial, and today we can present him to you close up. We have no doubt that very soon he’ll be on an animator's table in order to get his own animations!
Kiara's animations are already in progress!
Our mysterious she-warrior is getting a new lease on life through animation. She's already swinging her sword menacingly and trying to look as threatening as possible. But we won't flinch in the face of such a beautiful threat, will we? We're looking forward to the moment when Kiara joins the team.
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Event journal
Our travel notebook has finally taken its final form. Right now, our programmers are busy tying all existing events to the notebook – there's truly a lot of work to be done here. But you won’t have to wait long! Soon you'll be able to fill it in yourself and help Mortis with the entries!
That's it for today. Don't forget to visit our social media for game development news and discussion. We're always happy to answer your questions.
See you in the next diary!
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