Welcome to Issue #54 of [I]The PixelCount Post[/I], a periodically released update from [I]Kynseed's[/I] team. In today's issue: Charlie falls in love with the new haven, Neal continues down the dusty road, Tice lends an ear, and Matt revels in organized chaos.
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Starting earlier this week, the team began work on the next features-focused update: "A Song of Price and Hire". This one will mainly expand upon shop ownership gameplay by adding the Goods Store as an ownable business as well as fleshing out staff hiring and the ledger book. We're also adding in shop reputation, which will help reflect how succesful and famous your business is.
One advantage we have with this update is that there's some basic shop running systems already in place from when we added blacksmith ownership a few updates ago. This essentially means that all the game's ownable businesses will share some underlying code, including the Apothecary and even Tavern. Though for this week, we're keeping our focus primarily on systems for running the Goods Store and building on what's already there.
We've also begun work on formally nailing down details for the next batch of updates on [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/games/kynseed/announcements/detail/1799657041071529774"][B]the roadmap[/B][/URL]. This current batch will end just a couple of updates from now and so it's time we start deciding on the specifics for the updates to come. We'll of course share details for that next batch sometime before this current batch is done - in fact, the next batch has some new gameplay additions that we're very much looking forward to getting to! Though for now, we'll be ensuring the Goods Store is primed and ready for all you would-be shop owners wanting to make a brass or two.
My work this past week has been finally getting back onto levels, with Mellowfields imminent. For now though, I am putting the finishing touches to Loverwood, a region of Summerdown. It is a place for romance, rumpy pumpy, and one of the places you can choose to have your binding ceremony (marriage).
There is also a rather dashing chap living there, and he is a bit of a love guru with plenty of wise advice for those seeking love and woohoo.
I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the next haven, with its idyllic fields and gardens, trickling brooks, and giant vegetables. Am sure there will be plenty of innuendo in there, as is tradition...
The Long Road continues...
This week almost went to plan! Well, apart from the first few days being taken up with editor and initial Festfield event work overlapping from the last update. Work is also getting underway with the Goods Store and business ownership work. As several of the pieces like the ledger and bartering system already exist, it's not as hard fitting it all together for this second player job activity but there are equally a lot of details to sort out. Such as how workers will be handled, dealing with stock, customer tastes, and how reputation will affect visitors to the shop.
My aim is to do a better job at frontloading this update to sort out the details early, potentially leaving a bit of time to get ahead this update. We've been going over the plans for future updates and there's certainly a lot to pack in so any chance to get ahead is handy!
It feels like the groundwork has been a long time coming (and still has some ways to go) but is coming together nicely and increasingly feels solid and ready to start bedding in the details that'll make the game fulfil its ambition. Still a long way to go, which just needs to be taken one step at a time...
For the last week or so I've been delving into the art of mastering. And let me tell you: mastering is [I]HARD[/I]! It's where all the elements of a track have to come together perfectly balanced against one another.
Consider that a track can sometimes consist of literally thousands of elements and you'll get a pretty solid idea of why this is so hard to do. You can get help from tutorials and master classes and all those good sources of information, but at the end of the day you have to rely on your own ears. If you can't hear a minute problem, you can't fix the minute problem.
You also have to take good care of your ears if you want to keep doing this job. Monitor the dB (decibel volume) you're exposed to and how long you're exposed to it. And take breaks! A big problem is that when you're composing something that has a sense of big scale, odds are that this sense of scale won't come out until you play it loud. But do that for too long and you'll damage your ears. Don't do it at all and you won't hear some very important things.
I've had a habit of composing and mixing on low volume. This has meant that some things will slip by me. You can look at graphs for additional information but that's not the same as being able to tell what the experience of listening to it is. So it's always a balancing act. I do know this: if you don't spare your ears, you'll be out of commission forever.
It's been a bit of a helter skelter week as I tried to balance getting game work done with getting E3 prep done. We won't be doing any sort of booth/demoing at E3 or anything, but E3's convention center is quite literally two blocks from where I live so I generally end up attending each year anyway. And even though we're not doing any 'official' game presence there, I'll still be meeting up with various industry folks for an equal mix of work meetings and friend meetings.
There's a surprising amount of prep that goes into everything though, both for the event itself and also because I'll be having so many guests in town. Since I live so close, my flat typically becomes a 'base of operations' for many of my attending friends and industry peeps. It makes for a bit of a madhouse week, but I always kinda enjoy how hectic it all gets. It's 'organized chaos', but in a good way.
Plus, everyone's favorite [I]Kynseed[/I] composer Tice will also be attending this year, so he'll be palling around with me for much of it. It's actually quite rare indeed to have two PixelCounts together in the same place! Our little team is so remote and geographically removed typically. Perhaps one year, if we can get the full team together, we can combine our forces and...I dunno what. Turn into Megazord, or perhaps summon Captain Planet.
The PixelCount Post - Issue #53
Welcome to Issue #53 of [I]The PixelCount Post[/I], a periodically released update from [I]Kynseed's[/I] team. In today's issue: Charlie looks for bad apples, Neal dives into details, Tice goes off on a mission, and Matt humble brags about puns.
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Welcome to another issue of [I]The PixelCount Post[/I]! As it happens, we just released [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/games/kynseed/announcements/detail/1613890529296841130"][B]a dev announcement[/B][/URL] mere hours ago for our optimisation update. So we'll be keeping today's issue short and sweet, like a small puppy. Preferably a pug.
This was our first optimisation update and it's really helped clean some things up on the back end of the game. You'd be surprised how much spring cleaning is needed when working on the same engine since the prototype. This proved to be a very useful update for us, so we're glad that we've made time to sprinkle a few into [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/games/kynseed/announcements/detail/1799657041071529774"][B]our roadmap[/B][/URL]. Next stop on our development journey will be a features focused update with an emphasis on running your own Goods Store, managing hired staff, and accruing shop reputation.
We'll be jumping on that first thing Monday, after we tie up any loose ends and bug reports for the current update. If you come across any bugs yourself, feel free to give us a shout or write us at [B]Bugs@Kynseed.com[/B]. Thanks folks, we'll see you again next week!
This past week has been document catchup and trying to finally get a good pass of the "Items Master" list finished. I was working 'til 1am on it the other night, then realised I didn't like it so started the "Recipes and Traits" doc again and made a lot more order out of it. I'm much happier with it now.
I was also testing the build a bit and just playing around. The seasonal items caught me out and I forgot that some ingredients go missing in certain seasons so I was complaining to Neal about the lack of apples in Spring. It turned out we ended up enabling apples in Spring anyway, so players have fast travel options still.
We also received some more excellent art from our artists: new UI, environment stuff from Matt Weekes (excellent as always), and monsters from Gary. I just saw a composition of all the latest monsters, and we really do have a fantastic line up. Colourful, detailed, and dripping with character. In the case of the big ones, their teeth dripping with your character most likely!
Next week I am back on the new Loverwood region and then I'll make inroads into Mellowfields, our third haven! Let's just say, I'm continuing a theme from a level I made for [I]Fable Legends[/I]...
This last week I've been getting back some of my focus. It's a difficulty on a long project to maintain a consistent pattern of work and intensity. Oftentimes it comes with deadlines and this week was another update deadline. I feel like it's more than that though, where I've been trying to think about the work in a different way. Such as being more disciplined about working on detail instead of holding things off for some unknown future point.
It sounds simple and sensible when put like that, but I have found it easy to stray from and so it does feel like a big backlog exists to work on which I'm never sure when I'll get to. The details can be a problem as well when they mean too much time is spent on something that turns out wasn't necessary, but I think generally those things have tended to be rarer on this project at least.
Anyway, to get away from more general ramblings about process: I've been working on keybindings, skills in-game, and some editor screens. The keybindings took a good two days but am quite pleased with the general results. It was a nice standalone feature to get into the zone for with lots of details which seemed to keep popping up as I looked through the code. Skills in-game I had some trepidation about doing, but I think it's starting to turn out nicely in presentation.
One area I have held off for later is standardising the UI presentation more so that it's easy to reuse visual/audio flair without having to code it each time, but that did seem like a step too far in the circumstances so will have to wait 'til the next optimisation update. The editor screens are to help assist level design and placement of items/fish/growables, which have started to reach a quantity of data that would benefit from improving and, again, to avoid relying on code so much.
The rest of this week will be fixing any bugs with the new update along with more editor screen work and setting up more events in Festfield. Then it'll be on to the next major update with the Goods Store and business ownership. I'm looking forward to introducing more of the gameplay loop and getting stuck in their details!
I have to write this a bit sooner than usual because I'm about to go away on a mission to play percussion at a festival abroad. On the one hand it cuts into what I'm currently doing, and on the other it's a breath of fresh air. Literally, as it'll be out in the open air.
On the game front, the themes for all the shop purchases are done for Candlewych and Poppyhill. At the time of writing this the current update is pretty close to done, and after it releases it all starts again with the update after that. There's shop tunes still needed for the next town beyond Poppyhill, which will keep me busy for a bit.
All in all, we're going through the items on our roadmap pretty quickly. It's great to see things getting crossed off the list as 'done' over time. There's also only 2 weeks left before my trip to LA begins and, believe me, I'm counting the days!
Welp, that's our first optimisation update done then! It was the first update of this kind that we've tackled, so part of the challenge was determining exactly how flexible we wanted the update's focus to be. For the first week or so of the update we started off [I]very[/I] flexible. The idea was that we'd give ourselves an opportunity to do some freeform collaboration on things that we've been needing/wanting to do but never found time for in other updates.
Though after a while, we found ourselves preferring a bit less freeform and a bit more balance - a sort of 'structured' flexibility. We've had a long time to work together as a team and learn what keeps us motivated and efficient. We like to stay pretty agile and reactive, but we also like to have a generally structured plan at the same time. A sort of underlying compass to follow behind everything we do.
That balance ended up being the special ingredient for making these optimisation updates pack the most punch. Plus, now that we've found that balance, we'll be able to hit the ground running even harder for when the next optimisation update rolls around. Though personally, I'm looking forward to getting back to focusing on features and content. I'm sure it goes without saying that back end optimisation is one of the least sexy parts of game development, despite being critically important.
For our next stop on our roadmap we'll be adding in Goods Store ownership, deeper staff management, and shop reputation. We're calling the update "A Song of Price and Hire", and I'm far more proud of that title than I should be.
The "Keyboard Cartography" Update
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Hello there Seedlings! We've just wrapped up our recent optimisation update and have dispatched it straight your way, primed and ready for downloading. These optimisation updates are focused more on behind the scenes background work for the engine so, unlike our prior updates, this one won't contain quite as many visual changes on the surface.
That said, we still snuck in a few surface additions here and there, including a new farm mailbox as well as some initial keyboard mapping options. As such, we've come to refer to this as the "Keyboard Cartography" update. Apparently our lack of shame with bad puns knows no bounds.
[H1][U][B]PUNS WITH EXCELLENT DELIVERY[/B][/U][/H1]
One of the more noticeable additions for this update is a quaint little mailbox that we've added to the farm. Over time this mailbox will likely intertwine with gameplay, but for now we're just using it as a quick and easy way to give you brief summaries of any recently released updates. This way players won't have to wade through these lengthier announcements if they don't want to and can instead get highlights of new content right in-game. So anytime you see a red ribbon on the mailbox, that means you'll have a new letter straight from us. (Each one is handwritten, so long as you count keyboards.)
This update has a few other bits and bobs as well (like keyboard remapping!), but the primary focus for our optimisation updates is making sure our engine stays nice and well oiled. Primarily this included work on a few of our developer tools to make them more efficient and streamlined. Tools like a new Skill Tree Editor as well as existing tools like our Cutscene Editor, the latter of which we'll use to add events and story moments into future updates.
For a more in-depth look at things like the Cutscene Editor you can check out [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/games/kynseed/announcements/detail/1612763361797841612"][B]Issue #51 of [I]The PixelCount Post[/I][/B][/URL], which is our series of weekly dev updates written by the team. Though for a more cursory look at today's update, read on below!
[H1][U][B]NEW FARM MAILBOX ADDED[/B][/U][/H1]
You'll receive a letter from us for each major update
Look for the red ribbon to see when a letter has arrived
Set new keyboard bindings for both Primary and Secondary controls
Also set shortcuts for hotbar items
[H1][U][B]OTHER BITS[/B][/U][/H1]
Initial 3 items on new cooking skill tree (first pass)
Improvements to some internal dev tools (Cutscene Editor, items, & navigation)
New internal dev tool: Skill Tree Editor
Spring cleaning of unused textures & assets
For a complete look at all changes, check out [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/app/758870/discussions/0/1748980761802478102/#c1649919326318168790"][B]the full changelog[/B][/URL]
Next week, we'll be turning our attention back to working on some meatier content updates, starting with an update we've cheekily named "A Song of Price and Hire". That update will feature things like owning the Goods Store, managing hired staff, and a shop reputation system. We'll be pushing this update out the week after E3, so as to avoid releasing it during all that E3 hustle and bustle. As always, don't hesitate to check out [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/games/kynseed/announcements/detail/1799657041071529774"][B]our roadmap[/B][/URL] for a full rundown of what's to come.
Thanks to everyone who's been playing and providing feedback along the way, even for these less flashy optimisation updates. Speak again soon!
[URL="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BxcO6g9az8o9clFuZXczUWdad00"]Kynseed Media Kit[/URL]
The PixelCount Post - Issue #52
Welcome to Issue #52 of [I]The PixelCount Post[/I], a periodically released update from [I]Kynseed's[/I] team. In today's issue: Neal dives into details, Matt interfaces with interfaces, Tice mellows out in a field, and Charlie speaks of an ill Quill wind.
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Another week rolls by and we're one step closer to finishing up our current optimisation update. Which as we've said before, isn't so much about 'optimisation' per se, but rather it's a flexible update to give us time to tend to longterm engine work - such as perfecting our developer tools like the Cutscene Editor discussed [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/games/kynseed/announcements/detail/1612763361797841612"][B]last week[/B][/URL].
On that front, Neal has continued work on polishing up more Cutscene Editor bits in addition to doing some work on our UI Editor, which also received attention this week. Art has been pushing through some amazing things as well: Weekes has been preparing beautiful field tilesets for an upcoming region and Gary has been making adult sprites as well as a few horrifying monsters. All to come in future content and feature updates of course, which you can read about on [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/games/kynseed/announcements/detail/1799657041071529774"][B]our roadmap[/B][/URL].
Though currently, we'll need to start winding down work on this update so that we can get it ready for release. Although there won't be as many flashy obvious changes on the surface, there's still a good deal of work that's gone on behind the scenes, so we'll be sure to share a full changelog when the update gets pushed out to everyone. For those of you anxious to check it out, you can expect the update to go live middle of this upcoming week!
This week I've improved some more on the Cutscene Editor, which turned out a little tricky. I've been trying to convert the Fairweather appearance sequence to use the Cutscene Editor because it was done via code originally (quite last minute to a deadline!) and so has always been a little painful to work with.
To do so required some new abilities for the Cutscene Editor (scaling objects and animating non-character sprites) and these turned out quite intricate to set up. I've also been working through Matt's feedback on the system which has been helpful in guiding the work. Otherwise I've been working on the setup for acquiring skills ingame with cooking (recipes) being the next one to get in. This went reasonably smooth, but does need clarity in its presentation.
The next step I'm taking a look into is keyboard mappings as an often asked for feature. It does feel a little like I'm getting buried in the details lately, but they do need filling in, so slowly the big picture will emerge...
Over here at Chateau Matt, my humble home across the pond from Castle PixelCount, I've been keeping busy with various odds and ends in support of the current optimisation update. Last week I focused on our Cutscene Editor tool, so for this week I switched over to focusing on our UI Editor tool.
The UI (User Interface) Editor is, as you imagined, an editor for UI. Shocking. However, there's a surprising amount of depth to the tool, if only because a game like [I]Kynseed[/I] has literal thousands of individual UI elements across the entire game - with more to come even! There's the game's menus, item inventory, player toolbars, combat elements, dialogue interfaces, all the jobs, all the job ledgers, and so on.
Having a quick and efficient way for the team to make changes to these element's appearance and positioning is crucial for keeping the team's efficiency well lubricated. (Everybody likes a well lubricated dev team.) This is where the UI Editor comes in. Much like the Cutscene Editor, using a tool opens up the creative process to the entire team rather than having it all remain housed deep in the code where only Neal can find.
For now, the biggest difficulty with the UI Editor is that not all UI elements are linked to it. A number of elements were added before we had the UI Editor in place, so many are still hard coded in. This means we've got to go through and identify which elements aren't linked to the UI Editor and make note of them. From there, Neal will track them down and get to work on linking them up.
It's a fairly tedious task at the moment, but once done it'll make for modifying UI as we go much much easier. [I]Kynseed[/I] is a game with lots of moving parts and new parts are getting added constantly, so the gobs of UI we have tend to be in a very constant state of flux during development. That'll continue to be the case for some time, but with the UI Editor we'll soon be able to polish it up as we go with far more efficiency.
Though for now, it's back to the grindstone. Literally. I'm working on the blacksmith UI.
Another week flies by. Does anyone else feel time is speeding up?
As I had hoped, I was able to hand in a couple of iterations of the leitmotiv I talked about last week. It won't be until the corresponding scenes can be made in the new Cutscene Editor that we can really test out these themes within the game itself, but even outside of the game you should be able to get a feel for what they're trying to communicate.
Meanwhile, I'm trying to get the most out of my MasterClass pass before it runs out. I'm learning a lot of technical things that should be transferable to many a situation. I'm also eager to get to work on additional cutscenes that can now be made with the new editor. I've also made a list of little adjustments I want to make to some tracks in the Mellowfields region.
The more I listen to previously made tracks, the more little things I notice. It never stops, and I don't think it ever will. But I take it as a sign that my ears are getting better at picking up tiny details.
Next weekend I'll be off to a medieval festival to do percussion. It'll be a nice change of pace and hopefully some fresh musical influences. Not too long after that it'll be time to get on a plane to LA! I'm [I]SO[/I] excited about E3 this year!
This week I was on a bit of a dietary change to try and get myself back on order and it had the effect of giving me more energy. I waded into design docs, doing new ones and tweaking old ones.
One of the designs still not there was for the ailments the people of Quill can get. When you own the apothecary, you will get customers coming in and you can sell them 'off the shelf' items or go craft them there and then. However, the system was a bit of a mess and the shop side was lacking. So now, NPC's will come in and you ask what the problem is.
They'll give you between 1 and 3 symptoms. If just one, we call it a 'PickMeUp'. And if 2 or 3, it's a 'Malady'. Maladies have a visual effect to help identify them and add some amusement, and more info on them can be found in Medical Tomes and Proverbs. Each symptom has a cure and the player can select these in a notebook and create a prescription. This acts like an order book and can be passed to a staff member to mix or make yourself.
NPC's may also just want to buy a dye or perfume, and you can craft anything you want and the Traits will take care of it. Want the perfume to make them fart? Mix in ingredients with Flatulence Trait to one with Scent. You can make powders, creams, and potions, then store them in the shop cabinet or even take them with you.
We're hoping the player will get a lot of fun from the system and get a nice feeling from crushing, grinding, distilling, and mixing. "Oh hello sir, seems like you have a touch of Flamefart. I have just the thing..."
The PixelCount Post - Issue #51
Welcome to Issue #51 of [I]The PixelCount Post[/I], a periodically released update from [I]Kynseed's[/I] team. In today's issue: Neal notices nagging notes, Charlie gets ideas, Tice uses flashy vocabulary, and Matt has a keen scene machine.
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[URL="https://steamcommunity.com/games/kynseed/announcements/detail/1612763361786311395"][B]Issue #50[/B][/URL] is still lukewarm off the presses, but we're back to our usual pace of things this week with another issue on your virtual doorsteps. As planned, work is happily continuing along on the optimisation update. The team's been keeping most busy with preparing new art assets and UI improvements. Meanwhile, Neal has moved on from working on bits of Prologue polish and is now sorting through team feedback on our developer tools, such as the Cutscene Editor and UI Editor.
Polishing and enhancing those tools will make a world of difference for speeding up development across the entire team. The more the whole team can use and access such tools, the less burden it will be on Neal having to do everything code side, thus freeing him up to work on higher priority systems and features. As a result, new cutscenes and UI tweaks are being worked on as we speak, though it might be an update or two before these actually show up in-game.
Lastly, for anyone who may've missed it, you should check out the recently released [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/games/kynseed/announcements/detail/1612763361786311395"][B]Special 50th Edition of [I]The Post[/I][/B][/URL]. It features a few extra appearances (like our character artist/animator and our icon artist) as well as a neat look at old [I]Kynseed[/I] prototype screenshots. Though best we get back to work for now, as there's new sprites to make and new cutscenes to edit. So we'll see you all again in another issue soon!
For Week 2 of the optimisation update, I managed to get further into the little bits and pieces of nagging issues that affect the making of the game along with working on a skill tree editor and trying out the adult anims which are starting to come together. In our situation where the engine is custom, the editor is also custom. So it's effectively two engineering projects for the price of one! As the project has gone along I've been slowly iterating on the functionality for the editor to fill in shortcomings and improve the process of making the game, but there's always more to be done.
Often this leads to me making a mental or physical note and then trying to ignore it - which works to an extent. But it always leaves that question of how much time might be saved by improving the editor, both for iteration speed and for the removal of such thoughts needing to pop up and be ignored! That question can hopefully be answered a little after this update is complete, but it certainly feels satisfying to knock down some of those issues.
One aspect of it that is a bit of a crossover for editor and game is that I worked on improving text input. I've done some work to make the cursor movable to edit the text at any point, which turned out a little less straightforward when having to factor in how the DEL key works and using the CTRL key to jump between words. I've also been looking into fixing leftover placeholder images from changes in tiles over the last 2 years. That has proved a time consuming process but is coming to an end (down from 1,000 tiles to 100 or so left now).
It's tricky making changes like this because of having a live data set to work with. One which encompasses some 20 odd levels, meaning mistakes are quite costly to track down. If I was going it again I'd definitely look to plan for these kinds of situations more.
All in all, a better week than the last one though with more variety of work and the feeling of tidying up loose ends - all of which will prove handy in the coming months. For now I better get back to work on some bugs, along with the Cutscene Editor and a dozen other useful bits!
Games. We all love 'em (or we wouldn't be here). So many to choose from over a wealth of platforms. So many stores touting their wares and throwing super cheap or free games at you. Humble Store, Game Pass, Games with Gold, Epic Store, Steam, GoG, PlayStation Plus, itch.io, GameJolt, Uplay, Origin, and so on. My backlog grows and my desktop grows ever more full of icons. (Matt has a meltdown over my chaos.)
It really is a flooded market out there. There is good use to be found though, amongst this sea of games, for a developer. You can find inspiration even in titles that disappoint. Example: I have been playing [I]Forager[/I] this week. It is quite moreish to start with, then unravels itself to be a glorified clicker game with no real point to it. However, the game gave me two huge jolts of inspiration.
The game is made with such love and the developer has his own story as a cartoon for you to read. There are also warm messages and a constant sense of it being a passion project. Secondly, it has lovely popping menus that feel lively, look colorful and clear, and even function well. We can learn from these things and one of our eventual aims is the UI to look, feel, and sound nice.
So many games, yet we can take something small from each one, even if it is not how we do things. Now excuse me, I just noticed a few more free games on Game Pass...
With the current optimisation not requiring new assets from me (so far), I've been able to focus on some prep work for E3 next month. Quite a bit of work goes into traveling to the states and making yourself ready to meet the developers of the world. There's also some music related to the shops that I hope to get done before I go state side.
There are two important themes in the game's soundtrack that I want to put in numerous places around the game. The thing about themes, or rather 'leitmotivs' as they're called, is that you need to repeat them quite a bit before the brain makes the right connection between the theme and the thing the theme represents. It then subjects it to memory. So I'm looking for all the places in the game where these themes can be repeated and associated.
The acquisition of shops is one such place. The theme I want to put there represents personal growth and development. I want the acquisition of each shop to have its own iteration of that theme, using the instruments that I also use in that shop's music. In turn, each shop is influenced by the instruments used in the region's music they're based on. So just from the music alone, you'll be able to hear what shop you're acquiring and where the shop is located. Plus they need to give you a feeling of personal accomplishment. I hope it works in practice as well as it does in my mind!
Dang, just thought of a better name for 'The Short Report'. I could've instead called it 'In a Nutshell'. Ah well.
Aside from lamenting missed naming opportunities, I've been busy spending time in the game's Cutscene Editor. This tool was initially put into the engine earlier this year, but there's been so many spinning plates for me to tend to in recent months that this is the first chance I've had to really sit down and sink some time into it.
Though for now, the goal isn't to create the cutscenes themselves. Not yet, at least. Right now the goal is to note down any problems, bugs, or quality of life improvements that the Cutscene Editor needs. I've already compiled a first pass list of feedback notes and have sent them on to Neal, who'll be sorting through them over the next day or so.
[I]Here's how the Cutscene Editor currently looks. There's still work to be done on it, but soon I'll be able to use it to create scenes and story moments in the game. [URL="https://i.imgur.com/JAjWdwp.gif"](Click here to enlarge.)[/URL][/I]
Something that I'm particularly fond of with the Cutscene Editor is that Neal and I worked together to make it behave and feel like a video editor. Specifically, Adobe Premiere Pro. It's the video editor I personally know best and I've been editing videos with it going back as far as when I joined the Lionhead community, if not longer. As a result, I tend to handle any and all video work needed on the team - [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL1CWWqDKws"][B]our current trailer[/B][/URL] being one of the most recent.
So what this meant was that when Neal and I began the initial groundwork for the Cutscene Editor, I was able to give him a rudimentary design to follow which was, at its core, a [I]very[/I] simplified version of a video editing interface. This included things like: a project timeline at the bottom, a moveable playhead marker to denote which frame the editor is on, timeline blocks/objects with expandable in and out points, a properties window on the side to alter the behaviour of timeline items, and so on. It also shares many of the same hotkeys as Premiere Pro, so I'll even be able to use all the little video editing shortcuts that have become muscle memory over the years.
[I]Everyone does their layouts differently, but here's how my Premiere setup looks. You can see the basic similarities when compared to the Cutscene Editor above. [URL="https://i.imgur.com/j2m60an.gif"](Click here to enlarge.)[/URL][/I]
There's still work to be done polishing up the Cutscene Editor for regular development use, but the recent round of feedback notes compiled this week will likely take care of the brunt of it. Once that happens, I'll get to start making some new cutscenes to be included in future updates!
The PixelCount Post - Issue #50
Welcome to Issue #50 of [I]The PixelCount Post[/I], a periodically released update from [I]Kynseed's[/I] team. In today's special issue: Gary talks character art, Caz chats icons, Charlie discusses issues, Neal notices boards, Tice gets effective, and Matt makes a scene.
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Goodness, it seems our humble [I]PixelCount Post[/I] has reached issue #50! We've been writing these so routinely that it very nearly snuck up on us. To help celebrate, we've included a few extra things for this week's issue. In addition to the usual crew that writes for [I]The Post[/I], we also brought along a couple of our other teammates to pop in and say hello. This includes [URL="https://twitter.com/armyoftrolls"][B]Gary[/B][/URL], character artist extraordinaire, as well as [URL="https://twitter.com/cazwolf"][B]Caz[/B][/URL], creator of lovely icons.
Another fun extra for this week's issue is that we thought it'd be fun to include some images from the earliest of early [I]Kynseed[/I] builds that were ever made. We're talking [I]extremely[/I] early here - ugly placeholder art and all. We've scattered these images throughout the issue and have included a small descriptive blurb under each one.
You can check all that out further down, but as for our game progress: last week we began our initial work on getting our first optimisation update underway. As mentioned in [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/games/kynseed/announcements/detail/1799657041071529774"][B]our trusty roadmap[/B][/URL], this update will focus on refining some background systems and paving the way for future systems to come. For our first week of that update, we've taken some time for a bit of polish and clean-up of the game's Prologue.
Neal typically has to do the heavy lifting for these sorts of updates, but the plus side is this gives the rest of the team time to catch up on other areas of content creation in the meantime - such as making all the adult player animations. Those are especially time consuming to create, because it requires recreating every player animation over again but at a different age - and for both twins no less! So all in all, these optimisation updates are providing the team a nice change of pace while simultaneously allowing us to catch up on a fair bit of back end work.
Okay, so maybe this week's 'short report' is not so short. In fact, this entire issue is pretty hefty! Though we figure a 50th issue is reason enough to do a bit more than we usually do. Thank you to all of you who've been reading along since the very beginning as well as those of you who've just joined us. There's still a ways left to go on our journey and we're happy and grateful to have each of you with us.
[I]This is one of the earliest screenshots of[/I] Kynseed's [I]prototype that we were able to find. (The art is all generic placeholder, of course.) Even at this early stage we already had a few basics in, like finding dig spots, pets that follow, throwing items, and even playing catch with the pets.[/I]
When I joined the [I]Kynseed[/I] team as character designer/animator, they already had a small demo up and running showing the first section of the game. My challenge was to take the established characters, along with concept art, and put my own twist on things.
The first thing that struck me when playing the game was how beautiful and rustic the environmental art was; lush fields, colourful flowers, tall imposing trees, and cosy cottages made up the world of [I]Kynseed[/I]. To contrast, I wanted to make the characters a bit more iconic/cartoony and try to make them stand out on the rich detailed backgrounds.
The design process for these characters begins with a rough outline document from Charlie. We are very much on the same page when it comes to reference material and influences on our designs - in fact, our book collections and movie watching habits as kids are strangely similar.
When I was designing the monsters, I would think back to creepy sketches in old English folklore books or the [URL="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7155600-usborne-guide-to-the-supernatural-world"][B][I]Usborne Guide to the Supernatural World[/I][/B][/URL] books from my childhood, crossed with an unhealthy dose of the Deadites from the [I]Evil Dead[/I] movies.
A year and a half later, with around a hundred villagers, animals, monsters, Fae folk, and of course Mr Fairweather under my belt...all designed and animated. (The amount of animation frames created is scary!) I think we’ve done a pretty good job and it’s been a real pleasure working on the game.
I had an absolute blast designing the monsters of [I]Kynseed[/I] and they are next on my animation list once I finish the grown up twin animations. I really hope you enjoy meeting/being stalked by these creatures and get a little creeped out by some of them!
Happy 50th issue, and it's such a pleasure to speak to you all! I'm Caz, and I'm a pixel artist from South Wales who's currently responsible for slowly replacing [I]Kynseed's[/I] item icons with fancy new ones. With [I]Fable[/I] being one of my favourite game franchises as a kid, you can imagine what an absolute honour it is to work with these guys and see all the hard work and love that gets poured into Kynseed.
Besides pixel art and games, my other biggest passion is food and baking, so naturally there's a lot of room for crossover between that and my art. Nothing makes me happier than being able to churn out all the different icons for the game, from Apple Pie to Bacon Surprise.
It's always a great joy to find creative and funny ways to express the same brand of unique humour that [I]Kynseed[/I] possesses when it comes to drawing the icons, and I hope some of you eagle-eyed players out there will spot some of the references!
Thanks for letting me blab, and I look forward to seeing more of you enjoying the game's progress!
[I]As prototype engine work continued, we began slowly adding our own art into the game. A few other features began to show up as well, ranging from lamp post lighting to shadows under sprites. The basic outline of the farmhouse began to also tentatively take shape.[/I]
Amazing to think that we have hit 50 editions of [I]The Post[/I]. If we had stuck to our schedules we might have had 3,000 editions by now. Some weeks can be a challenge to think of what to write...while others just flow easily, like the results of Sipp & Winter's Go Easy Potion.
It is great to see that our readers really enjoy our periodical. We were thinking of having some more titillating content to add some sensation, but the thought of Tice wearing just a cloak as he cosplays Herbert Lemon was too ridiculous to consider. We thank everyone for sticking with us through 50 editions and look forward to creating the next 50 over the next 50 years. See you again next week, same time, same batty channel.
With the "Gnome Pun Intended" update out, I've been busy fixing bugs as they popped up. It feels like they are slowly shrinking in numbers but still lurking around just out of view. I've been trying to take it strategically in reducing them because they can be rather time consuming, as mentioned last time, when it takes a while to even get them to happen consistently enough to figure out.
Now that we're in our optimisation update we've been talking over potential candidates for work. For last week, those include some tweaks to the Prologue, introducing a few new items, setup of a noticeboard, and even a first pass of a mailbox. I can see the benefits to these but do find myself wondering if they are the best thing to be doing. My plan is to get them done quickly to move on to other items in subsequent weeks.
[I]Eventually the engine was able to handle more layers and complexity, so we began adding in additional art like foliage and paths (and even insects, like the little bee on the far left). This still used our old player asset, although pet art did receive another update at this point. (And of course, there were a ton of new engine features not pictured in this simple screenshot.)[/I]
I can't believe we're at issue 50 already! It's been such a wild ride to get where we are today. Before writing this I decided to go back to the first issue and see where I was at back then. I remember how at the beginning I thought I was only going to be doing music, which is my 'comfort zone' as a composer. The first issue doesn't even mention sound effects, which I've had to learn to do since then.
I was very nervous about it, and felt mostly lost. Nowadays, I feel so much more confident about doing sound effects. With it I've gained new skills, new insights, and new familiarity. Lately I've been working exclusively on sound effects and ambient (environment) sounds. The fear is gone. When I'm asked to make a new one, I no longer automatically think "I don't know if I can pull this off...", and it feels very liberating to have that confidence.
That said, I'm still no SFX expert. Even in music I have a bazillion things to learn, but in sound effects I'm even further away from knowing everything. That first issue I spent talking about how I wanted the music for the game to be diverse, yet consistently '[I]Kynseed[/I]-ish'. So far, I'm quite happy with how much I've been able to reach that goal. Not that there's no room for improvement, but it's good to look back at goals you've set and see that you're on track to completing them.
I reckon my focus will remain on sound effects for a little while longer before work on new region music is required. It's a good learning opportunity. We're coming up against prioritization choices where we know certain adjustments are needed, but when to implement them isn't straight forward. Do we fix that ambient sound not being optimal but requires code to get the solution we want, or is that coding time better spent elsewhere right now?
So for now, I'm writing a list of changes for sound and music I'd like to see that'll require Neal to implement. Then I'll need to wait for the right time to get them implemented. 50 issues from now, I'm hoping to see a lot of "i's" dotted and "t's" crossed in the music and sound effects. It'll be interesting to find out 50 issues from now if that goal has been met!
When not waxing poetic about hitting issue #50, we've been otherwise busy with initial prep work for our optimisation update. The tricky thing with these updates is that they're a bit more free form than our usual updates, the latter of which typically have fairly clear cut goals pre-established as per our roadmap. However, for optimisation updates, we've intentionally left those blank ahead of time so that we can stay reactive and agile during development. So the very first thing we have to do for these updates is agree on some ad hoc development areas and then order them by priority.
One of the first areas of priority, which we began work on this week, was to polish up a bit of the game's Prologue experience. Though for the subsequent weeks, we'll probably switch over to improving and streamlining some of our developer tools. There's many areas of the game's development which require hands on the code - which essentially means only Neal is able to do them. However, whenever we're able to create game engine tools that the [I]entire[/I] team can use, this democratizes the game's development in such a way that it frees Neal up to work on other areas of the code.
A good example of this is our cutscene tool. In earlier versions of our game engine, cutscenes were handled exclusively code side. So if we wanted to make even a minor change to a cutscene, such as repositioning a character, Neal would have to go in and make that change manually in the code. This proved to be extremely cumbersome, so to solve the problem Neal created a cutscene tool within the game engine that the entire team could use.
The other great thing about this method is it lets the more cinematic minded team members have hands-on access to creating and modifying cutscenes. Different areas of development require different creative instincts, so the creative strengths of one team member are often different than the creative strengths of the other. Thus, opening up access to the game's tools allows the team to accentuate its individual strengths.
This is surely one of the chief benefits of having a programmer on the team who has experience in creating [I]tools[/I]. In fact, creating developer tools is one of the many areas that Neal worked on over the course of his 12 or so years on the [I]Fable[/I] franchise. It's certainly coming in handy for us.
That's also why these optimisation updates will prove so important for our development. Working on back end things like our developer tools won't be immediately visible to players, but they end up significantly improving development speed and workflow long-term. In particular, I'm looking forward to putting on my director's cap in the next few weeks as I dive into our cutscene tools and start crafting a handful of cinematic moments for future game updates.
Lastly, I know we've already prattled on a fair bit about this being our 50th issue, but I do just want to take a quick minute to personally thank all of you who've been enjoying these little glimpses into our team. We've found that they're just as helpful for us as well. In some ways, it's akin to keeping a journal. Though to provide a bit of context and backstory:
Long ago, there was a chap at Bungie named Frank O'Conner who began writing weekly development updates for some little game they were working on called [I]Halo 2[/I]. (Shout out to [URL="https://halo.fandom.com/wiki/Mister_Chief"][B]Mister Chief[/B][/URL].) Up to that point in my life I'd only ever just played games once released, but this was the first time I found myself following a game's development [I]before[/I] it was released - years before, even. O'Conner wrote those weekly updates in such a laid back accessible sort of way and he'd sometimes even include snippets written by other team members. I found the whole thing fascinating and, I suppose, it's what later inspired me to do something similar here with [I]Kynseed[/I]. So the fact that there's so many of you regularly following and reading these is not only exciting and humbling, but it also means a lot to us. A big and hearty thanks to all of you who have enjoyed our silly rambling issue after issue. No doubt there's lots more rambling still to come.
[I]This is a look at where the engine is currently. Player art is updated, there's now two twins to play as, all pets received a final round of new art (plus new breeds/colours), foliage was cranked to 11, there's bees and butterflies, and the father is there with his watchful eye. This little screenshot barely scratches the surface of everything that's in the game these days, but it is interesting to see how far[/I] Kynseed [I]has come from that earliest of early prototype.[/I]
The PixelCount Post - Issue #49
Welcome to Issue #49 of [I]The PixelCount Post[/I], a periodically released update from [I]Kynseed's[/I] team. In today's issue: Charlie wakes up without pants, Neal solves a puzzle, Tice has a birthday (happy birthday Tice!), and Matt writes about writing.
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A new large update has been released (which you can read all about [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/games/kynseed/announcements/detail/1639783687329070125"][B]here[/B][/URL]), and so it's been a busy and exciting week for our little ragtag team. We ended up squeezing quite a bit more into this update than we originally set out to, but we kept getting the urge to add 'just one more thing' as we worked. Though even with all those small bits and bobs, Tir Na Nog is certainly the main highlight of this update and so we hope you're all enjoying a visit to that magically relaxing place.
Yet even though it was released less than 24 hours ago, there's still nary an idle hand on the team at the moment. Typically whenever we release a big update, we've found that it gives us a bit of an energy boost. No doubt it's in part the excitement of releasing a new chunk of the game paired with wanting to get straight to work on the feedback. In fact, Neal is already coding away at this very moment, looking into a few minor reported issues. Chances are another small update will be getting pushed out soon, if indeed it's not already out by the time you're reading this.
For anyone who's been following along with [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/games/kynseed/announcements/detail/1799657041071529774"][B]our roadmap[/B][/URL], our updates take turns between three categories: Features, Content, and Optimization. "Gnome Pun Intended" was a content update, so our next stop on the road will be an optimization update. There's a hefty list of background work and polish that we've been accruing, so it'll be a nice productive change of pace to spend these next few weeks whittling that list down.
We'll still push out an update afterwards like normal, but it'll more than likely contain less obvious changes on the surface. Though for those of you keen to see what we're getting up to under the surface, we'll be all too happy to ramble on about them here in these regularly released issues. So see you all again very soon!
This week has been mostly playing the update when not enjoying some of the spring weather and erm...new games like [I]Steamworld Quest[/I]. I find that when playing [I]Kynseed[/I] I often end up going to the same places, just to listen to the amazing music and ambient sound. Poppyhill, Rivermoor, Homesteads, Druida's Cross, Willowdown, and now Tir Na Nog.
I could happily lay back and listen to those Fae wind chimes all day, but I would fall asleep and wake in some strange glade, surrounded by chittering little folk, all wondering why I have no pants on. After I have snapped awake and scared off the faeries, I wipe my drool up and get back to fixing things...a layer here, a collision there. As I run around I think of how we can really add content and secrets to these places. They may seem empty now, but eventually we hope to have mystery upon mystery to ponder over.
We are building up the base of this world, but once we start exposing more loops and more of the sandbox, we can look at the little details. We want a tactile world with no silly progress bars or pointless grinding. We want a world of surprises, discovery, and a Guinness world record for most references in a game.
This week a flurry of last minute build activity took hold trying to get the next update finished. Perhaps due to not having an exact end date in mind there was this constant 'just a little bit more' feeling to getting things right. I think the payoff should hopefully be good in doing so.
Amidst those late additions and improvements, I also worked on some bugs that took a little puzzling out. One with the festival green minigame meant time of day got stuck which had me stumped for a while 'til I noticed an NPC present at some times and not others. Even then it took a bit of stepping through to figure out exactly where it goes wrong because I made some assumptions that turned out not to be true.
There's a nice cumulative effect to these flurries of work which can get a bit overwhelming when you want to just-get-this-one-thing-done, but with a calm perspective on it a lot of good can come out of it because it keeps things fresh. I've already started piling up a list of improvements to work on, on top of already known items, and then there's sure to be new issues to come with the new update - it's all leading to iteratively and cumulatively to making the game the best we can!
This week I'm away from home, which means I'm working on my laptop instead of my studio computer. While I'm here, we're working on the ambient sounds within mines. We had an ambient track for it that isn't working for us and we want more elaborate mechanics to govern how sound is changed underground. But the programming for that isn't in yet.
We've also been adding more sound to Fairweather's world. It's a tricky place to get right; there's an eerie silence to a snowy land, easily destroyed by wind. But there needs to be a distant wind as well. And chimes. While working on these things, I've also just celebrated my birthday! So it's been generally busy. I'm also learning to use a new virtual guitar I recently acquired, because even virtual instruments must be mastered over time...
Always an exciting week when we release a new update! During weeks like these, my work tends to comprise almost exclusively of writing and making GIF's. Mainly that's due to large game updates all needing written updates (like [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/games/kynseed/announcements/detail/1639783687329070125"][B]this one[/B][/URL]) to coincide with their release.
Though in addition to the writing, there's always a surprising amount of media assets to make as well. For example, this last written update had 7 GIF's in total (8 if you count the little lost chicken at the bottom) and each one had to be made from scratch. I suppose I could always stick to text only updates and not include as many pretty images...[URL="https://i.imgur.com/bew1upV.gif"][B]but as they say[/B][/URL].
Then there's also other things like [I]The PixelCount Post[/I], which in addition to writing my little bit here (as well as "The Short Report" at the top), I also edit and format it. Not to mention I have to make different versions for all of these things, as each community platform has different neurotic formatting requirements (our forums, Steam, Kickstarter, etc.).
For example, on our forums I can center images easily and typically aim for 640x280 resolution for most images there. However, Steam's maximum width for news articles is 610, so I have to make a custom batch of cropped images when posting there. Kickstarter is even stranger and has a maximum width of 639, which requires yet another custom batch of cropped images. Plus, Steam doesn't allow for centering, so to center things like the article titles above I have to add equal distance of transparent pixels to the left and right of each article title (for a total of 610) to 'simulate' centering. All that to say, update days tend to end up being pretty busy days!
Earlier today I also happened to notice that this is issue #49 of [I]The Post[/I], meaning next week's will be #50! Hard to imagine we've done that many of these little dev updates already. According to [URL="https://www.pixelcountstudios.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?6-Latest-News"][B]our own forums[/B][/URL], there's also an additional 20 larger written updates on top of that. Plus any other miscellany threads out there as well as just general community chit chat. I shudder to think how many novel's worth of rambling I've done in our Discord alone...
Still, despite the workload that comes with releasing a big update, it's always a great feeling to be able to mark it all down as 'done'. Though of course, the best part is seeing everyone playing it for the first time and reading all the feedback. So I hope you're all getting on well with this latest update and, as always, don't hesitate to give a shout if you have any questions or feedback. If anything's clear it's that we're certainly a chatty bunch.
The "Gnome Pun Intended" Update
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It seems we meet again here on the dusty development road. Since your last visit, we've been building a brand new region for your delectation. It's called Tir Na Nog and we've just opened its magical doors for the first time in today's "Gnome Pun Intended" update.
In addition to this new region, we've also been keeping busy cramming in a few extra bits and bobs. World Builder Charlie has been roaming all over Quill placing brand new lights by using an updated lighting system that Master Linguist Neal conjured up into existence. Meanwhile, Musician Magician Matthijs has been locked away in his chamber of instruments creating all manner of auditory delights - some of which include the sounds of a singing plant. Most curious. There's also a new minigame, a new shop, a new dog breed, plus a handful of other lovely things you can read about below.
[H1][U][B]NO PLACE LIKE GNOME[/B][/U][/H1]
We've been looking forward to opening up Tir Na Nog for quite a while, as it's the very first time you'll be able to visit and explore a Fae realm. Though like the rest of the land of Quill, this new region is very much under construction. There's still a good deal left that we want to do with it, ranging from basic polish to adding more activities over time. Tir Na Nog's inhabitants will also need further fleshing out as well.
That said, there's still a number of new things to play with and explore in the meantime. Just don't be surprised if you encounter a few layering issues or perhaps even find yourself breaking free of your earthly shackles and slipping outside region bounds.
You can find some highlights from today's update below, followed by a more detailed changelog at the bottom. We welcome you to report any bug sightings in the usual places, such as on [URL="https://www.discord.gg/pixelcount"][B]our Discord[/B][/URL], [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/app/758870/discussions/"][B]our forums[/B][/URL], or straight to [B]Bugs@Kynseed.com[/B]. As we tell all our bug visitors, "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."
[H1][U][B]NEW REGION: TIR NA NOG[/B][/U][/H1]
A new Fae region now accessible after the Prologue, including:
A new minigame to discover
A new shop selling fine wares
New music and audio effects
New items and collectibles
New mines containing rare ore
[H1][U][B]NEW MINIGAME: SQUEAL OR NO SQUEAL[/B][/U][/H1]
Hosted by Tir Na Nog local celebrity, Gnome Edmunds
Strategically pop pig balloons and try to strike a deal
Sells a few local Tir Na Nog goods, among other things
Also sells H. Pepper's Naming Nut, a new item for renaming pets
[H1][U][B]NEW HAIR DYES[/B][/U][/H1]
Hair dyes are now an in-game item
This allows for changing hair colour at any time
Can be purchased at various stores across the land
Plus, a few new colours added!
[H1][U][B]PUGS[/B][/U][/H1]
Pugs!
Pugs.
[I]Pugs[/I]...
[H1][U][B]OTHER ADDITIONS[/B][/U][/H1]
Pets can now be renamed when purchasing them
Added 'the naming nut', which allows for renaming already owned pets
Players can now return to Fairweather (similar to how players travel to Tir Na Nog)
Fairweather items can now be bought at the cost of years off your life
At the end of the year, Fairweather claims his tax of years owed
Ambience added for mines
Plus a big ol' buncha fixes, improvements, and background work (see below)
For a complete look at all changes, check out [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/app/758870/discussions/0/1748980761802478102/#c1675812484344660993"][B]the full changelog[/B][/URL]
Today's update marks yet another spot we can cheerfully check off [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/games/kynseed/announcements/detail/1799657041071529774"][B]our trusty [I]Kynseed[/I] roadmap[/B][/URL]. Now that the update is out, we'll spend the remainder of this week looking into and fixing any bugs you report. Then, starting Monday, we chart a course for our next destination: an optimization/flexible update. These are updates in which the PixelCount team will work on a number of less visible but otherwise important background areas.
Such areas will typically include systems for larger features to come as well as traditional optimization to help keep our engine well oiled and running smooth. We certainly don't want our faithful ol' engine to start slowing down in the middle of our journey.
As always we'll keep you updated on progress with things like our periodically periodical, [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/app/758870/allnews/"][B][I]The PixelCount Post[/I][/B][/URL], as well as on other cozy corners of the internet such as [URL="https://www.discord.gg/pixelcount"][B]our Discord[/B][/URL]. There's many stops still ahead on this dusty development road, but with good folks like you at our side we're rather enjoying the journey. See you at the next rest stop for tea time and bathroom breaks.
[URL="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BxcO6g9az8o9clFuZXczUWdad00"]Kynseed Media Kit[/URL]
The PixelCount Post - Issue #48
Welcome to Issue #48 of [I]The PixelCount Post[/I], a periodically released update from [I]Kynseed's[/I] team. In today's issue: Charlie lights the way, Neal adds little big things, Tice grows a singing plant, and Matt posts a much nicer screenshot than last issue's.
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Game development is like going to a buffet. You arrive hungry, with a cornucopia of delicious food laid out for the taking, but you realize all too soon there's no way you're making room for everything you want to eat.*
As we continue down [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/games/kynseed/announcements/detail/1799657041071529774"][B]our roadmap journey[/B][/URL], we've found we have to be mindful of that very thing. For the upcoming "Gnome Pun Intended" update, we kept going to Neal ([I]Kynseed's[/I] sole programmer) with small little ideas we wanted to squeeze into the update. But the thing with small little ideas is that if you string enough of them together you'll find yourself with a large collection of ideas.
So originally we planned to push the update out a few days ago, but all those little ideas take time to implement and test, so instead we'll be pushing this new update out in the middle of this upcoming week. Though we do have an early version up on the 'latestupdate' branch for anyone interested in taking an early spin.
Overall, progress is going along nicely though. All major parts are working as intended and a few of those unplanned ideas are pretty much complete as well. One such example are new lighting system changes which now gives us the ability to hand place light sources rather than relying exclusively on in-world sources (such as candles and lamp posts). In fact, Charlie has recently done a pass over the entire game's regions placing new light sources around. He chats a bit about this in his update below. We'll have much more to share on all that next week when we push the update out, so be sure to pop back in soon.
[I]* Games are also like metaphors. There's too many of them and most aren't that good.[/I]
As mentioned in his post below, Neal kindly provided me with placeable lights.
This seems like a small thing, but to someone with a history of lighting fetishism on [I]Fable II[/I] and [I]Fable III[/I], I was very happy to get back to placing them down after years in the darkness.
Lighting a level is definitely trickier in a 2d game, but no less rewarding. I found the best effect comes from placing a subtle blueish light in patches to look like midnight moonlight in Cuckoo Wood and Tir Na Nog. During the day you can’t see them, but come night and they add a bit of visual aid and also a chunk of atmosphere.
Lighting is best used to highlight things like cave entrances/doorways/paths, but it can also be used to add some nice ambient colour, such as from colourful strange plants and pools. The brief for Tir Na Nog was basically ‘Avatar the movie but with Faeries’. This gives ripe opportunity for glowing foliage and strange colours.
I'm not a lighting artist (nowhere near), but there is something satisfying about bringing a bit of light and colour to the world. It was the same in Albion, and now it is the same in Quill. You can make a home feel cosy from a warm glowing fire. Make a henge stone seem cold and mysterious. Tempt a player lost in darkness, or be their guide.
Now, back to a little light work.
Since last time, I've sorted out the lighting to allow light placement. So far I've kept it very basic without even going in for different shaped lights (though the source rectangle area can be stretched which helps achieve reasonable results for now).
It did take a few days to hook up everything correctly as it meant recreating the systems that game objects use for lights. In the end I went for the path of least resistance by recreating instead of rewriting/refactoring to accommodate for both. It's a choice which could mean later pain but felt like the safer option in the circumstances than finding out I've broken something!
Thinking back on it now, I do wonder on the wisdom in that or if it's even possible to have a 'best' solution except in retrospect. In some programming books I've read they talk about skill or mastery as being a process where experts instinctively know which way to go from having the experience to know the best approach that avoids pitfalls. I feel like my instinct mostly leads to muddling through still, because I don't have enough experience of the specific situations to know the right one. I probably just need to not get hung up on it too much (and practice more)!
I've been working on revisiting Fairweather along with more polish to the minigame and setting up the extra details that come with a new level/items/fish/audio. It feels like a good next step to be iterating through these things and making improvements along the way. It has taken a bit longer than intended though, where we were hoping to have the update done this week but it'll likely be middle of next week instead.
Once that is done, we'll be working on the first optimisation update since Early Access which I'm looking forward to. It won't necessarily be easy to show what has changed from it but it will really help to get into some of the deeper issues of an ever-evolving design and codebase of 3 years.
It's funny writing my update this time, as the last few weeks have been honestly a bit hard work without feeling like there's much to show but talking about it I'm starting to feel excited about it all again so I best head off and use that energy!
This week a lot more sound effects were made. I went back to the Fairweather meetup and added in a magical sound for when he presents you with the items he wishes to trade. Then there's the sound for selecting which item you want.
I also adjusted some existing effects, such as a little less volume on some water here, a gentler start to a minigame tune there, little touches that make something turn from gradually annoying to a detail you won't even consciously notice. Then there's a celebratory sound I had to make for a minigame where you hear confetti pop and party blowers, and also the sound of bubbles coming up from thick gloopy water.
I also noticed that crickets still sound when you enter Fairweather's domain. Now I'm fairly certain that crickets don't stand a chance in a realm of ice and snow...so gotta fix that. There's also some incorrect ambient noise in some places that I still need to tend to - or Neal does, as he codes what sound goes where after all.
But my personal favourite thing I've worked on this week must have been the sound of a singing plant. Yes, I kid you not.
The tricky part: I don't want to use human vocal sounds in the game, so I had to look for other sources of a biologically produced tone. After some searching I found some dog howling sounds that I then heavily processed. The end result hopefully sounds nothing like a dog, but everything like a magical singing plant. (I mean, [I]everyone[/I] knows what those sound like of course...).
It doesn't stop there though. This plant can be plucked. And if you do, it screeches! The screech I ended up using came from a baby owl - it was just perfect! I really hope you'll love these sounds when you encounter them. Time will tell...
One of the side effects of working on a game, especially within a small team where a myriad of responsibilities are shared, is that it's easy for one's thoughts to consist [I]only[/I] of the game. Now that we're past the early backer builds and the initial Early Access launch, we're now in the part of the project where it's a long stretch of sustained content development - all the way to game completion.
Because of that I've found that my mental bandwidth has had room for very little else. I wake up thinking about the game, I spend my entire day working on the game, and then I go to bed thinking about the game. I generally try to give myself at least one day off a week, but even on a day off I've found my mind keeps wandering back to the game and all the things I need to get done and want to get done.
After a few weeks (or months) of this, it's easy to see how the mind could use a refresh of sorts. I suppose I talk a little about that in [URL="https://steamcommunity.com/games/kynseed/announcements/detail/1776015676303565182"][B]last week's [I]Post[/I][/B][/URL], in regards to how it's always nice having new fresh content to work on. That can certainly help to a degree, but even still it doesn't solve the problem of mental bandwidth being maxed out by thoughts of the project.
For times such as that, we've found that relying on each other as teammates and as friends can be the best thing. Whenever we find ourselves dragging our feet during the long hauls of development, we're always quick to pump each other back up and recalibrate our mentality. Sometimes all it takes is a team call. Other times all it takes is a team member saying "turn off your bloody phone and take a day off". Not that I'd ever be guilty of needing such advice...
In completely unrelated news, I somehow managed to get my hands on a working Steam key for [I]Fable III[/I]. To provide a bit of context: in 2011 [I]Fable III[/I] was ported to PC (a year after its release on Xbox 360) on Games for Windows Live and simultaneously for Steam. However, a couple of years later Microsoft closed the Games for Windows Live store and with it the Steam version was pulled as well. All that to say, Steam keys for [I]Fable III[/I] are hard to come by and for some reason I never managed to get myself a copy (despite already owning a half dozen copies for Xbox).
So I was rather excited when I found a working key and now my Steam library can proudly include [I]Fable III[/I] among its ranks. There's even [B][URL="https://steamcommunity.com/app/105400/"]a community hub[/URL][/B] for it still lurking in the shadows of Steam's website. I also managed to do a bit of fiddling with my graphics card and the game's files to increase texture quality, to smooth transparent items (like grass), and to run at a perfectly smooth 4k 60fps. This may well be the first time anyone has ever seen the game running at these graphics settings, and [URL="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/32044784/a68eeb4ca871b04c8848cbcb7a152fbbed1919ac.jpg"][B]it looks pretty good[/B][/URL].
Now if only somebody could get to work on a [I]Fable II[/I] PC port.
The PixelCount Post - Issue #47
Welcome to Issue #47 of [I]The PixelCount Post[/I], a periodically released update from [I]Kynseed's[/I] team. In today's issue: Charlie writes new items, Neal sheds light, Tice gets ready to rumble, and Matt apologizes in advance for the article he wrote.
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We've been thinking with portals this last week and have been adding in the initial system to allow for travel to various Fae realms. In fact, so distracted have we been by all our portal pondering that it was hard to wrangle the team together to put together this issue of The Post 'til now. That said, the portal's visuals are looking rather fantastic and, what's more, are running entirely in code without the need for any external art assets. We've also begun adding a few other basic particle effects here and there as well which, combined with the portal effects, is really helping give the game world a whole new layer of visual depth.
For now, these portals will let players travel to two Fae realms in particular: one is to return to Mr Fairweather and the other is to visit a brand new region called Tir Na Nog. However, the citizens of Tir Na Nog have a strict height limit enforced which means the player will have to shrink themselves down to gain admittance. This new region also uses an entirely new set of environment assets and has a colour palette not seen anywhere else in the game world.
Additionally, the initial framework of a new minigame is coming along nicely. It's called "Squeal or No Squeal" and involves strategically popping inflated pig balloons to see what their contents are. This game is run by a chap named Gnome Edmunds, whom players will get to meet in the next update.
So it's been a very productive and successful first two weeks of work for the "Gnome Pun Intended" update. We'll spend another week or so on it and then dispatch it your way to download and check out. Though for now, it's back to work for us. These pig balloons aren't gonna inflate themselves.
Items! That's been my main thing over the last few days. Creating, naming, giving stats and effects, and adding 'funny' descriptions. It's great fun, but slow work - especially when redistributing everything.
I tried to ensure each Haven has at east 3 unique fish types, a couple of herbs, an ore type, a few flowers, and their own fruit and veg. The Smithy in each has 2 mould types they specialise in and the Apothecaries have shared cures, but their own brand perfume and speciality item. Each tavern has 3 local drinks of differing strengths and each store biases towards certain types of items.
When designing such things as part of world building, I consider the environment, the people, and the potential uses for each. Then I hit the biggest hurdle...the descriptions (as often my references are very obscure, if clever). Plus some items are invented, so that makes descriptions even harder.
What is my method for inventing, I don't hear you ask? With things like fish or Fae, I say letters out loud and you get a feel for which letters work and 'feel' right to start with. I start to combine letters and make sounds and your instinct tells you if a word fits and rolls smoothly. It also helps to look up Celtic folklore names, or at actual fish species lists, and those are great starting points for names.
If a wordplay can be used, or a pun, then all the better, but it is best to mix and match. And that leads me to now, looking at my Excel sheet, trying to think of a description for the Shalewyrm, a type of eel found in Pinehaven, our most northerly region. We have an eel already in another region, and that description simply reads....'Ongated'.
That's pretty much the level we roll at around these parts.
These last two weeks I got stuck into work on the next update. It's been a nice change of pace with a minigame to sort out along with setting up a method of teleporting to other realms. The latter isn't too complicated for those who have played the game already but it's allowed some improving on the presentation side of things. We had a review of the WIP work on Friday which had things moving along nicely.
Though one aspect which did come up is lighting, which is an extra bit of work I hadn't considered. Outside a few interactable objects that have a light component, there's a basic ambient light setting for everything else right now. So what's needed is to put together a way to add in extra lights to highlight particular bits and work in a more bespoke way per level. I've started work on this and it shouldn't be too long to start testing it out. The tricky bit is defining a good set of shapes for different circumstances.
I'm sort of torn between just providing a few different shapes and seeing how to handle overlap or going a bit further in allowing more of a tile based area of effect. First things first though: getting a system in place to test!
This week I got to figure out what portals sound like. From the low rumble as the ground shakes when opening a portal to the eerie hum as it stays open, to an otherworldly wailing as you go through one...
It all sounds a bit ominous - and that's intentional. These are magic phenomenon, so how could you possibly have the slightest idea of what to expect? There's been some internal discussion about the technical side of how to do it. Sometimes the ideal of how we want sound to work in the game isn't exactly the least resource intensive way, and Neal tends to have to come in to say something just can't be done right now, that maybe further down the line we can do something more elaborate. So sometimes I have to figure out what still sounds good within all the restrictions that reality imposes.
Then when you get to that other world, everything should sound different there, including the ambient track. Previous ambient tracks were made from recordings in nature, but with nature itself being so different in these other worlds I can't do that here. Thus, I'll have to construct my own soundscapes. That'll be a lot of work I reckon, as even water sounds differently in other realms. So I've certainly got my work cut out for me!
It's good to be working on a new region with the team. We'd been working so long on the blacksmith and pre-existing regions that I think we've all been happy for the change of scenery.
To provide a (much) more extreme example of this feeling, I remember once reading [URL="http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/252241/How_working_on_gross_violent_games_can_mess_with_developers.php"][B]a Gamasutra article[/B][/URL] about the mental weight of working on graphic games and one bit of it that always stuck with me was Bungie [I]Halo[/I] artist Vic DeLeon talking about making the flood-infested level "Cortana" in [I]Halo 3[/I]. For a few weeks he absorbed himself in researching things like colonoscopy videos as well as medical images of tumors and lesions. As DeLeon says in the article:
[I]"I started associating that level with feeling disgusting. Once it was built it took months and months of polishing, and in those months I couldn’t wait to work on something else. The level was so disgusting, and what I thought was neat at first really came to bear down on me."[/I]
He spent a total of eight months on that level.
Though it goes without saying that this is a much more severe example of what I'm talking about. Thankfully our team isn't dealing with gruesome levels day in and day out. In fact, I suppose it's quite the opposite - running through wheat fields on warm summer days as the bees buzz and melancholy music plays. Not walking through [URL="https://www.halopedia.org/images/thumb/e/e8/Porta_profile.jpg/800px-Porta_profile.jpg"][B]automatic anus doors[/B][/URL].
[I][B]Side Tangent:[/B] I gave pause when writing the above sentence, wondering if perhaps it was 'too much'. However, upon browsing the Halo wiki in search of a reference image, I've learned that their official description is "a sphincter-like orifice embedded into the floors and walls". So alright then.[/I]
All that to say, it's interesting to me how working on the same game environment for months at a time can lead to a sort of overexposure to it - even for the most pleasant of environments. Don't get me wrong, I still absolutely love running through these regions and exploring our game world. But there is something incredibly refreshing about having a brand new (and fundamentally different) environment to suddenly explore. A bit like that moment in the first [I]Red Dead Redemption[/I] when you travel to Mexico for the first time and suddenly realize that there's a lot more scope to the world than it first let on. Granted, Tir Na Nog is just one region of many, but as we continue developing this game our hope is that you'll be constantly surprised and excited by every new place you discover in Quill's vast open world.
Did I just spend my entire update talking about colonoscopy videos and [I]Halo 3[/I]? Yes. Yes I did.
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