Light of the Locked World
Happy new year!
Happy new year! It is sort of a custom at this point to write something about my plans for the upcoming year.
So, this year I am planning to be finally done with the adventure that was the development of Magic of Spring.
That means I am finally coming back to Light of the Locked World!
My head is full of ideas for the game - I am planning to simplify the structure of the game's story campaign and squeeze several planned quests into one to finish the game faster.
I also want to implement the Arena: A place for the players to duel.
This will come with an entirely new way to play LOTLW: Arena Mode, in which players have to duel in the Arena every X minutes in order to keep gaining experience.
LOTLW's splitscreen RPG PVP is rather a unique feature and I want to showcase it more with this mode.
So the Arena Mode will be the first thing I will work on after I return, after that, I will be making the last few story quests, then Classes 2.0 and class skill trees, and... Well, there's a lot.
It is not very likely that LOTLW will be completed this year, but perhaps we will do an Early Access release - so who knows?
Sorry for taking so long with Magic of Spring - but I am committed to finishing LOTLW no matter what - so I hope you will continue following the game!
Thank you and until next time!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/465020/Sector_Six/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1786910/Magic_of_Spring/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1184450/Magic_of_Autumn/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2152950/Beyond_the_Gate/
Small Moons: Beyond the Gate and other games
Just wanted to share links to games I am currently working on right now.
Beyond the Gate
I recently added this game to Steam: I plan to release it early next year.
It's a small game I made years ago - I decided to update it and release it on Steam.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2152950/Beyond_the_Gate/
The graphics of Light of the Locked World are partially inspired by this game ^_^
It is an RPG (ARPG?) with loot and other procedurally generated content.
Magic of Spring
Magic of Autumn's sequel - a card game and RPG hybrid with a conjuring mechanic: Turn everything in the game's environment into playable cards.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1786910/Magic_of_Spring/
Currently, in the late stages of development, we are about to start preparing for release.
This is good news for everyone waiting for Light of the Locked World - after Magic of Spring is done, I'm back to LOTLW!
So, yeah, I'm working hard as always to make the best games I can make for you guys and the next year is going to be pretty exciting!
Thank you.
Follow Small Moons to be notified about the new games
Magic of Spring: Demo is now available!
As mentioned earlier, I am working on a new game, Magic of Spring.
I'm happy to say that the development is going well and that a demo version is available now!
The demo can be downloaded from the Magic of Spring Steam page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1786910/Magic_of_Spring/
I am hoping to be finished with Magic of Spring in the coming months and come back to working on Light of the Locked World in the summer.
Until then!
Magic of Spring: A new game by Small Moons
As I've mentioned earlier, the LOTLW development is paused at the moment.
The reason for that is that I'm working on a different game.
Normally I wouldn't start a new game while the previous one isn't finished, but I made an exception for that game because it's a "now or never" situation.
Anyway, that game is Magic of Spring!
It is what I've been calling a card adventure game - there is a story, a world to explore, deckbuilding, and a lot of card fights.
I've been working on Magic of Spring with extremely skilled Minho Kim and Bert Cole.
Bert Cole composed the music for Sector Six and Light of the Locked World, so you know he's good =]
Minho Kim is the artist of Devespresso Games, the team that created the great-looking Coma games, Vambrace: Cold Soul, Scarlet Hood and the Wicked Wood.
The demo for Magic of Spring should be ready to play next month.
Hope this sounds interesting - if it does, don't forget to follow and wishlist the game <3
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1786910/Magic_of_Spring/
Anyway, that's all for now, until next time!
Demo update! Chinese and Japanese languages added, Tokyo Game Show 2021
The big news is that Light of the Locked World has a publisher now - WhisperGames!
Thanks to WhisperGames, Light of the Locked World's demo has been translated to Simplified Chinese and Japanese.
WhisperGames have also brought the game to the Tokyo Game Show 2021!
We hope that all of this will help the game reach more people than ever and we welcome the new fans.
Have fun!
Small Moons, Zuurix's game studio + LOTLW development update
A small update for those wondering what's going on: Small Moons is a studio created by me, Zuurix a.k.a. Aivaras Klimas.
I've created it in case I'll want to expand in the future and because saying that these games are made by me isn't entirely correct.
Two of my biggest games are made with the awesome Bert Cole of Bit By Bit Sound.
Please follow Small Moons creator's page to be updated about new game releases:
Link >>
Also, I have some bad news for those waiting for Light of the Locked World: The development of this game has been paused by at least 6 months.
I will have more news about that in the future, and these will be some pretty big and exciting news, but I have to be quiet for now.
Until next time!
We are at MGN!
Steam event link: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/mgn
Event Stream: https://live.acfun.cn/live/934542
MGN is an online conference focus on indie games, hosted by @Steamparty and collaborated between STEAM and ACFUN, we are aiming to bring more exciting games to Chinese players.
Event process (PST):
May 31, 4:30 – Warm-up phase
May 31, 5:00 – Online conference
May 31. 7:00 – Demo showcase
Despite being streamed, all videos will be pre-recorded and edited to ensure the best performance.
Don’t worry if you missed the show! We will upload all content on ACFUN and Youtube Channel (nmb.ad/ytb) after the event ends.
Demo update! Version 0.6.0: Small changes
I've just updated a demo with a bunch of minor changes.
For those who might have saves made in the previous demo version: Please start a new save.
The old one will probably immediately crash because of engine changes in the new version.
Have fun and see you all in July when LOTLW might have a big beta test =]
LOTLW Devblog #34: Adventurer class
April 6
Before I start working on the new class, I still have a few unfinished things I have to take care of.
Today I have been making final improvements to the town of Siw.
The biggest change is that I've improved the contrast of Siw's tileset:
April 7
I've been fixing glitches and minor issues today.
Also done a few balance changes:
- Reduced character starter health.
- Reduced Mage equipment health bonuses.
- Reduced "No Smoke Without Fire" quest class level requirement to 12 from 20.
The health was reduced to speed up the combat. This will probably require further tweaking.
April 8
I did some testing and bug fixing today.
April 9
Preparations are over, time to work on Adventurer class!
It's an exploration and questing class that unlocks areas and unique activities.
Today I have implemented Adventurer leveling and area discovery system: Visiting an area for the first time grants experience in Adventurer class.
I've also started working on explorer marks.
Explorer marks will be objects found in remote corners of areas - finding and interacting with them will give Adventurer XP.
So today I've made sprites for most of the planned marks:
Cairns and ribbon posts.
The idea that, for example, the player would find a cairn in Moonrise Desert and would add a rock to it to leave a mark that the player has visited the place.
Tieing ribbons to posts and building cairns should feel pretty good and it makes exploration even more rewarding.
April 10
Has only a few hours today, I'm nearly done with the explorer marks.
April 11
Explorer marks are done and quests now give Adventurer XP.
April 12
A good day!
I have finished implementing the removable obstacle systems.
Leveling Adventurer class unlocks items that are consumed to remove obstacles, which can give access to new areas and create shortcuts.
Currently, there are two items that destroy obstacles: Metal cutters and alchemical bombs.
Cutters destroy barbed wire fences and bombs blow up iron bar fences:
Bar fences are new and have been added to places in Moonrise Desert and Eastern Trilith.
April 13
With today's additions, Adventurer class 1.0 is now done!
It's lacking content just like Alchemist class, but this will be addressed in the future.
For now, it's enough for me to design quests with Adventurer class challenges.
The strange things in the screenshot are talkstone teleporters. Using a teleporter activator item, the players can teleport between teleporters. This requires level 44 in Adventurer class.
I will use teleporters to design special locations, shortcuts, and quest challenges.
First of the locations accessible with teleporters.
It's a puzzle - there are several ways to get to the red chest, which contains the highest level Warrior class helmet in the game.
The players need two iron square keys to unlock the locks on the way to the chest. The knight with red armor drops one of the keys, while the other one has to be obtained from other puzzles that feature locks and iron square keys. The chest contains a square key as well, so the players will not lose the key required for other puzzles.
There's also a completely unique way to get to the chest: By using alchemical bombs to destroy iron bar fences to the right of the chest. This way the player can get their hands on extra iron keys and bypass other puzzles. However, alchemical bombs are rare, so this could require some grinding. This could be very important if the player manages to lose some of the square keys - it's an 'expensive' option to increase the number of available keys.
Destroying iron bar fences is a puzzle in itself because by carefully positioning their character, players could destroy more fences with fewer bombs, so there could be several solutions to that as well.
This whole thing is a good example of how interconnected I want my game to be, with interesting decisions for the player to make emerging from simple mechanics interacting with each other.
Anyway, that's all for this entry.
Looking at the design notes, it seems like I have everything implemented to work on the quests nonstop from now on.
it's likely that I won't post another entry for several months until the quest campaign is completed.
So thanks for reading and until next time!
LOTLW Devblog #33: Western settlements
March 18
Started working on spores today: Made sprites for idle and attack animations.
Spores originate from worker demons - occasionally they become aggressive and no longer suitable for their intended purpose.
They are common near industrial centers that "employ" large numbers of worker demons.
Thousand Towers in Rannah's Domain is such a center.
Spores are encountered in Rannah's Domain events and they can spawn in swarms of up to six demons.
March 19
Spores have been implemented!
They are quite unique enemies: They only use the "Strike" ability to attack, but they have enough curse chance to often apply the "Sever" curse that deals damage over time.
Spores also have a very fast attack speed, so they can drain health quickly, even though they might not look like a big threat at a first glance.
March 20
Spent the day testing the game and made a few fixes. With that, the new overworld area is now complete!
I have also planned to make chests spawn in the event areas, but decided to skip that to save time.
March 21
Started working on Western Trilith!
Did a lot of progress already - it's going fast because Western Trilith is a small area.
March 22
Done a lot again, Western Trilith graphics are going to be completed soon.
Scroll down for the screenshots =]
March 25
Exteriors are complete!
March 26
Interiors are complete! And characters, so Western Trilith is pretty much complete.
Western Trilith has:
- A merchant that sells alchemical silver and supplies.
- Banisher that buys up to 20 demon pearls for Triliths reputation and guldens.
- Talkstone chest.
- Matter kiln that will be used in a future quest and that crafts arrow bundles.
- War chest with Spell Instructions: Long Street Gate. Currently cannot be accessed.
- Several silver rocks and volcanic geodes.
- War chests and black bags.
All in all, a decent little piece of content that I'm glad to have in the game =]
March 27
Western Trilith is now 100% complete.
I'm immediately starting to work on Siw, I'm done with the area layout and I placed a dozen of assets.
Siw is a mining town and for the last thirty years, it has been in a bad shape.
The town council's decision to invest in expensive matter kilns left the town's treasury almost empty, and then a disaster struck: A minor earthquake damaged support structures of Siw's mine, making it too dangerous to operate.
Siw's mine was the town's major source of income, so with it closing down, there was no way to collect enough funds to re-open it.
Not immediately, at least. For years the brave miners of Siw have been venturing into column-infested Silver Fields to mine surface ore and volcanic geodes, giving every spare gulden to the town's council.
It's been tough thirty years, but the hope is that the hard times will come to an end soon - the council has recently begun negotiations with New Grawas companies to repair the mine at least partially.
For the players this is an opportunity to earn Siw reputation - the town is accepting donations of silver geodes and pickaxes. It works similarly to Triliths banishers.
Reaching 50 Siw reputation will let the players access a faction-exclusive matter kiln that can craft silver pickaxes.
Siw will also have:
- Silver ore rocks and volcanic geodes near the town.
- A treasure chest behind a lock. A key that unlocks the lock is dropped by a nearby elder column.
- Faction-exclusive merchant.
- Three matter kilns with efficient recipes for all tiers of equipment.
- Banisher.
- Unique Siw assets.
- Talkstone pillar and Silver Gate spell that teleports to it.
- Talkstone chest.
- Talkstone teleporter shortcut. This will start working after the Adventurer class is added.
- Ore grinder.
March 28
Started making assets for Siw. I like how this area is coming together - it's going to be interesting for both its visuals and gameplay.
Treasure chests: Iron, silver, gold, amalgam. I needed an iron chest for Siw and because it was fun, I've made other chests as well.
The chests will contain rewards and will be placed behind exploration and combat challenges.
March 31
Done a lot of progress making Siw exterior. Still a bit early to show.
April 1
WIP UI for game balancers tab.
An April Fools joke - no worries, that would never happen in my game.
Besides fooling around, I've done a lot of work on Siw's exteriors. The town is pretty much complete, but I still need to place some stuff in the outskirt.
April 2
Completed Siw's exteriors, interiors, and characters today!
That's the end of this entry.
In the next one, I'll be writing about Light of the Locked World's 8th class - Adventurer!
Thank you for reading!