There’s nothing more peaceful than dappled light…
The shadows of leaves, cast by beams of sun, creating a beautiful interplay of light and dark.
This year has brought its fair share of ‘shadows’ – heavy, uncertain, overwhelming. But we’ve also caught glimpses of ‘dappled light’ among them – moments of growth, excitement, and beauty. It’s the contrast that makes it striking.
It may seem simple, but one of those moments for us has been getting shirts printed with our studio logo. We’ve set a goal to attend an event at the end of the year to show off the demo of the game, and every month, we’re slowly preparing for it. The shirts were an early step.
When we got them, I told Harvey it felt like putting on a costume for the person I want to become. And, you know, that’s okay. It’s not pretending to be someone I’m not – it’s more like saying, “Here, put this on. You’ll grow into it.”
It’s slow going, but we’re constantly reminding ourselves where it is we’re going.
The dappled light moments help.
What We’ve Been Working On
(Megan) Artwise
In our previous blog, we revealed Creature #1: the Flesh Mounds. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been slugging away at the asset for Creature #2: the Wall Screecher.
We have lore behind why certain creatures are the way they are, and honestly, I think the Wall Screechers might be the most gruesome of the lot.He’s still incomplete. I got away with doing most of the painting in Krita. And then I had to take it into Blender. I’m currently working on the texture painting for the head… if Blender could stop being a little bitch… *sigh* Fine…I am the little bitch *cries*
(Harvey) Dev Update – Power Cells, Dialogue, and a Busy Brain.
It’s been harder than I’d like to put time into the project lately. I started my day job again on Monday (May 26th), and while I had zero tickets assigned at the start of stand-up, by the end of it… I had 25. All marked urgent. Yay me.
One of the challenges I’ve been running into — and maybe other devs can relate — is that after a full day of backend development in Java, my brain is just done. All that problem-solving eats up my mental energy, and when I finally open Vanguard in the evening, I find I can’t produce at the pace I used to. It’s not an excuse — more of a reality check. It makes me wonder how many people out there have amazing ideas and stories to tell, but just don’t have the brainpower left at the end of the day to bring them to life.
That said, I do have a couple of things to show off in this post.
Power Cell System
The main objective in each level — beyond fighting and surviving — is to find three power cells and slot them into power consoles. Once all three are placed and activated, the player can move on to the next area. This system is now functional, and here’s a quick test showing how the player picks up a power cell, places it in the console, and activates it:
Dialogue System
This one I’m really excited about. I’ve integrated the Dialogue Manager 3 asset, built by the very talented Nathan Hoad. After some time spent configuring it and tweaking it to fit our style, I now have a working system in place. Here’s a short, fully in-engine test that breaks the fourth wall a bit — just to show off the functionality.
I’m hopeful that once the backlog at work settles down, I’ll have a bit more energy to really dive back into the game. The passion is still there — that hasn’t changed — and I’ll keep making the most of any free moments I can find to push things forward. Progress might be slower right now, but it hasn’t stopped.
What’s Next?
Art (Megan):
- Wall Screecher Final Texture Painting – I just need another day for this one.
- Character Concept Art – I have portraits I need to make for 4 characters.
- Creature #3 – This bad boy…cannot say I am excited to model this one…
Mechanics/Development (Harvey):
- Fleshmound Polish – This lovely monstrosity still needs to be rigged properly. I want to give it the undulating, pulsating movement it deserves — the kind that makes you feel a little uncomfortable just watching it breathe.
- Interaction System Cleanup – While working on the power cell mechanics, the interaction system started getting a bit… clunky. Before it goes full Italian and embraces the spaghetti lifestyle, I need to refactor it and bring back some structure.