KOTCL Dev Diaries - I’ve lost count (not really).

Knock, knock—let’s get back at it

Steam post image I put in some decent effort while working as a part-time reporter for The Echo of the Northern Gate. If you don’t know yet, there will be a series of reports on social media. The pilot post is already up; check it out and subscribe, all the links are at the end. Don’t miss out—I’m very satisfied with my first report. Self-satisfaction is my main motivation. As it is for our whole team? I’m sure that I'm not alone in admiring the fruits of my own labor. Every creator from our studio thinks to themselves when playing Knock, “Man, isn’t this game great!” Or at least that’s my assumption, anyway.

I remind you that through me you can ask any KOTCL character any questions. That way it’ll be even more fun, I think. If you haven’t found an answer to some question in the game, or if you want to ask something just for laughs – don’t be shy! If the answer is a spoiler, I’ll give an appropriate warning. And now…

And Now Some New News!

Steam post image We’ve released a non-ordinary patch, in which, beside bug fixes and UI improvements for consoles, there is a small and bright green button for Steam Deck. Knock on the coffin lid is now officially compatible with the little box from Valve. The game was tested by Valve specialists, and they gave us the highest rank of compatibility with their handheld device. Congratulations to all of us! We’ll still need to tweak the font and image sizes (we want everything to be perfect), but this is a real achievement. Hooray, comrades! As for the final re-balancing announced earlier, I don’t have much to share with you for now, except that work is in full swing, and it’s thorough, systematic work. These aren’t just quick fixes here and there; we are not going to fix one thing only to have something else break elsewhere. It’ll take some time, but the “director’s cut” of the balance might turn Knock into the game you were expecting from the start. In the meantime — make sure you get your fill of the vanilla version. And now…

A Peek Inside Our Gamedev Team

Steam post image In the last entry I told you how we come up with jokes for our game, and it seems to have turned out quite well. I hope you were able to mentally experience that process. An open-door strategy is common practice for the gaming industry. We see our players as part of our team, but even a hint of formality or clichés can often spoil the whole idea.

Well, there won’t be any here

I’ll try to plunge you into the little world of our studio without any theatrics, so make sure to take a deep breath. The Pain of Creativity Since our line of work is creative, our main task is to come up with ideas. Coming up with ideas can be difficult, whereas implementing ideas, assuming that one has professional skills, enough time and dedication, seems like a matter of technique. Or does it only seem like that?

See for yourself

our game designer who came up with Bjorn couldn’t really “bring him to life”. The idea was awesome, but Bjorn just wouldn’t co-operate. We gave Bjorn to another game designer, who struggled with him for several months, but couldn’t quite get him right. But then a third game designer made Bjorn fully playable in only a couple of weeks—using the idea of another person who hadn’t been able to implement their own concept. Such things happen that way sometimes—and sometimes they don’t. Steam post image Bjorn can be a headache for you occasionally, but that’s because he’s designed to be very unusual. You thought we made a Slay the Spire clone? Well, think again—try playing as Bjorn. Persival was made familiar to you on purpose so that you would feel in your comfort zone. But Bjorn rudely kicks you out of that same comfort zone because that’s how the artist envisioned it. Jokes aside, creativity is a very dangerous process that requires energy, time, money and recognition. We wouldn’t have made it without you. When I was figuring out bug reports in Japanese, I cursed everything and everyone. But without bug reports in Japanese, or Spanish, or Chinese, without likes and reviews we wouldn’t have gotten far. Not only because you help us, and that help is free and invaluable (although that is true). However, I want to lead you to another, dare I say it, philosophical conclusion: the whole point of creativity is to make something cool for someone else—for example, for you the player, and then have you appreciate that work. By the way, your likes are always nice. Boy, did I get dramatic here! Now would be the perfect time to show you the cynical backstage of the game industry—but we don’t have one. So I’ll keep freewheeling in this friendly chat format, and you’ll be my lighthouse. If you want to guide me somewhere, light the way in the comments.

Thanks for playing! Join us on social media:

Steam post image Steam post image Steam post image Steam post image Oh, right! I promised you Vanadis’ autobiography! Here’s the first part:

Vanadis’ dying letter

My name is Vanadis. I was born in a peasant family. All my childhood was spent in housework, but I had some joyful moments, too: my father taught me how to shoot a bow quite early and he took me hunting with him. I liked shooting and hunting most of all. I can’t say I felt unhappy about my lot.

When I grew up, a guy from a nearby village courted me. I had liked him for a long time, so I agreed to marry him. The wedding preparations started.

One day, I went to the fair to pick out fabric for my wedding dress. Unfortunately for me, I caught the eye of the local landed lord. He quickly found out where I lived, and started bothering me. He was persistent, and brazen, and unnecessary, and out of place. I wanted badly to start screaming so that father would come and kick him out! But I understood how that would’ve turned out for all of us. So I showed him the door myself every time and kept telling him I was taken. After that, my fiancé went missing. Of course, that scum killed him, or had him killed.

My fiancé went missing, but the lord reappeared, demanding that I belong to him only, getting gropy and threatening… When he tried to throw me down on the floor, I killed him unthinkingly—as it happened, a pair of scissors were close at hand.

I had to flee. I took only my bow with me, nothing else. I hid in the woods for some time. I hunted partridges and hares so I wouldn’t have starved. But I didn’t know what to do next. Besides, I was certainly being searched for. I was certain that my days were numbered.

Once I met a woman who was gathering brushwood. She came up to me, saying,

“Some hired swords are prowling about the wood. I keep stumbling on them every day; they’re looking for a girl. Is that you?”

“Yes.”

“What happened?”

I told her everything, and she took pity on me and offered me refuge at her farm. I agreed because I had no idea what to do.

I was warmly welcomed at the farm. The sons of the kind woman started wooing me, but I had no time for them. During that peaceful time I grieved the loss of my missing fiancé more and more. But my peace didn’t last long. The old farmer also started sneakily giving me explicit hints. When he realized he had no chance, he started grumbling… “She has to go…” “If they find her, we’re all in big trouble…” “At least have some pity on our kids, you shameless girl! Leave! Don’t abuse my wife’s kindness…” and other words in the same vein.

Long story short, the kind woman helped me pack for my journey. She gave me hiking clothes and shoes, a knapsack with food, and told me what to do.

“Go to New Agreement. It’s a huge city. No one will find you or even look for you there.”

She said something very important before we parted:

“Your beauty can become the biggest woe of your life, or it can be your biggest advantage—if you learn how to use it.”

Those words stuck with me for life.

I had a long way to walk, but I didn’t lose heart. I had enough food, warm clothes on my body, and comfortable shoes on my feet. All I had to do was to not get caught by guards and patrols, so I mostly walked along the edge of the roads at night. That’s how I met two of my comrades in misery – escaped peasants.

I told them my story, and they told me theirs. They ran away when some lord threatened to take away their land and send them to the mines for debts. That’s a common thing. I’d heard enough of such stories since I was a kid. I felt sorry for them and shared my food. But they took away everything I had, even my shoes and my bow.

And that’s when the nightmare started. I had no food and no bow to hunt with. I was barefoot, with just a dress on. I had to go far. I started asking for help at nearby farms, but they drove me away, even threatening to call for guards.

I started stealing from gardens and chicken coops. When someone saw me, I ran away. When they would catch me, I was beaten and driven away. Thankfully, they never turned me in.

Finally, I reached New Agreement. What a sight I was! But nobody paid attention to how I looked. The city turned out to be full of homeless, dirty, poor, and barefoot people. But of garish luxury there was also more than enough. A city of contrasts, you know.

I continued to steal, and I was doing it pretty well, it seemed. I even found a place where I could sell stolen things. But local bandits quickly tracked me down:

“This is our turf. Only we can work here. Do you think just anyone can come here and steal from our clients? No way! Who are you, and where have you come from?”

“I ran away from home and came here to hide… I don’t know where else to go and what else to do.”

I thought they’d kill me, but they didn’t even beat me up.

“Fine! You’re quite the thief, you’ll come in handy. You’re in our gang from now on.”

So that’s how it happened – good people fleeced me, and bandits saved me. I quickly got my bearings among them, got to know everyone, got on with everyone, and learned everything. With these folks you have to stand up for yourself and stick with the strongest, who’ll stand up for you.

Soon, destiny introduced me to a person who would turn my life upside down.