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Steam News29 December 20256mo ago

December Dev Log: Building and Animating the Luminids

Hey folks - i'll do these dev logs monthly, stay tuned for more content. For this one, the focus was on the actual creation of the Luminids themselves.

Full notes

Full Luminids update

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Repeated intro

Hey folks - i'll do these dev logs monthly, stay tuned for more content. For this one, the focus was on the actual creation of the Luminids themselves. Model work, rigging, animation tests, and trying to lock down how these creatures look and move in the game. This is the first time Luminids have started to feel like real characters instead of placeholder blobs.

What changed

0 fixes0 additions4 changes0 removals
  • Gameplay
  • Balance
  • Performance
changedHey folks - i'll do these dev logs monthly, stay tuned for more content. For this one, the focus was on the actual creation of the Luminids themselves. Model work, rigging, animation tests, and trying to lock down how these creatures look and move in the game. This is the first time Luminids have started to feel like real characters instead of placeholder blobs.
changedDefining the Luminid ShapeThe goal was to find a balance between:
changedRigging the First LuminidOnce the model was locked in, the work moved into rigging in Blender. A minimal bone setup was used. The rig needed:
changedNext steps include exploring:better glow syncing between animation and shader

Defining the Luminid Shape

Luminids are simple silhouettes, so small adjustments matter more than you’d think. A smoother head curve, slightly wider base, shorter arms. Everything changes the personality.

The goal was to find a balance between:

  • readable at small sizes

  • expressive in motion

  • easy to animate

  • distinctive without extra detail

It was solved by keeping the body a single unified mesh with soft, rounded forms. No harsh angles. No complexity. The simplicity actually forced better decision-making.

Rigging the First Luminid

Once the model was locked in, the work moved into rigging in Blender. A minimal bone setup was used. The rig needed:

  • head control

  • spine bend

  • arm flaps

  • body squash and stretch

The trickiest part was getting deformation to feel smooth. The mesh is very soft, so better weight painting was needed to avoid dents and pinches when the body squashes.

Bringing Them Into the World

Once the first animated Luminid was dropped into the game world, everything clicked. Even simple idle/walk cycles completely change the feel of the scene. A static world becomes a living one as soon as something moves inside it.

What’s surprising is how well the animations read at distance. The squash and stretch body motion carries even when the character is tiny on screen.

What’s Next

The Luminids now have:

  • a finished model

  • a clean rig

  • basic animation set

  • working in-engine imports

Next steps include exploring:

  • a more expressive “surprised” animation

  • float/hover variations for different personalities

  • better glow syncing between animation and shader

  • testing how multiple Luminids look together in groups

This is the first week where they actually feel like characters and not prototypes. Seeing them move in-game is a big step forward.

See you next month!

Nick

Source

Steam News / 29 December 2025

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