DEVLOG .03

Another development update from the depths of my basement (I actually don't have a basement).

This month was less about adding giant new systems and more about giving the game its own identity, particularly around the art assets.

One of the biggest additions has been the new character creator. Players can now build their own character using layered sprites, custom portraits, different hair styles, beards, colors, and other options. It's still very much a work in progress, but it's finally reached the point where it feels like a real feature instead of a collection of ideas I thought would be cool. This needs a few more weeks in the oven, but when complete I think it will be unique to see a sprite you created walking around the game.

The other major focus has been art.

When I started this project, AI art helped me get ideas out of my head and onto the screen quickly. It was useful as a placeholder (and I always intended to replace them) while I figured out what this world was supposed to look like. But the longer I've worked on the game, the more I wanted it to actually feel like my project - so I've started the long replacing everything.

The Steam page has been completely updated with new custom artwork, and I've begun the long process of removing AI-generated assets throughout the game and replacing them with my own work. It's a slower process than I'd like, but every piece I replace makes the world feel more consistent and more personal. Just recreating the art on the Steam Page took about 12 hours, which is time I can't use to develop the game.

For actual game progress - I've also finished building The Ash Dunes.

The Ash Dunes are one of the first major region players will encounter after leaving the demo area, and they ended up becoming exactly the kind of place I wanted them to be: hostile, isolated, and full of things that probably should have stayed buried. There's a trick to navigating it, so if you go in early you just might die.

With that region largely complete, development has now shifted toward the Kingdom of Kaelor. This is one of the largest locations planned for the game and serves as a major turning point in both the story and the lore. No pressure there, just a place that teaches you more about the obscure gods.

Looking ahead, I've got plenty left to do.

The next major goals are finishing the character creator, adding unique enemies to the Ash Dunes, creating Shimmer variants of existing enemies, and continuing the replacement of every remaining AI-generated assets. I also need to review my plug-ins and clean those up a bit.

I do really like where this is going, I think its going to be big!

As always, thanks for following along and supporting the project.