Tuoni Devlog #2 - Creating that Folklore Feeling!

Hi all!

Development is progressing well, and this passing time has been extremely valuable for the game - many things have progressed, and the game's first section of content is almost ready to be played. So what have I been up to? Last one and a half months, I have been busy with two things:

1. The more boring one: Fixing and fine-tuning systems (tons of bug-fixing and polishing with that).

2. Way more fun one: Chasing that Folklore Feeling and adding more content and juice to support that!

This post is a bit of a sneak peek at some of the new environmental stuff I have added and what the game is shaping up to be.

World & Inhabitants

Gnomes are small beings that are protective towards the nature around them, and mostly friendly towards humans. A single large mushroom houses a couple of gnomes decently. They inhabit forests and can share some tidbits about environments and it's fellows with you.

Another inhabitants up north are the Mountain Elves that herd reindeer. With good luck, you may meet these wandering beings on your travels.

Marshes and swamps are very prominent in Finland and its folklore, so I really wanted to nail that aspect visually. Thus, I spent some time fine-tuning marshes and adding extra dangers and rarer loot to there, trying to capture that eerie and slightly desolate feeling when trekking over one. In Finnish folklore, marshes are places where the living and the dead meet in the middle. It definitely holds true in-game as well, this is a more dangerous and unpredictable area than forests. Steam post image

In villages and hamlets, you can find friendly (or not so friendly) people. The world is mysterious, so discussions with them can reveal a lot of useful information. What is an RPG without an old man offering guidance? Yeah, so here is one.

General Improvements

Some work has also been put towards developing the usability and clarity of the UI, including adding some introduction tutorials and color-coding important keywords for easier log reading. Here is a picture of Skill UI, now highlighting key functionalities of the tree and providing clearer UI. Steam post image

Systems have also been developed further, including Skill-trees and Loot-generation. Those I will leave for you to experience in a demo! Also, keep an eye out for the next Devlog, as if development continues this well, I will be announcing an opportunity for playtesting the public demo before it is released!

Overall, I am very happy with the way visuals and the world are developing, but I definitely want to hear your opinions! What do you think about the look and feel? Any ideas or feedback? Let me hear in the comments!

• Old Dog