Alora Fane

Monster models!!

Last week, I mentioned that depression had got in the way of productivity a bit, and this week it's been even worse. Or I'm not sure whether I can just blame depression in a general sense, since it's more a case of feeling discouraged about this specific game. I hope it can be something worthwhile in the end, but I'm very aware of the obvious lull in interest lately, and the tasks I've had to do have been largely tedious chores until I can actually get to the bits I enjoy.

So to avoid burning out and coming to resent the project as a whole, I took half the week off to focus on some other creative stuff instead. I ended up doing over ten hours of creative work on each of these days 'off' because I wasn't working on the same thing as usual; most days working on Atonal Dreams I'm lucky to get six good hours in.

I did make models for three monsters though, which isn't nothing! ∞ I talked about the monster designs in the previous post ∞, so I won't repeat myself here. Here's what I made, with some progress pictures too:

Somunculimp

Brigrrnd

Psyclop

That's Psyclop and not Psyclops because now it incorporates chess bishops into its design (so psychic + cyclops + bishop).

Concepts and Final Models Comparison

So there you go! Normally I'd ramble a whole lot about thoughts and specifics, but I'm just so tired at the moment that I'd rather continue taking a mental break in the hope that on Monday I'll feel refreshed and eager to do what needs doing next.

I need to animate these, which is what I was finding very tedious. I don't mind animation once I get into it, but for whatever reason it's one of those things I hate the thought of starting, so I end up wasting a lot of time procrastinating even though the animations only take a few minutes to do.

Once those are done, though, I should be able to populate the small island I've made, decorate it, do some battle testing/mechanics stuff, and write some plot scenes to get the whole thing ready for use as a small playable demo. I could have that done in a couple of weeks, but let's say a month just to be safe. Hopefully once I've done that, interest - my own in particular - might pick up a bit. We'll see.

10 COMMENTS

phsc57~4Y

I always have really liked your enemy design! in all games by you I have played until now at least, Somunculimp and Psyclop are really, really nice! very unique, I cannot think of similar enemies in any other games I have played, the closest I can think is for Sumonculimp and like mimics from D&D and mostly Dark Souls but probably because of the thin body with the big tongue and the very visible arms, but it is still very nice! Brigrrnd seems a bit generic but not like that is a problem, the general idea behind them is not and it all makes sense, considering your explanation of them in your last post, a thing that might be too much work would be more variations of the same enemy within the same area, I am unsure about how that could work but it is a nice thing a lot of games have and it makes combat more interesting, you find the same enemies over and over again and it gets pretty boring, but a slighty different aspect to them makes it much more interesting, at least for me, but that could be too much work? I don't know, just a suggestion.

MarninPL33~4Y

Those models are not short from fantastic, especially the psyclop. An interesting idea skillfully brought to life, just beatiful. It's just a little bit sad that the post is so short. I thought maybe it is due to the fact that this is a model showcase, but then I came to realise that up to this point you always put literal paraghraps next to everything to show your thought process, so I'm a bit worried. Don't get discouraged! The hype may have died down a little, but that's just because you changed your direction a lot recently. This means that it will steadily build up again as you follow this path. Also, the work may be tedious but considering what I saw so far it will absolutely be worth it!

Tobias 1115~4Y

Thanks, I hope so. I suppose there are always going to be points during the production of months-long things where enthusiasm drops. I'm just hoping taking a brief break will help me get my mind back into it. I appreciate your interest in the project though!

Spectre35~4Y

Psyclop is majestic

Astreon152~4Y

Quick question for the Brigrrnd: how is it going to attack ?

Judging by the one-edged blade you chose, it's going to slash, and with the way the sword is attached i don't see a side-ways move for that, like rushing to a character and suddenly turning around to hit them with the tail.

So is it going to be something like a front flip ? Or rather, considering the side the edge of the blade is pointing to, a backflip ?

Unless i'm totally confused and it's going to bite, the sword being for decoration :-)

Tobias 1115~4Y

I gave this a bit of thought while making it! I tried imagining something like a front flip, kind of like Red XIII from Final Fantasy XIII who does that. But I think I'll likely just make it bite, since I'm aiming to reuse these models with several variants... unless all variants have sword tails too, and they could be called... sword-tailed wolves... swolves. Swordogs. Something! Seems I need to give this more thought!

If I could work out a slashing animation, I think I'd prefer that just because animations feel far more satisfying when they can have a whoosh/swipe effect.

Astreon152~4Y

I think you once mentioned something about entering "berserk" mode when you're overcome by darkness ?

If that is correct and still the plan, then maybe they could bite as casual attack, and slash in "darkness" mode ?

Or the sword could only be for a boss type, and it'd have that as a second "powerful" attack, that could maybe break guard or something.

Tobias 1115~4Y

Physical attack animations are by far the hardest to do (they take about five times longer than any others), so I'm going to be trying to minimise the number of those that I need to make!

Astreon152~4Y

Right. Plus i guess a whole body spin must be even harder to animate that just an arm swing or a "basic" bite.

Being a one man army means knowing where the limits are and finding balance between creativity and pragmatism.

From the beginning of this, you've made a brilliant job finding that balance, so i'm sure you'll keep making the best choices, even if we are not always fully aware of what things are like backstage.

LotBlind53~4Y

Wow.