shalmonsgamedev

[shalmonsgamedev]

for Reasons, I am working on some skull sprites for GW tileset I might make this intentionally stick out as an odd thing, since some time ago I decided that the presence of death in this setting would be a little ambiguous so the sight of bones might be especially spooky & mysterious for the chickens and maybe this will be part of Henri's strategy to catch gladys' interest, whose tastes are a bit moodier   

#geney wizards #graphics #tileset #wip #btw yes i have been in a slump #but won't refer to it until a few posts later in the queue lol

[shalmonsgamedev]

This might be an unnecessary restriction and I'm also not sure if I'm implementing custom names anyway (I heard the variable name length can cause a lot of formatting headaches?  But maybe less so w/newer engines/plugins.  Will have to look into it.) but, an idea I had: what if you could only select premade names from a list, for the player character? there was something similar in Pyre, with what name you end up choosing for the Vagabond and I always thought that was kinda neat  (btw my Vagabond was Nae;;  I love pyre 😭) not sure what it is exactly, but there's some miniscule amount of intrigue added when there's a predetermined selection for certain elements like that.  Makes you want to ask other people what they chose, I guess?  A small yet key difference in the version of the story they played  that's just me though I'm sure many others would prefer to just make whatever names they want & that's valid lol

#gameplay #writing

[shalmonsgamedev]

Thinkin about my goals for robust NPC dialog & how to alert players when NPCs are done sayin stuff I'm already considering implementing some kind of "cancel" button so players don't get stuck in something they've read before, but I wonder if I could utilize "emotes" to some extent?  Like a talky icon if they still have something new to say?  But I'm not sure if that would work as well if there are branching topics to choose from anyway.  Maybe bolding/graying topics in that case?  Wonder how difficult that is 🤔

#gameplay

[shalmonsgamedev]

I've started writing out some speech quirks for the Rune Keepers & am immediately more endeared to them what a bunch of silly geese I don't even consider myself much of a writer, but writing this game is going to be so fun 🙌

#i've also been finalizing their names since writing this #the naming gimmick is very silly and i'm enjoying it #characters #writing #rune keepers

[shalmonsgamedev]

Picked a classically ironic time to slow down posts when there's actually been a smidge of an uptick in follows :'v so yea just checkin' in to say thanks to new followers, and that I'm hoping to get back on track soon!

Simple explanation: been having a fairly strong stream of commissions lately, which is at least a pretty good problem to have lol.  Still trying to figure out a better balance between commissions & unpaid passion projects I have a tendency to go faster & harder on comms than is really necessary, and it leaves little time for other things.  (meanwhile I end up delivering most comms way earlier than projected deadlines!) 

as for Wizkens, my next big goal is to complete the tileset for the Geney Wizards section of the demo.  Which is ironically(?) proving to be more challenging than the prerendered map, though that may be because the setting for this part is somewhat more abstract 🤔  it's not your usual starting grassland tileset, and then there's the 4-tone grayscale restrictions to consider 

#btw this was written later than the next couple posts in the queue #just made more sense to have this first lol #update

[shalmonsgamedev]

Art scope creep or could just be a side thing for fun but I would love to include a comic that references the weirdly edgy toshihiro ono pokemon manga (which I had the american flipped & censored version of lol) would def leave out some of the more unsavory elements but the idea of Geney Wizards w/very moody & detailed manga art is just funny to me

#geney wizards

[shalmonsgamedev]

I'm relieved to report that my brain seems to have gotten un-stuck from that larger project idea definitely putting a pin on it want to develop it further sometime, for sure but for a few weeks it was kinda deflating my enthusiasm for wizkens

That can be good though! now I have a solid concept to rotate to when I feel wizken burnout

#mysterious other project

[shalmonsgamedev]

Should the Rune Keepers speak very alliteratively according to their letter, or will that just make the writing take way too much time lol 🤔🤔🤔 I guess 100% of the words would be ridiculous, but I'd at least like to have them use a decent percentage that start with their letter just, y'know casually heaping more hypothetical translation difficulties onto this project 🙃

#writing #characters #rune keepers

[shalmonsgamedev]

rough concepts for the 6 Rune Keepers to be featured in the demo! I'm trying to decide how many of the design choices I ought to explain, since it may make certain elements of the demo easier?  on the other hand, if you've been paying close attention to all posts, you might be able to figure out certain things just by looking  :'v so I guess I won't worry too much, it's just the demo & the gameplay is meant to be chill after all anyway! these guys are animal-based in ways that match their rune/letter also tryin to work the shape of the letter into the designs in some way for example: Bit the Bee, Keeper of B, has B-shaped wings  

#sketchbook #characters #geney wizards #rune keepers

[shalmonsgamedev]

My little research sessions with other RPGm games have been fun and strangely fast?? I'm able to crank out a satisfying chunk of notes in pretty bite-sized play sessions, like 10-20 mins

So yea just a reminder that research does not always have to be a massive timesink lol

Also can I just say how impressive the variety is, in this unfairly maligned little engine??

I like to take notes on any features I haven't seen implemented before, and each game I try has been doing something different. 🙌

#homework

[shalmonsgamedev]

I was recently thinking that Wizkens might be difficult to translate, due to wordplay & emphasis on letters unfortunately, I think the Rune Keepers and some related elements are only adding to that lol 🙃 would be fascinating to see someone tackle it, but yea I 100% understand if it never happens pff

#writing

[shalmonsgamedev]

I am abruptly adding six characters;;; to the demo but I promise it's not as scope-creep as it sounds  :'v

It's for the Geney Wizards part & the bulk of the work will probably just be designing them (they may not even need full walksprites, since I think they'll just be standing around. plus the GW sprites are significantly less work-intensive than the chickens)

Anyway, I came up with an idea for "Rune Keepers" that I wanted to add they'll bestow the letters that you need to unscramble in order to name & free the wizard the full game will have at least 26 Rune Keepers as you might guess, they are letter-themed my rough design idea for now is they will be aesthetically similar to the Keeper you play, but more animalish! so for example: Keeper B will resemble…a bee

#characters #rune keepers #geney wizards

[shalmonsgamedev]

I've decided that there's a particular element of the demo that I won't be posting anything publicly for (at least not until it's released) all I'll say is it's gonna be a silly li'l secret  :)  and is a type of recurring secret I'm planning for the full game

But I need to decide how obscure it ought to be it's optional of course & won't matter for completing it but will I be bummed if it seems like people aren't finding it? an interesting balance to consider

#gameplay #demo

[shalmonsgamedev]

The more I see ppl doing "avatar select" screens in their RPGmaker games, the more I think I'd like to do one for Wizkens esp. since I'm leaning towards more of a blank slate protag. plus more excuses for chicken variety  >:v u wanna be a classic leghorn?  A silkie?  Ayam cemani void child? or maybe u just wanna be green I want to support these chkn choices

#gameplay #characters #chickens

[shalmonsgamedev]

Fluff entry, but I know I'm not looking to put VA in wizkens but it just occurred to me the ideal voice for henri:

#henri b. tuffti #characters #chickens

[shalmonsgamedev]

So I'm psure the way I did this may not be viable long-term but 👀👀👀 I am excited to share this highly compressed alpha/wip gif of henri, strolling around in my own parallax scene with some overlay action! my little chkn is growing up and walking behind things 😭😭 but yea this is still that map w/the grand total of, like 5 passable tiles lol will be embiggening the floor area & rearranging accordingly (and still various things needing textured of course)

#rpgmaker #rpg maker #rpg maker mz #mapping #gamedev #henri b. tuffti #chickens #characters #graphics #wip #i know i'm going for kind of an ironically ugly vibe anyway but i promise this looks a smidge nicer without the gif compression lol

[shalmonsgamedev]

y'all 🥺🥺🥺 <3 behold, the first wizkens "fanart", courtesy of a lovely penpal letter i received from @aludrakijurorin ! <3 <3 i still cannot get over the little details like the carpet & wallpaper!! :')

#btw this was drawn before the eggB concepts were posted! #tho i wouldn't put it past henri to have gotten their wands on some sort of prototype #henri b. tuffti #characters #chickens #fanart