Stuck On Death (Patreon)

Happy Leap Day folks! We're back with one of the last posts before launching our demo build for the rhythm game. There are a few more things we need to include, but you should see the anticipated test build released once DD is finished with animations for a video project he's working on. Here's one of the bits I've been most anxious to include, a little bit of polish that I think will give the game a really fun stylistic kick.

Early on I showed you guys some examples of sticker designs I had come up with while trying to nail down the game's aesthetic. After much deliberation and working with a couple of collaborators, we're zeroing in on just what sort of imagery to plaster the surfaces of this underworld in. As you can see, we're using some real world iconography, but finding a way to present it in a way that makes it simultaneously irreverent but meaningful. Others are pretty abstract and may not read as well to people besides the artist that made them, but this is intentional, as I want the world of the game to feel as much alien as it does familiar. There's a specific feeling in dreams where things simultaneously make sense and don't make sense, that i feel is appropriate for an environment where characters are gradually letting go of their old ties to the physical world. Some amount of confusion is to be expected, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of these personal images resonated with players by sheer chance as well. One of the fun things about surrealism is how sometimes those symbols are easily understood, but sometimes they aren't! More of these are to come, and you'll be able to see how they look in the game's interface very soon.

A few other assets have been completed, with slightly less exciting visuals but still tailored to give the game a sense of flair in their own way. Those who were watching the gamedev streams on Twitch near the beginning of the month got to watch me make the painted lettering traditionally, as well as some painted textures that will come in handy down the line. It was great fun to work with physical color goo again, and I think it will help add to the game's mixed media aesthetic. On the flip side, some distinctly digital looking font work was done as well, hopefully giving a playful computerized look inspired by the temporary assets DD was using in his previous builds of the game. It was nice to realize I've gotten a little quicker at doing fonts over the years, having done some for both Tough Bippy as well as the pirate shmup. Some fonts will still need to be created for the game's interface, and one more needs to be finished for the demo build specifically, but I feel a lot more confident in my abilities to meet this demand by this point.

Our skills are really being put to the test here, but I think all the hard work is paying off. By now you've seen the majority of assets that will be used in the test build, with only minimal work remaining before it's ready to show off. This will be a turning point for the project, the core game loop ready to insert songs into and the most important visuals of the game cemented. Now that these cornerstones are ready, we'll be moving onto other aspects of the game soon, such as the music, character design and animations. It'll be a big change, but one I don't fear as much as I did when we first started. Much like the denizens of the dead appearing out of the murky fog, the game has coalesced from a vague idea into something much more tangible, and that makes it easier to move forward with a solid concept of what we're aiming for. Thanks to everyone for their support in helping us get this far, and we hope you'll be pleased with the final result.

-Julian