Category Archives: Gameplay

DevBlog 53 / A look at the battlefield

Hi everyone!

This week we continued the work of replacing old animations with the new ones which add a lot more personality to the game. Walking on quicksand and the visual feedback of that action, for example, was something we needed to improve, in terms of animation and also in shader work. We’re currently working on that, but it isn’t finished yet. In the meantime, we are also doing some experiments with stylized water shaders to use in small lakes or shallow streams, for example.
On a different note, the cutscene system was fine tuned, and now there is an option to skip forward those events.

Knock,Knock, who’s there?

The new areas are developing smoothly, and although there are many assets to create, concepts like the one below help us to establish the mood we’re trying to achieve in advance. In this case, the image depicts the stage of a bloody battle.

The Battlegrounds.

Previously, we’ve shown the concept for an armor used by a new kind of enemy the player will be facing. The “game ready” model of this equipment is already finished:

In-game soldier with full armorset.

DevBlog 45 / PAX East here we go

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Hi everyone!

We are extremely excited to announce our game will be played at PAX East on 10-12 March in the IndieMEGABOOTH space. Our first overseas adventure to showcase Decay of Logos. Here’s the lineup: http://indiemegabooth.com/indie-megabooth-pax-east-2017-line/

This week the team was polishing and finishing the art and the gameplay for the area prior to the end of Chapter One.

Exploring sometimes is worth it.

We decided to design banners that bear the Coat of Arms of one of the Princes, and we placed them on specific locations. By doing this we wanted to convey the feeling that the Ancestor ruins you find throughout this part of the Realm have been occupied and repurposed by the Prince’s men. Additionally, the banners allow us to really show how windy the area we’ve been working on really is.

Path to dangerous encounters.

There’s a trailer in the works, and we aim to show off some of these new areas in full glory and display a dramatic and accurate feeling of this game!

Keep smashing till you have stamina!

DevBlog 43 / Animation improvements

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Hi everyone!

This week various changes were made in the AI department, from simple enemies to mini bosses, and their behaviors have been polished. Also, some bugs that still persisted since our last showcase at Comic Con were finally fixed. Plus, we’ve added a simple stress meter that shows up while riding so players can tell for how much longer they can mount the Elk before needing to feed it some berries.

Our animator did a lot of new animations for our enemy models and gave them the appropriate mood and feeling. He’s constantly working on custom ones to replace the old placeholder animations that we still have in the project. Additionally, different weights are now assigned to each foe as they are instantiated, so that every enemy acquires a stronger sense of individuality. Here are the various forms of transformation of this type of enemies.

Hey! I’m walking here!

We’ve also been working on an important event that takes place in the final area of Chapter One – the meeting with the Kid. The player will be able to help him escape from the cage he is trapped in, eventually learning more about his origin as the journey continues.

Please save me.

Can I axe you a question?

DevBlog 41 / I can see my house from here!

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Hi everyone!

Once again, part of the team was working on the first Prince’s boss battle, polishing moves, balancing and adding more animations so the battle feels epic.
Although magic and elemental effects were only supposed to be introduced at a later stage of the game (once the player learns the appropriate skills from an NPC) one of the attacks of this boss required the implementation of the “paralyze” stat. We opted to use this nomenclature because it can be used in every situation in which the player temporarily loses control of the character (such as “petrify”, “woodify”, etc).
Similarly, a placeholder radial bar (around the weapon icon), indicating the current equipped weapon’s durability was added. Before, this very important info was buried in the inventory stat tab.

Paralyze and Durability bar.

That’s a big fall.

We really wanted the Rift Windmills’ area to have its own particular mood and identity, and in that regard the skybox plays a big role. With this in mind, we came up with a brand new sky with some dramatic clouds, as well as silhouetted mountains in the distance. Now the scene looks a lot more unique and consistent.

The swamp castle view from the rift windmills.

DevBlog 39 / Improved companion controls

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Hi everyone!

This week we were working on the intro scene of the game, where we explain how the Girl and the Elk start their journey. It’s a small new area with short cutscenes and playable zones where the player and the companion meet for the first time.

Some AI balancing and behavior was also done, and the Elk now has two types of control (changeable in options). One is the first version, heavily inspired by the Shadow of the Colossus’ control scheme, and the other is more similar to how The Witcher or Dragon Age handle mounting and steering. We feel that adding gameplay options like this turns out to be appealing for various types of players.

Running from the swamp slugs.

The art team is making progress in the new Canyon-esque area, populating the scene with a few new stone and vegetation props. Developing the surrounding landscape is the current challenge we’re facing, blending 3d elements with 2d planes in order to produce a convincing and immersive atmosphere.

In-game view of the Canyon area, still work in progress.

The boss battle and arena is on the works too.

DevBlog 38 / Jump Start 2017

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Hi there!

The Amplify Creations’ team hopes everyone had a blast during the winter break! This week we are back at full power, picking up where we left off. The “Rift Windmills” area is shaping up, and currently André is working on the tutorial/intro scene, where the player is introduced to a small background of the story and the first meeting between the Girl and the Elk. Like we have mentioned before, the game will feature more visual storytelling rather than an exposition narrative, so expect this tutorial/intro to have some small cutscenes but also gameplay.

Windmill materiality concept exploration.

Rocky shapes sketch for the “Rift Windmills” area.

The Kid is currently being animated, and we really want his carefree attitude to come through. This is a simple animation test to show of the cloth dynamics.

The Kid Test Animation.

Next week we will be working on the final chapter boss battle and event.

DevBlog 36 / Darkness creeps in

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Hi everyone!

Once again, this week André was improving and fixing some stuff following the feedback we got from Lisbon Games Week. Some UI changes and rearrangement were done for a more readable inventory, for example. Two handed swords will also start to behave like one handed ones, since various testers sheathed the weapon by mistake in the middle of the combat. Also the Elk control and camera were improved, and probably a change in the controls will be made at a later stage. Since the prototype that the inspiration for the Elk control was Shadow of the Colossus, but maybe it is time to test a new control system, more similar to the Girl control. We will have the chance to test these changes at Comic Con Portugal.

We also revamped the area with the cave tunnels in order to achieve a more immersive ambiance.

Close encounters of the slime kind.

One last thing, we are having a lot of fun doing some promotion captures with the cinematic camera 😛

Wandering in the swamp.

DevBlog 35 / Bug hunting and feedback from LGW

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Hi everyone!

Last weekend we went to Lisboa Games Week – so we got a ton of feedback and a lot of play testing was done. It was also great to see people from 10 years old to +30 playing and enjoying our game. We are very grateful that IndieDome selected us for showcasing at LGW (IndieDome was responsible for bringing national and international developers).

Super focused player.

IndieDome at Lisbon Games Week.

So this week we were working hard at bug fixing, as well as updating or tweaking some of the art.

Additionally, we have just started working on a very important new NPC, and we just wrapped up the concept for him. We’re currently calling him “the Kid”, and he will be a major help throughout the player’s journey, helping the Girl and the Elk get past certain obstacles, or even supplying them with items and info.

The Kid.

And an extra feature: Cinematic camera test for some showoff captures 😛

Cinematic Camera Test.

DevBlog 34 / Muddy Slug

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Hi there!

Once again, the team is working hard preparing a build for showcasing at Lisbon Games Week. Almost everything is ready, and we are finishing some small details as well as play testing a lot. Some additional features were added like an option to auto draw weapon when the player is near a threat. These showcase events are great for defining the default options of the game.

We also introduced last week some new enemies like the half transformed villager and a swamp slug. The latter is still in the making, but we can show you guys the concept.

The swamp slug.

Mid-transformation villager.

We are working on some new move sets of the Lumberjack Brother. There are still some balancing issues, but the feeling is there. We added physics to the pony tail.

Combo Attack move set.

The swamp area is complete (for now, we will add more stuff later). Time for some light baking, and small color grading tweaks.

DevBlog 31 / The Wanderer and Elk treat mechanic

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Hi everyone!

This week Pichel finished the first version of the Wanderer, the next version will include a cape and additional details. This is a very important NPC that will appear several times through your journey and will keep you informed about lore if you talk to him. He is also currently working on new enemy variations.

The Wanderer model next to you for scale.

André and Iuri continued their work on the treat mechanic. In order to mount the elk, players will have to gain its trust by feeding it a particular type of berries. The player can then mount it for some time, provided that there are no enemies around. The elk is not meant to be a simple mount, but more of a journey companion. Tomé did a berries prop plant that will be available in some zones (larger zones). You can pick them up and feed them to the elk at any time in order to mount it and travel through the world faster. Be very careful when approaching enemies, the elk will likely force a dismount and run away!

Revisiting a calm zone.

Raw run animation clip.

Berries Plant prop.

André also did a complete rewrite of the elk mount control code, it had a lot of prototype junk, a total revamp was due. This piece of gameplay is heavily inspired by Shadow of the Colossus control and feel. He improved the elk turn control, the object avoidance and the enemy reaction threshold system.