Elements

Lots of Updates, including an Alpha Release Date!!
about 2 years ago – Wed, Jan 17, 2024 at 07:49:36 PM

Happy New Year and thank you so much for your patience! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and are off to a great start in the New Year. We wanted to give you a few updates on what we have been working on for the past two months.

Armor & Weapons

Dark Armor (Rare) 
Here is the Rare version of the Dark Armor. I am really happy with how it turned out. We wanted to keep the armor light to enable increased movement and attack speed while leaning into some of the influences of the Dark Biome.

Are you able to notice any of the references we noted for concepts? As you may be able to tell, the Dark Armor hints at a Wolf type creature for the Dark Guardian. We are working on concepts and ideas for the Dark Guardian now. What do you think about this armor?

Dark Magic Staff (Legendary)
For the Dark Magic Staff we wanted to bring a lot of Dark influence as well as some Light influence as well (the lore to be revealed later in the game). I was extremely happy with how this staff turned out. There are so many beautiful little details. What do you think of this Magical Staff?

1h Ice Axe (Legendary)
This Ice Axe was influenced by some Nordic designs, but we also wanted to have Ice play a big part in the design. As you upgrade the weapon, the Ice really takes over this Axe. I think it's pretty cool ;) 

Magic Abilities

We worked on some new Magic Abilities. One of which being an Ice AOE attack. Spells will progress as the player uses them, potentially getting larger and more powerful. How does this seem as a base spell or do you think it needs something more?

Skill System

This is a quick preview of the Skill System in Elements. As you defeat enemies with a specific weapon type equipped, you will progress that weapon. As the weapon progresses you will unlock Specials Moves associated with that move set. 

These Specials will be movement based, but may also include magical elements. They are meant to augment your magic abilities, giving you the opportunity to use them while in melee (or ranged when using a bow) combat. 

In this video we are showcasing the Staff Skills. Specials will be on a timed cooldown (longer than the showcasing video) and can be changed depending on your playstyle or needs. After you fully progress a weapon type you will unlock a Super. Supers will be more powerful, larger attacks or they may offer increased movement speed, attack speed, health regen, or a combination for a specified duration. UI is still a work in progress and some of the icons are placeholders.

Do you have any ideas for Super moves for a specific weapon?

Environment/Level Design

The world of Elemythia has a lot of different locations and we really want to make each biome feel very different from the next. A lot of factors play into this, one of them being the environment. We made lots of progress roughing out most of the biomes materials and foliage. 

We wanted to ensure that creatures could potentially be tracked. This could also come in handy when trying to figure out an enemy's patrol path.

Monuments

We started adding backer names to the shared monuments that will be hidden throughout the world. I think it's important that there also be some type of gameplay link to these monuments. Each monument will hold a shard or crystal that will only be found within these monuments. If you find and collect all of them you may be in for a pleasant surprise :) What do you think the reward for finding them all should be?

Mounts

We added a new Panda mount to Elements. At first we didn't know if the Panda would be an enemy or a mount, but a lot of people seemed to want a Panda mount so we couldn't resist. The IK and animations still need some tweaking and we are thinking we may give the Panda mount the ability to knock down small trees. What ability do you think it should have?

Inventory UI

Our goal with the inventory UI is to keep it clean and simple, while still showcasing the awesome gear you will find in Elemythia. Some of the icons and models are still placeholders, but this should give you a good idea of what to expect and how it will feel to equip gear. 

You can pick the individual items or open your "bag" to show all your gear for quicker equipping. There are also slots for your mount and glider. Yes, there will be multiple gliders :)
Can you think of any improvements to make it more player friendly?

Dialogue and Questing

Because progression isn't linear in Elements, a huge part of how you progress will be based on who you talk to and what quests you accept. Each village will have Main Quests and Side Quests. Main Quests will progress and game forward, while Side Quests will allow you to dive deeper into Elemythia and possibly earn gear or items that will help you progress faster. Make life easier, or more fun. 

Because of the depth of the quest system and how intertwined with dialogue it is, we had to build and customize the system to our needs. This gives us more flexibility on how to start or complete a quest, giving the player lots of options.

Most NPCs like Vendors or Blacksmiths will also have quests you can accept or you may have to interact with them to progress a quest from another NPC. Some of this UI is still a work in progress and the voice is placeholder. I've already noticed some of the animations and transitions need to be smoothed out and the background behind the main text needs to be darkened to contrast the text. Are there any other improvements you can think of?

Farming/Building

We added bamboo as a new wood source to the Air Biome. Yes, we know it is actually a grass ;). Some building pieces and gear in the Air Biome will require bamboo that can only be found in the Air Biome. Bamboo will regrow faster than most trees (if you chop it with a magical axe), how fast is the question?

We have been adding new objects and creatures to the building and farming parts of the game. We are focusing on core things we think the player will need, then we can add more later. We added chicken coops which will be required for chickens to lay eggs. There won't be any maintenance or upkeep on your building or creatures. 

Creatures will drop items daily. These items can be used in crafting, cooking, trading or selling to some vendors. What building pieces and creatures do you want to see?

Alpha Update

Now, for what a lot of you have been waiting for. We apologize for the delay. With game development, especially on a game where we want to give the player tons of freedom, there are often unknown hurdles. For example, work on the save system and split screen (multiplayer) testing has taken longer than expected. 

With so many variables, It is really hard to confidently predict gamedev milestones, but we are confident on setting an Alpha release date for March 21st. We know this is longer than we expected and predicted, but we hope you know that we are putting all our effort and love Elements. And we are so glad to have you on this journey with us.  

Leading up to March 21st we will be doing internal testing and setting up an Alpha branch on Steam. The keys Alpha Backers will be sent will be a different branch from the Early Access version so progress will not be carried over. The Alpha is an opportunity for you to tell us what you like and don't like and to help us shape the game.

For the Alpha backers, we can't wait to get you playing Elements to help us improve on the world and gameplay loop. We have opened up a "Kickstarter Alpha" channel in the discord where anyone with a role of Alpha or higher will have access. This will be the best place for the most current updates.

We all hope you had a wonderful holiday and are as excited about 2024 as we are. As always, we appreciate your support and patience more than you know ❤️

October update! NPCs, Enemies, and lots of Weapons
over 2 years ago – Mon, Nov 13, 2023 at 09:33:17 AM

Hey everyone! We wanted to share what we have been working on for the last little bit. Thank you so much for your patience. 

Owl NPC - We just finished these Owl type NPCs. They will be found in the Air, Light, Ice and Nature Biomes. We have a few different clothing and armor options for them as well.

Mushroom Wizard - Quick video showing some of the work in progress AI and attacks for one of the Mushroom Wizards in Elements. I think we need some more attack windows and maybe speed up the projectiles so they can't be dodged as quickly. What do you think?

In Elements there will be some neutral enemy types. Here is a beetle found in the Tropical Swamp area of the Nature Biome. If left alone these enemies won't attack you, but if you attack first they will become hostile. Do you typically leave these creatures alone in games?

Pickaxe - We added a pickaxe for the Nature Biome. You will have to complete a quest in each biome to get the pickaxe so you can mine rocks and minerals. We are trying to make mining satisfying and rewarding. If you have suggestions on how to make a great mining experience, or know games that you think do it well, feel free to comment. After making this clip I noticed the pickaxe was turned the wrong way :)

Weapons 

Two-handed Fire Sword - We finished the Rare version of the Two-handed Fire Sword. We started with some concept art, then turned it into a 3D model, then brought it into Unreal Engine. This is the Rare version. We are very excited to get working on the other versions.

We are still working on the attacks. Do you think they are too fast? I want to make the attacks feel impactful, but I also don't want them to feel slow. What games do two-handed weapons well?

Fire Spear - We finished the Rare Fire Spear. Still working on some attacks to give the spears a much different feel from other two-handed weapons.

 Here are a couple renders of the Rare Fire Spear.

Light Daggers - We finished some daggers from the Light Biome. Here are a few renders. As with the other Light gear they have some Egyptian and Roman inspiration. 

We are still working on attacks. We want them to be faster and possibly close the distance to the target at a certain range.

Dark Bow - We have been working on the first weapon from the Dark Biome. This Dark Bow, named Aroxin's Eyes, may have some added perks that help with finding targets in low light situations...

Level Design - We have been working on another village in the Nature Biome. This will be a more central city where you can find different creatures from across the biome. There will be vendors, a blacksmith, and maybe even a pet shop :) For you as a player what do you expect to see in a bigger city versus a smaller village?

Skill System - We have been adding some new skills to the skill system. This will be based on progression with each weapon. As you use a weapon to defeat enemies your skill with that weapon type will increase, allowing you to unlock new skills. These skills will enhance combat choices and give weapons skills that hit harder. Skills will be on a cooldown so you can't overuse them in combat.

I was humbled to be interviewed by Nick from The Side Quest. He has a great podcast where he interviews indie game developers. 

Alpha - We are still working hard on getting the Alpha ready. We still have a lot of work to finish before players can jump in, but we are hopeful we can get it done before the end of this year. We will keep everyone updated.

Thank you so much for all the support. We appreciate all the hype and feedback. It helps to fuel us and to keep making the best game we can. ❤️

August Update! NPCs, Combat, Scythes, Level Design and UI
over 2 years ago – Thu, Sep 14, 2023 at 12:21:12 PM

Hey! We wanted to share what we have been working on for the past month or so. Thank you so much for your patience. 

Marmot/Beaver NPC - We just finished these guys who will be found in the Water, Nature, Ice and Earth Biomes. There designs we influences from Marmots and Beavers.  They are crafty creatures who enjoy building and busy work. They even have different hairstyles and facial hair :)

Nature Fox - Here are the Foxes from the Nature Biome.  If you like the armor, you may be able to acquire it somehow...

Lizard NPC - We have got some updated texturing for these lizard creatures. They will be found in the Light, Fire, Nature, and Water biomes. 

Enemy Behavior - We want to ensure the enemies in the game feel meaningful. We think they should challenge the player and allow them to scale with difficulty. We also want all the creatures in Elemythia to have personality, even the enemies. 

Here is some work on a single Frotle Melee Enemy. We added dodges depending on the frequency of attacks, so the enemy "learns" to anticipate your moves.

Here is a clip of the Grenadier and Archer Frotle enemies. They are ranged enemies. The archer will flee if you get too close, but the Grenadier will switch to melee if you get close enough.

Here is a bigger Orc enemy who will pickup objects and throw them at you. Not quite a mini-boss, but they will be more challenging than smaller enemies.

Scythe Weapon Type - We also added the Scythe weapon type. We are working on some Custom Scythes now. I know Scythes are very popular and we are excited to have them in the game.

Level Design - Here are some of the Villages we have been working on. We are building them as separate instances in Unreal so we can then drop them into the world. This saves us time and allows us to easily move villages to ensure they are in the right place.

Updated Horse Mount - We have some new skins for our Horse mount. I love how they turned out. Which is your favorite?

Mammoth Mount - We just added some large Mammoth mounts to the game. These mounts will be slower than most mounts but because of their size they will knock down trees. Very helpful in gathering resources for building.

Fire Guardian - We are almost finished the custom animations for the Fire Guardian. Here are a few of them to give you an idea on how this creature will move.

Building/Planting UI - We are getting close to a style we are really happy with. We want to ensure it is clean, but stylized and doesn't take too much attention away from what is important. It is a balance that isn't always easy to find, but I think we are close.

The clip below shows how the biome based building system will work. It does a trace to find out which biome you are in and will switch to that biomes building materials. And no, there won't be a straight line like this separating the biomes in the final game. This is just for testing :)

Alpha - We have been working hard on getting the Alpha ready, but we still have some work left to do. We have decided to push the Alpha Release into Q4. This will give us a little more time to flush out some of the systems and how they work together. We want to ensure everyone who jumps into the Alpha has an experience they enjoy. We want the Alpha to be a solid base for feedback so we can continually improve the game until Early Access release next year. We hope you understand our decision.

Please let us know what you think of the things we have been working on. We love all the feedback and it helps us confirm we are going in the right direction. Thank you all for your support ❤

July Update! Light, Fire, Nature and Level Design
over 2 years ago – Fri, Jul 21, 2023 at 07:06:57 AM

Hey everyone!! Thank you so much for your patience. We have been hard at work and have some updates for you. Here is what we have been working on for the past month.

Squirrel and Rabbit NPC - We have got some new textures for the Squirrel and Rabbit NPCs.  They will be in the Air, Ice, Light, and Nature biome. Not all creatures will be in each biome. If you see a creature or NPC type that you have already seen in another biome, their behavior and characteristics will be different. Every creature in Elemythia needs and wants something different, it's up to you to help them find that on your journey.

Fox NPC - We just finished the Fox NPC. Originally, we had planned on a more "cute" fox. But we settled on the Fox being more of a "Warrior". Not every character in this story will be sweet and innocent. Each NPC race will have their own characteristics and motivations. Some will get along with others and some will not. 

Level Design - We have been working on the level design for some of the environments and villages in the Light, Fire, and Nature biomes. For most biomes there will be 3 major villages or towns with multiple smaller villages throughout the biome. 

Squirrel Village - Some work in progress of the Squirrel Village in the Nature Biome.

Light Village - This village is abandoned. It's up to you to find out why and help the villagers return home. Once you do this will unlock new quests, vendors and merchants you can interact with.

Mayan Village - This Mayan inspired village is still very much a work in progress. We are happy with the layout, but still need to add many things to bring this area to life. We also need an NPC type here. Some suggestions we had so far were; Red Pandas, Gorillas, and Lizards. Let us know if you have any suggestions!

Fire Guardian - The Fire Guardian model is now finished and rigged. We are super happy with how it turned out. We will now be working on some custom animations. We are thinking the movement will end up being more like a Salamander or Komodo Dragon. We are open to hear your ideas on attacks for this Guardian!

Light Armor - The Rare version of the Light armor is almost finished. It has some Egyptian and Roman inspirations. Let us know what you think.

That's all for now. Our next update will dive deeper into the Dialogue System and the Building/Planting System. Looking forward to your feedback! Thanks again for all the support! Have an amazing weekend ❤️

Big Update - UE5 and lots more :)
almost 3 years ago – Tue, Jun 06, 2023 at 09:43:17 AM

Hey everyone! I wanted to update you on the project. We have been a little more quiet since the campaign has ended, but we wanted to say we are hard at work and we wanted to let you know what it is we have been working on.

UE5 

First off, we switched to UE5! This was a big decision. It took a couple weeks, but we have already seen huge improvements in development speed just by using Level Instancing, Nanite, and World Partition. 

Katana - We added Katanas. Right now we just have one stance, but we are looking at the possibility of having multiple stances for some weapons.

Custom Orcs - Our Custom Orc models are done.. We are super happy with how they turned out. The rigging is being worked on right now. Can't wait to start giving them personality with sounds and animations.

Fire Armor - We finished the first rarity of the Fire Armor. I think this is going to be one of my favorite sets. I love all of the little details in this set. And this is the Rare version!

 
Fire Guardian - We have had some progress on the modeling of the Fire Guardian. We are super happy with how it is turning out. This boss will guard the Fire Stone and ensure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

 
Water Weapons - We started working on some weapons for the Water Biome. We took some Polynesian and Atlantean influences and came up with a unique aesthetic.

Mythical Pets - We now have our first Mythical Pet. We think he is pretty cute. We will be rigging and animating him soon. And he still needs a name :)

Language - Elements now has its own language. I didn't realize how complicated making a language was but we connected with a professional. We will share more about the language later, but for now here are the number symbols.

There is lots more we are working on, but we will save that for the next update. Please let us know what you think about the things we are working on and what you are most excited about. Thank you for all the support ❤️