Blog #36 - 15/10/2017

Welcome to the latest edition of the Demon Debug blog, I’m Fraser Rees and I shall be your host for today’s edition. Coming up, we have exciting art developments, further story progress, news on the soundtrack and so much more.

Before I begin discussing these exciting details, I will quickly discuss an upcoming change in the blogs release schedule.As many of our regular readers know, we normally post Demon Debug blogs on the 1st and 15th of every month, whilst the Burglars Incorporated blog is released on the 8th and 22nd, which is quite a lot of blogs every month.

Starting from next month, Demon Debug blogs will now be posted on the first of every month, whereas Burglars Incorporated blogs will now be posted the fifteenth. The main reason behind this change is that it allows for each blog post to have more detail, as it can become rather difficult to come up with new details for each blog post that haven't been mentioned previously.

Now that that’s out of the way, let's talk about the progress the whole team has made.

Callum has been working exceptionally hard on redesigns for both Meaty Mitch and Lil’ Biter in order to make sure that they fit in with the newly designed environments and character art that have been developed quite recently. 

Running animation for Lil' Biter

Some sketches for Meaty Mitch - the boss of World One

Brandon has been busy working on new environmental art for World One, all of us at Forgotten Pixel thinks it's amazing and you’re going to love it. Also, Brandon has been working on the level endpoint, which as it name suggests, signals to the player the end of each level. Brandon has been working on making the level endpoint resemble more of a portal in appearance, this adds to the mystical elements of the game, whilst also suiting the overall design and narrative of the Demon Debug world. I cannot stress the importance of good environmental art as just like the soundtrack, it is another way for the player to get captivated in the world you have created and by having a great background not only does it fulfil this, but it is also another way to tell a story and make players more interested in the overall history of the world. Furthermore along with working on new environmental art and the level end portal, Brandon has also been making the finishing touches on the floor tiles of the World, this is being done in order to ensure they are up to a high standard for the alpha and the later full release.

A sketch animation of the level endpoint portal in Demon Debug

But that’s not all as both Callum and Brandon have also been getting ready in designing the cutscenes with a focus in making them enjoyable and visually appealing to the player. More information regarding these cutscenes will be made public closer to the release date of the alpha, but to get a more full experience unbiased (and unpaid) experts recommend playing the alpha.

Rahul has currently been fixing various bugs that have recently been found in the game, whilst also improving and implementing new UI into the current build of the game. It is highly important to continuously test and fix bugs in the build of the game, to not only make the alpha a more streamlined and enjoyable experience, but to also make sure that the game runs flawlessly for the alpha and the full release. Additionally if we find and correct these various bugs as of now, it’ll save us time in the future.

Christopher has been focusing on the planning for World Two, he has been creating various documentation outlining the various layouts and designs of the world, whilst also working on sketches for potential level layouts as well. These will prove vital for the whole Demon Debug team because when we shift development from World One to World Two, we will have a clear foundation to start developing from. However that is not the only progress Rahul and Chris have made, as they have also been busy working on a Meaty Mitch boss prototype, where they are finalising details for the overall design and mechanics of the boss fight, in order to not only offer the player a fun and invested experience, but to also make the boss fight challenge the various skills the player has learnt in the prior levels leading up to it.

Rupert has been busy making progress on the main track for World One by experimenting with new exciting additions to the pre existing track, considering how amazing the previous track was the whole team cannot wait to listen to hear what he comes up with. The importance of a piece of music with regards to game design is highly important, as not only will is draw the people further into the game, but by creating an amazing auditory experience for the game, it’ll accommodate and accentuate other key features of the game as well making them more appealing to the player.

And as for the progress I have been making, I’ve been busy working on the finishing touches for the story of World One which you’ll be able to experience in the alpha build. I have finished the main opening and ending, which will both be told through cutscenes, what I am finishing up on is the in game dialogue which will occur throughout the levels. Currently speaking ¾ of this is complete, so by the next edition of this blog I should be finished. However, we will not be able to share any examples of the dialogue that appears in the game currently, as we feel that it could spoil the overall experience of playing the game, so in order to experience the dialogue for yourself you’ll have to play the alpha build.

From all of us at Forgotten Pixel, thank you so much for reading and we look forward to sharing more regarding Demon Debug very soon.