1. A matter of perspective

    I don’t have the patience to write an introduction today! Next time I’ll write lots of very pretty words for you. I promise.

    We’re thinking about changing up the game’s perspective a bit, to give us less restrictions with the 2D art. The way the game looks (with the placeholder assets still) with this changed perspective is like this:

    Like this the game still has the moody dynamic lighting, but without the restrictions that showing all of the depth puts on us. Now we can layer 2D art all over the place without having to worry about how it will look at every angle. It might seem like a downgrade in some respects, but I think it’s an artistic upgrade. What do you think?

    Also, we’ve been working on the character’s moveset, and added some placeholder animation for the aerial attacks. This can let you cross large chasms by launching yourself off of the enemies you hit.

    This adds a lot of depth and options to the combat and platforming, but needs to be carefully balanced to stay in the happy medium between hopelessly overpowered, and useless.

    I’ll try to make the next updates more frequent. There’s a lot of new stuff that I wanna show you, but it isn’t all, y’know, textured and stuff. But you guys don’t care about that stuff, do you?

  2. Editor clarification

    Hello Wicked Crushers (and Crushettes too, of course), I wanted to give a small clarification on the editor.

    Some followers noticed the lack of aesthetic customization in the editor’s current build. Although this could change, it is an intentional decision. In the editor, creators only decide the actual level design, and the aesthetics are procedurally generated, converting the 2D blueprint to a 3D environment like the ones seen in the gameplay footage.

    This helps keep the editor very easy to use, letting players concentrate on the actual gameplay aspect of the level design, rather than having to worry about the aesthetic.

    I will try to put together a short video in 1-3 days showing this off in action, as soon as I finish creating some placeholder textures and normal maps.

    Have a fantastic week everybody. :) Please continue showing your love and support.

  3. Concept Art, Editor, Music Update!

    Hi again everyone! It’s been an exciting week working on Wicked Crush. Please excuse me if I make typos due to sleep deprivation! The whole team has been crunching the past few days. Ryan’s made some cool concept art for three of the Beastmen races.

    As of now, the top, left and right races are Liluma, Cerati and Avian, respectively. Most of the town of Rosachelia is made up of these three races. What do you think of them?

    I’ve been crunching the past few days to put together a prototype of the new level editor. Right now it’s still a work in progress, but works and it’s fun and easy to use with a mouse or a gamepad.

    .

    I tried to borrow a bit from the look of a blueprint. In the full game, everything in the editor will also be drawn by Ryan, so please don’t mind my programmer art. When you’re finished and save your level, your design is automatically textured according to what tier you’re building for, turned into polygons for the 3D world, and decorated with scenery. As you unlock and build for new tiers, your selection of enemies and traps will change, so you can expect an ever-changing toolbox, and constantly evolving challenges.

    The left and right triggers (or mouse wheel if you’d rather use the mouse) let you zoom in and out for easier editing. When using the mouse and keyboard, all of the sidebars are clickable, and mapped to hotkeys for your convenience.

    That number floating around at the top is the level’s danger rating. Each enemy and trap has a certain rating, and each tier has a max total, to keep the levels balanced.

    I hope to release a video of this in action in a few days, and the first beta in a few months (if funding is successful).

    Finally, I’d like to share one last thing for now. This is one of the songs Kevin’s made for the game’s soundtrack, for your enjoyment. Check it out~

    Thank you so much for the support of our project. We’re a ways off from our goal, but we haven’t given up yet! Please continue to support us, and talk about the game with your friends. Every drop of buzz if crucial to our success.

  4. I was wondering if you guys are planning on including a few different attack combos? I noticed in the preview video that the player controlled charecter has a three attack animation. It would be really cool if we had some sort of projectile that we could use as well. Even if it's expendable and we have to buy it at the town, I think that would enhance the game play a bit. Keep up the great work and the song that you showed us on your second update is baller!
    stevelipinski

    We’re looking into the possibility of weapon upgrades that change the attack combo.

    The way it’s set to work currently is that upgrading your sword costs gold, which will increase damage dealt and add a slot. These slots can be filled with different types of material, each of with will have different effects, such as decreasing the time it takes for attacks to complete, increasing force of attacks, which effects the chance for attacks to interrupt and stun, and adding attacks to the combo (this last material would be rare).

    Something that wasn’t shown off in the preview is the ability to jump and attack in the air. Projectiles are also being looked into, mostly as expendable items. If they’re put in, it would likely work similarly to the knife and holy water in Castlevania, with one thrown directly horizontal and the other in an arc motion to account for specific situations.

    :D

  5. Any info about the main character and his seemingly living sword?
    pocketpigeon

    The script is still being written, so I can’t share a ton about this yet (core gameplay is very much the priority at this point of development). The player character in Wicked Crush is a manifestation of the player himself/herself, only speaking through specific dialog choices. In this world, your body seems to be that of a demi-beast. Reviled by humans and beastmen alike, the mixed blood of both runs through their veins.

    The talkative sword that you find beside you upon your sudden arrival in Rosachelia appears to be alive, and has a vested interest in your survival. Although you are unsure why you were suddenly brought to this world, you feel drawn to Dynidar, looming ominously in the distance.

    You will be able to choose your gender, skin color, hair color and possibly more if budget allows.

  6. User generated content can often end up rather questionable. Will players be required to playtest and complete their own levels before submitting them, to ensure that they are indeed winnable?
    peanutjellyandbutter

    Yes indeed, that is a very good question. Players will be required to complete their own levels without taking a single hit in order to submit them to the server. There are a few other safeguards that are being implemented, such as an algorithm to detect levels where the player can get stuck, and a system that will let the community blacklist levels that contain elements of luck.

    Not to plug the Kickstarter again (that’s a lie, I love to plug the Kickstarter), but if you want to know more, the FAQ section (“What will keep people from making impossible areas?”) answers your question in a lot more detail.

  7. So, it seems the ideal level to make is one that is difficult, so the person dies a few times, but not so difficult that they just give up and leave?
    swagslick

    I would say the ideal level is one that is difficult, but manageable with the proper strategy. Levels where players give up and return to town are less likely to get chosen by the server than levels where players die a few times but ultimately finish.

  8. Welcome to the Development Blog!

    Hi everyone, I’m working on a new game called Wicked Crush. There’s a lot of work done, but still lots more work left before completion.

    This blog exists to let you in on the development process with (at least) bi-weekly updates on the status of the project, along with insights on the particulars of the development team.

    Feel free to ask questions and I will answer them as best I can.

    For this first entry I’m going to talk about a variety of things that I think are interesting, while at the same time shamelessly plugging the Kickstarter.

    Read More

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