Designing Characters With Soul | Project Feline Devlog

[@RaymondCripps]

I freaking love characters

[@youssefbencheikh8637]

👍 me too

[@AsterWi]

me too, characters are my favorite part of a story

[@zentrixa]

THE LORE IS ABOUT TO GO DEEP ❤

[@cupofdirtfordinner]

your cast of them is an isekai anime, raymond

[@Sgt_Turkigreyvi]

Your characters are friggin cute.

[@CrabQueen]

We got a dad bear, a cat sister, and a human younger brother. We got a great foundation for a found family story.

[@CushionSapp]

Ah, fonts. An oft neglected topic in games.

[@RaymondCripps]

My secret life goal is to own a license to use New Rodin Pro DB in all my branding but it's a $500 font😭

[@maximillius939]

@@RaymondCripps start a kickstarter

[@skistorm739]

@RaymondCripps hope you have world building without the main focus not ruin, and also if it remembers me of the feeling of a game called cocoon in gameplay and inenchantment even if their totally differ.

[@MastermindAtWork]

@@RaymondCripps I thought you was using Eurostile or Michroma. I was looking for that font for years cause it looked very futuristic and Xbox 360-esqe.

[@locksquid749]

Just like sound design

[@PixelirPlus]

Oneshot is a great example of a low production cinema that tells an amazing story. It to only used text boxes and still images

[@CerealKiller]

Every indie developer should play OneShot imo.

[@mepblep]

Yeah, this also applies to other low budget rpgs made in gamemaker like Undertale and Omori

[@fily-jpg]

I literally thought about that when he talked about these

[@tamerkoh]

@@mepblep I would definitely say Ace Attorney is a good example of this, however not so much Undertale myself. I thought Undertale was still pretty decent, but the problem I had with its presentation was the lack of animation; it even caused some broken immersion moments for me. When I say lack of animation, I don't mean lack of animation frames for the animations to be smoother, but rather, just the general lack of any extra poses and expression changes in the spritework itself. The biggest example that comes to mind, and was one of my immersion breaking moments, was when Frisk is being chased by Undyne throwing spears. Because Frisk wears the same poker face the entire time, can't run (and doesn't even gain the ability to run in that section), and moves at a snail's pace, any tension that was supposed to be there was undermined by the fact that Frisk only has a slow-moving 2-frame walk animation during that entire section. If we had the ability to run in the game, even if the running animation was also 2 frames, that section would be much more believable, since anyone would actually be running in that situation and not taking a casual Sunday stroll.

[@mepblep]

@@tamerkoh I do agree that sometimes Undertale characters seem too unexpressive because they don't have that many animations. It will sometimes say that a certain character does something, but in their little overworld sprite or battle sprite, they don't actually do that and just remain stagnant or in their default animation. However, I don't think that the lack of expression in Frisk is intentional. Frisk is kind of meant to be a vessel for the player and the choices that the player decides to make, which is the main selling point of the game. Frisk is being controlled by the player, which is an idea that's further developed in Deltarune, so Frisk doesn't really do anything that the player doesn't make them do, except for certain moments when they gain control, so I would argue that the lack of expression there ties in with the lore.

[@seasonal02]

It would be kinda cool if a late game mission had you rescue felix from a collapsing stage or something by having him get on your back. Something that tied speed not only toward satisfaction but also some level of an emotional drive toward saving your friend.

[@VladUberhenriK]

I'm not sure why, but every time you post a new devlog I just get a great feeling and feel super motivated to work on my own games. It's really heartwarming hearing you talk this passionately about your characters and the story! I truly believe that by the end of development you will have a very solid game!

[@Selrisitai]

He's got me wanting to continue my novel! Inspiring.

[@jinnyplays]

This game is starting to look like a spiritual successor to sonic

[@Sgt_Turkigreyvi]

Mirrors edge except its 3rd person with cat ears.

[@Brindlebrother]

@@Sgt_Turkigreyvi Sonic Edge: Feline Catalyst

[@Prizzim]

@@Brindlebrother best description for this game I’ve ever seen

[@tropicalbreeze1164]

Sonic meets Pseudoragalia

[@orangeslash1667]

@@Prizzim It's says here on Steam that there's a good chance that this game could also be a COLLECTATHON, is something Sonic hasn't done. So the game could be more like Sly Cooper or Banjo Kazooie.

[@Legit_SuperFall]

"He looks like a normal boy... But he's an orphan."

[@maihib821]

Every time one of these devlogs come out I feel a new wave of inspiration and motivation for my own project, I've been working on a story for the last 12 years that I hope to turn into an animated series that uses a bunch of characters I drew when I was four. Most of the story is written out (with a little refining left to do), I'm just stuck at the modeling phase. But I chip away at it each day and get closer and closer to the goal.

[@Jelination]

@@maihib821 WOW 😳 can you tell me the name so when it comes out I can see it.

[@MintyMarshy]

I’ve been following the development of this game since around 2020 (I found this channel via the videos of making Gabi’s original model in Blender) and I’ve been following along ever since!! One part of a video game I really like and what seems to attract me the most to a game is the characters! Being a fan of the platformer genre like Sonic the Hedgehog. The stories and characters is what keeps me playing until the very end through the ups and downs of the gameplay. As you mentioned, seeing the story progress is really rewarding!! And I absolutely adore the concept of the characters in Project Feline, it honestly seems to be a mix of everything I love in a video game! Fast and engaging gameplay, that really allows you to experiment on how you play via Gabi’s momentum and speed, the inspiration from anime, and characters who at the end of the day really want to find some sense of belonging!! Keep up the wonderful work Raymond this was an inspirational episode!

[@RaymondCripps]

That's so nice of you to say. My friends get kinda confused as to why I obsess over character design so much. But what you said there, making something that is a mix of what you love about video games, that's what it's all about for me. It would consider it the highest privilege to make a game that becomes someone's favorite.

[@kettuward]

The cast already looks so fun to interact with just from the design alone!

[@tenbeat]

As a huge Mirror's Edge fan, yeah the stories of both games suck lol, definitely the worst part of Mirror's Edge 1, followed by the half of the game where you're in tight, confined spaces and don't have much room for creativity or movement beyond shimmying along edges. (The second game's story tries a bit harder... but it's still not good at all.)

[@possibly_ben]

ngl the hud kinda reminds me of sonic '06 (in a good way)

[@RaymondCripps]

Thank you, I take that as very high praise

[@I-OMusic]

Super interesting approach to writing, kinda like your own take on the "gardener" approach, there's a KZbinr called lucid you might resonate with on writing style. That conclusion about all the characters being outcasts in some way feels like it glues them together in a way that'd make a story flow naturally

[@korblborp]

RIP my childhood sketchbooks, i can't raid you for old ideas anymore ;_;

[@BRBergman]

stay winning bestie

[@jeranuspeedruns]

The illustration of Gabby and Felix together 8:19 is so precious 💖 😢 You can tell how much she cares for him. How is it that I adore these characters and the game hasn't been released yet. Can't wait for the final product, gl.

[@jeranuspeedruns]

She protecc, 🛡 She attacc, ⚔️ But most importantly... She got Felix's back ❤

[@TwinkubusDraws]

What is with the archetype of boyish blond mess heads and their surrogate big sister that they're emotionally dependent on??? I love this video, I love the thought you've put into these characters. Distilling and articulating the soul of a character is somethin' I spend ALOT of time on, and I love seeing the process that other people take and then watching them bask in their creation... so often it feels like observing something separate from yourself and appreciating it as its own entity.

[@lawrence9713]

Thats awsome that you still have all your sketch books. I dont have mine As a child you are way more open to creative unusual ideas. The older I became the more I lost this ability. I will definitely use the drawings from my children for future projects. This end screen gives this project some fine juice. Been watching your devlogs every now and then for 4 years now, and while I was sceptical about most of the stuff, these characters are awesome, they work really great, and as mentioned, this end screen gives so much personality to them, makes them really feel alive. Now it is getting interesting

[@RaymondCripps]

Thanks for sticking with my channel so long. I agree, there isn't a single creature more creative than a twelve-year-old. I didn't mention this in the video but its been difficult to revive these old ideas because I lost that ability too. After first leaving school, I abandoned those ideas and went with what everyone else told me, make small junk games for the app store and profit. After two years of that I burned out and almost quit game dev for good. It wasn't until I unlearned everything and made an effort to follow my inner child that things started going somewhat well. I reconnected with Gabi and allowed her lead where my game would go. We've had some car trouble and gotten lost a few times on the way. We may run out of gas before we arrive. But wherever we end up will be a lot further than if I'd kept making soulless junk. I've become more skeptical too. Your perspective and standards can change so much in 5 or 10 years. I've had a hard time working out what to keep, what to throw out, what is good enough and what isn't. But better to have 12 scrapped drafts than 0.

[@kazukitakamura1311]

Using old characters from past is always an interesting challenge.

[@cocoakodawari4192]

Aaaaaa I'm excited to see how this goes! Kinda gonna miss blue calder though ahahahaha! I'm seeing even more Gabi animation updates and they're all looking great!!! ❤️❤️❤️✨✨✨

[@punpundit5590]

For character writing, I find it very hard to beat Frieren: Beyond Journey's End for how quickly it sells the emotional bonds between characters, through the contrast between animation (or drawings, in the manga) and text.

[@Overdrive-19]

4:55 Felix eyes look like he likes to smoke that kush sometimes

[@CaiusNelson]

I think one problem is most games don't have a story that fits the game's style. One of my favorite game stories is Devil May cry 3, because while simple, it gives you just enough to care about what's going on while reinforcing the feelings of styling cool that you're supposed to have while playing the game. Doom 2016 is similar. A story that's simple but fits with the theming and style of your gameplay, will always be better than a story that tries to be complex/deep but just ends up keeping you from the main reason you're here.

[@RainsRizell]

About telling a story between levels what do you think about mass efeect / hifi rush type hub locations?

[@mlt_sk]

Easiest color cheat is to just use warm and cool colors (that are so in their respective context), thats why that blue and pink works well together, purple and yellow, green and red or orange, etc etc.

[@randallbro6749]

I got a bit of a Hi Fi Rush vibe now. Not a bad thing either! The animation is very charming!

[@RTJ3DCosplay]

i love the concept of these characters but that pose at 8 48, gabby holding felix like that ... i foresee an incident that would cause felix to be immobile (possible even fatally wounded) which is why gabby is holding him so tenderly like that but his arms are limp - i noticed his eyes are open and looking up but u didnt colour them in (based on this video editing) and if that's the case that would be a great story ! , gabbys running free from "insert plot" meets the felix and calder they go though adventures together (playing as felix some of the time?) building the bond, calder splits from them at a pivotal time in the plot due to his size forcing him to find another way round (maybe we get to play as calder for this bit and when we know hes escaped we revert back and do it again as gabby) something happens to them in this section that results in the exact pose you draw, perhaps with calder walking up and re-joining only to realise somethings wrong with felix, we as the player can then make the choice to leave him or to take him with us to receive help where decisions we make impact the end result from felix becoming 100% health, being paralysed or even succumbing to his wounds ? just a thought but either way im very much looking forward to your game lol

[@darkchachouke2614]

They're giving found family to be honest, and I'm so here for it

[@NoahTheGuyy]

In Level 3 of the book: Level Up! A Guide To Great Game Design (by Scott Rogers) there is a section that goes over making players care about characters. I suggest you read it anyway, but the suggestion I would have for making a character that you have to save is making the sister a character that actually helps you in the first section of the game, like her running after you and sometimes fighting or giving you health. When the character you have to save is held hostage, the player feels it in-game, because you don't have an ally that helps you anymore. I really like Felix's design and palette. Good luck on the game.

[@NotBigSurprise]

i never really had sketchbooks as a child, never had the urge to draw characters ...at least as far as i can remember i did make up characters and ocs, but never really developed on them _however_ during my teens i conceptualized my own world and my own story a world where certain people could manipulate a certain metal into different shapes, after forging it and combining it with a piece of yourself after casting it, the metal would take a certain shape, create a certain weapon varying from person to person, which would be your prime form and truly represent you the method would've been to put your hand in the forge, in the hot, molten metal, and pulling it out; the bond with it would allow you not to get hurt by it and, while you could try to bend and reshape the metal of others, it'd be incredibly difficult and take a lot of effort the story would take place in a world where the people capable of this had split into two groups: the ranged weapons group and the melee weapons group since the weapon you wielded was a representation of your soul, whatever you did with it and whatever happened to it would be reflected in it- and among these things, blood would tend to make people lust for more bloodshed the melee clan believed that it was possible to exercise self-control, while the ranged clan believed the danger was too high, and sought the extinction of the entire group in order to prevent a potential catastrophe the protagonist would be a sword wielder, first attacked by the ranged clan, but rescued by the melee clan they would train him, at first making sure that no cuts were ever made but eventually something would happen that would spill blood on his sword and from there there was no going back training would become much more serious, but also much more focused on self-control- now with cutting and slicing his mentor would eventually lose control during a lesson, and the protagonist would have had to defend himself the professor ended up being restrained, but the damage was done the protagonist would see the fact that restraint could be applied as a sign that, yes, even if the worst happens, catastrophe could be avoided later that night, he would go alone to the place where the ranged clan resided, but without the self-control of his teachers he would end up trying to slaughter them all from there, i was undecided on whether he'd succeed and move on to seek for other victims, or end up getting killed but, yeah, that was something i made

[@owli6348]

i feel like project felines character have some correlation to jjk (an anime) characters. calder is panda, gabi is gojo and felix is yuji. these are just gut feelings tho :p

[@kingkeesietv]

It'd be dope if Felix has trouble speaking politely. Not rude but tonedeaf. Almost like a wholesome naivete from his lack of parenting and education.

[@creativeghost7368]

While I do very much prefer the new direction with the story, I do still think that the original sister idea could still have worked very well if you introduced her in the first couple of minutes of the game, and only after that is when she gets kidnapped. Since that time is often used to teach the player how to play, the player could also be taught the important details of the story too before it even kicks off. That being said, while I'm not sure if Gabbie's sister will still appear as a character now, you did say there's going to be themes of "not belonging" with the main cast, so I feel like she could at least have a cameo at the end of the story, maybe to reunite with and comfort gabbie after what she had to go through, or maybe just to let her see that gabbie found somewhere she fits in. Regardless though, I'm very much looking forward to what you do with the story later on. Good luck!

[@BlueLeef]

Characters are my favorite piece of any media. Seeing you go through your sketchbook genuinely struck a chord because it's so often the ideas we have may sit In the back of our minds and dreams. They just take a little ironing out to be fully realized. You're doing a great job pushing forward, and you've given me a boost to work on my own personal projects too!

[@Bluepopcorn_]

Project feline kinda has started to seem like neon white which is a good thing but you should really play, it’s a really good game.

[@C4NDYCatz]

If you are looking for an effective way to make characters using only text boxes, I think Hollow Knight has some of the best characters despite the little amount of time most of them are shown. While characters like Hornet and Zote appear multiple times with recurring confrontations with the character, some characters like Elderbug have such a cult following just from a few lines of dialogue. People feel bad for him as he holds onto what he has left, others walk straight past him as he reaches out as if feeling betrayed and starved of communication. I don't even think its a case of "he's the first NPC so everyone knows him", I just think every Hollow Knight character is put there for a reason, as if they are on their own adventure and have their own life, not just a vessel of lore for the character. I'm not sure what kind of NPCs Project Feline will have, but I think it would be cool to give every NPC a purpose for existing instead of putting them there to fill empty space. I mean, you can use inanimate objects to do that! And by purpose I don't mean every NPC needs a shop or a quest or anything, just that every NPC has their own life, their own problems, etc.

[@glsh3982]

Wow, I've never thought to use nature to find good colour schemes. That's a really great idea 👍👍👍

[@PheoAo]

I've been trying to make stories for the characters I've been using in roleplays with friends, and my ideas for them changed a lot from back then. My ideas for them changed so much that I had to make an entire world with a deep past and a simple but complex magic system just so I can have everything about these characters make sense. And now that I made the world for them, my ideas for these characters grew even more that I'm getting headaches from all these ideas lol. Also I wanna say that your video came out at a crazy convenient time for me, I was forgetting the reason I was doing all this in the first place, and you helped remind me, so thank you Raymond.

[@MissyMona]

WHAT? don't get rid of her sister! just change her role. What if she's like a mentor, or like someone Gabby mentions sometimes? Or what if she's like a shadow the hedgehog type character that Gabby can compete parkour with? Lol You can still use her. Or even just make her a random npc.

[@cefcephatus]

This new character structure would make a very heart touching story. I'm curious to see how Felix would make bond with the player after he got kidnapped. And I hope you have a good plan for that.

[@Mischal24]

This has developed so much since the last time I saw it, it's amazing to see how incredible your game is becoming.

[@Lumiesfinetoo]

oh hey, i wishlisted this on steam a while back forgot about it and now i randomly stumble across the guy making it and man this looks awesome

[@lyr1kn156]

Stick around, feels very personal to watch this game grow. When it's out it'll feel all that much more meaningful.

[@Heyisnico101]

This is Amazing! Good Luck On Your Game Project. :)

[@SamiTheAnxiousBean]

I feel like Gabby could still HAVE a sister, but she could exist as a character that is mentioned sometimes by her, and not as a character that is actively involved within the story or matters too much, she could even be deceased by the time of the story, you did kill her after all xD

[@MrSofazocker]

tldr how one can spend 5+ years without direction or a vision on a game to make a living

[@TriangleHarder]

Ill only SAY this. IF YOU INTEGRATE YOUR COMMUNITY INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A GAME TOO MUCH IT STOPS BECOMING A GAME THAY NOBODY HAS SEEN BEFORE AND BECOMES STALE BREAD. Lets not let that happen here. This has style.

[@helloblocks.4310]

I think you've certainly come to learn some VERY important lessons about writing, and I certainly commend you for applying that to what you already had even if really, taking apart and rebuilding what you already wrote/designed is a chooore, but worth it I think. You have the Correct mindset in my opinion. What matters most when writing a story, I believe, above production value and marketability, is Sincerity, The message you want to tell, and How you want to tell it. Three things that can be hard for some to find for their story. But, thats kinda the job, so I think as long as one is passionate about what they want to tell, It'll come naturally. My favorite piece to take a look at this, is Undertale famous indie Hit of 2016. A very basic pixel art style, a story that does not seem all too grandiose, and just this overall feeling that it was made with a budget of three dollars and a dream. (It was) But it knows: To be sincere. The jokes and humor of the game are never in the expense of the story its trying to make, never really trying to be clever for the sake of it and thus ruin a moment. Its never trying too hard to be too funny, or be hip with the kids, or the times, it is very much what the creator thought would be insanely funny in some coding night, executed and timed well without overstaying its welcome. Its a very goofy game, and of that it is aware but it is not afraid to be Genuine, heartfelt, creepy, sad or even horrifying when it wants and needs to be. Is it a silly RPG about killing or not killing fictional characters that aren't real? Yes. Did it make me cry? Yeah me and many buddy It knows exactly The Message it wants to tell, The Themes it wants to tackle with it, what kind of characters And World it needs to tell its story, and It knows exactly how it wants to tell it; Through Gameplay, through MUSIC and through rewarding player exploration and curiosity. It manages to tell (Show, really) enough while also leaving enough for the player to interpret, to think about even long after the credits roll. And through the combination of these It managed to create an Insane following, sell an absurd amount and is now represented in Smash Brothers, but more importantly, it still talked about and remembered almost 7 years after. A game that opens on windows mode and has two whole options in the menu. Too which I will also add: Videogames are not movies, nor novels or comics. You have the control in your hands, and you are experiencing it in real times. As such, the story is not ONLY those moments where Character A and B talk and you have to...put the controller down. It is the active gameplay, the active actions of the characters, it is the enemies, the scenario, the music, the world, the secrets, THE Game. It can be a hard thing to exploit, but when you truly use all the aspects of the unique genre you're in that you can, you then can truly create one incredible, memorable experience without the need of a 200 million budget. Exhibit A: Undertale. Exhibit B: Dark Souls, Demon's Souls... tl;dr: video games. You can learn a lot when you analyze them! Also: Really love to see your devblogs and that you're still going! I came across them first when I was like 14 and reaally dreaming about putting my stories into Games, TV or whateever. I'm currently 19 and taking up art to one day hopefully put my own worlds into comics myself.

[@RaymondCripps]

Wow, those sum up my thoughts exactly. There's some more hidden sauce to that too. Sincerity is the key, however to tell a sincere story the author must be equally honest with themselves. You can sense when you're reading a story, listening to a song, or watching a movie by someone who doesn't have it figured out; it feels uncanny. I've had to put in a lot of work not just on the page but off the page to figure myself out and have confidence in my stories. This confidence doesn't appear out of thin air either; it must be suffered for and earned, and I hadn't suffered enough yet when I shared my very first ideas in devlog #2. This can't be faked or expedited. It takes time and uncomfortable introspection to figure out what truths, principles and value matter to you the most, and to decide they are important enough to justify investing years of time into writing a story to perpetuate them. This process has become more difficult for upcoming creators over the last 20 years. In a world where individuals are judged on an unprecedented scale on social media, sincerity is riskier and is often mocked. Social media also has its own incentives which can clash with an author's desire to be sincere. These factors have discouraged sincerity and paved the way for this detached, meek, irony-poisoned nihilistic attitude I observe in so much media today (especially from millennials). It's like they lack so much confidence in themselves that they decide to take nothing seriously, and then criticism won't hurt because they were "just joking guys" and they completely take out any skin in the game. That's why I personally can't sit through Rick and Morty or Marvel movies.

[@MiRoDevYT]

EARLY GANG!

[@whatareplates]

I absolutely LOVE what you did with the characters, and getting to see your process was really cool! I feel like your video got at the really important elements in a succinct way that made it very easy for me to follow, and as an artist myself, I found myself nodding along with everything you said like "Yes! Thoughtful character design!!" Out of everything, I only have one gripe (if you could even call it that) with how your characters ended up. I feel that Calder's color palette is a little conflicting as the others have moderately saturated, dark colors as their main colors (the green and blue), but Calder's main color is a lighter, desaturated red and I fee like it makes him not quite fit with the rest of the group visually. I did a mockup just for fun and to test things out to see if I could help in any way, and I found that a darker _slightly_ more saturated crimson looked really nice on him, and additionally changed the color of his vest pockets to be the same as his belt buckle so his design didn't have too many different colors going on. I ended up loving the crimson and gold on his overalls and I felt like the red especially brought the whole trio together very well! However, you are the dev!! I personally prefer these changes to him, but the final decision is always yours and you should go with what you think is best! I just wanted to see if I could provide any helpful insight to your process :) Overall, I LOVE the direction you're taking this game in and I will definitely be playing this when it comes out! Keep up the great work!!

[@RaymondCripps]

Thanks for taking the time. It took me a long time to come to the conclusions I did in this episode. But I feel like I'm on the right track if it made someone else care enough to be as thoughtful about the color choices as I was. I'm glad to hear this resonated with you

[@Bowl_of_Cereal_Gaming]

Seeing the game play of the fleshed out level at the end always gives me that special pure excitement to just sit down and sink hours into a game that rivals the enjoyment of 12 year old me playing minecraft without a care in the world. I can't wait for this game to come out!

[@amor1064]

I might just be out of the loop ,but to whom does this color scheme (9:05)belong to

[@jokered1133]

reminds me of the Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails trio, but the art, and commentary surrounding your characters makes me imagine playing the game and memorizing what piece of dialogue plays at what moment in the level, for example Felix screams "Watch out! There's enemies ahead", and then Calder replies " Press the [space] button to jump, while in the air press [Jump] again to activate an attack!", sorta like how the og Sly Cooper series breaks the fourth wall for a moment to explain to the player how to proceed, yeah that screwed with my head as a kid and made me think of how do they know? that they are in a video game? but overall your game reminds of classics from ps2-ps3 era.

[@Ovundah1]

Love the video and love all your hard work!

[@Jacob_Animates]

I was thinking about the sister gifting the tech to gaby as a tutorial with her explaining how to use and stuff. Like one should when giving an very advanced gift

[@ZILtoid1991]

Whatever story ideas I used to have as a child, I had to realize they were so bad I had to completely scrap them. However every new idea was a take on my previous one combined with whatever media I was consuming at the time. Half-Life and Unreal are still big influences on my more serious game ideas despite nowadays I'm going 2D for the most part.

[@BoofGalls]

"write people, not characters" or something of the such

[@CerealKiller]

Pretty cool stuff man, actually trying to make something on my own and I'm going through some of the same challenges as well. Keep up the good work.

[@RealityRogue]

The sister idea could work if you make something like an opening "prequel" segment that immediately lets you use the game mechanics as you play as the experienced sister. You can build the relationship with their younger main character. This can establish how their connection was before, and it can contrast how the main character acts after whatever event happens to the sister

[@landsquid9509]

Guh? New devlog? Ayo?

[@JoJosLover42]

Make at least one of the main characters die a very traumatic death.

[@portalj123]

NEW PROJECT FELINE VIDEO LETS GO

[@timmygilbert4102]

😮 I hope we can unlock these design as skin for fun, with the same naive rendering as you design them as a child, would be fun to play with old version 😊

[@mr_indie_fan]

Yoooo Project feline is back 👏

[@xrosslegends1279]

Sorry to ruin it for you but your cast's color scheme is basically the original Ben 10 crew's colors (Max=Red, Ben=Green, and Gwen=Blue). XD Once the thought came to mind I couldn't unsee it. XD

[@drenerd510]

11:58 SO REAL MMAN. Games are ust becoming playable movies and i dont like this direction of gaming

[@VideoklipBG]

I've always thought the same way about how all iconic video game characters are written. It doesn't take much creativity, especially in modern game production, to slap some technologically advanced high fidelity graphics, lip sync, voice acting and expect your product to take off, where it'll be seen as just that - a bland, boring commercial product. The recipe is quite simple, but it's not easy to master. Take Undertale, Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, Metroid, OG Doom and even some modern titles like Stray and Rain World, just to give an example. What do all these have in common? Little to no voice acting, no extreme budgets up in the hundreds of millions that can't be recouped, no holywood-like cinematic universes. Just wonderful pieces of art with unique and extremely memorable characters, and text dialogue. Add in some good audio design accompanied with a banger soundtrack and you're 90% there.

[@dreamingacacia]

C-A-R as part of the name, the first name that popped up on my mind was Caesar.

[@yomi4853]

14:27 WTF this movement looks so good and much much better, keep improving my guy!

[@sushijpat7731]

This devlog is especially relevant and relatable to me. Really inspiring work! Ever since I was younger I have been aspiring to become an illustrator, to create works akin to League of Legends splash-arts or other similar quality pieces. Recently though, this dream has evolved into wanting to create my own characters, worlds, and stories, to be able to evoke emotions similar to the ones I felt interacting with games growing up. I have devoted most of my life to learning how to draw, honing my skills in the craft, leaving me unequipped in the other facets required for creating games as you do. My dream has not sacrificed anything in its scope, just added a lot more to my plate. I don't know where to even start in creating my own games, but one day I hope to publish and develop titles to share my ideas. I've been following Project Feline for a little while now, and though I don't hawk my notifications searching for new devlogs 24/7, I don't think I've ever been disappointed when I see one. Quite the opposite, actually. I patiently await for your works to come to fruition, and I'm glad that this project can serve as my inspiration moving forward. From this video, I'm surprised how similar we seem to be, which gives me hope that one day I'll be able to create alongside you, sharing my world and characters with others. Thank you, great work, and keep it up! I'm so excited to play!

[@LinkTahuterasuSpirit]

Something that I like about this devlog series is how you convey the creative process. Over the course of these devlogs we've seen this one project go through many iterations, from mechanics changing or being scrapped to the troubles in finding the right kind of level design philosophy. I personally found this series when you were working on the first version of Gabi's model, when I was trying to learn about various of way to make cel shading in blender, and found the project interesting. One of the things that made me find it interesting was seeing the creative process change and evolve overtime as the project starts gaining its footing. You might feel a bit silly about sharing the very early story concept with Gabi's sister, only to realize that it wasn't the story you wanted to tell with the project. But that just shows another part of the creative process, idea's changing and evolving overtime. A world that I've been developing for a while originally started as something completely different. But overtime, as I thought about the idea, I found something that I liked better, and have been working on refining that. At one point in the process, the way two key character's relationship was set to be was a bit different in my head. But as I kept thinking about it, thinking about how the story would go, I realized that I was wanting to go in a different direction with their relationship and how it would develop. So I made some changes to their dynamic to make it work. Your creation process for Calder and Felix, and how they relate to Gabi, kind of remind me of some of the things I've had to work through. I find the common thread you have of feeling displaced an interesting thing for this trio. While I don't know much more than that, I can picture the potential for many heartwarming moments between them as they find common ground. I'm interested in how your story will eventually unfold, and I hope you can be happy with the result when you're done with it.

[@peterlantz7966]

I wanted to mention, voice actors aren't too bad cost-wise People are expensive, yes. Per hour a voice actor is more expensive than normal, yes. But you only hire them for like 2 hours of work each roughly for a game with few cutscenes as long as you use them towards the end of the project (when story is solidified). The most expensive part of voice acting in my opinion is dev time chopping up voice clips and naming them. If you're an efficient sound designer (and someone who can code in a clean system to attach audio to text), that might not be as daunting of a task. But your game might not need it if voice isn't done during gameplay. I use voice actors for my game because my first one (Castle on the Coast) was partially a children's game where kids might not be able to read yet, and my second one (Veil) is an action game where dialogue can happen while jumping around, so I want people to hear the lines as they play. Also it can take a well written story and emphasize emotions if you use the actors correctly (explain the target feeling of each line, let them do a take, give them one piece of feedback, retake, then move on). Castle on the Coast tells a lot of its story through HOW the characters say each line and not just through my writing.

[@crusaderanimation6967]

14:50 Well ,seeing this characters my mind went ( and still goes) into minorities with super powers being oppressed in the future dystopia trope/type of story. And i kinda had this idea of telling that kind of story from perspective of conscripted solider of the "regime", Because like usually with those type of those stories enemy soldier are just bad guys, with mask. So idea that came to my mind for a story that would ask question Tolkien asked "[...]what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would rather have stayed there in peace."

[@baalfgames5318]

Can I play as Calder? Because he’s the only character out of those three I'd want to play as. You say "characters with soul" but then have two generic human characters, plus Calder who actually looks cute and soulful, but doesn't look like you can actually play as him, so he ends up just being there to taunt people who'd rather play as him than the generic humans.

[@Morenob1]

Wish more games would put limited frames on cel shading characters not only for fighting games like Guilty Gear but also adventure games or even Disney cartoon games.

[@cyanlos01]

What if Gabby's sister was an antagonist though? Not necessarily a villain, but more like a rival, a nemesis that's always challenging her. And the best part? Nobody actually knows she's Gabby's sister.

[@sinistarman]

gosh I wish I put more time into spit balling ideas. your effort inspirers me. I hope one day I can be better with my time management and can tell the stories I wanna tell. As for project feline, I eagerly await gabi's journey with her new friends.

[@LaloMartins]

“When I boot up Project Feline I don't want to be treated to a two minute expository cutscene” ⬅️ and here in a nutshell is why I only buy indie games these days (or, rarely, a very very old AAA that's on sale). Not the cutscenes specifically, although tbh that's a factor too, but the respect for the player's time, the awareness of what a game's primary job is. ❤

[@ironicnotsavage]

It's always easy thinking of a concept but hard to fully flesh it out with character and actual plot points. I'm working on a romcom manga and I went it to feel unique but I'm a little worried that I'm making the designs of the supporting characters a little to generic

[@NotBigSurprise]

around the time of my second year in college, i picked up digital music as a hobby, and i'd write prompts as the basis for my songs one song eventually led to the creation of a character her name was copper she started off as a bandit wearing a hood, but then i further developed her she lived in a world similar to the world of avatar, except with the right amount of will and confidence, you were able to manipulate anything you could conceive; still, people would be proficient in one area, and trying to stray from it was incredibly difficult i ended up writing a lot of the backstory, and even the first uhhhh... episode? issue? either works but eventually i kinda dropped it as i lost the drive to write don't you just love potentially undiagnosed adhd the backstory was centered around a world where the manipulation of anything was frowned upon, seen as something unnatural, as some kind of deal with the devil, until a member of the royalty ended up accidentally making fire reflexively, triggering a complete revolution eventually things would start to settle as the strongest gained the most power, and they would agree to separate the land into kingdoms prince richard came from a long lineage of monarchs, who valued strength and ability over everything as a child, his father would tell him and his siblings all about the different stories of their ancestors, and instill pride in their traditions- such as the picking of the new king via a duel to death between siblings but as the king grew older, his strength would diminish richard slowly started to resent his parents, seeing them as weak and frail, and he'd begin to despise the idea of aging this led him to kill both of them, and the day after both of his siblings in a duel he became king, but he still despised the idea of aging so, in secret, he learned the art of manipulating life itself, and he would kill prisoners of his to keep himself young and strong he became so obsessed with power and strength, that he declared himself the peak of his lineage he became so obsessed with power and strength, that he decided that the common populace shouldn't have access to manipulating anything, leading him to send troops to towns with the purpose of frightening people and making their will and confidence dwindle this did not stop attempts to dethrone him, but none of them succeeded copper was born shortly before one of those attempts, and she would end up orphaned by it she was then adopted by one of the rebels who survived, a gentle old man who was friends with her parents she and her two adopted siblings would be cared for and trained by him in a small town far from the capital, where many of the surviving rebels would take residence in the plot of the story starts with her and a few others from her generation taking down a tax collector to get money, hoping to help in her house this would cause patrols to come to the town and investigate, with the finding of many former rebels including her adoptive father she decided to go to the capital to rescue them, or at least rescue him, and a few others came along with her they managed to free some of the rebels, including the old man, but before managing to escape the prison he got killed jump cut to a few years later, part 2 would begin the town would be raided by patrols frequently, although managing to stand its ground mostly unscathed copper and a few others would hunt for resources and try to disrupt resource transport headed towards the capital something would happen, i don't remember what it was anymore but it likely had to do with redemption, that would prompt copper to try and go take down the king she and her siblings would cause a big dent, but eventually get captured but right before execution, the rest of the town would appear and raid the palace the king would take matters into his own hands, as he usually did, but this time things went differently copper would deal the final blow and after that, the kingdom would be restructured, with her brother being deemed the best candidate as a temporary ruler while a new governing system was planned

[@omeganappie]

Hell yeah, misfits and found family! I love these kinds of stories!

[@andrewpullins8817]

Story is my favorite part of games as well. I played and enjoyed mirrors edge, but I honestly do not remember anything about the character you play as or the fact that you were trying to save her sister. On the other hand I remember many details from playing the Witcher 3. That game has a lot of great content. I was even surprised in one quest line with the Dandelion and his girlfriend. I won't spoil it but something happens to one of them and I was legitimately angry at the perpetrator despite the fact that these two characters were new to me. They did such a great job of making me care about them that I felt like it was my duty to hunt down the perpetrator and make them pay for harming my friends.

[@beat0s]

bear

[@Qba42069]

I would love to see more devlogs about character design!!

[@MGUM_]

There are quite a Few Characters of different Games i liked, but the one Game that sticks out to me is Probably Arknights. It is Pretty Lore and Story Heavy while mainly focusing on Worldbilding and the Characters more secondary, but because there is a rich world, all the Characters can be really detailed and tie into each other, while having there own unique struggles and goals, With different Personality's . My favorite Characters are: Provence, Rosmontis. And the 2 event story's Il Sirakusano and Lonetrail. In terms of sharing your previous Story Ideas, i feel like it isn't too bad. firstly It isn't Completely ruled out that Gaby´s sister dosn't exist at all ;D and secondly Knowing the Process of how these Characters came to existence already gives, at least me, some kind of connection.

[@HikasCorner]

Just a head's up: You are making a high-octane movement focused game where the character you play as is a catgirl, set in a story that talks about not fitting in. You **WILL** have a queer community, so be ready for our silliness :3

[@insomnolant6043]

Degenerates are gonna degenerate. The rest of us will loathe you silently so as not to get censored, until that's no longer relevant.

[@RaymondCripps]

I appreciate anyone who enjoys my work but can we please not bring sexuality into it? It's an innocent game made for a community of all ages. I'd appreciate for things to be kept age-appropriate.

[@HikasCorner]

@@RaymondCripps I'll do my best! But again, it's a catgirl on the internet, we know what crowd that also attracts. Silly stuff aside, I love movement games and this one looks great, I can't wait for it to come out. Know that you're doing a great job

[@insertgamertag5369]

@@RaymondCripps its not really the sexual aspect, its more that we'll emphasize with the story and also for some reason movement based games tend to draw us in and we tend to be silly little goobers so just be prepared for that :3

[@ctrl_x1770]

(I realize you already made your characters, and that you most likely wont see my comment. But I'll write it anyways because I spent a lot of time on it.) How about you make Gabi's sister lead you through the world in tips and dialogue? But do so in prerecorded audio tapes rather than actual live, on-the-spot advice. This could potentially achieve multiple things. - First and foremost, this allows you to flesh out the character of Gabi's sister. Much like how GLaDOS from the Portal game series talks over your gameplay, thus creating an interesting and engaging character even without direct interaction. - Second, you make Gabi's sister useful to the players in a game-mechanics perspective. This means even if the player doesn't actually like the character of Gabi's sister, they understand the importance of the character through gameplay. This is similar to the character Fiora from Xenoblade chronicles, who was the main damage dealer in game combat. After she is kidnapped (a major plot point), you feel the importance of her absence through direct gameplay, i.e. being less powerful during combat. - Third, through the "prerecorded audio" format, you can explore the character dynamics between Gabi and her sister, with focus primarily on Gabi's dependence on, and desire for her sister. This would fix the largest story error in Mirror's Edge - people did not care about Hope's sister nor understood the relationship between her and Hope, because she only came out during the quite rare animation sessions that many players simply skipped.

[@jonahabenhaim1223]

0:47-1:11 I mean to be fair it all depends on Personal taste. Their is a lot of Care put into Mainline Rayman, games, mainly the Worlds, the Visuals. He’s far from bad and Soulless . Even if the Plots are Basic. As for Sonic, Let’s face it, the main Problem with him is that the Gameplay styles have been Widely Inconsistent, and the games have always been flawed in my opinion theirs been no One Size fits all. I do Think that Overall in order to Craft a perfect game. You need to have a perfect Balance of Gameplay and Story, and I Agree with you, While I’m slightly disappointed that their won’t be voice acting, which in my opinion brings in a lot of life in the character. I understand your creative decision and I hope you can find a Smart Work around.

[@LoliconSamalik]

For a game built on the foundations of speedrun platformers, it does sound like a good idea to keep the story brief and impactful. With that said, as someone who loves replaying these kinds of games, I do hope the skips on the second playthrough are quick and snappy. You're making an home arcade game at the end of the day, so having cutscenes and other micro-slogs can bring down the pace when trying to go back and S-rank everything while you're adrenaline is still going and you're in "the zone". Devil May Cry 5 cutscenes take a long time to skip just to fade out, but funnily enough, turning on pre-production live-action cutscenes just has the video delete itself and you're back in the game already! lol

[@viciouspink6247]

I wouldn't use the rachet and clank remake for characters with souls. The remake butchered rachet and clank as characters massively. Very generic, and well... lacking of soul, is how I would describe them.

[@FoxworthyGames]

5:30 I really wish I kept my childhood sketch books. I saw one while cleaning out my old room at my Grandparents' house some years back, and it was filled with little doodles of a guy who kinda looked like a mix of a chain chomp and a goomba (big mouth, spike teeth, but with feet), named Chompy, and he was placed in this sidescroller-looking platformer game. The doodles were so bad and had so many spelling mistakes that it made me cringe from looking at it, so I threw it out. Only a little later did I think about it more and realize that I've been making games my whole life, and that book was the first REAL time I did it. They were awful, but they were mine

[@ErisCalamitasButFR]

i have a magical hero story (A la Lolirock, Winx Club and... MLB) where there's a group of people that have magic jewels that give them elemental powers and they become superheroes The first draft of this story had the characters set in high school which i know, is very original, but shush. anyway, the characters were set in high school and i had issues making that work, so now the main characters have been aged up to be young adults, mostly, and the main group works at the bookstore one of the characters owns, and they go out fighting peoples emotions that get out of hand because that idea is absolutely incredible and is the only good thing i have to say about one of my inspirations for this story i have a lot of the plot vaguely structured in my head, which isn't the best thing i could do with this but putting my thoughts to paper is hard i don't enjoy it, right now I'm just SLOGGING through designing the characters so that they're a cohesive unit and look good both in and out of transformation which is... fun, very fun, it's the most fun I've had in a long while (it is not please save me) so... yea, that's what I've been doing with my childhood ideas

[@LoneKuroRaifu]

Can't wait to play your game someday! And hope you're doing well!

[@alkeryn1700]

Man it's amazing to see how your skilled leveled up through the years.

[@captainstroon1555]

The webcomic I'm working on can be traced back to my childhood makebelief stories as well. A whole lot has changed, the MC isn't a space cat anymore for example, but a lot of the original DNA is still in there.

[@blurrydawgo5403]

Yeah, I think you've got a lot of good stuff going, man. Try and see if you can also apply the themes of alienation to the setting or presentation - as they say, the world is itself a character. Though I gotta counter the Sonic disrespect here. He doesn't grow or change because he's already a really cool guy. You don't need to know a million little details about him to find him interesting - what you see is what you get. On that subject: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKK4d6mol72Hd5Y

[@trajectoryunown]

Mirror's Edge is very lacking in story. Mirror's Edge 2 does a lot better with this, actually allowing you to interact with other characters instead of just telling you about them. (Plastic is great.)

[@eclipseslayer98]

9:06 Spongebob? Edit* One Punch Man is a prime example of how a good story can make do without good art.

[@mirocle1196]

Before this video, I was a bit interested in the game but now that I hear you vocalise my exact thoughts on videogame storytelling this has become the game I'm most looking forward to releasing. If Ultra Kill is "devil may doom", this is "a hat in celeste gravity rush adventure 2".

[@tropicalbreeze1164]

This looks fun and inspiring. I too just like jumping into games and experiencing their world as I go for escapism and having good characters you enjoying being with (or as) in these worlds makes the escape have more depth and layers.

[@gomolemomolefhi8929]

0:29 You took the words from my soul man, been making a mobile game for 2 years and writing a good story takes a cake off your plate leaving ya empty and trying to fill that emptiness....with nothing....good luck and forgott to subscribe to your channel dkw.