Should I Add Secret Caverns to My Open World Game? [ Devlog 5 ]

[@advancenine]

🎮 Play the Night Stones Demo Now 🌙👉 store.steampowered.com/app/2300340/Night_Stones

[@georgelikesdogs8976]

Love all of the progress! I'm no artist, but I think it would be cool if the cover art demonstrated some of the elements in the game, such as the day/night mechanic. Maybe the cover art could be half day/half night with the stone in the middle? I think it would stand out really well on a store page!

[@advancenine]

Now this is a good idea. I love it. Thank you!

[@georgelikesdogs8976]

@@ShaolinDave oooh yess i like that

[@iheart_honkers]

An idea for a cover image: A night stone sitting on a mountain during the day, The background would be day but everything through the crystal (what its covering) wouled be night and wherever the sun is covered would be the moon

[@cocoakodawari4192]

Hello! I was absolutely BLOWN by all the cover art and progress you showed for this new devlog! But I had a thought when it came to the cover art! c: Regarding the design style of the character for the cover art, maybe take a couple screenshots of the model in like a tpose or a pose or something and do a turnaround! Like the ones you would see animation studios use. Ooh! And maybe you could prep a little photoshop document or pdf with your inspirations for a style (anime, Windwaker Zelda, kirby-like, etc.) you'd prefer the artist to work in and maybe even colors and color schemes (you can even color pick from your game screenshots or put your screenshots into a color palette generator like Coolors) I believe these are called inspiration boards! These could also help you pick out what you expect from the artists you would work with and who to choose based on specialty! Can't wait to see the rest of your progress! 💎💎💎 (Oh! And maybeeee fans could be called "Gems" "Little Stones" or "Shinies"!)

[@advancenine]

Yo! This is some solid feedback that will help me alot. I truly appreciate you taking the time. I'm on it with the inspiration boards. And your fan name ideas are amazing! I'm having a tough time deciding but I think my fave is "Little Stones". You'll hear it in the next devlog...

[@cocoakodawari4192]

@@advancenine can't wait to see more progress yayayay!!! 💚💚💚

[@FireallyXTheories]

​@@advancenineYeah, even trashy mockups or greyboxing can help too if you have a specific camera shot in mind. Basically, don't shy away from giving vusual aids for anything you want that's hyper-specific as well as describe it, maybe sit down and chat with the artist if you can. Also be sure to hire someone who's versitile (especially in art styles. I advise against one-style artists unless it's exactly what you want) and flexible that's willing to iterate and show you in-progress shots and work with you each step of the way so it gets you what you want in the least destructive way. The closer to game design or concept art your artist is, the better because they're specifically trained in iteration, flexibility, ans versatility and are used to tossing out (or just moving it to a personal portfolio) pieces clients aren't necessarily happy with.

[@MVARTZ]

Yup! Include cover art you like, or specific parts that are awesome! Anything that can help the artist understand your vision and give him/her direction is perfect.

[@human-ft3wk]

@@advancenine little stones sounds a little condescending to me personally

[@hamzahgamedev]

One Of THE MOST ANTICIPATED GAME in my Wishlist right now. Your devlogs are helping me so much in creating my own open world game. Thank you!

[@advancenine]

You wishlisted it!? Thats the best possible way to help me and I truly appreciate it!

[@sandydarkfall]

Honestly the cover art on the first one is gorgeous. Even in the night time atmosphere. Making that scene day time could also be very pretty

[@Z3ROR]

I agree. Maybee the character can be swapped with something more fitting to the game, but the background is awesome and appealling.

[@keshavkd1]

Using the same image and splitting it down the middle with one half representing daytime and the other half representing nighttime would be perfect in my opinion.

[@foldupgames]

I agree. Plus, if I'm playing a game called NIGHT Stones, do I really want a cover with daylight art? No.

[@advancenine]

Wow guys this is really helpful and insightful feedback. I really appreciate this feedback. I'm definitely too close to the problem at this point so I REALLY appreciate your fresh perspectives!

[@Z3ROR]

@@advancenine I gave this idea a second thought. My photographer and designers mind couldn't let this go, haha. I think i have an idea that will work for you. My suggestion is to use the this first image as a composition/template to recreate the whole thing in 3D. You got the 3d models of the game. Convert those game models into higher detailed versions (and keep the cartoony look ofc). Maybe you can even add one of the Night Stones in this scene where the character touches it with his hand to show some action in the image with showing the key mechanic of the game. That image will be self-explanatory about the key mechanic of the game. Anyone would understand what's the game about by looking 2 seconds at such image and that is exactly what you want. Give it a thought. Good luck!

[@_AshishKumar-jk9uh]

Your game have some of the greatest ideas that I have ever seen

[@advancenine]

Wow that is such a nice thing to say. Thank you. I’m putting the finishing touches on the trailer now and I have to admit: you haven’t seen anything yet :)

[@Surfboarder4]

This game looks to be coming together nicely. Amazing work my friend!

[@advancenine]

Thank you soooooo much for the rad supportive comment 😄😄

[@MrAppleIos74]

A word from a french : Merci pour tes updates, j'adore ton travail !

[@advancenine]

Aww thank you for the super kind words! Especially after i disgraced your beautiful language with my poor pronunciation :)

[@Nikeshan]

And with this video I have clicked on the coveted notification bell ... I have only clicked it on 3 channels in my decade of loosing time on KZbin , can't wait for the next one, I might even join the discord after the next one who knows haha

[@advancenine]

Oh wow! That means a lot to me. Thank you so much. What a cool thing to say. You were smart to miss the discord opening. I made so many mistakes and was overwhelmed by the response but I think everything is working great now. I think 🧐

[@akitaropiquet7580]

I'm French and your Bézier pronunciation is on point ^^

[@advancenine]

Really? Thats great to hear. I actually used google voice to hear these words in French so I practiced. But the reality is, I just wanted to take a big bite of sourdough bread on camera 😀😀

[@D01Light]

So i'm not the only french here lol

[@zachariasstarlid5365]

The blue color on the houses might be too saturated. Good luck with your game. It’s very interesting to follow your journey. 💕

[@64bitrobot]

I have no way to know how you've given art direction to previous artists, but a good way I've found to get results is to create a proper art direction document; when I was making a board game with a friend and we hired an artist, we had a paragraph of detail for every piece of art we wanted, along with reference images for inspiration and other assets we wanted considered. We might have gotten lucky, but the artist we hired banged it out of the park with the original designs, and it only got better from there. So for Night Stones, I'd suggest a variety of screenshots from the game, a couple of reference arts from other games that you'd like to influence the style of your cover art, and include the previous attempts, mentioning what you liked and disliked about each. Lastly, make sure to look for illustrators and not designers, what you want is a beautiful illustration of your game brought to life.

[@advancenine]

Really good feedback. I truly appreciate it. Thank you sooooooo much!

[@iamsushi1056]

Great news! I got Steam to work finally and was able to wishlist NightStones! (very tiny nitpick, but it feels better as one word NightStones than as two, Night Stones, for some reason to me)

[@advancenine]

Thanks so much for the wishlist! It’s the best possible way to help me and I truly appreciate it. And good call on the title. Thank you!

[@Tylerjms7]

Being a sort of designer myself, my thought is that you should heavily emphasize the “day-night” idea of the game in the art since it so integral to the mechanics of the game. Maybe a split in the middle with the day on the left and a few points of emphasis, then the night on the right with a few of the night highlights (for example a scene from the cave). For the characters, I’m always drawn to action scenes. For example, maybe show the main character in flight in between the scenes, the action makes me want to try out the flying mechanic in your game. Anyway, hope these thoughts are helpful in some way, enjoying your content and your process. Keep at it, watching you work through this project is seriously inspiring!

[@advancenine]

Your feedback is super helpful. Thank you. I will absolutely include this feedback in the next version :)

[@ThyTrueNightmare]

Not sure if you have done it yet as I have only just now seen this video. I'm a programmer so art isn't my speictly but when I need concept art of something similar I provide the artist with as much as I can, I even do drafts of what I am thinking off but what is probably more important is researching for the correct artist, no point trying to hire a realistic artist for a cartoony like thumbnail!. Joined the discord, look forward to more

[@emperor8716]

Can't wait for this. I've been sick for the past few days so I haven't been able to work on game dev as much but hopefully this gives me some inspiration.

[@guzezz]

That would be great to have system like "If you use night stone, you get older by 1 day", so the ending could depend on count of night stone uses. Interesting twist in a storyline

[@advancenine]

I love this idea so much. I’ll definitely be adding some time effects to the game. Thank you!

[@stressley3106]

When you walked through the water at the end of the video, a thought occured. What if there were seasons that interacted with the world. Making water, or even ponds / lakes dry up / fill up during certain seasons. (Un)locking areas / rewards / etc. you can only visit during certain times. Things like that make revisiting areas you've already been to much more fun and make the world feel even more alive. You could also apply this to areas being overgrown in summer, but accessible during winter. Im sure theres many many more applications. P.S. You're doing great!

[@advancenine]

This is such a good idea! Thank you so much for this!

[@igorvich1988]

Love the updates! So nice to hear you talking about what you're doing! I did notice a small typo at 0:50 though, it says repsonsible instead of responsible ;)

[@bywavy]

big same en goed gezien ook :)

[@advancenine]

OMG what a #noob mistake. I'll fix it. Next devlog: how to use a spell checker in Yarn Spinner! Thank you!

[@rob-rendell]

Hi! Loving the devlog series :) One small suggestion: it would be nice if the character's facial expression changed when the idle animation plays. Their current expression is sort of smiling/determined, which is good for when they're on the move doing something, but when they're impatient or bored it doesn't really fit. I don't know if it would be worth the effort, though... you've rigged the body for animation, but I don't imagine you've set up a way to vary the eyebrows and mouth shape. OTOH perhaps if you rigged the eyebrows and mouth, you could animate them at other times too, like when the character is conversing with someone.

[@Ruby-HeartFire]

I also agree that the first cover was the closest, but should include day shifting into night or vice versa, and gradient across the screen through the dawn/dusk colors. I do think the character is a better focus than the night stone, however. I believe him sitting looking out across the adventurous land shifting from day to night better captures the mood and feel of your game. It balances the dreaminess and the adventurousness. Also, facing away does more than help shift focus to all the little details in the distance that you want to explore. It also avoids the face problem, and allows the player to more easily identify with the character. Still, the character as he's currently drawn in the first cover is slightly too realistic to match the in game character. Slightly more cartoonish proportions would help, though it could still be slightly more realistic than in game. I hope this helps, I enjoy seeing how it's coming along!

[@robertdavies5139]

Awesome... You're back 😊 been looking forwards to more of your Dev log 😎👍

[@advancenine]

Thank you! I'll never be gone that long again!

[@UnityGamer2077]

Please keep update your devlogs, you are doing great job!

[@Nounsi_Dev]

Yeha new devlog from my new fav series

[@advancenine]

You were the first comment! So cool. I didn't even know you could comment before the video released if it was a Premiere. You taught me something :) Thanks for the rad support!

[@Nounsi_Dev]

@@advancenine well im an indie dev as well, so watching your series really inspire me 😊

[@MaxChristopher_0]

Been checking your channel everyday since your last 2 devlogs can't wait everytime thanks for making these video's

[@stiankallhovd7041]

Great to see your progress! I'm in no place to offer assistance with art yet, but maybe a few years from now. 🙂🙂 However, I finally sat down to make some music for my own game (which doesn't even have 3D models or 2D art at this point). I was able to create a song I feel good about, which is a lot of fun! It makes my story seem even more alive than just in script form. It really is a lot of fun when we're further ahead in our game projects than just the story scripts we've developed initially! 😊😊

[@PengiiiiGameDev]

I LOVE waking up to a new video!!!

[@Reditect]

Awesome devlog! I strive to be where you are currently. The editing, the voice lines, the game itself, mixing in personal bits like your family, a mini history bit, etc. It gives me a bit of imposter syndrome watching other people's devlogs, but I love them. Everyone's bound to struggles and doubts themselves I think. Anyways, I feel you on the cover art. They look amazing, but I'd try to put in the game character itself, like the model. Maybe the art styles would clash, but it's a thought. Looking forward to more videos.

[@thenicearms]

"It makes me feel so refined", had me laughing out loud. Another great update 😃

[@advancenine]

I just wanted to talk with my mouth full on camera :)

[@thenicearms]

Bucket list item? 😉

[@advancenine]

@@thenicearms yup. Check…

[@IndieDevSam]

The art style and sound design will really help this game sell. Good Job, Keep it up!

[@robinwiklund738]

Can't wait for the release! With full controller support coming to the game, with the girl character, maybe this was an offline multiplayer teaser?😉

[@advancenine]

It honestly wasn't... but now you got me thinking...

[@furiangameclips]

Wow, idk how i even came across this video but I'm blown away...very impressive. And taking feedback from the community...my god how awesome, more devs should be like you. Ill be following closely, cant wait to play it!

[@sky-tww]

the editing skills to the gameplay you featured are amazing

[@advancenine]

That's really nice to say. Thank you!

[@Nobody_In_Particular_]

Its amazing to see the first devlog to now. The game is looking absolutely amazingly awesome!

[@justin_krebs]

Another devlog! This series has been very inspirational to me. I’m not developing a video game, but a card game. Seeing your amazing progress has pushed me to go forward!

[@advancenine]

Rad! I can’t wait to play your game!

[@Nimiath]

Nice Devlog as always! The cave turned out super cool with the Bezier ropes and magic trails!

[@advancenine]

Thanks a ton! That’s really cool of you to say!

[@Nimiath]

@@advancenine Sure! If it fit's in one of the next devlogs, it would be interesting to hear something about your shaders, e.g. the toony rocks in the cave or your general shader with the white fresnel edge.

[@ProjectGamerYT]

I think you're doing fantastic job so far, it's really interesting to see the progress over time

[@advancenine]

Wow. You are so kind. Thank you.

[@jeremyporterfield1611]

Ok, so I found your channel last night and as I'm binging your devlog series, I'm blown away by the Venn overlap of what you're making and games I really enjoy. As a fellow dad, I have limited time as well - mad props that you're doing such a phenomenal job while obviously retaining focus and effort on the family where it matters! I was originally going to say something about the water - which I really like as is - about making the water darker where it's deeper or more transparent where it's shallower. Now I kind of have anyways, but that may not fit with the look and feel of the game, so take it with a grain of salt!

[@advancenine]

Dude thanks for the binge and the kind words, fellow dad! I appreciate the water feedback. I'll test it out and see how it looks. You are awesome!

[@ValueStudy]

I've been watching a bunch of your videos (out of order!) and I really love seeing the process and progress you make. Tempted to try some devlog videos myself... not something I had considered before.

[@Hippoman19]

Wow! I really like how to take the time to explain everything. Also the cave puzzles look awesome!

[@advancenine]

Glad you like them! Thanks so much!

[@bywavy]

To be honest I am very hyped to play this game, and I haven't played any game since a while because I am busy with university and they all seem boring. I don't develop games but this dev logs are awesome and I also like the way you make every dev log personal by telling about your own experiences. Secondly, I like the fast pace of the dev logs. You cover every important step on the way to making your game. It's awesome to see the progress and it brings up an interest to make my own game for mobile. Last, I wish you a great journey in your way to making night stones. Greetings from the Netherlands 🙂

[@advancenine]

Cool! Greeting from California! I really appreciate your kind words and feedback. My sport of choice is Track & Field and its been cool to watch Femke Bol these last couple years. Go Netherlands :)

[@DanGameDev]

Loving the progress, keep it up! The graphics are STUNNING!

[@eduardomichelongomes4062]

Always great to see your updates! For the art, a shot of the envoriment with the player using glider could look awesome

[@hocineache7033]

man you're an inspiration for all of us beginner game devs

[@DrTheRich]

Tip for the curves as ropes: make the middle control point be an automatic point be in the middle (average the position of the two end points) but lower specified by a "sagging" value. Then you can easily add a bit of wind to the line by oscillating the point left and right rotating it around the hypothetical line from the start point to the end point.

[@advancenine]

Oh heck yeah. Really good idea. Less work to level design. That’s for the rad recommendation!

[@Fallstudio]

Last cover art guy (the one you thought was creepy) is actually super stylish and cute!

[@Nicklefritz]

You had me at the bread. Subscribed! (...so refined...) Oh, also the game looks great!

[@advancenine]

Thanks for the sub! The bread is how I get all the fancy people... :)

[@1eddy967]

I don't know if you've explained, but what is that black and white shader thing you use of some parts of the footage? I always find it weird when I see it and I don't think anyone ever mentions it

[@advancenine]

I use that shader when I want you guys to pay more attention to the words than the video. I have no idea if it works that way though... The effect is pretty simple: desaturate to black and white and then apply an edge detector.

[@advancenine]

🎮 Wishlist Night Stones on Steam Now 🌙👉 store.steampowered.com/app/2300340/Night_Stones

[@maskedman2780]

I can barely wait to see the next night stones dev log. I love this series and I got to say the game looks amazing so far

[@advancenine]

It's gonna be sweet! This game REALLY comes to life with music and sound effects.

[@Matt.Gillard]

oh wow!! so glad this was on my recommended videos!!

[@advancenine]

I’m so glad you clicked it!

[@clonkex]

I play TONNES of combat based games (Overwatch anyone?) but when it comes to building my own games I always feel like combat as the main "fun mechanic" is the lazy way out. I'm thrilled to see you design a game without combat. It's hard but so much better! (Also, you're my favourite devlogger because you feel like a real person with a normal life yet you still manage to get all this work done!)

[@Killerbear02]

amazing progress. a truly talented man at work here. very impressive how much you've achieved as a single developer in such a short amount of time. very inspiring. keep up the good work.

[@advancenine]

Geez what a nice thing to say. Thank you!

[@ZacharyMcLellanMusic]

Your videos continue to be a highlight of my day for me! So fun to watch the progress. Perhaps it's already been mentioned - but are you going to incorporate a map feature? You mentioned fast travel and it made me think of that.

[@finni1081]

Awesome high quality video, like always! I enjoy each and every devlog. And you make developing seem so easy! Even though I know that it isn't. Just a little feedback on the game: Make sure that the player really understands that the caverns can be shortcuts to places that they can also reach above the surface. Since you built the world, you know it extremely well. But players who explore the world the very first time probably have a weak sense of orientation and all the possible options (e.g. quick route through caverns vs. long route above surface) should be somehow explained/displayed to them, so that they can decide.

[@advancenine]

Love it! Excellent feedback. You are completely right. Thank you!

[@GrahamOfLegend]

So cool! Love that fast travelling is just a lil level under/inside the world. Really cool! Re: the cover art, I liked the layout/style of the first one. The character though never felt right for your game. I'd say that one was the closest IMO to being Steam ready.

[@advancenine]

This is really helpful feedback. Thank you. I truly appreciate it!

[@RenkoGSL]

That night time cover art was awesome.

[@findthestones]

Loving the Devlogs! And the game looks fantastic 😍

[@advancenine]

Oh cool. Means alot coming from you. I think your game is awesome! Thank you!

[@skatehansen]

For the Cover art, I think a blender scene, re creating a few different places from the game would work perfectly. I personally almost always get more captured by cover art that visualize "gameplay" rather than a amazing hand drawn piece that don't really tell me anything about what to expect from a graphic/art-style of the game. The blender scene then can give, more complex materials and lightning etc, but at the same time have the actual game world.

[@advancenine]

That’s really helpful feedback. Thank you so much. Good rationale!

[@CuckooKukri]

I just binged all your devlogs and I'm looking forward to more! This game looks soooo charming; I'm going to wishlist it right now ^_^

[@advancenine]

Hooray! So happy to be binge worthy! Thanks for wishlisting the game. Thats the best possible way to help me and I truly appreciate it! Thank you!

[@foldupgames]

Your work is looking really nice. Your coding is way above my head! All in all? Best wishes and godspeed to you!

[@foldupgames]

I think your game name would look good if set into a kind of ornate medallion or compass motif

[@advancenine]

Oh that’s a good idea. Thank you.

[@ChazakGames]

Amazing work! I love seeing your progress- very inspiring. I just started my game dev journey and I have kids as well. I guess it can be done! :)

[@DeanCookCreative]

That first cover art was dope, damn!

[@skylarcanode-rhodes9771]

Your videos are an absolute treat! I can't wait to play!

[@Husmanmusic]

The coverart actually looks really cool!

[@niuage]

Those magic trails are so well done. Cool shader, super well animated, and to top it off, interactive?!

[@advancenine]

Heck yeah. Thank you. Took me a while to get there but I'm pleased with the outcome too :)

[@mr.sharky]

This looks incredible, keep up the good work! 💯

[@zbynekriha]

Nice scene form Prague with Renaults :D

[@EzraVFX]

The progress is amazing! Keep it up man

[@CrudelyMade]

something you might consider.. the stones that shoot two energy beams to manipulate bridges.. if [something] blocks one beam, the other could have 'more energy' and turn the other bridge further. so.. an enhanced puzzle mechanic. another possibility is that if you can throw things, the ability to put something to block a beam, but also to knock that blocking item out of the way as well. maybe... if the beam hits a certain kind of crystal, that crystal grows in place to block the beam, but you can also shatter the crystal from a distance. great work so far.

[@TheTylerCathey]

omg this was awsome!!! it was worth the super long wait! i will 100% buy it, how much u thinking cuz im gonna save up

[@advancenine]

This is like the nicest comment ever. Thank you. Hopefully you don’t have to save up too much because I’ll price it at the low end of steam games. It’s only a 2-3 hour main storyline so I want to give fair pricing.

[@TheTylerCathey]

@@advancenine thanks for you letting me know! i cant wait until its released! (take as much time as you need tho)

[@GReimerGaming]

Love the underground cavern! Very nice addition!

[@Tbjbu2]

Love the new cave and excited that you opened a Discord!

[@perennialcoma]

In the cave you should add echoes to the step, some water drippage, falling stones/pebbles if you walk close to the edge and maybe the crystals can have different color blooms depending on where you are on the map

[@relevancy1123]

Finally someone that genuinely utilities their audience during the their devlogs instead of pretending they are but ignoring all The high quality advice the consumers offer out to shovel out a half baked game sooner. You have my FAV game in development right now and best believe I’ll personally invent the pay2win bracket in any way I can 😁

[@Kio_Kurashi]

For some game art I had the idea of making it have one side be day and the other side be night, with a smooth transition between the two (same scene, but different times), and then in the night sky you could have some kind of ominous shadow that represents the game's conflict, whatever it may be. In terms of something that would catch the eye, I think this would automatically do so because half of the image would be contrasted to where, at a glance, it would appear to be 'missing' to the mind, which should prompt the viewer to actually pay attention to the image's contents.

[@Sylfa]

Regarding cues for who is speaking, I think making the camera smoothly pan over to the one speaking would be a nicely subtle way of adding a bit more clarity. You could have the camera focus between the two characters at the start of the conversation as well, allowing you to make the pan as subtle as you like, not fully focusing on the talking character but just nudging in that direction. That way it won't add too much movement, help frame the conversation better, and if you add the panning it'll be another subtle hint that most won't consciously pay attention to.

[@josiahlye1966]

Hey there! I've been subscribed since devlog 1 and I havent seen any plans to make a map of some sorts. I think it would really help out the player with navigation and stuff if there was some sort of minimap in the corner. I'm guessing you already had plans for this once you were fully done the world but its just a suggestion. Also, your videos are great! Keep up the great work.

[@advancenine]

You are so right. I haven’t started working on the map but I agree, the game will definitely need one. Thank you for the kind reminder!

[@rick534]

Awesome devlog! Im a big fan of the games art style so Im all for some awesome screenshots.

[@advancenine]

Thanks for the good feedback!

[@uberbrit]

The progress is stunning! I can’t wait to play! It would be nice if the paths through the river were raised up to show a shallower area in the water for the path. I think it would be a nice visual feature. I love the cave access as well. Keep up the great work!

[@whilefree]

Awesome game! So much potential! :D I think a digital render in blender, using the models of the game is the best choice. And as a suggestion, I think if you put something on the background of the cave, deep deep down would make it look even better. Some foggy atmosphere with sharp rocks... you get the idea.

[@DannyDeer]

The cave looks absolutely amazing

[@BeardBarians]

Love the look, one thing I'd note is the edge of the paths looks very much like unity terrain with 2 layers - maybe you could put something on the edge or do some fancy texturing to change the edges of the paths

[@advancenine]

That’s helpful feedback. Thank you!

[@TheSpectralForce]

Love to see the progress

[@badradish2116]

animation during talking is pretty smart nicely done

[@NoLootStudios]

Keep ut the fantastic work! This game looks like something I would pay for :D Right up my sleeve. Working on a top down 2D game my self.

[@zachwhite1241]

Great dev log. I'd be really interested to hear more about your background in game dev. Maybe you could consider making some videos about that and/or more broad content, like advice for beginner game devs? I think that would be really cool to watch! You're doing awesome.

[@WimOmbelets]

I just stumbled across your videos. Super cool stuff, man! You know, you don't need to use "actual" lights. You can bake your lighting into your scene.

[@a_shmiggy]

Awesome video, great progress too! Looking forward to the time management video, been struggling with this exact time constraint and I'm curious as to how you're handling it. Cheers!

[@gavenmiller]

It would be cool to see stuff like signs have their own background for the text. Like an actual drawing of the sign or something, it could make them feel cooler I think

[@advancenine]

Really solid idea. You’re right. Thank you!

[@HumbertoBytes]

Def interested in learning how you juggle your time between family, a full time job and this awesome looking game

[@DiSyllar25]

Great video as always, the game is really coming together nicely! From the cover arts you showed, I really enjoyed the first one, maybe the character could be touched up a bit, but the style fits well with your game. Also I loved the magic trails in the caves, they look amazing!

[@Gamewithstyle]

Some feedback for you! It doesn’t make a lot of sense that the trails lead into large wooden stairs and bridges, but don’t spread out to match their width. It makes it seem like every person walks up the center of the stairs or bridge. I know it’s a small nitpick, but it caught my eye

[@Ruby-HeartFire]

I think the depth of the caves could be massively extended by including art in the dead space. Make it a little deeper, literally, with stalagmites, and occasionally glowing stones here and there. This would add a third layer of depth, and I think might accomplish what you're looking for there. And btw, I think the conversation mechanics look great!

[@advancenine]

That’s really good feedback and you hit the mail on the head. I was looking for depth in the blank spaces too but never found it. But stalagmites would be PERFECT. thank you for this. Truly.

[@overrideFunction]

That first art you showed looked fantastic and I could have seen that as your capsule easy. Sure its night, but all i saw was intrique and wonder. Would have got me to click!

[@advancenine]

Thank you! Helpful to hear.

[@Pierrethatsit]

Hey! I love your devlog series and I have been following it for a while :) A quick recommendation would be maybe to change the text animation or having the possibility to deactivate it. I find it tiring to read when letters go from bold to normal and the speed is kinda slow. It is only opinion though ;) Keep on working on this project, it sounds fantastic!

[@advancenine]

That’s a really good option and I appreciate you telling me. Let me mess with it and see what I can do to improve. But an option to disable it is an excellent suggestion I’ll incorporate. Thank you.

[@mahendrapruitt6769]

Loving this so far! I work in cybersecurity and was working toward a certification recently, which I got! I want to get back into learning game development but also want to sink some time into D4 and tears of the kingdom xD

[@RichieRicardo801]

You're doing it right! Nice game and dev log series. Please release on the playstation so I can play it and support you and your future games!

[@advancenine]

I’ll apply and would die of happiness if gets approved. I grew up on PlayStation and it’d be insane to see my game on PlayStation.

[@RichieRicardo801]

@@advancenine Yeah man, I gave up on PC gaming when Fallout 3 crashed for the 100th time. Now PC is work, PS is gaming :) 'Will you snail' did a simultaneous release across consoles and steam. Maybe Jonas (will you snail creator) can give you some insider tips :)

[@holyshiftstudio]

Made such good progress, great job.

[@collinbanksdev]

Man this is really looking great!