Cryamore Development Blog

Video Updates! (Drops, Combat Refinement, Underwater Mechanics, etc.)

Thu, 02 May 2013 15:33:00 -0500

Hey everyone!

Sorry we’ve been so silent lately! We’ve been tinkering away at refining a lot of code and adding some more stuff in! Since GDC, that’s what we’ve been doing, albeit slower because a few team members had to travel for a bit, get things settled at home, and doing other shows and stuff. But we’re back at it full-on and ready to cook!

Video Updates

We’ll now be posting video snippets often that showcases and demonstrates all the detailed features we’ve added in the game. Like so:

This is what’s going on in this update:

Drop System - There’s now a main reason to defeat enemies! Monsters will drop specified amounts of Cryamore deposits after you defeat them. You collect Cryamore to do all kinds of things, like selling for Ghil, Creating Abilities, solving puzzles, and more! It’s an infinite-specified type drop, but it won’t be a cakewalk to amass a fortune of Cryamore. They come in Pieces, Shards, and Chunks (not shown), and each has a specified value when you’re trading and creating. Some Cryamore can be worth more depending on the day of the week it is in-game, depending on who you speak to.
Refined Damage Output on Weapon Attacks & Spam Filtering - The Power Gauge now controls complete 100% balancing for when you attack with your weapon. Spamming attack will output ‘0HP’ now. Enemies also won’t flinch every hit when you chuck away at them; if your Power Gauge falls anywhere below 50%, enemies will take variable damage, but won’t be flinched by your puny attacks.
Projectile Deflection - This can only be done with specific weapons we have planned for the game (Sword, Axe, or Rapier). The timing is very strict (and hitbox too, depending on weapon used) so with all the different rates of speed with each mob’s special projectile, this will be hardly exploitable, but rewarding for enthusiastic players. This mechanic will also be used with some abilities and puzzles.
Custom 2D Particle System - We’ve created a custom particle system specific to Cryamore’s engine. This allows us to employ a wide array of effects and visual feedback to the user.
Underwater Movement and Engine - Esmy can now go underwater. She will be limited by default; she moves slower and can only hold her breath for a short amount of time (unless she has a specific Water ability in her possession). We can also control the water level and depths, allowing us to use water as a type of puzzle mechanic. It’s pretty robust.

Other than that, we are still pluggin’ away! We hope everyone is sitting tight! Thanks for the continued support!

-NostalgiCO Team

Let's Introduce C-Wars! A Rogue-like RTS, Guest Starring a Certain Cryatist...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:31:26 -0500

Hey everyone! Today’s a big day for another independent developer, our friends over at Onipunks Studio!

They’ve just launched their Kickstarter for C-Wars, a cyberpunkish, rogue-like RTS, giving you freedom to explore the apocalyptic world of Luna in your own way, slated for PC, Mac, Linux, and Android. If they do well, they can even look towards getting it on 3DS and the Wii U. They’re well along, and need some help to get it completed. They already have a demo out you can download and try right here, so check it out for yourself!

The sprite animations are very sharp, fluid, and gorgeous, especially when there’s a screen full of them. So you can see the literal care and passion going into this game. And the combat system is very deep, and we’re totally liking what we’re seeing so far.

For all of our Cryamore backers, we have something special: Esmy will be a guest crossover character in the game!

Along with The Clawed Girl from They Bleed Pixels and Goro from Wooden Sen’SeY, these heroes are recruitable captains in C-Wars. They will also have their own bonus levels and very special events in the game!

So go check out their Kickstarter page, which explains more in-depth of what C-Wars is all about, and give our fellow indies your support! It is well-deserved from how we see it! In our opinion, if you have any interest in games like Super Robot Taisen, Fire Emblem, or even hints of Megaman Battle Network, C-Wars is a fresh title that’s right up your alley.

Windows Executable of Cryamore Prototype Demo

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 02:47:55 -0500

This is an extended fix for any Windows user experiencing the content error bug on the web player posted an hour ago:

Cryamore Prototype Demo - Windows Executable

Just click above, download, unzip and play away! Should fix all of the issues you’ve had since its running native on your machine. Mac folks should be A-Ok and not require a standalone executable.

Be sure to read the disclaimer and information from the last update as it still applies!

Enjoy!

Cryamore Prototype Demo!

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 01:17:00 -0500

***IMPORTANT!!!! For Windows Users experiencing the “The content has stopped because of a fatal content error has been detected” error message, we believe this is an issue related to Chrome or Safari. The game should play better/well on Firefox. So for now, play these Webplayer Builds on Firefox.

It’d also be best to close all other applications before playing it as it could also be memory-related.***

It’s that time! Here’s the 1-Month-developed public GDC demo that we scuttled together! You can play it online here in your browser right here:

Cryamore Prototype

For Linux users, you can download the demo here. (Please let us know if everything works for you, as we don’t have a machine that is running Linux set up at the current moment.)

If your browser becomes unresponsive while loading, just wait, it should load. You also may encounter lag based on your machine’s setup/browser. Please note that this issue or lag won’t occur in the final game as you won’t be playing in a browser.

This demo has an end.

Before playing, please read this information:

Disclaimer and Bugs You Might Run Into

As we’ve stated before, this was a demo practically developed within one month. We know that there are a lot of rough spots in regards to controls, mechanics, and how the abilities function. The primary purpose of the Prototype is to give you a feel for what you’re going to be getting yourself into! Whatever issue you find or have a problem with, chances are we found that same issue and we have plans to fix that exact problem you’re feeling a bit iffy about. So please, don’t take this demo as a final “end all, be all”, as we have a TON OF THINGS to refactor and refine. This prototype is just a smidgen of how much more we need to do. All comments stating minor issues that we know we need to refine and iterate may be ignored, so please don’t take it personal if we don’t reply to you. We’re already on it. :)

Here are a few bugs you might/will run across:

The Infinite Rock Drill Bug: When you summon the Rock Drill, it just may join you on the adventure. Meaning, it won’t go away until you summon a new Rock Drill, which will also join you on your adventure. There’s no way of stopping this bug unless you restart the demo.
Cryaspot in Basement Room 4 Won’t Brighten The Area: This is an issue with our shader code that we’re currently refactoring, nothing more.
The Sickly Monsters in Basement Room 5: Right at the entrance of Room 4 to the north, the Gazer and Firebat are a bit sick and handicapped. They seem to have a laser and fire deficiency.
Braxton’s Invisible Condenser: The Cryamore Condenser that Braxton drops may be there, or it may not. In either case, this doesn’t break the game and you will still be able to finish the demo. If it doesn’t appear for you and you hear the confirmation sound upon entering the room, check your abilities to see if you acquired anything new. This is a placeholder hack, which is why you may encounter this glitch.
Gaps In Layout: You may see Esmy’s sword when swinging or a projectile cutting through a background element or the frame of the room. This is already being fixed.

Controls

If you have an Xbox 360 controller, go along and plug it in and play! If you’re on a Mac and have an Xbox 360 controller, please download and install this Xbox 360 Controller driver if you don’t have one before playing. And enjoy!

If you don’t have an Xbox 360 Controller or if you are running on Linux, here are the alternate keyboard controls:

Enter Key: ”Start”/Advance Dialogue
W: Up
S: Down
A: Left
D: Right
Esc: LB Button/Quick Select
P: ”Y Button”/Cryability 1
O: ”X Button”/Cryability 2
I: ”A Button”/Action
Spacebar: Attack/Swing Sword

Further Tips

Once it’s running in your browser, right-click on the game and click “Go Fullscreen”!
It isn’t explained properly, but you can mash the A button in this demo to find objects of interest. You can also heal your HP/EP at the Cryaspots in the demo. (Please note, that these mechanics are NOT how they will behave in the final game. They’re placeholder mechanics that we threw in for a quick fix on our tight deadline and to move the demo along.)
Your abilities can also be used to attack if you know what you’re doing!
Remember that there is an Art to Combat! Don’t just hack and slash, figure it out!
Keep track if you have that Torchlight on! It constantly saps your EP while it’s lit!

Explore and Enjoy!!

Mini-Post-GDC Wrap-Up!

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 03:08:00 -0500

So, GDC has come and gone, and Cryamore did pretty awesome! It was pretty cool having people come up to us and shout things like “Oh wow, it’s Cryamore!! I MUST play it!” It was also a treat meeting many of the people who backed us here on Kickstarter.

We were situated in the GDC Play room, and it was a calm and relaxed area. Everyone there, audience and other developers, were very friendly and enthusiastic.

The controller was rarely left alone throughout the whole week. There was always someone playing it, which we think is a good thing: We’re doing something right here!

And there were quite a few episodes where the crowd was getting too much to contain:

We met with some cool reps from Nintendo and Sony, (and some others we can’t mention now!) and they are also loving how the game is shaping up! We also met the creator of La Mulana and he loves how Cryamore looks and plays as well! This is going to be a good year, and we’re so ready to get back to work on the game.

Of course, we feel a lot of things weren’t perfect to show, but everyone else felt otherwise! All in all, it was a great showcase for what we practically wrangled up within one month!

If you notice in some of these shots, you can see quite a few updates since the last build you may have played. The GDC playable demo was technically about 15-20 minutes long, depending on how you played it. Of course, we had to employ a bit of last-minute tinkering prior to the show to make everything work, (and to make the demo longer, haha) but we worked with what we had at the moment.

Before you guys get to play it, we have to refactor a few things on the demo (like making sure a 360 controller would work on plug-n-play for you and editing things for keyboard layouts). We’ll be posting the demo publicly online for everyone else to play within the next few days, so keep on the lookout for it. You’ll dig the direction the game is going, we think.

Thanks again for sticking around, backers!

P.S. For our PayPal backers, we’ll round up all the emails and send out instructions for joining the Backer Forums as well this week. Stay tuned for that as well.

We hope everyone is doing well and staying safe out there!

PayPal Ending Soon - Forums - GDC - New Gameplay Footage

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 20:26:00 -0500

Hey everyone! It’s been quite some time since our last huge update, and a lot has happened since then! First, let’s begin with the essentials:

5 More Days For PayPal Support!

For all of the people who wished to back us but couldn’t during the Kickstarter, or who wants to help out now, we will have the PayPal support for five more days, ending on Friday. Be sure to tell your friends or whoever you told Cryamore about who’ve shown interest that they can still get some exclusive rewards via PayPal! Click here to check out the PayPal pledge offers! PayPal backers will get the same updates via our backer forums— speaking of which…

Backer-Only Development Forums

…has everyone who backed here via Kickstarter joined the forums? It’s pretty busy there, with the nicest people around! Be sure to join up, as we’re closing the registration portal on Friday! Follow the instructions from the previous (backer-only!) update to join. We’ll be sending emails out to our PayPal backers to join the forum after the PayPal support ends.

GDC

GDC is in exactly one week from now! We’ll be showcasing the game at GDC Play, Tuesday through Thursday. If you’re going to be there, be sure to come say hi and get a feel for the game for yourself! (With a controller!) For those who can’t make it to GDC, we’ll be releasing a public online version of the demo we’ve shown at GDC, so don’t feel sad (we’ll also make it so you can use a controller too!)

New Gameplay Footage

Earlier this weekend, Rob exhaustedly posted a work-in-progress of the demo that we’re fixing up for the following week (be sure to watch it full screen and in 720p to take it all in!):

Let’s explain a bit more in word format of what’s going on (and what’s been added since this video):

Esmy can now use Torchlight in dark regions. We will have areas that are pretty dark and difficult to navigate without some use of light. Torchlight will also play a role in keeping you safe from specifically strong monsters later in the game.
Cubic Ice can be used as a context item for the most part: dropping on switches to solve puzzles and the like. It can also be used as a weapon, as you can see in the video.
You can see some of the mob AI in play here. If you’ve been following our past updates, you know that we’ve implemented a ton of different types of mobs to keep you thinking!
Status HUD is working, and the Quick Select Wheel works now, in where you’ll be able to swap out between different abilities . You can see that we changed it, specifically because we needed to show more information to the player. There will be an additional Info HUD on the right side of the screen, allowing you to switch out between slotted items for quick use, instead of going to the menu each time to heal Esmy or use an Energy Drink.

What we are putting in now:

Our event system has been implemented! We’re now adding voiceover that will accompany the dialogue within the events and contextual functions. And we absolutely love how it’s sounding so far. We believe you folks will too.
We’re adding in the menu, where you’ll be able to check out all of Esmy’s stats and trinkets collected.

And some of our guest artists are already wrapping up their guest pieces for the artbook, and the concept art team is working hard on designs and such! Here’s Barachan’steaser:

All in all, we’re still very hard at work here. Just thought we’d let you know that. We hope everyone is doing okay out there and again, thanks for being so supportive of the game!

Hey everyone! Rob recorded a sneak peek at what we’ve been...

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 01:11:47 -0500

Hey everyone! Rob recorded a sneak peek at what we’ve been slaving over! Check it out! Watch in full screen/720p if you can!

Esmy’s Status Effect Portraits

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 01:36:53 -0500

CONFUSED

FROZEN

BLIND

POISON

SLEEP

PARALYZED

BURNED

BLEEDING

SLOW

Esmy’s Status Effect Portraits

CREEPY…

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 16:28:00 -0500

CREEPY…

joodlez: My first legit NPC designs! _ They’re Mrs and Mr...

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:01:00 -0600

Bianca's really tall! She's taller than Easton

Fat and jolly rich daddy

joodlez:

My first legit NPC designs! *_* They’re Mrs and Mr Barson, ie: Bliss and Braxton’s parents (and Esmy’s foster parents). They’re rich and pampered, but still really nice people. I tried to keep the feel similar to the main characters.

PS: Please don’t mind my neurotic notes LOL… orz

I tested the glitch again earlier today (this time on Firefox), and it seems to be an issue with moving into the second room while holding forward. Once again, I was unable to get out of the moving forward animation and moved upward into the black void. In all of the times I glitched the game out, though, I was only using WASD; I wasn't attacking or holding down Right Shift or anything.

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:09:42 -0600

After further testing from the coder team we’ve found the glitch to happen outside the browser version too and we’ll be working on fixing that real soon.

Much thanks for bringing it to our attention (same to everyone else who reported this), it’s a big help! :D

I'm not sure what you mean by what " [my] operating system and browser settings" are, but I was running it on a recently updated Chrome browser (version 25) on a Windows 7 64-bit system. I'll try to test it on Firefox, but the Web Player is much slower on that browser. This testing, though, begs the question of whether this game will be available on browsers when released. If not, then maybe stick to posting a .zip file with the most recent build to test in the Cryamore forums.

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:26:52 -0600

The glitch that is occurring as far as we knew before was because of a browser conflict (you can also make this happen if you press control or right click), but we duplicated the glitch like you’ve stated and it’s because both buttons are pressed almost simultaneously and we’re fixing that for keyboard users. This is not possible with a gamepad and not a natural bug to find through the use of a gamepad.

The full game will not be made or available on browsers when released, you’re just testing different builds/features/areas. :)

Just tested it and ran (literally) a major bug: since the boundaries for the second room have not been set yet, I can run into the transition zone from room 2 to room 1 (r2->r1). This, however, causes Esmy to immediately double-back into the second room, where she will continue running upward indefinitely (i.e. to the top of the screen and beyond). I tested it twice: I was able to break the loop the first time but kept running forward the second time with no stop in sight.

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 22:11:51 -0600

On our end, this is currently a Webplayer version bug as things can conflict with your browser’s hotkeys and we can’t duplicate it on our direct system builds. Though we want to see if we can block that out, what’s your operating system and browser settings?

PAYPAL! - Final Public Webplayer Build Update

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 19:59:00 -0600

Today’s Update, folks! Here’s the scoop on PayPal:

PayPal support will be open for approximately 2 weeks! This period is the last chance to get in on the special stuff involving Cryamore! Not every tier is available, but these are the rewards you’ll be able to pledge via PayPal. Please note that there is an additional 2.9% PayPal fee to pledge through here. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING:

Please remember to add your contact information in the “Add special instructions to the seller:” box (email, multiple emails, etc.) so we can contact and keep track of your order! If you don’t do this, it will be hard for us to follow up with you!!
For physical items, please add the appropriate shipping specifed if you live outside of the US! If you forget to add it, we will contact you to receive the shipping payment, which makes things harder for us!
Protagonist and Fashionista’s Pledges do not include a copy of the game. They are standalone add-ons in which you would have to purchase in addition if you want the game and the figure (For example, click $15 Reward and pay, then click Protagonist’s Pledge and pay).

Click this link for those of you who want to back us via PayPal and the pledges offered there!

Last Public Webplayer Build

Here’s the final Webplayer Build of the likes that we’re providing to our backers throughout the development of the game. So here’s the link to the current build! And here’s the explanation of what’s been implemented since the last one:

Esmy has now full running control as planned, so no need to hold shift to run anymore. Running is a default state which will be altered from different Abilities or due to Esmy’s fatigue throughout the course of the in-game days.
The hitboxes have not been set up exactly yet, so you are still able to hit enemies from the side even when you are not swinging the sword in that direction. Enjoy it while it lasts!
HP damage marker code is now implemented! HP markers will pop up when Esmy gets hit or when she hits an enemy. Right now, every hit is a 10 or a 5, but that’s because we haven’t set our conditional parameters in yet (leveled stats, elemental acclimatizations, etc.) Font is placeholder and is subject to change.
And yeah, Esmy can now get hit again! So no more beating up on helpless Gazers(even though the Firebats are still helpless at this stage). Gazer’s projectiles are placeholder.
Some sound effects are in! Some are rough, too loud, or not finalized (like the sword hit contact). Enemies can poof and you can hear Esmy’s shoes clack on the ground (which will change based on if you’re on grass, metal, or in water puddles eventually).
Room transitioning is in! You can test going between the two rooms now (North door). There’s even a zone where the game forces Esmy to keep moving once you contacted it, to make sure you don’t screw things up while moving between rooms.
Stage 1 water effects have been tested and is working as you can see. That is a mockup texture, but we’ll be coming up with our own various textures for the water types throughout the game. (We know its not in place!)
Layering has not been put in yet, or any of the HUDs (both of which are next to get placed in), and mob behaviors are not final. So please remember that all of this is work-in-progress!

You’re also going to be seeing some abilities soon as well…

Enjoy playing around with this until the next one! Also, a neat trick (that will give pro Cryamore players a bit of “mad street cred” if they can pull it off):

We’re going to sneak in some neat secret tricks you can do in combat and when using abilities. For instance (and you can try this now!): when you’re being chased by something, you can use the momentum of the direction you’re running in to quickly turn around and slide back while swinging. (Like, holding left and quickly hitting rightand attack at the same time.) The timing is pretty strict, so it takes a bit to get used to and learn, but it adds a more in-depth approach to the combat mechanics to cater to our more dextrous crowd. We’re going to be sneaking things like this in the game. :)

Also, our PayPal backers will be able to test the backer builds as well. We’ll be providing them through our forums, which will be going up soon!

Have fun, and thanks for your help as always!!

Cryamore 403% Funded! Now The Real Fun Begins!

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 02:36:50 -0600

We ended Cryamore’s Kickstarter campaign with a whopping $242,309 worth of support at nearly 6,000 backers.

There are so many words we can come up with to show how we feel: grateful,appreciative, enamored, and just outright thankful, for everyone’s support and faith they have in us and the creation of this game. This is a dream come true for all of us, and a lot of firsts for a lot of the people involved in it, and we’re going to do our best to make it everything we want it to be.

But it doesn’t end here. Rest assured, we’ll still be keeping everyone in the loop here.

Now, to get to the real work. We have a lot ahead of us, long-term, and very short-term (GDC, demo, etc., but we will explain that in a few days). Here’s what’s going to occur:

PayPal Support

Paypal support will be launched tomorrow and will run for approximately 2 weeks, then we will take it down. We’ll explain everything in detail for those who want to support and back us further via PayPal.

Surveys

We’re going to begin counting all of the incurred pledges through Kickstarter, (crunching numbers, funnn) to get that out of the way first and foremost, then will start preparing the first surveys to send out. Then we’re going to talk to our figure manufacturer to begin work on the figures and then start talking with UDON about the art book and getting that started. We may have some other fantastic treats to share as well regarding that. :)

Forums and Further

We’re going to provide everyone with one final Webplayer Backer Build tomorrow and then the rest will be, well, for the backers only! Our official forums are pretty much ready to go, so we will give everyone the dealio on setting up your logins and all.

We’re all going to have fun! We really don’t like when developers fall off the face of the planet after a Kickstarter and pop up every so often… So, we’ll try making sure that 1-yr development rate will be as unnoticeable as possible as you’ll be involved with the creation of the game! Look forward to being updated constantly as we go along, almost with the same level as during our Kickstarter campaign.

Again, thanks so much! And it’s an honor to have all of you, our future players, on the ride with us!

Also, here’s a treat from us for an extended thanks for helping us get this kickstarted! Here’s a high-quality, mp3 download of the Cryamore Original Music Selections with the songs that were featured during the Kickstarter, as well as a couple of musical treats you have yet to hear versions of!

Uhm.. you put a post up titled PayPal.. but there.. is no content in it. At all..?

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:39:16 -0600

Ignore that! Byproduct of setting it up! ^^

barachan: cryamore’s kickstarter closes tonight! get in there...

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:09:34 -0600

barachan:

cryamore’s kickstarter closes tonight! get in there while you still can and help them reach their last stretch goal!!

LAST DAY!

joodlez: Only 24 hours left!In case you missed it, there was an...

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 00:02:21 -0600