Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Map creation progress, and other details.

Currnetly the first map is just about done, all the essential areas are completed with some alternative routes and secret areas left to complete.

The player starts in the first area called 'Bloody Caverns' which is also the home to the palace of the Scarlet Queen.  The place has been gradually devoured by the earth and is left in a state of fractured ruins.

Dwelling within this area are three different monsters, and the queen's personal guardian.

The Formless, a blob of mass that represents and completed dominated soul cursed into a mass of shadow.  They spit globs of their own fluids which burns the player and temporarily blinds him.  Aside from being annoying, they area realtively harmless compared to more humanoid monsters.

The Henchman is a soldier under loyalty to the queen.  They will charge and strike with the insetted hatred to you as you had slain her in the name of the king when they all once lived.

The Bowman is the quiet deadly sniper for the queen.  They lurk in hidden places and attempt to pick you off from afar.  They have no true means to protect themselves in close combat, so they tend to flee or stay out of sight.

The Guardian, the upper half of the queen's guardian.  In battle the player had sliced the guardian in two, leaving him only half of what he was.  The dark powers of the shadow and his hatred has twisted his form and his desire to seek your destruction is undying.

The Scarlet Queen, once to be wed to the king, this devious woman secretly enjoyed in the slaughter of innocents and opponents alike.  At times taking the killing into her own hands.  Her bitter defeat at your hands left her pinned into her throne with a sword, waiting for you to show yourself again...

The second area that directly follows is more a transitional area, which will link up with about 4 different maps.  At this time all maps are planned to be revistable

This area, called Sparrow Valley, was once a fairly open area of grass lands dotted with trees near the mountains.  To the west lies a small town affixed to the Baron's Keep.  These people live in fear of both the Baron and the Queen's goons if they wander into their town.  Nearby a massive sink hole sucks in and corrupts the surrounding earth, a ominous tower with massive gemstones sticks out in the middle.  The valley is now littered with massive chasms that spawn from the sinkhole.

Monsters from both the Queen and Baron wonder this area and will kill one another if they meet.  But they'll most likely focus on you.

In the Baron's ranks are the following...

Silent Soldier, they do not speak, they only seek and destroy their targets.  They are stronger and tougher than the Queen's soldiers.

Quivering, similar to the Formless, except more aggressive, can leap long distances and has an acidic touch.  Far more dangerous then the other.

Broken Shade, these hunched servants to the Baron are not his strongest, but their ability to vanish into thin air and still strike you is their strong point.  They will sneak up on you and appear to rapidly strike at you before fleeing and vanishing again.

Steadfast Guard generally stay where they are put, but once they see you they stand guard and prepare for attack.  Their range is great with their halbreds and are capable of sending shock force from their swings to get you at a distance.  They are very tough and hard to knock down.  Thus they tend to stay infront of importance entrances.

More details as they develope...

Here's a more recent video and a sample map of the first two areas.
As you can see in this video, I recolored some of the tiles, among other additons and replacements.  Still plan on touching up the font since  the 3's look like 8's and so on.  But that's the price you pay with a fancy font in a lower resolution.  Its really just a matter of shaving some pixels off.