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1

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: Yesterday at 08:40:39 pm »

I've just released the next demo update (= 1.4) over on Itch.io.
Link: https://hornofbalance.itch.io/horn-of-balance-pre-ks-demo/devlog/614590/06-demo-14-released
Hope you enjoy it.

Release highlights:
* Better shield:
    - You can now move while shielding
    - Shields don't just block projectiles, but also guard against (most) enemies
* Extra starting equipment:
    - The stone sprite - Whatever will it do, I wonder
    - The fire sprite - Linden is about to get all fired up
* Added a few extra shortcuts to cut down on backtracking
* Tweaked a few puzzles and rooms to better guide new players
* Made the sub-boss slightly harder
* Made it visually more obvious when you collect small keys
* Fixed the collisions between your sword's smear effect and banners


Progress report:

Code: [Select]

v0.27.96 (25 september 2023)
* Completed and implemented cave wall/floor tiles
* Tweaked outside NPC texts slightly
* Experimented with new flower visuals

v0.27.97 (26 september 2023)
* Finished adding new flower visuals and animations
* Implemented a few more new overworld tiles
* Slightly tweaked overworld bridges style
* Replaced a few more cave tiles

v0.27.98 (27 september 2023)
* Implemented new visuals overworld tall grass
* Added more variant overworld bushes
* Fixed a few issues with digging near tall grass and water
* Fixed issue with collecting some dug up items instantly
* Replaced a few more cave tiles
* Finished cave visuals from breakable floors

v0.27.99 (28 september 2023)
* Experimented with sequences to work towards my own take on the medallion effects

v0.27.100 (29 september 2023)
* Added extra colorswapped cave tileset

2

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: September 27, 2023, 06:22:23 am »

I'm aiming for PC, Switch and Switch 2.
The switch releases will be dependant on a successful Kickstarter campaign though.

XBox and Playstation are much harder to publish on as a solodev (from what I've seen during my earlier research) so there are no concrete plans as of yet.

3

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: September 24, 2023, 08:13:30 pm »

Here's a little sneak peak of the progress made over the weekend regarding caves.
Kohari actually made the original tiles; I'm only just tweaking the colors and detailing while I began trying them out in some of the existing rooms. The coloring is a little darker than I had originally intended, but then again: they are intended for underground areas so the contrast with the overworld might be to it's benefit.

Also, now that SAGE 2023 has concluded, a very brief look back:
The streamers favoured action games for the most part. That was expected for an event originally all about Sonic gameplay, so any and all attention was welcome. Overall I´m pretty happy with how the event turned out though: The streamers that did play the game provided valuable new insights. I made a few more connections. And most importantly, we've jumped from 52 to 66 Kickstarter followers

All in all it's been a good week with some nice progress.

Progress report:

Code: [Select]

v0.27.92 (21 september 2023)
* Updated all hero frames for extra shader option
* Experimented with fencing tiles and animated grass/flowers

v0.27.93 (22 september 2023)
* Experimented with new cave wall/floor visuals

v0.27.94 (23 september 2023)
* Experimented further with new cave wall/floor visuals
* Made a start with the new cave tileset
* Started replacing the first few cave tiles
* Implemented a few more replacement overworld tiles
* Experimented with house indoor/floor wall tiles

v0.27.95 (24 september 2023)
* Fixed issue of conflicting NPC's appearing together
* Added grass animations
* Experimented with new flower visuals
* Made progress tweaking the new cave wall/floor tiles

4

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: September 17, 2023, 08:43:53 pm »

Progress report:

Code: [Select]

v0.27.89 (15 september 2023)
* Tweaked and implemented a few more overworld tiles
* Made a start replacing the world signposts with a new type of object for more functionality

v0.27.90 (16 september 2023)
* Finished replacing signpost tiles with new (destructable) objects
* Finally found a way around some invalid gamemaker coding warnings
* Added small extra scene for demo 2.0
* Added extra frame to one of the villains
* Implemented another few overworld tiles

v0.27.91 (17 september 2023)
* Implemented another few overworld tiles
* Added / updated more NPC dialogue for demo 2.0
* Added small extra scene for demo 2.0

5

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: September 10, 2023, 08:09:16 pm »

Progress report:

Code: [Select]

v0.27.83 (1 september 2023)
* Improved visuals dug ground
* Finished implementing new desert boss sprites
* Implemented new NPC visuals
* Implemented new visuals for stone piles (and updated properties to be more appropriate)
* Implemented a few more new overworld tiles
* Did some experimentation with tall grass terrain sprites

v0.27.84 (2 september 2023)
* Implemented various new (visuals for) containers
* Tweaked shack sprite shadows
* Now able to hookshot onto cut trees stumps

v0.27.85 (3 september 2023)
* Implemented new doorway visuals into the demo dungeon
* Edited and implemented a few more overworld tiles

v0.27.86 (8 september 2023)
* Fixed typo in the intro sequence
* Made demo dungeon central room pushable statue slightly more obvious
* Added shield strafing
* Added a few extra shortcuts to the demo dungeon to lessen the amount of backtracking
* Made demo subboss fight slightly harder
* Switched around a few demo dungeon objects to better signal safe routes

v0.27.87 (9 september 2023)
* Tweaked character animation when using the shield
* Fixed collissions between sword smear effects and banners
* Made it more obvious when you pick up small keys
* Introducing hitswitches earlier in the demo dungeon
* Made demo dungeon entrance puzzle slightly more obvious
* Experimented with collisions between the shield and enemies

v0.27.88 (10 september 2023)
* The shield will now block (some!) enemies
* Added a few special properties to the better shield
* Fixed sound effect when blocking with the metal shield
* Expanded the roster of enemy defense stats for all enemies
* Tweaked character visuals after using the earth/fire elementals
* Changed up starting equipment nests

6

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: August 27, 2023, 08:16:59 pm »

No home improvement this weekend. It's back to regular development again.  (The most important home stuff is done so the rest is postponed till next month)

Anyway, it's been a pretty fruitful weekend, with the focus on the latest batch of new art assets that came in. Includes some excellent new visuals for the desert boss. Can't show it off yet because I'm saving it for the trailer. I really loved the earlier sprites, but sadly those were a designed around an alltp enemy, so they had to go. The concept is still the same though and a lot of care was put into preserving the theme across the dungeon. If you look carefully you will see the lifecycle progression between the small and larger sandworms. In the length, number of teeth and in the tail which develops further and further. I like adding in stuff like that, because it adds just that little bit of extra believability to the world.

Oh, and while we were at it: we also added even more teeth to the boss. Oh yes! Bosses can never have enough teeth!

Progress report:

Code: [Select]

v0.27.80 (25 augustus 2023)
* Worked with spriter on new artwork
* Implemented several new overworld tiles

v0.27.81 (26 augustus 2023)
* Worked with spriter on new artwork
* Made progress slightly adjusting desert boss code for new visuals

v0.27.82 (27 augustus 2023)
* Worked with spriter on new artwork
* Made progress implementing new desert boss sprites
* Added several extra NPC frames

7

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: August 20, 2023, 06:57:50 pm »

This weekends progress:
- Patched 2nd floor outside window frames
- Painted bedroom ceiling
- Work a little bit on the game

I'll be back with proper game development progress next weekend, hopefully.

Progress log:

Code: [Select]

v0.27.78 (12-13 augustus 2023)
* Put out a new spritework commission package
* Prepared SAGE 2023 booth (with demo 1.3)
* Spend nearly a day doing the rounds on the internet to update the all information about this game

v0.27.79 (18-20 augustus 2023)
* Tweaked and implemented tiles elevated ground
* Tweaked and implemented tiles for background grass
* Tweaked and implemented tiles for animated idle water (deep & shallow)
* Enlarged tile commission package a little

8

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: August 13, 2023, 03:51:34 pm »

For this weekend I took the time to write about the overall state of development.

First up: the starting post has been updated. Also, demo 1.3 has recently been released over on Itch.
Demo link: https://hornofbalance.itch.io/horn-of-balance-pre-ks-demo/devlog/571291/05-demo-13-release
This is a smaller incremental update to fix a bug, add a new feature, and overall show tangible continued progress.
There might be another small demo 1.4 update with more features coming before reaching 2.0. (Here´s looking at you bombs and/or shield strafing). But we'll have to see how things go.

On that note: In the past I have stated to expect a Kickstarter later this year. My personal goals were far more specific: to complete demo 2.0 by SAGE2023 (=end of august). And then to do a Kickstarter event during the month of November, after two full months of advertising. Getting 2.0 out before SAGE is not happening by a long shot. (I'll be attending with just version 1.3). I have also become doubtful about these Kickstarter timeline due to the reasons listed below. So I want to clearly communicate that the Kickstarter event will likely be postponed until early next year. Development is still going strong, and never say never, but I want to be upfront about this! Call me crazy, but if I promise something it weighs heavily on me if I cannot deliver. There are also benefits to this story btw (for you all anyway).

My three reasons to reschedule are as follows (in order of impact):

• Personal circumstances. I'll stay a bit vague here because sharing too much on the internet is unwise, but the last 1/1.5 month has been rough. Things related to my daytime job have changed significantly. Parts of my house are apparent in need of some costly repairs. And struggling with the creation of the mountain tileset, given the self-imposed deadlines, has been kinda draining. Stacking these factors has been putting me in a bad headspace, leading to delays, leading to a bad headspace, leading to delays, and so on. Nobody benefits from that, so simply pushing harder is a bad plan.
• I do not want to rush things. Even given the point above, deadlines can always easily be reached: just ignore quality... and that simply is not me. I'd rather spend more time to it something to be fully proud of. Consequences be damned.
• Doing a Kickstarter in November, December, January is not great given the holidays and other costly things people have going on (including other high profile releases they might prefer).
• There are also more and more rumours that Nintendo's new console is coming soon. Some suggest a 2024 release even. That last one I take that with a heavy dose of salt, but the rest aligns with my own expectations. Developing Horn of Balance fully takes years, so I need to look years ahead. Adding a Nintendo console port to the Kickstarter event (directly or via stretchgoals) is preferred, so waiting for more information has benefits. (It's scary to promise a port without console/cost/access details).

So, what about the upsides?
Well. I'm upping the development budget for this demo, to also cover the extra development time till early next year. So postponing the Kickstarter will have no effect on the actually completion date of the full game. Additionally, the later Kickstarter will give me more room to breath and to work on the connected demo 2.0. This allows me to take a step back and add more things in a way that benefits the long term development (rather than just the immediate demo). An example: Instead of strictly adding in the grass tiles needed for demo 2.0, I've taken the opportunity to also redo the digging system to have similar sprites and that fit within the same set-up. As a result you can now dig in way more places than before, the game is easier to develop long-term and I have more opportunities to hide secrets. (Uuhm, wait. Forget about that last one. There are no secrets related to the shovel planned for the final game. This blogpost is over..... Pff. That was a close one. Nearly spoiled my killer gameplay feature to beat all the competition)

9

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: August 05, 2023, 08:26:21 am »

Here's a surprise update. On a Saturday no less, for a change.

One, because I have some other non-dev related plans for this weekend. And two, because I simply could not wait any longer to show of this awesome new artwork that I got in.
Yeah... both of those definitely apply in equal measure...  I swear...

Anyway, what do you all think? Does it represent the game well?

Beyond the new artwork a little bit more progress has also been made on the overworld/mountain tiles, but I'll save that for a future update.

EDIT: Can't seem to attach the image. That's rare. Maybe it's too big or something?
You can also see it here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hornofbalance/horn-of-balance?ref=discovery

Progress report:

Code: [Select]

v0.27.74 (1-2 augustus 2023)
* Expanded names in the credits
* Made a more progress on the mountain tileset (and realised I missed several exception cases)
* Made progress on grass border tiles
* Switched DW background colors

v0.27.75 (3 augustus 2023)
* Created extra grass edge tiles for more flexibility
* Completely retiled all grass borders across the worlds

10

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: July 30, 2023, 07:57:51 pm »

I'll be taking another few days off from work soon, to finally get that mountain tileset done. It's soo close now. Just a few more tile.

Also, I've been working with a few artists this past week. As a result, all the sound effects needed for demo 2 are now in!

And: I've found a talented individual who is currently working on capsule art for the game. Not pixelart, but pretty high dev digital art. While I personally love pixelart (and all the work Kohari does for the project), going with a more "realistic" artstyle for capsule art is apparently preferred over on Steam. At the very least it'll show others that I'm willing to put a little more money behind the project. Honestly, I can't wait to show of the results.

Progress log:

Code: [Select]

v0.27.72 (25-28 juli 2023)
* Worked with poster and sound artists
* Implemented various new sounds
* Finished final sprites details for the 3 new enemies
* Made progress spriting new mountain tiles

v0.27.73 (29-30 juli 2023)
* Tweaked and placed various NPC's along the outside path to the demo dungeon
* Adjusted various NPC's dialogue for demo purposes
* Altered some enemy placements

11

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: July 23, 2023, 09:42:33 pm »

Another week, another bit of project progress.

Progress report:

Code: [Select]

v0.27.66 (17 juli 2023)
* Worked with spriter on boss sprites

v0.27.67 (18 juli 2023)
* Worked with sound editor (and implemented a few new sound effects)

v0.27.68 (19 juli 2023)
* Implemented new dungeon entrance tiles

v0.27.69 (20-21 juli 2023)
* Implemented two more sound effects
* Tweaked details behind spiked ball soundvolume
* Slightly tweaked overworld tilework
* Fixed sprite allignment issue when using atk/def “sprites” while interrupting the idle animations
* Fixed spiked ball animation (and spawning) not stopping during some specific pause states and situations
* Updated overworld masking for new spritework
* Implemented new shrubbery tiles

v0.27.70 (22 juli 2023)
* Added extra frames for summon character
* Added animation and additional frames for mud golem enemy

v0.27.71 (23 juli 2023)
* Implemented new visuals for 2 enemies in the desert dungeon (= not in the demo's; might be included in the trailer)
* Fixed color issue with desert dungeon crates
* Added extra enemy type: Mud golem

12

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: July 16, 2023, 08:30:34 pm »

Twitter is broken again today (can't see those I'm following like normal again) so I'll post the image here as well.

Kohari has been making awesome pixelart the last several days. Check out this upcoming enemy for example. (And part of your home, as a little bonus). This'll be the first enemy you encounter while you play around with your childhood friends. So it won't hurt you too much. Or will it?

What should this earth golem? Any suggestions?


Progress report:

Code: [Select]

v0.27.64 (14-15 juli 2023)
* Commissioned Kickstarter capsule art
* Worked with spriter on more world/cave tiles
* Implemented new house tiles
* Implemented several new door sprites variants

v0.27.65 (16 juli 2023)
* Worked with spriter on more new sprites and tiles

13

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: July 10, 2023, 07:59:10 am »

I can be brief about last weekend's progress: I got back to my job and got completely drained in days.  Kinda what I expected really. Took part of the weekend simply to gain back some energy.

Also, some of the new tile commissions are running into delays due to illness. Not sure when things will be back on track, but it's best to give such things time.

However. It's not all bad news! I decided to take another crack at the mountain tileset. And actually even ending up making some progress.
What do you think? This is actually the third attempt, starting from scratch. At least each attempt is getting faster. I doubt I'll have the energy to complete it during the week, but maybe I can get back to completing it by the next weekend. It's a lot of work still, but I'm getting more and more optimistic about this style.

Progress report:

Code: [Select]

v0.27.62 (5 juli 2023)
* Fixed found issue with some item counts on the credits stats screen potentially being incorrect

v0.27.63 (8-9 juli 2023)
* Made progress spriting new mountain tiles

14

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: July 02, 2023, 09:56:58 pm »

Well, that was the last of my free days from work  . It has put a real damper on my motivation this week so progress was less than expected. Also some real life arrangements had to be made.

So I do hope you'll forgive the placeholder assets in this new screenshot. I just really want to show of the new overworld statues as well as the water edges. Especially the later took fairly time to implemented across the entire game. What do you think? We've also been making progress on the starting house and the demo dungeon entrance visuals. Hopefully I'll be able to show that off next weekend, depending on when they come in.

As for the larger picture. These last three months have been pretty productive. I've been working on the game almost non-stop for most of that time, sometimes well into the night. As a result the first demo was been released with three follow up updates. Almost all of the character actions in the full game have been completed. Handpixeled by myself (which I honestly did not expect to be able to do beforehand). Work has now fully started on the demo 2 overworld area. This means tackling the biggest challenges like pallets, style, trees, mountains and so forth. So it's really laying the groundwork for future expansions. The first early spritework has been coming in for two more areas. Concept art and basic components just yet, but that too is essential. And about 95% of all the sound effects needed in demo 2 are now either done or commissioned, expected to be delivered by the end of juli. So all in all I'm looking back quite satisfied.

The next main goal will be to complete demo 2 before SAGE 2023, very early in september. I'll likely even target for an earlier date, but more news will come at a later date.

As a final note: the next week or two might be rough for me as I get back into work again, and am expecting a 3 month backlog waiting for me. So I might post a little less during that period.

Progress report:

Code: [Select]

v0.27.57 (26-28 juni 2023)
* Made a little progress on implementing villain group
* Made a little progress implementing some new terrain tiles

v0.27.58 (29 juni 2023)
* Tweaked and implemented water edge tiling
* Cleaned up world tilesets
* Started edited demo dungeon outside entrance room

v0.27.59 (30 juni 2023)
* Tweaked and implemented outside statue object
* Edited shallow water object for easier use in outside areas
* Finished editing demo dungeon outside entrance room (for now)
* Changed game starting position and gear
* Edited villain visuals slightly

v0.27.60 (1 juli 2023)
* Worked with artist on new sprite/tile assets
* Finished adding NPC for each of the villains
* Implemented new visuals for various containers, like bushes

v0.27.61 (2 juli 2023)
* Implemented more new container visuals

15

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: June 30, 2023, 07:21:09 am »

Oof, that's rough.
No worries about offending. It makes me motivated to make the game even better, if anything.

16

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: June 29, 2023, 10:42:37 am »

You were thinking 20 dollars? Or less?

Like I said, the pricing can still change slightly between now and then. Both the project budget and pledge levels won't be final until I finish demo 2. So that I can do a final recalculation based on the latest state of development and lessons learned. All input is still very much welcome regarding pricing and kickstarter preferences.

17

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: June 28, 2023, 07:51:34 am »

It's all still undecided, but I'm leaning towards:
20 euro (= about 22 dollar) for an early bird pledge
22/23 euro (= about 25 dollar) for a regular copy
25/27 euro (= about 28/30 dollar) for a copy incl your name in the credits and a special discord role

With higher tier pledges for more rewards like the OST, beta access and getting your name/pet/avatar in the game.

How's that sound?

EDIT: Note that I aim to include between 8 and 16 full sized dungeons (depending on the success) so it's a bigger than average game.

18

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: June 27, 2023, 03:54:38 pm »

I like that idea! Shadow cast from the tree could really improve the visuals.
Putting it on the devlist right away.

19

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: June 25, 2023, 08:14:46 pm »

We have new trees! (As seen in the attachment) They differs quite a bit from the original lttp assets, but that was kinda the point in order to make them look fresh and to make the game feel more distinct. So I'm pretty pleased with how things turned out.

A lot of progress has also been made on putting out new asset commissions. These are actually the biggest sound and sprite packages I´ve ever send out if I´m not mistaking. So expect a huge jump in progress towards demo 2 once the results start coming in over the next few weeks.

And finally: I´ve been pinning down the scope of demo 2 in far greater more detail. Work has now been mapped out to update the coding and tilework in that area. So think along the lines of needing to update NPC texts, scenes, progression flags, item availability and so on.

So in summary, things are moving along quite nicely and the stage is set for good progress next week

Progress report:

Code: [Select]

v0.27.48 (14-15 juni 2023)
* Finished new hookshot solution
* Started work on wall mockups for future tilesets

v0.27.49 (16 juni 2023)
* Expanded shock animation to also display your attack weapon that was being used
* Added music fade out after succesfull boss fights
* Added ability to run through small pots and bushes

v0.27.50 (17 juni 2023)
* Made a start with some world redesign mockups
* Set up testing rooms for other tilessets and mountain areas
* Made babysteps towards spriting an overworld mountain tileset

v0.27.51 (18 juni 2023)
* Made a little progress on the mountain tileset

v0.27.52 (20 juni 2023)
* Put out next audio commission package
* Rewrote coding related to trees
* Fixed not being able to talk to specific trees
* Fixed not getting items from crashing into specific trees
* Implemented new tree visuals

v0.27.53 (21-22 juni 2023)
* Made a little progress on the mountain tileset
* Made progress on the wall tiles for a future dungeon

v0.27.54 (23 juni 2023)
* Made small sprite, icon and color changes to map menu
* Implemented new icons for world & bird map visuals
* Fixed error with very specific overworld water edge object
* Made progress boxing off demo 2.0 playing area
* Experimented with connection between world & bird map in the ingame menu

v0.27.55 (24 juni 2023)
* Added extra debug functions
* Disabled world map for demo 2.0
* Fixed map menu goal missallignments
* Integrated world map into the ingame menu (still using a few mockup asset) as the groundwork past demo 2.0

v0.27.56 (25 juni 2023)
* Put out new sprite commission package

20

Other Projects / Re: Horn of Balance

« on: June 14, 2023, 11:19:44 am »

Just a quick update that I just released demo 1.2 over on Itch:
https://hornofbalance.itch.io/horn-of-balance-pre-ks-demo

The demo changes:
- New item added: level 2 boomerang (found in one of the secret chests in the demo)
- You can now probe walls for hidden secrets (via "grabbing" - a special animation will play if secrets are present)
- Added extra screen effects to make boss deaths more memorable
- Dropped player health and the starting revival item
- Made visual improvements to the demo dungeon map
- Added a few more sound effects
- Fixed error on gamepad options screen
- Several smaller tweaks and bugfixes

Progress report:

Code: [Select]

v0.27.45 (12 juni 2023)
* Finished implementing new character animation for summoning (excl actual summons)
* Performed a big resource and code housecleaning now that 316 hero body and 86 hero head sprites have been replaced in recent months
* Tweaked demo boss add stats
* Created early programmer visuals for some of the summoning sequences
* Worked with pixelartist
* Fixed masking issues in room outside demo
* Made progress implementing first summoning sequence
* Added error sound when trying to summon with insufficient magic

v0.27.46 (13 juni 2023)
* Worked with pixelartist on new trees
* Boomerangs now blocked by low borders. Fire, ice and medu magic is no longer blocked
* Made progress implementing new hookshot solution
* Added in another sound effect

v0.27.47 (14 juni 2023)
* Added boomerang to the demo equipment
* Fixed error when reentering the demo flying tiles room again too soon