So I know it's been awhile since we've given an official update, but we're still alive, kickin' and developing Wellspring: Altar of Roots! In case you missed the last update, we're no longer Bevontule and have opted to go with a marginally more-decipherable name--we're still growing into it, but I think it'll work out!
Before we jump into what we've been up to, I know that we had mentioned re-launching our Kickstarter around September. Long story short, we're going to focus instead on continuing to develop the game, with a potential re-launch much further along the horizon.
We've already devoted a large portion of time developing the fundamental mechanics of the game, which should allow us to adopt a more measured and methodical approach towards future development. At the same time, having full-time jobs (yes, we're working for the man again) allows us to filter more money back into the project.
Our ultimate goal is to come back to Kickstarter with a much more polished presentation, and a larger slice of both the game's features and plot. While our previous demo provides a pretty large chunk, it doesn't have much context in terms of what's actually going on in the game at that point. Thus we'd like to spend the time to start from the actual beginning of the game, granting the player access to several other locations, story snippets and overall content.
At the same time, we'd like to implement new player skills, improved AI, and at least, a cursory glance at our crafting and bestiary systems. We'll get there eventually, but it's going to take a little more time--for now, we very much appreciate those of you who have come along for the ride!
After waking up from the massive bender that commenced upon our Kickstarter failing (just kidding... mostly), we decided to take a small break to drink some more, and then we got back to work! The first order of business was to fix some of the known and lingering issues with our demo--to be honest, there were a LOT of things, and you can check out the previous update to see a full list.
Most importantly though, we needed to optimize a few things, namely our cloth physics.
After that, we began to go through some of the feedback we'd received--one of the main draws of Wellspring (if not its main draw) is our combat system and specifically, the ability to execute chains against opponents. Ultimately, we felt that this simply wasn't communicated clearly to the player and thus worked on a new screen effect:
While working on effects, we also took care of another bit of feedback: players could inadvertently enter our combat "Inspection Mode" (allows the player to check the status of combatants and their charging skills) and not realize it, as the visual feedback was somewhat lacking.
We also spent some time adding a few more skills, as well as the ability for certain skills to be manually targeted, meaning that they can be positioned on the battlefield. Most skills, on the other hand, require an enemy or ally target before they can be charged.
Using this framework, we were able to implement a skill that we've had our eyes on for awhile, called Teleport Strike, which allows Bodom to teleport to the targeted position, dealing damage to a nearby enemy.
I should also stress that this is just a small sample of everything that we've implemented since the Kickstarter campaign--much of it simply can't be shown, but rest assured that the game and its mechanics are smoother than ever and nearly every known bug (including very large ones that, in some cases. have existed since the earliest days of Wellspring development) has been fixed.
Lastly, we've continued to work with outside contractors and freelancers to provide more character art and models--we're beyond excited to show off one such recent model, the indomitable "Berithane"--here is the concept art the model is based upon:
And finally, a video showing this creature's walk cycle! Keep in mind that there are still many more animations to be added as well as general updates to the environment:
Anyhow, I think that just about sums up, very briefly, some of the progress we've made over the last few months. While we may have slowed down somewhat, we certainly haven't given up by any means, and we very much hope that you'll continue to support us on this journey!
-Derek
