Grabbus [Indie Game]

Got more work done on the new sky effect last night.
As a bonus, I made it so the world map resets itself if you change options that affect its size or alignment! (Helpful for making sure the sky adjusts itself correctly at all sizes!)

Pulled a late-night dev session!
Made good progress on the new sky effect, just need to adjust its sizing and give it a fun texture! Also found and ironed out the last of the issues with map rotation math.
It's now perfected down to the pixel! Real, real smooth.

Last night I finally got around to fixing some jank in the world map's rotation code that would cause it to shift awkwardly as it spun past certain angles. Now it's much smoother!
To showcase it (test it) I've also added a slow-spinning "attract mode" if you let go of the controls for awhile.

Waterfalls!

Thanks!

Thank you so much!

Hard at work!

This was one of those happy accidents. I wasn't sure how it'd look before I pressed the play button, but I ended up liking it immediately, though I may have ideas for further adjustments...

Thank you!!

Thank you VERY much for the compliment!!

So far I have handled the art and programming myself. I use Aseprite for sprites, Clip Studio Paint for concepts and designing, and Game Maker is the engine. Audio-related assets are commissioned original from freelancers.

Here's some video of the new biome tiles and today's water animation changes! #indiedev #gamedev

Tonight, I'll be animating the water tiles. Wonder what I'll come up with...

Thank you so much for your patience! There's a lot more work to do!!!

Figured I'd post a little status update on here!
I'm nearly done with the new terrain tiles for the world map overhaul... This was a major undertaking, adding 16 new biomes to the endless world of Skixx!

Here are some example screenshots of how it looks so far!
(The trees will get replaced!)

Still working on the world map graphics overhaul! I've made steady progress, but it still needs more time to reach the vision.

A bit of a side-quest today!

The introduction of sixteen new overworld biomes for the world map overhaul makes it possible to expand on my initial ideas for building.

I'm taking some time today to write down those new ideas and refine the existing design plan as it relates to building in Grabbus.

some spots opened up recently, send me a message if you're interested! and please share, it helps me out a lot

It will be nice to finally have this looking how I imagined, but it takes work!
Sorry for the wait!

Got a couple more sets of rough terrain sprites done!
Six more!

Then I have to animate the water, remake the existing buildings and POI, and then add sets of vegetation, boulders, and other biome-specific deco.

So I consider it my purpose and duty to make sure Grabbus becomes the greatest game it can be, sparing no effort, ignoring no detail, and always reaching further into what can be made possible.

Thank you for following this journey so far!

I don't think I can make Grabbus meet the vision I have for it alone, and I'm not thinking I would like to.

It has always been my dream to make a wild and vibrant game with a team of like-minded talent.
Not just for money, but for the satisfaction of contributing to a medium that makes life better.

Also there's some discourse going around about being a solo-dev. Grabbus, at a certain point, was just me putting together code and pixels and seeing what I could experiment with.

Now there are people depending on me to finish what I've started so as not to waste their contributions!

With the worldmap's sizing finalized, it will then be possible to begin adding new buildings with interesting possibilities for meta-progress and exploration.

I'll say this, the "Before and After" shots for the new worldmap graphics will be quite the contrast. This is definitely gearing-up to become the most beautiful part of Grabbus so far.

But make no mistake, I have actual gameplay improvements on the docket too!

Just..... a LOT of drawing!!
It's fun though so I don't mind.

Status update!

I'm still working on the new world map tiles, there are still a number of the rough terrain sprites, new vegetation and resizing of the existing buildings. It's a time-consuming thing since this is an art-heavy improvement, so I appreciate your patience as I get through it!

Just finished setting up the terrain parameters for the new biomes! It may need adjustment later, but for now it does the job.

I think all that's left for the minimum viable map overhaul are the tiles for rough terrain for each biome, and some effect(s) for the sky and backing.

Y'all should follow the Grabbus account and maybe join the discord to see it being worked on in real time, there's been really cool progress. Did I mention I'm doing sound design for it?

I still need to make all the rough terrain sprites too, most of them are unique per biome and it may need extra variations... sooooo it'll be a hot sec.

Today I'll be attempting surgery on the terrain parameter blending code, by adding new variables and adjusting the existing ones to fit into the 16 new biomes.

In English: I'm making the world generation cooler