chimpgames

[chimpgames]

new poster for twilight epoch. was picking away at this on-and-off for months.

gonna update steam store assets soonish, probably with new screenshots and a trailer

[chimpgames]

boss fight, Ourgon and his brudda Gorgo. arena is placeholder.

i was worried before that for major bosses id have to make these crazy movelists and phases and DMs. but im relieved now that they can be raw as fuck with like 4 moves and still be fun and challenging.

[chimpgames]

i was tweaking air physics for combat balancing, and added honest to god quake air-strafing by complete accident. which means that, after i added a buffer on landing, bhopping is now possible.

the window is 2 frames, but i increased it to 6 here for demonstration (and still missed some).

combined with the slope jumps while sprinting, on top of all the other stuff already there (explosive jumping, damage surfing, weapon-specific mobility), the movement is now certified fucking insane.

thankfully the 2 frame window adds an execution barrier that still keeps the combat pretty grounded and twin-stick-ish.

[chimpgames]

screenies. lighting is mostly placeholder

since most of the gameplay content (equipment, enemies, mechanics, etc) is complete now, the focus is on getting the levels done. its a bigger task than i anticipated but it'll be worth it

theres a lot of stuff added to the gameplay that i could show, but its at the point now where its just better to wait and let you experience it yourselves.

also scrap what i said in the last post about nextfest. i don't wanna rush out a demo, its not conducive to how i work. im aiming to have the game out by june 2025, but it could be earlier than that and hopefully not later. expect only a handful more posts until then.

if the game continues to pan out how i want it to, i think its gonna be something quite special.

[chimpgames]

haven't posted in a while but just letting you know that development is going smoothly.

i've been focused getting through the games content, ready to start making the levels and actual progression through the campaign (though some good progress on that is made too, the level shown above is about 50% of the way to being fully complete)

right now, every weapon type is complete, around 60/100 weapons are done, all but 4 armour sets complete, around 30/50 enemies done (with the spritesheets almost completely finished), and about 15/50 abilities. status effects are also complete on the player side, and a bunch of other shit like NPCs, vendors, the book scene, pause menu, etc.

heres the equipment in the test level to give you an idea of how much shit is in this game

also twilight epoch will be likely be at steam nextfest

there will be a demo where you can play through one of the games worlds. look for that in october

[chimpgames]

lizardmen. these guys are a brutal late-game duellist enemy

also displayed is the blunderbuss weapon type for copper, and 3 abilities, 'leap', 'multi-strike', and 'backstep slash'.

music is Helloween - Murderer

[chimpgames]

chests and enemy areas. chests can have any amount of any object inside of them, which is possible thanks to godots node system. also finally added the hurt sounds and portrait expressions.

this level model is complete, and for the first time im populating a level with actors and getting a taste of the real gameplay. the actors in the video are just set up for demonstration though, different stuff is there on the actual level.

[chimpgames]

the gauntlets weapon type for nia. left-click does a weave followed by a punch, and right click is a strict parry. you can also see ive added some camera effects like headbob and interpolation, which were needed for the weave to feel right. i think this weapon is my favourite

song is judas priest - invincible shield

[chimpgames]

the dragon lance, luas third weapon type. its focused on aerial combat, with the goal being to get as high and far as possible, to get the longest divekick you can (since it increases damage and poise-break over time). if you know your final fantasy, you might recognise it as a sort of real-time take on the 'dragoon' class

i say this every time but the level is w.i.p. i just don't want anyone to think the levels will be this empty.

heres the music for this level

[chimpgames]

divekick

[chimpgames]

heres a little excerpt from a scene in twilight epoch.

for both immersion reasons and general limitations of trying to solo dev a whole ass jrpg, the vast majority of the story is told through prose, as opposed to the usual cutscenes or dialogue boxes.

i won't be posting many of these because i don't want to spoil the story, also i have a suspicion no ones going to bother reading it until they're playing the thing, but i want to post at least one to give you an idea of what to expect.

the party have arrived at New Magness, the capital city of Union Prime, historically known as Terra. Dusk, the main character, has been taken in for a medical examination for reasons i won't spoil. while waiting, Lua, Mush and Copper hit downtown with the newly met union fleet officer Jenny Gun, who has been tasked with accompanying the party on their soon-to-be mission.

i'm sort of assuming that most reading this have been following the game and recognise the party member names, but if not it doesn't matter too much.

------------------------------------------------------------------

"This was a favourite of mine, a year ago when I was with the police department. Good for a bite if I got lucky with the calls."

It was a diner on a corner. Above it's wide and tall windows with only thin frame, a scrolling light-diode text wrapped around the bevel of the building, unreadable to Lua and Mush.

"Hey waidda minute, how come we can hear each-other but can't read the signs?"

"Visual translation can lead to hallucinations. Audio's good enough." Lua answered absently, eyes following the scroll to try and translate it manually.

"Fifty Brothers: Finest Pitta" Copper read the name, buried among other superlatives claiming it to be the best, most eminent diner of all time.

"Fifty..." sucking his pipe.

"Yeah, the owners, uh, Anamian. They get busy."

"So no seafood here then, I take it?" blowing.

"Heh heh. Yeah, no."

"Bah." throwing his hand and turning. "If it ain't got seafood, lass, it ain't got me; not with a pitta place. I'll look elsewhere then come back for a pint." trailing off into the streets darkness, the glow of his pipe fading.

"Alllrighty."

"But he's missing out." she side-mouthed with chin-tucked, smiling to the other two.

The interior was a clinical white, between the white fluorescent lights and less-white square tiles plastered with vague faded footprints and very un-clinical pools of grease beside a no mans land of fallen straws and condiment packets.

Parallel to the large windows were three tables with four stools each, capped with red cushion. The counter was steel, and had no seats, meant only for ordering to the fish-like man with a uniform apron and cap. Gun greeted him with a nod, and the others took the one free table in the centre.

Neither really knew what a 'pitta' was. Craning or just straight up extending their necks to take a glance over a wrapping from a stood up customer revealed a cradle of flatbread holding spread cheese, with pockets of what looked like moretum (which Lua had never been able to find anywhere beyond her home island), topped with large tomato pieces and pomegranate.

Ten minutes later, they were halfway through one and pleased. Lua more so, as she cut surgical pieces to get the most variety of flavour out of one bite.

"You said you were with the police department just a year ago?" daintily sliding a quarter tomato off her fork.

"E-yuh huh." chewing.

"You've got a fast career if you're in Union fleet now, then." with slight disbelief.

"Mmm..." considering then swallowing. "It was more like a transfer."

"Oh?"

"They've been delegating fleet positions to PD's all across the plane. I think they're just short-handed. There's talk of some big project too, but that's, uh."

She zipped her lips. "Don't have the clearance to know the first thing about it."

"S'why the streets, umm..." stabbing her food "aren't looking the best right now." taking a cheekful. "I feel bad for the people still on the force dealing with all the staff cuts."

"Erm. Staffs are a blunt weapon." Mush raised his finger with eyes morphed into glasses. Lua huffed.

She swirled her drink.

"So is that why the admiral was so welcoming? They need more people?"

"Ehhh. Maybe. I think he was feelin' more genial than usual; eager to talk to someone. Though he's been a little odd in general."

She thought back to anything odd about him besides his cooperation.

"How so?"

"Well, he just came back from a three month deep space expedition near Terra Relicta; there were highly unusual readings. Travelled there for weeks, searched for a week."

A cold swig of beer slushed, and she breathed out.

"Didn't find Jack Thompson, unfortch."

"Who?" Mush whispered, looking up to Lua.

"Jack didd-ely squat. Nothing." She elaborated over the lip of the bottle. "Which musta been pretty demoralising, coming back empty handed after all that time cooped up in space. So he's not quite himself, if you feel me."

"I see." Lua muttered.

A tendril pushed against the tile floor, then wiped off some grease on the edge of the stool cushion. Mush spun around and round slowly on the stool.

"Waaaaaaidda minute." volume dipping and rising as he spun.

"We were just in Terra-raricta. N' it took us like a week to get here. Why'd the brown guy take three months?"

"Mush..." Lua facepalmed.

"Well, he says it how it is, don't he?" grinning.

"Admiral Thymes took that long because he travelled on a ship."

"Uh, yah, but can't ships do the tangly thingy?" still spinning.

"There's no computer powerful enough in the Weave to calculate entangling a mass as large and complex as a fleet ship."

"Basically," Gun joined "A ships too big to fit through a lightthread, so they have to travel the actual space between planes instead of just zippin' around between them."

Lua propped and looked out of the window. "Unless its a really small ship like ours, designed to do it."

She took a bite of moretum. Then, snorted derisively. "Or a plane-buster, stars forbid, those'll fit."

Mush stopped. "Oooh, whats that?"

"Big bomb. Kills billions. Booooooom." deadpan, waving her hands then falling back onto her propping palm.

"Every power with a tail has one, because... because I don't know, I guess we're all neanderthals." Lua trailed off to a glass of water, sighing.

Dishes clanked and stoves burned quietly behind the counter, just beneath the hum of a fly-trap.

Gun cleared her throat. "Well, the Union has no plans of using one. They're for worst-case scenario self-defense."

"Yeah, probably..."

"Probably? Try 'definitely'. Peace is our top priority." putting down her drink and limply pointing.

Lua scoffed. "I wish I could say the same about Ta'al."

Nails tapped rhythmically on the table.

"...Is it my place to pry?" she ventured.

"Pry til the last plane fades, nectar." chuckling. "I don't give a θΞΨΠ about them, I'm an exile. I'll tell you hegemony secrets, everything. I was barely a Ta'al to begin with."

Gun leant back, with a look to the ceiling, then a smirk with eye contact.

"Sound's like you could do with a stronger drink, 'nectar'."

"Huh?" she sat up, confused.

"Oh, no, no. But thank you." lightening and shaking her head. "I only used to drink vine, uh, you know" she giggled "on occasion."

"I sip Oh jay..." Mush said quietly, rolling his lips like a playa.

"Vine? What, like fruits off a vine, fermented?"

"Yes." pleasantly surprised. "But, um... you don't have that here, do you?"

She clucked, wagging her finger. "Ah, but we do. Add another 'v', there."

"...vuh-vine?"

"YE WON'T GET WINE AT A MANKY ESTABLISHMENT THE LIKES OF THIS, YE FOOLISH WOMAN." a muffled voice boomed through the window beside them, attracting the attention of everyone in the room, staring at the 8 foot tall metal man framed by two very startled people and a mushroom.

"How long was he...?"

"Like, ten seconds ago." Mush answered.

"THERE'S NARY A FINE BROAD NOR A LOBSTER TO BE FOUND ON THESE BARREN STREETS!!" with desperation, tipping a trash can and stomping off into the darkness, making a pair of teenage girls shriek.

"RAAAAAGH!!" distantly, beside passing sirens.

Everyone else resumed eating, inside the coughing ambience of the diner.

"He's uh, gonna get fined if he gets caught doing that." Gun said with a dry throat.

"I think we should round him up then go check on Dusk..." muttered.

They nodded.

[chimpgames]

another (also very WIP) area, 'marble sky' in the world 'peshay'. the world is a transhumanist netscape, with the real surface being a barren wasteland of server farms.

about half of the 20-ish worlds in twilight epoch are 100% optional and this is one of them

[chimpgames]

i dont think i've ever posted any armour sprites yet. heres a couple of them i did a few days ago. every set is unique, and has a passive bonus that stacks across the 3 pieces. e.g the hunter set increases sprinting speed, the demon set spawns an explosion per piece when you get hit.

the goal with all equipment in this game is to make finding it an exciting and mechanically meaningful extension of your options. to that end, only one of each weapon/armour piece exists, and everything is upgradable to endgame numbers (which you don't even need if you git gud)

[chimpgames]

fucked up on two lines of coke and a frog

the botany skill lets you consume ingredients to gain temporary buffs, the duration of which scales with the skills level. there are herbs and mushrooms to recover health and MP, but the other 10 ingredients are essentially power-ups that stack.

the area shown here is very WIP

[chimpgames]

a tad spoilery but i gotta post this one

don't worry hes not the final boss or some shit

[chimpgames]

got 5 new enemy types completed yesterday, you can see 3 of them here. i dont think ive shown off the mushroom before either

this is the sort of chaos you can expect to see towards end-game. enemy stats and player HP are static in this, instead the difficulty increases by having harder encounters with more enemies like in any other FPS. the idea is that the challenge ramps up to DOOM slaughter map tier difficulty, but the casual player will have much higher defense and damage through equipment upgrades

so instead of numerical progression like other RPGs, its an extreme difficulty curve where the playing field is evened by upgrades.

[chimpgames]

wip. theres some z-fighting and details missing because of blender draw distance.

an area in the world 'zheul'. its a gatehouse and elevator leading down to the city of sckxyss.