#starflesh lore

[abstractlantern]

Devlog #6

Yay, I actually got around to doing this! It's almost 11 at night, but it still counts! Yesterday I said I would go a little further into the lore, so that's what we'll be talking about today.

WARNING! Mild body horror, mild description of death/violence, and fictional diseases. I don't censor anything for the sake of making it easier to read. If that makes you uncomfortable, please proceed with caution.

The Festering is a supernatural illness that plagues the kingdom of the Board. Its origin is unknown to the common people, making the danger of catching the illness all the more frightening. However, the initiated few know that the Festering was sent from the Great Ones, ancient god-like beings that lurk beyond the physical world. Why, exactly, they sent it is unknown. Perhaps they got tired of being ignored and wanted to put the mortals in their place. Maybe they were just bored. Who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The way the Festering progresses is as such:

Initial contracting of the infection. It can be spread the way most diseases do; via bodily fluids. It can also be contracted if an Infected manages to physically injure (bite/scratch) another person.

The onset of the illness. It starts out similar to a cold, with headaches, chills, soreness, and fatigue. The Infected may experience brain fog and unusual behaviour. The beginning stages are the same for everybody, but the advancements change depending on the individual.

Advanced infection. The Infected become constantly dazed and unresponsive, though they can still move and perform basic tasks. Reality starts to warp for the Infected individual, as their human comprehension of the world slips away.

Transformation. This phase of the Festering takes place about a week after phase 3. The physical body of the Infected twists into a form that unrecognizable from its original body. These changes vary. Extra limbs or other body parts may appear, or existing body parts may shift in appearance. A crystalline substance may grow on the Infected individual's body, inhibiting movement and senses. The Infected may grow taller, gain sharper teeth and claws, or their bodies may split apart at the seams to make way for the otherworldly changes. The transformation happens relatively quickly, usually under an hour, and sometimes even within minutes or seconds. The Infected has lost all humanity, and becomes a powerful killing machine.

Most people kill the Infected on sight, so the final stages of the Festering aren't often seen. After some time rampaging, the Infected becomes oddly still. They will attack if provoked, but they seem to lose most awareness of their surroundings. The Infected will begin to hear the voices of the Great Ones, calling out from the depths of existence. The Infected then dies, having achieved enlightenment.

You know, just your average, light-hearted indie game experience! I'll try to make a post tomorrow, too, but no promises (^_^;) I'd like to go more in depth about the "Great Ones" and the pantheon and religions of the game, but that might need to wait for some time. I have actual game-making to do, I can't just procrastinate with world building xD

Thanks for reading if you've made it this far! I'll catch y'all later!

[abstractlantern]

Dev update

Been a looooong time since I've made an update. Since then I've had a birthday, gotten glasses, and made a whole hell of a lot of progress on the game.

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Some screenshots!

I'm not even sure how to describe what's happening in this screenshot...

I think this is off-center but I don't feel like redoing it lol

SpOoOoOky

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I'm super close to the end of Chapter 0, and it will hopefully be done by the end of this year! (If I can work on it at all come October, the closer we get to Christmas, the less clear my schedule becomes lmao) There are still a lot of things I'd like to change/add before then, including:

A battle manual that can be accessed from the inventory. I found that the battle mechanics/terms are a little confusing if the player doesn't play video games very often.

Updated cutscene graphics! Certain scenes that were just characters talking will now have more dynamic images on screen, and other scenes will have updated art.

There are a few areas I'm going to further expand, and I'll be adding more readily accessible lore in the environment, since right now all of the lore is just living in my google docs.

But anyways, I'm super excited to get Starflesh out there as soon as I can! Catch y'all later d(^.^)b