Observo now finally has a Steam page! The game is coming out later this year, so check it you if you’re interested and add it to your wishlist (it helps!)
You can also find it on itch.io, and I’ve got an official website now too (fancy!)
I know I haven’t been posting a lot of game dev updates in here anymore, but I’m still fully focused on finishing this project which has entered beta testing phase, so there’s a lot of fixing stuff and ironing things out to make the game as polished as possible, and not a lot of time for me to keep up with social media (…even though I probably should for promo purposes). And I also got a cat. 🐱
So that’s what’s been happening! Now let me go back to some fixing bugs shenanigans….
So here’s the devlog about combat that I was going to write the other week but then the camera one turned out way too long!
And if you thought the camera one was long, boy do I have a surprise for you…
So here’s a fairly long (and a little bit rant-y) write-up of my thought process about to combat or not to combat, and how to raise the stakes in a horror game in order to give more substance to the ‘horror’ part.
*Emphasis on thought process because as the game is still in development, I’m still figuring out the proper mechanics of it all
So! Let’s talk about cameras for a second. Or just let me ramble about it for a little while.
Honestly none of this is probably new and my guess is people who have tried to replicate the way cameras worked in PS1-PS2 era games probably went through similar shenanigans as I did, but this was a fun way to write down the process of getting the camera system working, but like, in a short, there-are-other-things-I-should-be-doing kind of way. And it’s still too long!
Since I just posted this on Twitter, here’s a sort of mini teaser showcasing the kind of atmosphere I’m going for with Observo! (With audio!)
Also it’s actually the first look at the game during gameplay, and it also displays the follow camera that I’ve been struggling with for the past week or so. Since I’m going for a PS2-era vibe, the follow camera isn’t the kind that we have today that the player can move freely so it’s been hard getting that just right. But more about that on the next devlog!
Featuring the previously poopy-looking tree after a glow up!
The previous tree had a placeholder generic bark texture and the tree itself had only been uv mapped pretty liberally (Blender’s Smart UV Project can do wonders but it can’t work miracles). Now, this new tree not only has some roots on the bottom (…which you can’t really see in this picture…) but was also properly mapped, though the big difference was the dirt and mold painted into the texture itself. Since I’m going for a PS2 era-look, all the dirt and wear of objects are all baked into their diffuse textures, which in turn are the only kind of texture map used (it ain’t PBR that’s for sure). Also the base bark texture is different! (thanks textures.com!) Also the #filter helps for the tree’s self-esteem.
I’m back! To posting stuff anyway, actual development on Observo never stops! Good news is things are still moving along, bad news is that I don’t think I can make it to the target release date of Halloween, mostly due to the previously mentioned (and badly needed) reestructuring of the game.
But anyways! Here are some new screenshots after a major revamping of a bunch of textures! A devlog is coming soon with the what and when and who and why of this.
After, what, three years of no substantial content I come to you to present OBSERVO!
Observo is a third-person horror game made in the style of old PS2 horror classics as we try to go for a “lost PS2 game” kind of feel. You play as Edgar, a man who just wants a good night’s rest in this one roadside inn he found, but he’s pretty sure the person next door was spying on him…
Our current target release date is October (Halloween!), stay tuned for more updates!
Scenery Concept Art #1 - The Cauldron
So here’s the first concept art of my current project! I mean, first one posted, because I actually have quite a few, haha. This is also the first glimpse into what I’m working on right now! (I mean, aside from that little bench I posted some time ago…)
Like I said, I already have a bunch of concept art ready, but the reason I decided to post this one first is because I think it represents nicely the general idea and setting of the project. I know I haven’t given much, if any, information about it at all, but, hey, it’s all about the mystery! …Or the fact that it’s still in its early stages so anything could change at any moment therefore I’m holding off on talking too much about it. But! Concept art! More will come!
Hello everyone! It’s been a while since I last posted anything here so I’m here to give some updates on everything!
First, my computer died. Well, the gpu did, so I was stuck with an overheating, barely functioning laptop for weeks on end until I finally managed to buy myself a new computer! So here I am! Brand new and ready to roll (and also highly paranoid that every little sound it makes means it came with a defect and I’m gonna have to have it fixed soon - or worse, that it’s going to die on me after the warranty wears off. This thing was expensive). Anyways, new computer means it’s faster and better and that I can do all sorts of things now, which brings me to…
What I’ve been doing lately! Aside from counting down the days to when the new computer would arrive. I’ve been focusing the vast majority of my time on studying game design and everything relating to it, from level design, 3D modelling and programming. Now that I’ve finally graduated from University and have tons of free time, I ended up deciding to focus my efforts on having a future in Game Design, most importantly, on making my current game ideas become actual games. So yes, I’m working on a new project that might be a little too ambitious for a single person but I’m nothing if not stubborn! I think I might have even mentioned working on this project before, so yep, I’ve been on this one for a whiiile.
On the side, I’ve also been practicing art (you can find my art blog here) and I also started doing a couple of video game streams on my spare time (find me on twitch here!) and archiving them on a new youtube channel. I know I already have one YT channel, but that one is dedicated to my personal projects while the new one is (for now) a stream archive. PS: If you’re reading this after this was just posted, I’ll be doing a Jak II stream in a short while!
Anyways, I’d like to come back to posting about my projects here but I don’t want to give too much away so soon, mostly because it’s still fairly early in development. I might post some concept art though, and maybe an early look at a few of the environments. Either way, thank you and feel free to come to twitch to watch me make a fool of myself!
From Next Door has been translated to two more languages!
You can find the Russian version here (RTP/No RTP), credit to Satanika, Spirit of Rage and Shinrize for the translation!
You can find the Spanish version here, credit to Sebastián Díaz for the translation!
As I speak neither of those languages I wasn’t able to test them fully, but as far as I know they should be running fine! Thanks so much to everyone who worked on these translations and I seriously apologize for the lateness of this announcement. Thank you!