Elements Development Update
Hey everyone! We appreciate all your patience. Wanted to give you a little update on some of the things we have been working on as we continue to update the Closed Alpha, working towards a public demo. A lot of this was already posting on a Kickstarter update, but I wanted to sha
Hey everyone!
We appreciate all your patience. Wanted to give you a little update on some of the things we have been working on as we continue to update the Closed Alpha, working towards a public demo. A lot of this was already posting on a Kickstarter update, but I wanted to share with the Steam Community as well!
In-game Cinematic Framework
We have created the framework for implementing cinematics. Our goal is to deliver most of the story in-game through exploration and interaction, but we also want key moments to land with the right impact. Cinematics will help us highlight important story beats while still keeping a strong sense of player agency and freedom. We will share visuals once we have our first proper cinematic in place.
Keyboard and Controller Input
You can now play with mouse and keyboard as well as controller. Up until now, split screen required two controllers, which made testing and playing together more limited. With this update, you can finally mix input types and play comfortably in more setups. At this stage, the keyboard still needs to be assigned to Player One, but controller support is fully functional and already feels great in-game.
Mount System Improvements
We have also overhauled the mount system, making it feel more fluid, responsive, and enjoyable whether you are using a keyboard or a controller. Since mounts are a core part of exploration, getting this right has been a priority. There are still a few tweaks to come, but we now have full directional movement and a much smoother overall feel.
Please ignore the missing sound effects and the character legs clipping through the mount. Both of those issues are already being fixed.
Light Guardian
Here is your first look at the Light Guardian and, even better, the mount you will earn after defeating it. This is one of the more end game mounts in Elements, and we are excited to finally share a peek at it. We are still refining some of the animations, but we could not resist showing you an early glimpse of something this cool. The Light Guardian has evolved quite a bit from its initial sketch.
Dark Guardian
Here is an early look at the Dark Guardian. This creature is a lone wolf that comes alive in the night, and it is already shaping up to be one of the more mysterious Guardians in the game. We are still working on its animations and AI, and we are exploring ideas like a shadow step ability to give it a unique presence in combat. And yes, once you defeat it, you will be able to mount the Dark Guardian. 🐺
3D Item Preview for Consumables
You can now fully inspect food, potions, and other consumables in 3D before using them. It’s a small touch, but it adds a surprising amount of tangibility and personality to the world. This system may even evolve into light investigation mechanics and deeper lore connections as certain items reveal clues about their origins or the creatures who crafted them.
VFX for visual buffs and additional item flair are still on the way, but the foundation is now in place and already feeling great in-game.
Reputation System Progress
We have been deep into designing the Reputation System, which will shape how your choices affect the world and how NPCs respond to you. This marks an important step toward making Elemythia feel more alive and reactive.
Looting items that belong to NPCs will now influence your reputation and can change the dialogue options available to you. Your actions carry weight. Choosing to help, harm, steal, or show restraint will open certain quest paths while closing others, and it may affect who trusts you, who refuses to work with you, and what gear or rewards you gain access to.
Think carefully before you take something that does not belong to you. Sometimes all it takes is asking first.
Areas of Corruption
Areas of Corruption are places where the natural balance of a biome has been overwhelmed and twisted. These pockets of chaos are home to powerful enemies who guard ancient treasures, including each biome’s native Elemental Armor. When players clear these areas and defeat the corrupted foes within, they’ll have the opportunity to cleanse the land, restoring it to its natural state. As a reward, players can claim a piece of that biome’s unique armor set.
Cleansed areas also become valuable for exploration. Some contain rare resources normally only found in distant biomes, giving players a reason to revisit them when collecting materials for crafting, upgrading, or preparing for tougher challenges ahead.
Elemythical Armor can be upgraded only in special locations or by skilled NPCs native to each biome. These characters hold ancient knowledge passed down through generations and understand how to unlock the deeper potential hidden within these relics. Upgrading isn’t just a numbers boost, it’s a step deeper into the lore and traditions of each culture in Elemythia, strengthening your bond to the world while enhancing your combat abilities.
Fire Propagation
From the very beginning, we wanted Elements to feel like a world you can truly interact with, a place that rewards curiosity and experimentation. As a small team, we are always balancing ambition with practicality, looking for smart ways to bring the world to life without stretching beyond our limits.
One of the systems we have been refining is grass interactivity, specifically how fire behaves across different environments. Right now, only certain grass types can catch fire, and each one burns differently. Some patches ignite quickly and burn out fast, while others allow fire to spread further and last longer, creating dynamic pockets of danger and opportunity during combat or exploration.
Enemies that are weak to fire will now avoid flames, which helps them feel more responsive and alive in the world. We also fixed an issue with smoke abruptly disappearing. It now fades naturally and improves visibility and overall atmosphere.
Improved Water Interactions
We have made big improvements to how water interacts with both the player and world props. This includes buoyancy and proper river flow. Objects can now float naturally and drift downstream, which opens the door for puzzles and interactions like rafts, boats, and other creative traversal ideas.
The river system now has these interactions built in. That means wherever there is a river or body of water, these behaviors will work automatically. This speeds up development in a huge way because we no longer need to manually place interaction zones or special volumes.
We have also started experimenting with elemental reactions, such as water putting out fire, which will add even more depth to exploration and combat.
I wanted to shout out one of our amazing artists Marta who has been responsible for most of the amazing texture work in Elements. You can check her work out here https://www.artstation.com/artwork/kQ3AV0
Again, thank you for all the wishlists and support. We will keep you updated and let you know when to expect a demo and then Early Access release. Looking forward to having you all in Elemythia!
