We blinked and another month went by! We sound more and more like old people, don’t we? =( Anyway, we’re back, folks! With tons of news on your favorite indie platformer: *drumroll* Guardian of Lore! So, what have we been up to this past month? Just wait and see! We promise you’ll enjoy the read and the ride! ;)
In-Game Updates
Rounding-up Guardian of Lore’s 2nd Level!
We’ve given the final touches to the Snowy Mountains of Merida level. This is the 2nd level overall, in case you’re just joining us now. Boy, is it looking amazing! What have we changed?
- Some background text and several technical fixes we won’t go into too much detail about. See, every single one of our levels is quite different from the last, so there’s always something to modify… a certain platform may fall in a certain way that’s not quite how we’ve envisioned it, or enemies may appear and disappear before our eyes. These challenges keep us on our toes all the time! But that’s part of the charm, no time to get bored!
- Before the fight with the final boss, we added an animation during which the player summons an eagle just like the boss does. The final battle is an epic aerial combat!
- New enemy alert! Here’s the evil - and quite unsightly, may we add - ChonChon!
So, what’s the story behind this guy’s very distinct appearance? We won’t drop spoilers, don’t worry. In the Mapuche mythology, evil wizards had the ability to separate their heads from their bodies, turn their ears into wings and grow claws.
The Flower of Lirolay - or Guardian of Lore’s 3rd Level - going full Steam ahead!
The Flower of Lirolay level is the hardest so far in terms of gameplay. If the player wants to follow the folktale to a T, they’ll have to be skilled fighters and be very precise when jumping from platform to platform.
We’re a bit behind schedule in the development of this level. It’s a massive level indeed! However, we’re now working on the boss fight! You’ll be fighting against the tribal chieftain’s two older brothers who are brought back to life by the final boss. Sounds bad, right? It will be!
As regards add ons to the level, we’ve created a new item. It occupies the slot of a consumable item, but it becomes active when you die and prevents you from losing Knowledge Points. It’s the mythical Flower of Lirolay! The actual flower described in the folktale. We’ve also added a new type of coat made of bamboo canes. It attacks your enemies when you touch them! Sayri won’t want to take it off!
Aya Huma - Ecuadorian Folktale is in the works!
The development team has finally reached the point of designing the Ecuadorian folktale, their home country. This has been a huge boost in morale for everybody! We’re having a blast, for sure. This level features the story of a character, Aya Huma, who celebrates the Sun God (Inti Raymi). It will be shorter than The Flower of Lirolay, but just as incredible, full of music and color. Aya Huma is a cheerful fellow, so famous were his lively involvements in the Inti Raymi celebrations that he became a legend. At this point, we’re focused on the architecture of the level, but we can let you guys know Sayri will earn a spell during this adventure!
In case you are wondering... AYA WHAT?! This is the traditional costume and the boss inspired by it.
It’s not just in-game updates… we’ve been pretty busy outside of the game as well!
Covid’s Still Bugging Us
We decided we wouldn’t dedicate too many words to this d*mn virus, but it’s somewhat inevitable! We’re all deeply affected by it in one way or another. We are finally catching up after having fallen behind schedule due to the pandemic. In the beginning, we actually thought this would blow over in a matter of weeks… a month or two at most. But we were mistaken, obviously.
We’ve adjusted to our new reality and we’re making splendid progress on the game, even if we’re working Monday to Monday for up to 14 hours a day! We’re tired, our nerves are frayed, we’ve probably aged a decade this year… but the results are a-ma-zing! The game art is insane, there’s nothing even remotely clichéd about any of the levels, they all have different dynamics and different paths to follow. We truly hope players are able to see that and appreciate it.
Kicking off our Kickstarter Campaign
Our Kickstarter Campaign is well underway! It will probably be finished by September 15th. Our plan is for it to be released between the 30th of September and the 15th of October. The idea behind the campaign is to raise funds for several side projects related to Guardian of Lore, which we wouldn’t be able to see through without the funding from interested supporters. It also means the possibility of adding features to the game that we had to put aside for time and monetary constraints, but which we truly wanted to develop. What are some of the stretch goals we’re planning for our campaign?
- A Novice or Easy mode for the video game.
- A Comic Trilogy! It would tell Yebichai’s tale: how does a spoiled prince become the first Guardian of Lore and create the Mystic Library?
- Boss Fight mode for the game! Players would get a chance to relive their epic fights and try different fighting styles against the bosses, once they’ve been unlocked.
- Guardian of Lore in more languages! French and Italian, for sure, and maybe even another language requested by the Backers.
- Port of the video game for different consoles.
And speaking of ports, we’re trying our hardest to port the Guardian of Lore demo on MAC, but we’re still struggling. The MAC architecture is giving us massive headaches! We won’t give up, though!
That’s all, folks! Did anyone else imagine chewing carrot noises? Is it just us? Please tell us you got the Bugs Bunny joke. Okay, enough with the ancient references.
Have an amazing August, we’ll be working tirelessly to turn our indie masterpiece into... Well, to make it even more masterpiece-y!
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