Hey there everyone, I hope you’re all keeping well! I know lots of folks really enjoyed our last update and a look into what goes into our lovely interiors, so we figured we’d update you on some work going on on the OUTSIDE this time. There’s a lot that goes into balancing the outdoors and filling it with the right things, as well as making it a nice space for you to enjoy. With all that in mind, here is some of the work that’s been going into your new world!
In the last update, we talked a little bit about setting the tone of the game, and hoping that our stylized interiors give you a real feeling of the people that live there and the ambience of the town. There’s a lot of work to balance making it a place where the townspeople clearly live, filling it with interesting things to investigate and filling it with things that advance the story and house our lovely spirits! Making sure that you have enough space to explore, and that the town is alive but not FULL is definitely a difficult balance to strike! I don’t want to spoil anything JUST YET about some of the things you can find and interact with in the world, but it’s definitely been interesting to think about where everything GOES.
Just like the interiors, everything has gone through planning and sketching, as well as just walking around the environment and feeling - what is this missing? My favourite example was the Temple area in the south, which just felt like it needed something more. We made some revisions to the temple structure itself, as well as added in some more rocks to make the environment a little more exciting, but it definitely needed some atmosphere. In the end, we included a bell that would be rung in the early morning and evening, which could be heard all throughout town - Just another little element that will hopefully add to the atmosphere of the town!
Just like the interiors, we want everything to be interesting, memorable and be interesting to explore - the world is full of things to find and collect, as well as people to hang out with and clues as to the whereabouts of the spirits, but it can’t ONLY be full of those things. One of the little touches you might have seen in the demo is the bus. Originally the road parts of town felt a little flat, so the bus was added (though it did drive off into the sea and mow down all the NPCs in the process…) and almost INSTANTLY the town felt more alive, more like a real town.
The next things we’re hoping will bring that breath of life into the game is the wildlife (which you might already have met!) and the townsfolks’ routines! There are some bird, frog and beach-based friends to discover in the demo!) and the NPCs going about their daily routines - I’m really excited to see these in action, showing off each character’s personality and giving you more to discover around the town!
Based on the Demo, where are you most excited to explore in Spirittea? I can’t wait to get exploring again and find all these little details. Did you have a favourite in the Demo? Let us know!