Happy Friday, friends!
Hey everyone, DD here again to bring you this week's Development Digest while Janna and Kindred are away visiting family for a couple of weeks. Don't worry, work will still be getting done during this time, and we are getting closer to announcing the date for the Windless Woods update. Those of you who have read last week's digest will know that Janna hinted at something special for this week, and unfortunately, it isn't the update date as many of you have guessed. However, I hope the actual surprise is just as exciting; a "meet the team" post that I will be sharing with you all, alongside the regular weekly updates of our progress. It's been a while since we've shared something like this, and with our growing community, we wanted to properly introduce ourselves to everyone once again—or even for the first time in one case. I'll be starting with the meet the team segment, followed by the weekly progress updates. I hope you all enjoy this longer-than-normal post!
Of course, we have to start off with Kindred; the founder of Kindred Games:
"I'm Michael AKA Kindred. I'm the lead developer for Swords 'n Magic. I've been making games since 2007 starting in RPG Maker and eventually going to school for my bachelor of science in game art and animation. When I'm not working on Swords 'n Magic I enjoy playing games, spending time with my family and taking the occasional hike through the woods. I have an unhealthy obsession with collecting art books. There's nothing quite as inspiring to me than flipping through a book of art from some of my favorite games.
My favorite part of Swords 'n Magic is the secrets. When I watch a player discover a secret lever or cave and find a special, unique item or reward inside it makes all my hard work worth it. That joy of discovery was what made me fall in love with games as a kid and being able to create that feeling for others now feels like my calling in life."
Next we have Janna, Kindred's wife, and the person in charge of basically everything:
"Hi! I'm Janna. I'm the Producer and Community Manager for Kindred Games. That basically means I do a whole ton of planning, communicating, and managing. My husband, Michael, and I run Kindred Games as our full time jobs. I love to read and have way too many books in my to-be-read pile (more like 3 shelves). I'm also exploring an interest in baking. When I'm not working, I'm either reading, binging TV shows or movies, or playing with our 7 year-old daughter, Abbi. My favorite part of Swords 'n Magic is the plush collection (mainly cause I keep making more to collect!) along with farming and cooking. Here's a shot of how I display my collection in game:"
Now for Louis, our favorite long-haired programmer who also streams development regularly over on Twitch:
"Hi! Louis here. I'm the lead programmer on the team. It's my job to set up and maintain all the systems that make exploring the world of Tirawyn such a rich experience.
I like spending time in the garden as much as I can. Where I live, in sub-tropical Australia, we have a year-long growing season. If you ask me about plants, I'll have a hard time shutting up.
Before joining the Kindred Games team, I worked in academia. I find myself much happier in the world of gamedev, though I do still teach introductory programming classes at my local university for a few months each year.
For a long time, my favourite part of Swords 'n Magic was the forge mechanic - the backbone of the metalworking and crafting system. It was one of the very first things I added to the game when I joined the team in May of 2021. However, the spells and glyph system I'm working hard on for our upcoming magic overhaul are quickly making their way to being my new favourite part of the game by far."
Wendy is next, who most of you probably already know since she's been on the team the longest (aside from Kindred of course):
"Howdy, I'm Wendy. I'm primarily a level designer for the team, but I also dabble in quest design, visual effects, and most recently AI design (exciting!). My job mainly consists of placing trees and grass with the occasional rock to spice it up. Outside of Swords 'n Magic I spend a lot of time pursuing my hobbies and passions like woodworking and community outreach. I also spend a lot of time gaming, catch me in some Foxhole or Project Zomboid.
My favorite part about SnM is the weapon windmill because I think it's incredibly silly and I had a lot of fun making it."
Now my turn! I don't need any fancy introduction:
"Hello, my name is David, but most people online call me either DD or Double D. I'm a writer and quest designer for the team. My job focuses on designing and creating quests, writing dialog for NPCs, making job boards and writing descriptions for them, and a few other fun things. Before I joined the team, I participated in a few Kindred Game Jams—and miraculously won a few of them, mostly thanks to my amazing teams—and submitted a lot of quest ideas and in-game lore book suggestions. When I'm not working on the game, I'm probably playing another game in my way-bigger-than-it-has-to-be Steam library. Or occasionally, I'll be out playing or watching soccer.
My favorite part of Swords 'n Magic has to be Dwight's quest to destroy his ridiculous collection of pots. It was probably the most fun I've had creating a quest for the game, and it was all thanks to a suggestion from a community member on one of Kindred's Twitch streams. I love seeing all the suggestions and creations from the community make their way into the game, and I can't wait to add even more in!"
Next is our team member with easily the coolest name:
"I'm Rex aka Soupy. I design the outfit textures for the game as well as doing some of the icon design. In my free time I love to play tennis, cook, and read. While I will cook anything, I mostly enjoy baking. When it comes to books, I love fantasy and historical fiction. I am also the youngest member on the team, currently in school to get a degree in Computer Science at the University of Notre Dame.
My favorite part of Swords 'n Magic has to be the rewards of exploration. The game rewards you for wondering what might be behind an obscure rock or tree and I find most open world games don't do that. It creates an immersive experience that I cannot get enough of. Start climbing and you are almost bound to find something interesting and rewarding. By far that is the aspect of the game that I enjoy the most."
Last but not least, let me introduce you all to our newest member on the team, Jesse! It's also his birthday today, so I'm expecting you all to wish him a happy birthday:
"Hi! I'm Jesse, and I do a little bit of level design here and there. Mostly my job consists of decorating spaces and recolouring things. I sometimes build houses, and set up furniture items that you can decorate your own spaces with!
Like literally everyone else here, I enjoy playing video games in my spare time (Wild, I know), with a particular interest in fantasy and horror. I'm also usually playing a session of Dungeons and Dragons once or twice a week (I'm a level 8 Warlock, if you're wondering).
I feel like it's cheating if I say my favourite part of Swords 'n Magic is Housing, but it is! One of my favourite things to do is visit other players worlds to see what they've created in their own plots of land, whether it be a nicely decorated cottage, or an insane giant chicken statue."
Now that you've properly met the whole team, let's get into our weekly progress. I'll start with Jesse since it's his birthday. Jesse has been hard at work finishing up the level design in The Eyre, which is now nearly complete. We've shared a few screenshots of The Eyre in the last few digests, so go check those out if you missed them. He also made this adorable backpack:
Kindred has been working on modeling the big boss for the end of the Windless Woods storyline. I'd love to share some screenshots of it, but you will all have to wait for the update to see it.
Louis is still working on our magic and glyph system. He's been making all sorts of magic spells, such as this storm shield:
We're still working on coming up with a name for the spell, so come leave us some ideas in the Discord. Louis has also been working on a system to change your ammo and glyphs on the fly. It's still very much a work in progress as of right now, but maybe next week we'll have something cool to show off.
As always, Wendy has been working on some amazing level design. This week I have some screenshots of the Shrubrian village courtesy of Wendy:
She's also been working on some particle effects to help Louis out with the magic system. Also, Wendy and I have been working together on creating the main storyline for the Windless Woods. Kindred got a good start on it for us, but now we're taking over to let Kindred focus on making all the new models that are needed for the new zone.
As for me, I've finally finished reworking all the jobs in the game, as well as adding a ton more new jobs. There should be no more job board talk until close to the update when I add in the last few Windless Woods jobs for the job board over there. I've also been working on some quests and NPC dialog, and as mentioned above, helping with the main storyline for the Windless Woods.
That's all I have to share for this week, thank you all for reading and thank you all for your support! I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day.
Until next time,
DD