Greetings everybody! Looking back, the last couple of blog posts were a map / lore close-up, and a collaborator interview. That means the last time we really looked at what’s going on development wise was… (checks notes) February! Time flies.
With that in mind, and given various developments, I thought a general situation roundup would be a good idea for this post. So what’s new in the world of Innkeep?
Gremlins
Leading with the biggest news, you might be aware if you are a member of our discord channel, the lead developer (that’s me) has recently become a dad to a baby girl! I stepped away from active game development through July to help mum out. I’m now back working on the game daily again (although still fairly sleep deprived.)
(My wife says that this quickly painted over picture of our gremlin looks ‘spooky’. What do you think?)
I’m wondering if I can sneak a baby into Innkeep now. Perhaps as an object you can steal from someone? Is stealing a baby going too far? (Perhaps if you were stealing it -back- from someone who already stole it?) Hmmm… Certainly it would be in line with the inspiration Ultima 7 has had on this game, which had baby objects you could stick in your backpack.
Grants
Another cool bit of news: I’m very pleased to announce that Innkeep is being awarded a development grant from Screen Australia (an Australian Federal Government funding body)! This is on top of a grant previously secured from our local state funding body (ScreenWest). We’re very lucky here in Australia to be able to apply for this kind of extra support.
Given how competitive the application rounds are, I think it also speaks to how well Innkeep is shaping up behind the scenes. We must be doing something right! Although, I’d like to think that my cosplaying as the innkeeper in our pitch video had something to do with it as well. :-0
GameDev
With our core loop locked in some time ago, we are currently in the process of refining and iterating on some different features prior to really getting stuck in with creation of narrative ‘content’ and such. I thought it might be cool to show a few examples of what this means.
Opening Backpacks
Early on in the design process I wanted Innkeep to have tactile interactions and use diegetic UI (as much as possible). In other words, we should be doing things directly, by hand, or in UI elements that look like the real thing, rather than via abstract menus. We’ve been able to stick with that, and I’m really pleased with how it’s worked out.
Still, there is still places where there is room for improvement. One was the opening of backpacks. As you may know from a previous blog entry, in our thief minigame the player is able to open the bags of their sleeping guests. Inside these bags are different objects (unique for each guest) that you can grab, move about, and maybe stuff into your own sack of loot. ːsteamhappyː
One of the many nods towards the classic Ultima games. Of course, opening a bag ought to make some noise and time, potentially waking the guest. Originally this was handled with a simple progress circle that would complete as you held the mouse button down. But it was rather dry and not at all diegetic.
The solution I went with was what you see in the above GIF (of course the visuals here are still temporary). Bags now have visible lids that you actually unbuckle, then drag upwards. You need to do this fairly slowly, as it creates a bit of noise. In this respect it’s similar to how you drag down blankets to expose rings and things on the hands of your sleeping guests.
A Mortar and Pestle
A few posts ago I showed the evolution of the Innkeep cooking system. One of a number of elements it was still missing, and something I’m now able to show, is the mortar and pestle. This little fellow can be stored on the shelf under the table, and moved about to wherever on the table you want. Herbs can be dropped inside it, and then you can grind them up before dumping them in the cauldron to boost how tasty your stew is (and maybe hide the taste of that rat?)
Rat Trapping!
Speaking of rats…
You can now capture them. ːsteamhappyː It’s a bit of a fallback food source. Maybe a little gamey, but it’s also free! And after all, what your guests don’t know can’t hurt them. Just put those extra herbs to good use.
I hope you’ve enjoyed that little peek at some of the features we’ve been working on. There’s a lot more where those came from. See you again soon!