CiderpopStudios
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Indie game studio, currently developing a new 3D game. Follow us on Twitter @[CiderpopStudios](members:ciderpopstudios:4616155) for more updates.
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Hello everybody!
We recently released an alpha version of our game, Gamahero!
Check it out here and be sure to let us know what you think!
Hellow everyone!
Last week we showed everyone our studies for the environments, but this time we are going to show you some of our enemies!
The enemies on our game are a fusion of insects and yokai, mythical creatures and spirits of Japanese folklore. For this, we researched which yokai would better fit not only on the setting of our world, but also ones that had distinct characteristics that would make them easy to distinguish.
Image 1 - Jorogumo
The Jorogumo is a yokai depicted as a spider that has the ability to shapeshift into a beautiful woman in order attract prey. Given this context of already being an arachnid with human features, we decided it would be an amazing choice for an enemy.
Image 3 - Jorogumo enemy study
For this enemy, our artist experimented with several species of spider for their different features on the abdomen, as well as adding features that symbolized the yokai's shapeshifting abilities, like several human-looking masks.
Image 4 - Tengu and a Buddhist monk, by Kawanabe Kyosai
The tengu are one of the more famous yokai in the west. These anthropomorphized beings are usually depicted with a red face and a long nose, and some types of tengu have crow wings.
Image 5 - Tengu enemy study
Given that the tengu can be usally depicted with avian features such as beaks and wings, we decided to blend those same features with several flying insect species in order to create a flying enemy.
And last but not least, we also did some studies for the game's icon and logo, featuring our main hero and some of the enemies.
Image 6 - Icon and logo studies
Image 7 - Icon and logo color study
We ended up picking the icon that features the profile of our character hero, but we're still debating on the color!
See you all next post!
Hello everyone!
We have been very busy behind the scenes, but it is finally time to show you something new!
As you may remember from our previous posts, our game is heavily inspired by Japanese aesthetic, mythos and culture. As such, our artist has been hard at work in order to be able to replicate the artstyle depicted in ukiyo-e pieces.
Image 1 - Concept art for the Forest stage
The player will traverse along three distinct stages, the first being the Forest stage and the last being the Temple stage. As the player progresses throughout the stages, they'll learn a bit more about the adventure of our amphibious hero.
Image 2 - Concept art for the Temple stage
Furthermore, we've also updated our mockup stage with some potential UI and VFX elements, check it out below!
Image 3 - Mockup screenshot in the Forest Stage
We're also hard at work at creating a blockout level to see how every element looks together in terms of placement and scale.
Image 4 - Blockout of the Forest Stage
See you all next post!
Hello everyone!
During last week's post we talked about the core gameplay mechanics that our game would have. This week, we are going to show you the ideas we have had for the enemies that the player character will face throughout his adventures!
Since our game is heavily inspired by Japanese tradition and culture, we decided to explore Japan's folklore to look into what we could use as inspiration for enemy encounters.
Yokai are supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore, which behaviour can range from being malevolant and mischievous to kind towards humans.
Image 1 - Nekomata from the Hyakkai Zukan by Sawaki Suushi
Image 2 - Kidomaru by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
One of the most well-known yokai is the kappa, and they are typically depicted as green-skinned and humanoid beings with webbed hands and feed, with a carapace akin to a turtle on their back. They are known to love cucumbers and sumo wrestling and tend to inhabit ponds and rivers.
Image 3 - Drawing of a kappa in Koga Toan's Suiko Koryaku (1820)
Another very famous yokai in the west are the tengu, which are typically shown as monstrous and anthropomorphized beings with a red face and long nose. Tengu often take the shape of a priest, in particular, the yamabushi, mountain ascetics who pratice Shugendo. Because of their priestly depiction, they often wield a distinct staff used by Buddhist monks.
Image 4 - Tengu and a Buddhist monk, by Kawanabe Kyosai
And last but not least, the oni. These yokai are known for their incredible strength and are usually associated with powers like thunder and lightning. They are usually portrayed as huge figures with horns, red, blue, black or yellow skin and wearing loincloths and carrying iron clubs.
Image 5 - An oni menaces the monk Kukai as he practices the tantra, by Katsushika Hokusai
See you all next post!
Hello everyone!
Last week we talked about our artistic direction for the game, so this week we're talking about the ideas we've had for the gameplay.
In order for the player to fully experience the artstyle we're trying to convey, we thought that the best genre to deliver was a side-scrolling platformer. With this in mind, we started looking into several games to come up with gameplay mechanics.
Figure 1 - Example of double jump in Celeste
Every platformer game nowadays has a series of mechanics that are almost expected to be implemented, one of those being the double jump. Having the ability to jump a second time in the middle of the air gives the player the ability to keep momentum while in the air, slightly adjust their positioning or even allows for sudden shifts in direction, making it a core mechanic is a lot of modern platformers.
Another core mechanic we're looking to implement is wall jumping. Together with double jump, wall jumping and, to some extent, wall sliding/clinging have becoming an increasing mainstay in modern platforming games. Having the ability to wall jump and wall slide/cling gives us more freedom to explore verticality when it comes to map and level design.
Figure 2 - Example of wall jumping in Megaman Zero
Now onto the core feature of our game, dashing. Since our intention is to have a very simplified combat system, dashing will be the only method of attacking available to the player. Because of this, the player will have access to two different types of dashes that can be used both in combat andd in movement/exploration: a quick, short distance dash with a small cooldown that be the player's primary tool; and a slow, long distance dash with a lengthier cooldown in order to be able to access further areas of the map.
Figure 3 - Example of dashing in Overwatch
One particular thing about the dashes in our game is that their cooldown will be reset if they defeat an enemy, allowing for an immediate follow up dash to either continue defeating enemies or to access higher platforms by using the enemies as stepping stones.
And since our character is a frog, we are thinking of ways to implement something that frogs are well-known for into the different mechanics shown above. Maybe some tongue grappling hook? Who knows!
Figure 4 - Frog trying to catch a dragonfly
See you all next post!
Hello everyone!
Following our previous post, we're ready to show you a bit of what we have been working on behind the scenes. For the core concept of our game, we wanted to create a highly stylized experience that you could lose yourself into.
To achieve this effect, we looked into traditional eastern styles of drawing and painting, and landed on a style that we instantly fell in love with: Ukiyo-e.
Ukiyo-e is a genre of japanese art where artists draw and paint on woodblocks, most commonly depicting female beauty, kabuki actors, and even history and folktales.
Image 1 - Katsushika Hokusai's Great Wave off Kanagawa, 1831
This style of painting had a huge resurgence in the late 17th century in Japan, although most of the pieces were monochrome or had small amounts of color in them. It was only in the middle of the 18th century that the more colorful woodblock prints started gaining popularity, peaking on the late 18th century
Image 2 - Hishikawa Moronobu, late 1670s or early 1680s
Image 3 - Utagawa Toyoharu's Perspective Pictures of Places in Japan, circa 1772-1781
Finally, in the 19th century, ukiyo-e saw a late flowering and went back to depicting scenes of animals, plants and landscapes, in order to suppress displays of luxury.
Image 4 - Utagawa Kuniyoshi's Suikoden series, 1830
Image 5 - Utagawa Kunisada's Dawn at Futami-ga-ura, circa 1832
With all this, our artist was able to create a mockup screenshot that tries to encapsulate this traditional and awe-inspiring artstyle, here you go!
Curious about the frog character on the mockup art above? Head over to our Twitter to take a better look at it!
See you all next post!
Hello everyone,
Ciderpop Studios is brewing something new, so be sure to stay tuned!
Follow us here at IndieDB and on Twitter so you don't miss a thing.
Hey, IndieDB!
Welcome to Ciderpop Studio's blog.
We're a team of 3 people, working to develop a 2D narrative mystery game.
We're excited to tell you more about it soon and show you our progress in developing it!
Follow us here and on Twitter to get all the updates on it!
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