Using all that positive energy from our quick visit to gamescom last week, all the fun we had meeting other devs and publishers there, we shifted gears once again and added all that momentum to Ale Abbey's development!
Although not limited to the following, this week's highlights working on Ale Abbey were: creating more animations for the Carpenter, putting together some test designs for the Cook (the character that will bring joy to the Monastery's Refectory), finishing work in the front/back-end grid system, and progressing with the UI design which - regretfully - we haven't talked much about in the past!
But, we're gonna leave you to it ;)
-- The Carpenter and the Cook
No, not a brewery love story, but our artists who have been on fire this past week, working on multiple fronts. Francesco and Raimo created some more animations for the Carpenter and started designing the Cook who will be the kind face of the Refectory in the Monastery!
Working on the Carpenter's animations, a very important feature that needed to be included, was animations that portray him working from the side. This will help with alleviating aesthetic issues in the future, if and when he has to work on certain parts of a room or equipment found in it.
The Cook's test designs - although very fitting already - are still going through the early stages of brainstorming with the team, to decide on characteristics and clothing.
-- Final touches on the Abbey's Grid (for now..!)
Following up from a few weeks ago, there has been some more development on Ale Abbey's perspective but also the back and front-end grid alignment. A very important and somewhat laborious process that definitely pays off when it comes to the game making sense both visually and technically.
As we have explained before this is a very complex matter and we are still trying to get Cingo and Emiliano some respite from their everyday dev tasks to better explain the process to those more technically inclined and interested in game development! Stay tuned!
-- UI you say?
Although we have not talked much about Ale Abbey's UI, an essential part of any game, let alone a tycoon one, quite a bit of work has already gone towards it. Emiliano has been tirelessly thinking and tweaking to find the best way to represent Inventory space, Purchases/Ordering, and keeping up with the Deliveries to the Monastery.
Thankfully, we've reached the point where some visual assets exist to show for all this ruminating, albeit still in it their early WIP stages ;)
-- So... mead?
Well, who knows? Maybe it will make it in a DLC later on!
Oh, you meant homebrewing it!? Yes. Mead is definitely a good start for anyone interested in the resulting beverage itself or fermentation in general as a hobby! The entire process has fewer steps than brewing beer and definitely does not require the same amount of attention when heating up, cooling off, or transfusing the wort in between different containers/pots. It's an easy (and sometimes much cheaper) way to figure out if you're really interested in fermentation.
As far as the team is concerned, Emiliano has already made quite a few batches, and Yannis is just about to pull the trigger. Maybe in a future post, we'll have some pictures (or recipes) to share ;)
Until then...
Thank you for your time and enjoy your weekend responsibly!
-- Hammer & Ravens
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