ED goes Unity
In 2020, there were many changes to Elements Destiny. The Startnext campaign was a complete success and the recordings financed by it are in the can. Shortly afterwards, Chris approached me and asked if it was still possible to switch to a different GameEngine. Finally, my dream was fulfilled in the project - away from the old RPGMaker XP.
But of course it was not quite that simple. Before we could make it public, solutions or answers had to be found for all the problems and questions involved. And there were a lot of problems! Starting with a way to bring the previous game from RPGMaker to Unity in a meaningful way, to assets that had to be recreated for licensing reasons, to long-desired improvements that were finally made possible by a change.
As you know since our announcement in February, we have found answers and solutions and I would like to highlight again what has happened in the team since then. We have brought some new people into our team, as there was a lot of content to revise or create completely from scratch. Of course, almost all the features and graphics listed here are still in a very early phase. Therefore, they may still change in the course of development.
Pixelartists
We started with Denis, who created beautiful tile maps for us. These were a big problem, because almost everything that was in pixel look and not character came from RPGMaker. Of course, you can't just use them in another engine. We didn't find anything in free libraries that met our expectations and could cover the huge scope. So we looked around for someone who might be able to create these things for us, and that's how we came across Denis, who not only hit the style we wanted exactly, but also had enough time to take on such a huge job.
Since all the maps now have to be touched again, we saw an opportunity to give them an upgrade. While Zexi has been reworking the city areas for a long time, Schilderich also joined the team to give the game's dungeons a high-quality layout and look. In the same theme were character sprites, many of which were just edits or came unchanged from RPGMaker. Here, fortunately, we already had Kerberos on the team, who had already created some custom sprites and animations for the project. But the sheer mass of customisations was crying out for further support and so it came about that his brother Thomas has now also joined us for this.
Artworker
Since some of the characters are now changing anyway, some of them have also been given a new coat of paint. And that in the truest sense of the word. We have decided on a new style at this point and Gordon, who has been responsible for ALL the artwork in the game so far, has finally received strong support. While Gordon is focusing on his strengths - the conceptual design of monsters and characters, SKYE has joined us for the character artwork in the new style. She will breathe new life into our protagonists and all other characters in the game. Fittingly, Somni has also joined the team in this area. Not only does she create concepts of enemies, but she also works them out in a wonderful new design that is inspired by the new style of SKYE. So we could already welcome Mr. Slime and the Fire Ripper in their new forms and there are more and more.
Celi has been responsible for our UI for a long time and since the RPGMaker limits were blown up, she has gone completely crazy. One fantastic UI after another comes from her pen and even more crazy ideas that can finally be implemented with it.
Our combat system has also been completely overhauled once again. Steve, our UX expert, has taken on this task and the results so far are overwhelming. Although there is only an extremely rudimentary test version interactively, he has completely convinced us with a video demo. The focus is placed much more on the characters in the new system, which benefits the whole game.
Musician
Last but not least, our musicians are also highly motivated. Andras, Gianny, Johannes and Gidon deliver one killer soundtrack after another. I can't do justice to their work here, so it's best to listen in and see for yourself:
https://soundcloud.com/user-609577405
Gidon not only makes fantastic music for us, but also the sound design. So ED also gets lots of custom sounds for menus, abilities and so much more.
And then, of course, there are things that don't appear directly in the game, but nevertheless belong to Elements Destiny. So icece sat down and created the first version of our website. Finally there is a collection point for all published info.
Nik not only created a wonderful trailer for us in collaboration with Moira, but also updated the official teaser with the new artwork.
Orga
And the team has also expanded behind the scenes. Due to the now extensive team, it was no longer possible for Chris and me to handle the organisation alone. Lisann aka Rübe offered her services and now helps out in all corners and ends with everything that comes up. A huge relief for us. Nevertheless, Chris has a lot to do with taking things down and checking whether the various elements are in line with his ideas. Besides, there is always something to prepare for some people and unfortunately that is Chris' big task, as it is his world that only he knows down to the last detail.
And I myself have been living in Unity for the last few months. All the technical aspects had to be transferable and I sat on that until February. This resulted in an incredible amount of knowledge and technical solutions for all kinds of hurdles that come up during an engine change. In the end, we even managed to create and present a small, albeit very immature, technical demo in Unity.
This was a brief overview of what has happened in Elements Destiny and its team, the ShrooMoons, since 2020. The combined support of the community and all team members has brought us to this point and I am incredibly touched and proud of your dedication to this project of the heart. I will try to write regular smaller posts than this one in which I can go into more detail about all the changes I have listed and all the developments that are still to come. And maybe I will get one or the other ShrooMoon to write a small contribution from his own area.