Unlike the other songs we have shared with you so far, this is not one that can be considered a standalone musical experience. If for the other two you could easily separate them from the graphical background and the gameplay and they would probably have the same impact value, this track is heavily targeted on that specific level and has more meaning and more emotional strength while combined with the other game elements. I hope you will take the time and listen to it and we’ll be grateful if you could share with us your thoughts and opinions regarding it.

Finally, I’m going to use this opportunity to let you know that Vlad’s new site is now online – SJCONGO. He’s a very talented musician, we’re lucky to be working with him and we’re going to do our best to support him in his musical endeavors even when they are not connected with Pixel Toaster Studios.

As you well know the whole graphics package is going through a complete makeover and our two dedicated artists are working hard to transform and also improve the original concepts. This takes time especially when you are working with a colorful bunch of people with strong ideas and the will to see them taking shape in a video game. Jim, our soon to be famous brilliant programmer, is constantly setting new boundaries to what you can do with a platformer engine. About a month ago he finally managed to get the PTS designers off his back, me included, by providing them with an awesome toy in the form of a fully functional editor. Of course, that fixed a problem, but generated countless others in the form of bugs and tweaks/features requests. Add them to the constant work of optimizing the engine and everything related to it and you get the idea how overwhelming the whole thing can be for him. I and Iorya are probably the only ones having a blast since for the moment there is no pressure on the design core so we are kind of playing around with things and stressing everybody else with our requests.

Bottom line: we are striving to release a game that is at every level as close to perfection as humanly possible and we will waste no effort in trying to achieve that. That includes release date delays because Rinni – The Elements of Xi will go public only when we all declare ourselves happy with what we have accomplished. Make no mistake: we are seriously committed to the new deadline, but we will always put quality first and if for reaching the desired level of game polish we need to postpone the release again we will not hesitate to do so.

Seth Lex

To make a long story short, we realized we bit more than we could actually chew when it came to graphic package of the game. We made some unrealistic assumptions regarding the work force needed in ordered to deliver a game containing graphic assets of such magnitude. The original plan was to have levels drawn in full as a single image, no tiles, no objects that repeat themselves, etc. This still sounds great in theory, but the fact is that as we progressed with the level design and the levels got larger and more complex, we realized that sheer size of them was simply overwhelming, especially for a single 2D graphic artist, no matter how dedicated and work absorbed he may be. As a simple example, the 3rd level from the 1st location ended up to be a 400 million square pixels monstrosity that would have taken ages to draw.

So we back tracked a bit, took some time to think things over and toss around some ideas and we now believe we have come up with a solution that will allow us to maintain the level of graphical detail and polish we are aim for and in the same time drastically reduce the workload for our tiny graphic department. That being said, I’m happy to let you know we’re back on track, enthusiastic as ever and still hoping to maintain our promised deadline.

The following blog post will probably be Jim’s since he has recently finished doing some of his technical mambo-jumbo with the game engine and editor that I can’t hope or wish to understand, but he’s pretty happy about and I’m sure he’s dying to share this binary extravaganza with everybody.

Thank you!

So this is it, my first and probably my last blog post, text post at least. I’m going to keep on posting, but limit myself to the “image” section of the site where I can tell you thousands of stories through color and shape, where I can introduce you to bran new worlds and characters you’ve never dreamed of before.
Finally, about Rinni – The Elements of Xi. Seth Lex asked me to write a few words about the artistic direction, some sort of introduction into the graphic world of our game, but I simply can’t and if your still wondering why, please read above. What I can tell you though is that… err… well… these are the voyages of team Pixel Toaster. Its continuing mission: to seek out new gameplay elements, new entertainment methods. To boldly go where no (insert offensive word here) corporation has gone before. Hmm, this sounds a bit familiar doesn’t it? I think I’ve heard something like this somewhere before, I’m just not sure where.

Ok, that’s all folks!

Ta-daaaa: blog post! Thank you!

Mutley

On the emotional layer the level is marked by the first and probably the most violent and shocking twist our game story has – basically it’s the catalyst of the entire flow of events that follow. It’s also the moment the main character instantly takes shape, matures and becomes distinctive enough to separate him from all the rest of the Giblits. He loses all connections he previously had with his people as he is forced to make some very hard decisions and this accelerated transfer from childhood to adulthood leave our tiny hero a bit scarred and confused. So as you can see there is this huge baggage of emotional information that needs to fit in just one level without making it feel flooded and that’s certainly not easy.

When stripping everything down to core level design you’ll find a four pieces structure. The first one seems to be more like a tutorial because it focuses on introducing some newly obtained abilities from the previous levels and helping the player get the hang of using them. Although short this stage is pretty important since the lesson taught here will be repeated in several other forms throughout the game – so we must make sure we have the player’s undivided attention by keeping the LD simple and focused, but not too simple because having fun is of the essence. The second part is an Element based puzzle, the first of his kind actually, and it’s a bit harder than most would expect, but we decided to keep the overall difficulty level of the game pretty high up so this puzzle is no exception. It’s based on just two Elements because after all it’s just the begging of the game and the number of Elements introduced this far is limited. Nevertheless being the first of its kind, finding the correct “cipher” of this puzzle will probably take a few minutes even to experienced players. It’s followed by a fast paced jump and run section to rebalance a bit the fun sources of the game which are the puzzles on one side, one of which I’ve just mentioned, and on the other side the original platformer actions we are all, I presume, accustomed with, such as running, jumping, climbing, grabbing, swinging and so on. This part-brain-part-brawl recipe is the one we will apply in most cases when building the levels for this game.

The Forest ends with the first boss fight of Rinni and The Elements of Xi of which I am not going to tell you anything at all because I want it to be a surprise when you’ll play the game.

That pretty much sums it up, but if you still want more please check the Image section of the game site for more colorful information and keep an eye out for the following weeks’ updates because depending on what our Lead Graphic Artist wishes you to see you may get a sneak and peek at this level’s good looks.

Gifted by nature, the designer, if kept in his natural habitat, can live forever. Unfortunately there are only a few recorded such case as most of them choose death out of simple curiosity and hunger for “the new”. As soon as they die they immediately reincarnate into non-designers and find true happiness. This is because the non-designers are terrified by “the new” and seek shelter and comfort in “the old”. Since the last one can be found in large quantities all around us, the non-designers live a long, prosperous and uneventful life.

This was a happy story.

The End

P.S. The heat in Bucharest might have had an impact on the above post…

In my opinion, as an indie (independent) game developer you got to start small with something YOU would like to play, and add the novelty element consisting of one or a few things the other developers haven’t tried yet. If you can’t find anything new, just make sure that whatever it is, you make it better. Then work at the game and release it ONLY when you and the team are happy with the state of the project. Is it fun? Is it challenging? Is it memorable? These are the questions you need to ask yourself and find answers to. Also a good way to see this when the game is ready (playable version) is to do a gameplay test session with several people, from veteran gamers to simple non-gamers, and analyze how they react, see if you spot any big gameplay problems. Tell them nothing more than how to play and then just watch them and take notes – you will find out more than 50 editorial teams can tell you.

Why indie developers? Well some people decide to become indie developers because they’ve always wanted to create games. They have no big design experience, but they are very dedicated and in the end they actually come with interesting products. Some people were already developers at big companies, but due to limitations, mainstreaming gameplay for sales, they move to indie to try their best, have fun, and experiment with new things without worrying if for example a “feature” is both fun and easy to understand by 1 million people. Of course accessibility is not a bad thing, but when you take an RPG and you mainstream it for FPS players you end up having RPG developers and fans going mad.

One big step that not many indies take into consideration is the web promotion/marketing. When you have a product you gotta start heavily promoting it, from videos, media in general, to press releases, interviews and previews with Gaming Sites, and web site promotion – this is one of my jobs at Pixel Toaster Studios. As indies many of us sale the game directly from our site and if we are lucky and the game production value and gameplay are good, we may get a chance to be on high traffic portals like Steam, Impulse, Gamersgate, etc. thus getting some money back from the investment which translates into money to produce more quality games. Remember: no matter how good the game is, if nobody knows about it, you will have no sales, and that it sad.

Well these are some thoughts I liked to share with you guys in my first blog post, hope you enjoy it.

When applied to video games this generally refers to the amount of time the common player will require in order to get accustomed to the game elements, ranging from basic controls to understanding and completing level objectives. As the game progresses and new elements are introduced the learning curve registers value modifications usually directly connected to the targeted audience/consumers. So casual games usually have a pretty steep learning curve in the sense that player spends only a small amount of time learning the in and outs of the game and this is because “the lessons” are either extremely easy or the amount of information that needs to be assimilated is very small. On the other side of the fence you will find the hardcore games in which the learning process is sometimes quite demanding because of the game complexity and may, depending on the player, take a lot of time. Since hardcore games are hardly forgiving towards the player, not being able to fully master the basic elements of such a game results in a detrimental effect to the gameplay experience, and in this case the learning curve overlaps the difficulty curve, making the last one spike against the best intentions of the designer.

And this finally brings us to the idea of making a game that perfectly combines the best the two have to offer: the small and universally accessible learning packages of the casual and the complex and demanding gameplay of the hardcore. And this is what Rinni – The Elements of Xi is all about, this is the design trick we are really proud of. The so called learning packages of our game are tiny and generally consist of elements you most likely found in other platformers. Running, jumping, grabbing, swinging, etc. are actions you came across in other games of the same type, and if you haven’t had the chance to play such games I can assure you without a shadow of a doubt that they are easy to comprehend, learn and master. Then what makes Rinni – The Elements of Xi special? Well, as you progress and the game unfolds you will be presented with increasingly difficult puzzles, puzzles that you would normally expect to find in hardcore games. The extraordinary thing is that these puzzles do not affect the learning curve in any way because all you need in order to solve them you already know, so we can freely tinker with the difficulty curve without worrying about the learning curve. The Elements are things such as fire, water and rock/earth. From early childhood we all know the possible interactions between these elements, we all know that fire can heat up a bowl of water making it boil and transform into clouds of steam that can in turn produce rain or snow or even ice depending on the temperatures; we all know that a rock will sink into water, but can’t be damaged by fire and that you can extinguish a burning fire by pouring water on it.

So as you can see there’s not much we can teach you and the game holds no secrets from this point of view. Also keep in mind that the above are only a small part of the Elements of Xi and only a handful of elements interactions. The difficulty of the game is given by your ability to make the necessary connections in order to solve the puzzles we will be throwing at you, and there will be plenty of those. So the question is: do you really have what it takes to solve these puzzles and help Rinni in his adventures?

Stay tuned for more design introspection in the following weeks.

But I’ve been told that this is not your common, “I had a normal day, read all about it” blog, but something special, extraordinary, with a mystic twist to it. We are creating a game and in the same time we are keeping the interested visitors informed with our progress, our problems, our struggle. I’m guessing this meant to create a bond between developers and consumers and in the same time add some sort of sentimental value to the product as you literally see it grow in front of your eyes. So basically we are pregnant and you assume the role of the concerned father. It was an immaculate conception, fortunately, but we can watch the little monster grow and tend to its needs together. What do you say? Because to tell you the truth I’ve always been fond of game communities, both from a gamer perspective and a developer point of view. In the first case you can take part in building a game brick by brick without being necessary to be fully committed to the project, you can advance your own ideas and see then taking shape, you can debate with others certain aspects of the game and eventually you can end up feeling that a small part of the game belongs to you. On the other side, as a developer, you sometimes feel like a little kid drawing with chalk on the pavement a game to play with your friends. You feel responsible for the quality of the game because it will eventually reflect on the quality of the experience you and your friends are going to have. It’s not such a solitary, independent action as it may seem.

So if for establishing a tight, responsive and friendly community I must write and tend to a blog or a dev diary or whatever the name is, then I’m going to set aside the instinctive repulsion towards this form of expression and I will make sure you guys are always informed and always up to date with what we are doing. Because in the end the most important thing for both you and us is to have fun and I want you to have lots of fun playing this game and I want us to have lots of fun creating it for you.