This isn’t new per say, but rather an excuse to showcase the day/night cycles in the open exploration maps. Now though, you have the option to select multiple save files so you can let others play the game in their own slot, or simply start over while keeping your old save.
The game has been using auto saves for a while now, simply giving you the option to continue from your last save. Time for another look at what we’ve been adding to the game for the past while.
See you in the next update! dpadstudio owlboy game design game development norway pixel art gdc2016 dev blog buttons characters otus geddy alphonse gifs this was the longest technical issue for a blog update I've ever dealt with There won’t be a booth this year, so if you want to meet up (or get your hand on a truckload of buttons…) make sure to contact us in advance. We’re sending Simon and Julie out to mingle with people, do some secret meetings. We also want to take this moment to announce that we’re going to be present at GDC in San Francisco this year, March 14-18. Next update, we’ll go through our decisions more in depth. With gunners no longer optional, it allowed for us to incorporate the characters more heavily into the story. If we had been rushed, or had not released the demo, we would have never spotted situations like these, and the gameplay and narrative of Owlboy would have suffered greatly.
One of the boons of having worked on Owlboy for so many years, is that we’ve been able to find solutions for problems like this. This meant that we could create more interesting combat and puzzles that forced you to switch intelligently between the gunners and use their strengths to progress. In fact, he became so essential with this new system that we made him a non-optional character. Each was focused a different aspect of combat. It was a simple solution, but it solved all our problems! Suddenly the players would use both characters in almost any situation, and Geddy and Alphonse would become essential members of the team. We ended up making Alphonse’s musket attack EVEN more powerful, while adding a cooldown to it! As the shotgun blast was charging, the player could then use Geddy to continue attacking. After a little planning, we introduced a new gameplay mechanic. One solution would be to use obstacles that only Geddy´s blaster could penetrate, but that didn’t seem like a satisfying sollution. We started discussing what we could do to make the party dependent on each other.
We noticed players would stop using Geddy immediately as Alphonse could simply do everything better. Alphonse was an optional character - but after going through the steps to unlock him, he would be so much more powerful, he’d overshadow Geddy completely. A pirate in a red suit, carrying a really powerful fireball musket. The second character you meet in the demo, is Alphonse. His weapon is a tiny, but percise blaster that you’re able to use when carrying him around. He´s Otus´s best friend and their hometown’s mechanic. In the game, you pick up can carry gunners to fight for you, using their unique abilities both in combat and for puzzles. In this update, we figured we’d let you know of some of the things that have changed with characterization in the game since the last time the world saw it in 2011.įor those of you who played the demo from 2011, you’ll know that you can meet characters within the game that can eventually join your party. Until next time! dpadstudio Owlboy pixel art otus Geddy video games game development game design update gawks norway owls they're called gawks because they have one eye because they gawk at people we're clever like that We’ll have more to say in a bit, but for now, know there’s a lot of positive things happening and it’s an exciting time for D-Pad Studio.įor any questions, drop us an email, send us a note, or jump over to the official subreddit. There was always optional content in Owlboy, but having it as a primary focus is a nice feeling. We’re feeling confident enough now that we can put in some serious work on what the player will be doing other than the main storyline. We’re at the point where we can discuss extra content. Some areas simply lacked effects, and we’re working with Jonathan to get new custom tracks composed for newly finalised scenes.ģ. There’s been a lot of effort put into getting all the sound in the game to feel complete. We’ve mapped out all remaining sounds and music.
We’ve now got dedicated testers playing the game full time, and the resulting bugs and adjustments are piling up, but its quickly moving the game towards a more polished and bug free Owlboy.Ģ. We finished the first round of full-time testing and are now dealing with the fallout
So with that, here’s what we’ve been up to for the past while:ġ. Things are moving towards the final strech it seems: So for this update, we figured it was time to bring everyone up to speed on where development is right now.