Project Warlock II News
Of monsters and pickups
Hey everyone!
While visually overhauling the monsters based on your feedback, our lead artist David decided to give those minions of hell that little bit more protection.
Arm pads. Pieces of mail. Metal plates. All bolted or sewn to their inhuman, otherworldly flesh. As if their gnashing teeth, boney spikes protruding from their thick hides and huge, saber-like talons weren’t enough. But it's not like the odds are fully stacked against you. The newest build update sees Palmer on the chase for newly added, differently colored armor sets strewn around the levels, or armor shards laying out and about.
What's blue and gold and makes chingy sound
LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF
Each of the monsters in Project Warlock II is breathing, jumping, shooting, swiping, and or rushing fiend that has a thing for Palmer. That "thing" can mean they can enter a frenzy and rush Palmer head-on. Or fire rockets anticipating where you will be in the next second or two. They can also – as is the case with the new, revamped Imp – anticipate your own shots with a slower projectile weapon. And unless you get close enough to slash them with a sword or blast them both barrels point-blank - that can be the difference between getting them and getting owned.
In short: you'll have to understand those enemies to emerge successfully from each encounter. But we still felt something was missing. Namely - a proper introduction to our nameless, unfriendly minions that you will learn to take care of. To remedy that – each new monster that you face will have his or her intro vignette that will help you flesh out their character. Here’s a WIP clip for Imp.
The first pass on the Imp's intro
CODEX ENTRIES
While on the topic of introductions. Since the Warlock’s levels are way bigger than ever before, it felt fitting to make sure there’s enough to do there when it came to both the enemies, secrets, and collectibles. One of the new items you will get to pick up when traversing the dark world that fell under the spell of the Necromancer is the Codex entry scroll.
These dark parchments hide the information that will help you understand and take advantage of the traits of a given monster and will be readily available to view in the menu. Sometimes the scrolls are laying there in plain sight, but sometimes you will have to take an extra route and do a little searching to find them and seize the monstrous secrets they hold.
Biro's sketches that served as the basis of Codex entries visuals
BONEY WILL MISS YOU (NOW)
Since we’re in what can be tentatively called the “Monster part of the update” let’s briefly touch upon behavior patterns of one particular enemy. One that seemed to evoke a lot of emotions from everyone that had the opportunity to meet Boney in the demo. In the Boney-specific manner, that is: getting it scanned by his shotgun blast from as of yet unseen position.
There’s this less-known movie from the ’90s starring Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett Jr. called “Enemy Mine". It’s a story of a human space fighter pilot and his alien counterpart. Both participate in space dogfights and both end up stranded on the planet below. They begin as mortal enemies only to find humanity (alienity?) in each other and become friends for life.
This story is here to anchor the fact that there is no human possibility for anyone to go from hate to love in the Palmer-Boney relationship. And since it could get annoying especially on the supposedly more forgiving lower difficulty levels – the sniping skills of our emaciated sniper have been nerfed.
The Boney you will learn to like
THE DROP BONANZA
Currently, the number of drops from the enemies is being tweaked to make sure that each level provides the promised challenge. Vials of blood refilling health bar, cooldown tokens dropping as a result of successful combos helping recharge those spells faster, or shards of different colored armors restoring them to their pristine condition. All of these – in specific circumstances – have a tendency to fill out the screen if unchecked. Below is a sample of what that means. Spoiler: this one stays.
No, this is a perfectly appropriate amount of drops
DOUBLE STAFFING
The first spell/cooldown skill you pick up in Project Warlock II is Akimbo. You can check it in the demo for that immensely satisfying effect of doubling down on the ammo consumption and non-neglectable damage output. Or – to put it more bluntly – this allows you to absolutely obliterate enemy stupid enough to get in your way when you brandish that Harvester and decide to magically CTRL+V that weapon to another hand.
Up until the demo, the staffs and swords were not yet using the skill to their desired effect. But recently the staff got their own looping attack animation so that the poor monsters are literally standing no chance to the onslaught of the magic spewing from the two powerful staves.
Staff Akimbo applied to staff's Fire upgrade
For more updates about the game, follow us on Steam and join our official Discord. Remember to wishlist the game, and tell your friends.
See you next time!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1640300/Project_Warlock_II/
While visually overhauling the monsters based on your feedback, our lead artist David decided to give those minions of hell that little bit more protection.
Arm pads. Pieces of mail. Metal plates. All bolted or sewn to their inhuman, otherworldly flesh. As if their gnashing teeth, boney spikes protruding from their thick hides and huge, saber-like talons weren’t enough. But it's not like the odds are fully stacked against you. The newest build update sees Palmer on the chase for newly added, differently colored armor sets strewn around the levels, or armor shards laying out and about.
What's blue and gold and makes chingy soundLET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF
Each of the monsters in Project Warlock II is breathing, jumping, shooting, swiping, and or rushing fiend that has a thing for Palmer. That "thing" can mean they can enter a frenzy and rush Palmer head-on. Or fire rockets anticipating where you will be in the next second or two. They can also – as is the case with the new, revamped Imp – anticipate your own shots with a slower projectile weapon. And unless you get close enough to slash them with a sword or blast them both barrels point-blank - that can be the difference between getting them and getting owned.
In short: you'll have to understand those enemies to emerge successfully from each encounter. But we still felt something was missing. Namely - a proper introduction to our nameless, unfriendly minions that you will learn to take care of. To remedy that – each new monster that you face will have his or her intro vignette that will help you flesh out their character. Here’s a WIP clip for Imp.
The first pass on the Imp's introCODEX ENTRIES
While on the topic of introductions. Since the Warlock’s levels are way bigger than ever before, it felt fitting to make sure there’s enough to do there when it came to both the enemies, secrets, and collectibles. One of the new items you will get to pick up when traversing the dark world that fell under the spell of the Necromancer is the Codex entry scroll.
These dark parchments hide the information that will help you understand and take advantage of the traits of a given monster and will be readily available to view in the menu. Sometimes the scrolls are laying there in plain sight, but sometimes you will have to take an extra route and do a little searching to find them and seize the monstrous secrets they hold.
Biro's sketches that served as the basis of Codex entries visualsBONEY WILL MISS YOU (NOW)
Since we’re in what can be tentatively called the “Monster part of the update” let’s briefly touch upon behavior patterns of one particular enemy. One that seemed to evoke a lot of emotions from everyone that had the opportunity to meet Boney in the demo. In the Boney-specific manner, that is: getting it scanned by his shotgun blast from as of yet unseen position.
There’s this less-known movie from the ’90s starring Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett Jr. called “Enemy Mine". It’s a story of a human space fighter pilot and his alien counterpart. Both participate in space dogfights and both end up stranded on the planet below. They begin as mortal enemies only to find humanity (alienity?) in each other and become friends for life.
This story is here to anchor the fact that there is no human possibility for anyone to go from hate to love in the Palmer-Boney relationship. And since it could get annoying especially on the supposedly more forgiving lower difficulty levels – the sniping skills of our emaciated sniper have been nerfed.
The Boney you will learn to likeTHE DROP BONANZA
Currently, the number of drops from the enemies is being tweaked to make sure that each level provides the promised challenge. Vials of blood refilling health bar, cooldown tokens dropping as a result of successful combos helping recharge those spells faster, or shards of different colored armors restoring them to their pristine condition. All of these – in specific circumstances – have a tendency to fill out the screen if unchecked. Below is a sample of what that means. Spoiler: this one stays.
No, this is a perfectly appropriate amount of drops DOUBLE STAFFING
The first spell/cooldown skill you pick up in Project Warlock II is Akimbo. You can check it in the demo for that immensely satisfying effect of doubling down on the ammo consumption and non-neglectable damage output. Or – to put it more bluntly – this allows you to absolutely obliterate enemy stupid enough to get in your way when you brandish that Harvester and decide to magically CTRL+V that weapon to another hand.
Up until the demo, the staffs and swords were not yet using the skill to their desired effect. But recently the staff got their own looping attack animation so that the poor monsters are literally standing no chance to the onslaught of the magic spewing from the two powerful staves.
Staff Akimbo applied to staff's Fire upgradeFor more updates about the game, follow us on Steam and join our official Discord. Remember to wishlist the game, and tell your friends.
See you next time!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1640300/Project_Warlock_II/
Community Q&A - you asked and we answered!
Hey everyone!
Recently we've run a community survey on Kickstarter and our official Discord. We got some questions along with your feedback, so we sat down with Kuba, the designer, programmer, and creative mind behind Project Warlock II to answer them for you below.
When do you expect the early access and full versions of Project Warlock II will be released?
We’re aiming for early 2022 with Early Access but it’s too soon to commit to a specific date. There’s still a lot of feedback from gamers that we want to implement before sharing the 1st chapter (Palmer’s World). Once the Early Access starts, the work on chapter 2 will continue alongside tweaks and updates to the first one. And then we’re on to the third chapter. The full release of Project Warlock II will come once all three chapters are ready.
Doing some carnage while testing the game
How is Project Warlock II changing based on demo feedback?
We’ve made substantial changes to the level design, monster design, and texture work. The game resembles the original PW graphics more than ever before. We’ve also added new graphical interfaces and new Quality of Life features such as keybindings. The list is huge and we plan to test these upgrades during extensive playtesting sessions in December.
What inspired you to make Project Warlock?
As an aspiring game dev, I had tons of unfinished projects. I made horror games, driving games, and first-person shooters. At one point, I felt like making FPS games is what I really want. I understood what makes a good FPS, so I decided to put that knowledge to good use. Project Warlock had a couple of different names before but the concept of a Wolf3D dungeon-crawler with simple RPG elements was always there :)
How did you manage this whole project basically on your own? Who else do you work with?
First of all, I had to set a scope of the project and only do stuff that I was 100% sure I was capable of. This is the key to success in my opinion. Other than that, it’s important to set certain boundaries when designing the game according to your capabilities. That way you can avoid promising stuff that you can’t work out!
I also work with Dawid Korzekwa (Lead Artist), Jerry Lehr (Musician), Luke Wilson (Musician), Bogdan Biro (Artist), Piotr Niedzielski (Sound Designer) - that’s the core development team of Project Warlock II.
Project Warlock II dev team. Top from the left: Kuba, Jerry, and Piotr. Down from the left: Luke, Dawid, and Bogdan.
How did you decide on the games' visual style?
In the original Project Warlock, we wanted something unique yet simple, because when making your first game you shouldn’t create unnecessary obstacles. We knew that drawing a lot of different sprites with complicated colors would make things difficult, so Dawid thought about using the Commodore 64 color palette. In PW2 we’re expanding on the style that Dawid created and trying to define our own color palette.
I absolutely love the first game but so far PW2 looks like it's going to make PW1 almost obsolete. How can the first game stay exciting and relevant with all this awesome stuff coming in PW2?
PW will never be obsolete because PW2 is a real sequel, a new chapter that expands the fun instead of being identical to PW. Still, there will be noticeable differences and upgrades in both gameplay and visuals.
One of the levels in the first chapter of Project Warlock II
Will the three warlocks have their own different campaigns/stories with their own unique levels or will it be just one campaign and you choose which warlock you want to play as? Or will it be one campaign and you play as the three warlocks throughout it?
Each Warlock is going to have their own campaign with different levels and stories (lore).
Are there any plans for using warlocks outside of their specific campaigns? For example, using Urd in Palmer's campaign?
This is something we have thought about and might come back to in the future. First, we want to balance and finish all the episodes separately.
Are there any plans to add the original warlock as a playable character to PWII?
Can’t answer that question!
Any plans for mod support?
Would really love to! We’ll see what the future brings. I am not crossing it out, however, it’s not our main focus.
Any plans for console ports/releases?
Definitely!
Look out for these spikes while dodging!
What is your opinion on the Early Access model? Do you think it leads to better games? Is it necessary to secure operating funds for indie devs or a useful way to steer development?
It really depends on the developer. For me, it’s important to get feedback from players throughout the development process. This way it’s easier to adjust certain parts of the game rather than patching a complete product.
What are your favorite FPS campaigns in the last few years?
I have to say, I really liked the story in Far Cry 6. The world is so beautiful and just fits me very well, because I love Cuba and the Spanish language. Other than that, I also liked Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s (2019) single-player campaign, and obviously both Wolfenstein: The New Order and The New Colossus as well.
Do you have any games that you shouldn't enjoy because of your preferences but you actually really like them?
I’m not a huge fan of League of Legends but I really enjoy playing it from time to time. Also, Arcane is lit AF!
Are there any other gaming genres that you would like to develop apart from FPS?
I really like driving games, so making one would be pretty interesting for me.
But I mainly want to develop FPS games.
Soon this arena will fill out with enemies!
What do you consider to be the most difficult thing about creating a game?
I see a lot of good games with awesome lore, great visuals, and sound that fall short in the mechanics department, like animation fluidity, movement, weapon weight, recoil, weapon bob, etc. Nailing the gameplay mechanics, the feeling of movement, gunplay, and making the gameplay-loop engaging are by far the hardest things to develop in my opinion. This is not something you can create easily - you need to feel it.
If speaking to a total newcomer to game development, what would you advise interested parties to consider? From game ideas to learning developer work, does one steer the other?
I think the most important thing is to start simple. With additional experience, you’ll start noticing things that you could have done better and you can start improving on yourself. Don’t be shy if something doesn’t work as expected. Just keep trying!
I think one should start with an idea, then try to make a document and describe what this should be exactly and try to tackle all game-related topics in it, like how certain gameplay mechanics should work, etc. Otherwise, you might come to the famous "wall" of gamedev at one point - asking yourself "what should I do next?". This makes you want to stop working on the project and is the main reason why I have so many unfinished projects.
Once you start creating stuff and sharing it online, you’ll start meeting new people. That is one of the best things ever!
Pass through this guard for the final answers...
How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?
One good bite :)
Will you be making any more FPS games after this one? Will there be Warlock III?
Project Warlock was always planned as a trilogy, and I still want to keep it that way.
If PW2 is set between Doom and Quake mechanically, where would you want to go with PW3?
I believe that 2D sprites in a 3D world really give a certain satisfaction when playing. It just feels so right, crisp, and fitting. I’d definitely want to improve on that. We’re constantly learning how to streamline the sprite-creation process more effectively.
PW3 might be an even more interesting evolution of PW2. I definitely don’t want to make PW3 look and feel like PW2 - otherwise, I could just make a DLC for PW2 instead of a new title.
Quake or Unreal?
Why not both!? I’ve spent more time with Quake 3 Arena tbh :D But love both series anyways
Follow us for more updates and see you next time!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1640300/Project_Warlock_II/
Recently we've run a community survey on Kickstarter and our official Discord. We got some questions along with your feedback, so we sat down with Kuba, the designer, programmer, and creative mind behind Project Warlock II to answer them for you below.
When do you expect the early access and full versions of Project Warlock II will be released?
We’re aiming for early 2022 with Early Access but it’s too soon to commit to a specific date. There’s still a lot of feedback from gamers that we want to implement before sharing the 1st chapter (Palmer’s World). Once the Early Access starts, the work on chapter 2 will continue alongside tweaks and updates to the first one. And then we’re on to the third chapter. The full release of Project Warlock II will come once all three chapters are ready.
Doing some carnage while testing the gameHow is Project Warlock II changing based on demo feedback?
We’ve made substantial changes to the level design, monster design, and texture work. The game resembles the original PW graphics more than ever before. We’ve also added new graphical interfaces and new Quality of Life features such as keybindings. The list is huge and we plan to test these upgrades during extensive playtesting sessions in December.
What inspired you to make Project Warlock?
As an aspiring game dev, I had tons of unfinished projects. I made horror games, driving games, and first-person shooters. At one point, I felt like making FPS games is what I really want. I understood what makes a good FPS, so I decided to put that knowledge to good use. Project Warlock had a couple of different names before but the concept of a Wolf3D dungeon-crawler with simple RPG elements was always there :)
How did you manage this whole project basically on your own? Who else do you work with?
First of all, I had to set a scope of the project and only do stuff that I was 100% sure I was capable of. This is the key to success in my opinion. Other than that, it’s important to set certain boundaries when designing the game according to your capabilities. That way you can avoid promising stuff that you can’t work out!
I also work with Dawid Korzekwa (Lead Artist), Jerry Lehr (Musician), Luke Wilson (Musician), Bogdan Biro (Artist), Piotr Niedzielski (Sound Designer) - that’s the core development team of Project Warlock II.
Project Warlock II dev team. Top from the left: Kuba, Jerry, and Piotr. Down from the left: Luke, Dawid, and Bogdan.How did you decide on the games' visual style?
In the original Project Warlock, we wanted something unique yet simple, because when making your first game you shouldn’t create unnecessary obstacles. We knew that drawing a lot of different sprites with complicated colors would make things difficult, so Dawid thought about using the Commodore 64 color palette. In PW2 we’re expanding on the style that Dawid created and trying to define our own color palette.
I absolutely love the first game but so far PW2 looks like it's going to make PW1 almost obsolete. How can the first game stay exciting and relevant with all this awesome stuff coming in PW2?
PW will never be obsolete because PW2 is a real sequel, a new chapter that expands the fun instead of being identical to PW. Still, there will be noticeable differences and upgrades in both gameplay and visuals.
One of the levels in the first chapter of Project Warlock IIWill the three warlocks have their own different campaigns/stories with their own unique levels or will it be just one campaign and you choose which warlock you want to play as? Or will it be one campaign and you play as the three warlocks throughout it?
Each Warlock is going to have their own campaign with different levels and stories (lore).
Are there any plans for using warlocks outside of their specific campaigns? For example, using Urd in Palmer's campaign?
This is something we have thought about and might come back to in the future. First, we want to balance and finish all the episodes separately.
Are there any plans to add the original warlock as a playable character to PWII?
Can’t answer that question!
Any plans for mod support?
Would really love to! We’ll see what the future brings. I am not crossing it out, however, it’s not our main focus.
Any plans for console ports/releases?
Definitely!
Look out for these spikes while dodging!What is your opinion on the Early Access model? Do you think it leads to better games? Is it necessary to secure operating funds for indie devs or a useful way to steer development?
It really depends on the developer. For me, it’s important to get feedback from players throughout the development process. This way it’s easier to adjust certain parts of the game rather than patching a complete product.
What are your favorite FPS campaigns in the last few years?
I have to say, I really liked the story in Far Cry 6. The world is so beautiful and just fits me very well, because I love Cuba and the Spanish language. Other than that, I also liked Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s (2019) single-player campaign, and obviously both Wolfenstein: The New Order and The New Colossus as well.
Do you have any games that you shouldn't enjoy because of your preferences but you actually really like them?
I’m not a huge fan of League of Legends but I really enjoy playing it from time to time. Also, Arcane is lit AF!
Are there any other gaming genres that you would like to develop apart from FPS?
I really like driving games, so making one would be pretty interesting for me.
But I mainly want to develop FPS games.
Soon this arena will fill out with enemies!What do you consider to be the most difficult thing about creating a game?
I see a lot of good games with awesome lore, great visuals, and sound that fall short in the mechanics department, like animation fluidity, movement, weapon weight, recoil, weapon bob, etc. Nailing the gameplay mechanics, the feeling of movement, gunplay, and making the gameplay-loop engaging are by far the hardest things to develop in my opinion. This is not something you can create easily - you need to feel it.
If speaking to a total newcomer to game development, what would you advise interested parties to consider? From game ideas to learning developer work, does one steer the other?
I think the most important thing is to start simple. With additional experience, you’ll start noticing things that you could have done better and you can start improving on yourself. Don’t be shy if something doesn’t work as expected. Just keep trying!
I think one should start with an idea, then try to make a document and describe what this should be exactly and try to tackle all game-related topics in it, like how certain gameplay mechanics should work, etc. Otherwise, you might come to the famous "wall" of gamedev at one point - asking yourself "what should I do next?". This makes you want to stop working on the project and is the main reason why I have so many unfinished projects.
Once you start creating stuff and sharing it online, you’ll start meeting new people. That is one of the best things ever!
Pass through this guard for the final answers...How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?
One good bite :)
Will you be making any more FPS games after this one? Will there be Warlock III?
Project Warlock was always planned as a trilogy, and I still want to keep it that way.
If PW2 is set between Doom and Quake mechanically, where would you want to go with PW3?
I believe that 2D sprites in a 3D world really give a certain satisfaction when playing. It just feels so right, crisp, and fitting. I’d definitely want to improve on that. We’re constantly learning how to streamline the sprite-creation process more effectively.
PW3 might be an even more interesting evolution of PW2. I definitely don’t want to make PW3 look and feel like PW2 - otherwise, I could just make a DLC for PW2 instead of a new title.
Quake or Unreal?
Why not both!? I’ve spent more time with Quake 3 Arena tbh :D But love both series anyways
Follow us for more updates and see you next time!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1640300/Project_Warlock_II/
The many faces of Project Warlock II
Hey everyone!
Timeline update: Project Warlock II is nearing the content lock of the game's first Episode - Palmer's World in the coming weeks. After that, we're heading into an extensive playtest session so that before the end of the year we'll have a substantial amount of feedback to go through, filter, and introduce to the game. We'll have more on this in the next update.
Right now, the tweaks, updates, and changes are touching up almost every single part of the game you can imagine. Here's a peek at one of the later levels visited by Palmer.
Jump through those hoops
David and Biro are reimagining monsters to more closely align them with the original vision of the game. This also means all of the baddies that you had fun shooting up are currently going through an in-universe version of the "Extreme Makeover". Based on your feedback we decided to take the designs closer to that of the original Warlock and better visual consistency. Chunky, lo-fi pixel consistency that is.
The usual suspects - reimagined
Thicker outlines, blockier features, and additional color palettes bring the enemies closer to what you can expect from a Project Warlock game. We're very happy with the visuals you can already enjoy in the demo version of the game, yet we feel there is still some work to be done here.
Upgraded Shambler model
To follow through with the classic TV shows of the bygone era theme - what happened (and is still happening on daily basis) is the MTV Cribs-worthy amount of work that goes into reimagining levels in the game. Based on numerous messages we received from the backers, demo players, and friends David started reworking levels throughout the game.
As he elegantly put it: "all levels have been adjusted in some way. Some of them have been reworked from the ground up with whole sections replaced or remade from scratch so they work better as a whole. All levels have improved lighting and refined textures. Level flow should be more natural and navigation more intuitive now."
Castle Warlockstein
Another area undergoing the visual overhaul is the look of the watery surfaces. These now look like something that wouldn't feel out of place in Berserk's Eclipse setting, and one that should infuse the progression deeper into the Necromancer's domain with a sense of dread and unease.
No shader liquids will flow
To understand what happened to the HUD look no further than what was going on at Pimp my Car, only substitute spray paint with beautiful pixels. All the menus and in-game screens are still being conjured by the team just like in that show, just without all the fuss and Xzibit. Below you can find a tool-tip screen that - while still WIP - shows the direction that the game will take.
New info screens
Facial animation for Palmer? Also in the works. The team is nailing the finishing touches with the skill of our digital pixel surgeon Biro who undertook the procedure under the watchful eye of chief surgeon David. Take a peek under the bandages below. You know. Like Nip/Tuck.
The looks that could (and will) kill
Now since Palmer is a character that displays a range of emotions - the image above is only a glimpse of what you will experience in-game. So please find below the Many Faces of Palmer as he's been subjected to the three key emotions defined by "The Definite Guide to the FPS Psychology" and known as: "default", "damage" and "smile", all across different ranges of bloodiness.
Different states of Palmer
The weapons also are getting a bit of polish and shine. Smoother animations, faster reload additional frames - all things that are noticeable but not necessarily at first glance. Just so you know - that these are getting retooled as well.
Some of the WIP arsenal laid bare
For more updates about the game, follow us on Steam and join our Retrovibe Discord. Remember to wishlist the game, and tell your friends.
See you next time!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1640300/Project_Warlock_II/
Timeline update: Project Warlock II is nearing the content lock of the game's first Episode - Palmer's World in the coming weeks. After that, we're heading into an extensive playtest session so that before the end of the year we'll have a substantial amount of feedback to go through, filter, and introduce to the game. We'll have more on this in the next update.
Right now, the tweaks, updates, and changes are touching up almost every single part of the game you can imagine. Here's a peek at one of the later levels visited by Palmer.
Jump through those hoopsTHE BADDIES
David and Biro are reimagining monsters to more closely align them with the original vision of the game. This also means all of the baddies that you had fun shooting up are currently going through an in-universe version of the "Extreme Makeover". Based on your feedback we decided to take the designs closer to that of the original Warlock and better visual consistency. Chunky, lo-fi pixel consistency that is.
The usual suspects - reimaginedThicker outlines, blockier features, and additional color palettes bring the enemies closer to what you can expect from a Project Warlock game. We're very happy with the visuals you can already enjoy in the demo version of the game, yet we feel there is still some work to be done here.
Upgraded Shambler model THE LEVELS
To follow through with the classic TV shows of the bygone era theme - what happened (and is still happening on daily basis) is the MTV Cribs-worthy amount of work that goes into reimagining levels in the game. Based on numerous messages we received from the backers, demo players, and friends David started reworking levels throughout the game.
As he elegantly put it: "all levels have been adjusted in some way. Some of them have been reworked from the ground up with whole sections replaced or remade from scratch so they work better as a whole. All levels have improved lighting and refined textures. Level flow should be more natural and navigation more intuitive now."
Castle WarlocksteinAnother area undergoing the visual overhaul is the look of the watery surfaces. These now look like something that wouldn't feel out of place in Berserk's Eclipse setting, and one that should infuse the progression deeper into the Necromancer's domain with a sense of dread and unease.
No shader liquids will flowTHE HUD
To understand what happened to the HUD look no further than what was going on at Pimp my Car, only substitute spray paint with beautiful pixels. All the menus and in-game screens are still being conjured by the team just like in that show, just without all the fuss and Xzibit. Below you can find a tool-tip screen that - while still WIP - shows the direction that the game will take.
New info screens
THE FACE
Facial animation for Palmer? Also in the works. The team is nailing the finishing touches with the skill of our digital pixel surgeon Biro who undertook the procedure under the watchful eye of chief surgeon David. Take a peek under the bandages below. You know. Like Nip/Tuck.
The looks that could (and will) killNow since Palmer is a character that displays a range of emotions - the image above is only a glimpse of what you will experience in-game. So please find below the Many Faces of Palmer as he's been subjected to the three key emotions defined by "The Definite Guide to the FPS Psychology" and known as: "default", "damage" and "smile", all across different ranges of bloodiness.
Different states of PalmerTHE TOOLS
The weapons also are getting a bit of polish and shine. Smoother animations, faster reload additional frames - all things that are noticeable but not necessarily at first glance. Just so you know - that these are getting retooled as well.
Some of the WIP arsenal laid bareFor more updates about the game, follow us on Steam and join our Retrovibe Discord. Remember to wishlist the game, and tell your friends.
See you next time!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1640300/Project_Warlock_II/
Watch the dev play Project Warlock II demo! (Rebroadcast)
Hey everyone!
A couple of weeks ago we announced that Project Warlock II will be featured on Steam Next Fest alongside hundreds of other exciting games…
And that day has come, and we have so much cool stuff in store for you! So get your weapons loaded and get ready so send some demons back to hell!
Last week we released an updated demo packed with new features!
Have you ever wondered how awesome it would be to slay some demons with a Laser Rifle??? How about TWO Laser Rifles???!!!
We’ve added an upgrade station to the demo level, which allows you to upgrade various weapons. For example, you can upgrade the Assault Rifle to a Laser Rifle, and combine it with Akimbo for ultimate carnage!
Apart from that, we have added 2 sliders to visual settings, so you can configure the graphics to your liking.
Another brand new feature is a combo counter that measures your demonslaying skills. Wanna get a bit competitive? Share your highest score on the Discord!
Apart from the updated demo we’ve prepared something else!
During Steam Next Fest you will be able to watch Kuba from Buckshot Software play the demo and share his stories about his work on Project Warlock II.
We can’t wait to see you there and play our demo. We would also love to hear your feedback. Don’t hesitate to share your opinion on the Community Hub forum or on our Discord!
That would be it for now. Stay on the lookout for more news about Project Warlock II. In the meantime enjoy the Steam Next Fest and squeeze as much as you can from the demo!
Remember to follow Project Warlock II here on Steam, wishlist the game and tell your friends!
Until next time,
Retrovibe Games
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1640300
A couple of weeks ago we announced that Project Warlock II will be featured on Steam Next Fest alongside hundreds of other exciting games…
And that day has come, and we have so much cool stuff in store for you! So get your weapons loaded and get ready so send some demons back to hell!
Last week we released an updated demo packed with new features!
Have you ever wondered how awesome it would be to slay some demons with a Laser Rifle??? How about TWO Laser Rifles???!!!
We’ve added an upgrade station to the demo level, which allows you to upgrade various weapons. For example, you can upgrade the Assault Rifle to a Laser Rifle, and combine it with Akimbo for ultimate carnage!
Apart from that, we have added 2 sliders to visual settings, so you can configure the graphics to your liking.
Another brand new feature is a combo counter that measures your demonslaying skills. Wanna get a bit competitive? Share your highest score on the Discord!
Apart from the updated demo we’ve prepared something else!
During Steam Next Fest you will be able to watch Kuba from Buckshot Software play the demo and share his stories about his work on Project Warlock II.
We can’t wait to see you there and play our demo. We would also love to hear your feedback. Don’t hesitate to share your opinion on the Community Hub forum or on our Discord!
That would be it for now. Stay on the lookout for more news about Project Warlock II. In the meantime enjoy the Steam Next Fest and squeeze as much as you can from the demo!
Remember to follow Project Warlock II here on Steam, wishlist the game and tell your friends!
Until next time,
Retrovibe Games
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1640300