Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree News

Hi everyone!

We hope this update finds you well during this festive season! 🌟 From the entire Mandragora team, we wanted to take a moment to wish you all the happiest of holidays. 🎄


Now that the year is coming to a close, we thought it was the perfect time to look back at the rollercoaster that was 2023!

Here are just a few highlights:

[h2]Gamescom 2023 & New Trailer![/h2]

We were so happy that Mandragora got a chance to shine at Gamescom this year! 🎮 We had a booth on the showfloor (complete with giant werewolf statue, of course) where we were able to provide interested event attendees with a short demo of our game, and the atmosphere was incredible! To top it off, our trailer was selected by Geoff Keighley to be part of Opening Night Live – which was just an absolutely surreal moment for us!

🎁 If you missed out on watching our trailer live, don’t worry! You can still watch it over on our YouTube channel:



[h2]Exclusive First-Try PC Demo![/h2]

We were also able to bring a hands-on demo to Gamescom too. Thanks so much to everyone who played and shared their feedback with us!

Whenever we have a demo available later down the line that’s open to more players, we’ll be sure to let you know here in a news update!

🎁 You can also still check out our gameplay video of the demo right here:



[h2]Team interviews galore![/h2]

Our team is full of amazing people, and we were able to sit down with some of them this year and chat about their careers as well as their work on Mandragora.

If you missed out on any of them, don’t worry!

You can still check them out right here on Steam:

• Brian Mitsoda, our Narrative Lead: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1721060/announcements/detail/3689050339694282321
• Christos Antoniou, our Composer: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1721060/announcements/detail/3668793570632819966
• Aysha Selim, voice of a major character in Mandragora: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1721060/announcements/detail/3671049809721800592
• Ádám Hegedűs, our Animation Lead: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1721060/announcements/detail/3862461584752797150
  

We’d love to continue doing interviews like these, so we want to hear from you!
If you have any requests for specific interview topics, please don’t hesitate to let us know over on our Discord or right here in the comments!

[h2]2024 will be a big year for Mandragora![/h2]

As we confirmed in our Gamescom ONL trailer, we’re looking at a 2024 release for Mandragora - so it’s going to be a big year for all of us! It’s thanks to your support that we’ve been able to continue crafting a game that we're truly proud of, and we can't wait for you to experience the magic of Mandragora.



As the year draws to a close, we're simply filled with gratitude. All your enthusiasm, creativity, and support have fueled our journey, and we're super excited to share more Mandragora with you in the coming months as we make our way towards release! 😊

Wishing you a holiday season filled with laughter, joy, and of course some quality gaming time, too! 🎮

See you next year! 👋

Hi, everyone!

[h3]What time is it? Interview time! ⏰[/h3]

Today’s interview topic is something we’ve received a lot of comments about: the animations in Mandragora!

We sat down with Ádám Hegedűs, our Animation Lead, and chatted with him about some of your most frequently asked questions, as well as animation in general.

Without further ado, let’s get to the interview!

[h3]Hi Ádám! Please introduce yourself. What exactly is your role in the Mandragora team?[/h3]

Greetings! I'm Ádám. I was born in Hungary/Budapest and I still live there. I've been an animator for around a decade now. Around 6 years of those with Primal Game Studio.

I proudly hold the position of Lead Animator at Primal Game Studio. In this role, my responsibilities extend across a spectrum, acting as the linchpin between Technical Artists, Art Directors, and Animators. While it's hard to sum up my role in just a few words, I find great satisfaction in ensuring that our animation team operates seamlessly, ready to tackle any artistic or technical hurdle that comes our way.

[h3]There are sometimes misconceptions about what exactly the role of an animator is, and how much it may overlap with - or differ from - the role of VFX and rigging artists. In simple terms, could you help explain the difference for us?[/h3]

Sure. The easiest way to understand what animation is, and what the role of each profession is, is maybe to imagine a puppet, like a puppet master would use. Once the modeling and painting of the dummy is done, it goes to the rigging team for setup. So the rigging team is the one assembling all the strings, nails, and bolts into the dummy so the puppet master is able to move it - in this case, the animators. :)

Without rigging, the dummies could not stretch, move, or bend at all. They would be just one rigid object. When all the modeling and rigging work is finished on the dummy, that's when the animators start working.

We work on movements of the given character or object, like creating idle and walk animations, or combat-related attack animations. Sometimes it can be as little as a wheel turning left, and in other cases it can be an epic boss fight.

The VFX team comes after that, adding the extra flavor into the mix. By creating realistic fire, or magic effects, or explosions. Without them, any character doing magical attacks would be kinda lackluster. Like shooting with a water gun that is empty.

Back in our last development update, we already briefly touched on the various stages behind making an enemy, from concept art to being in the game, using our Warg as an example; but we didn't go into too many details.

[h3]Could you please tell us a little more about when the Animation team has a key part to play when a character is being created? What steps need to happen in order for you and the team to be able to first jump in?[/h3]

The animation team gets involved in early stages of character creation to make sure the model that we will end up with is rig and animation friendly.

First we take a closer look at the model when it's in an advanced stage to make sure that it actually can do the desired movements that the art directors have envisioned. And that it has enough polygons to be able to stretch, bend, and rotate at the necessary locations.

The second step we take in development is when we work with the rigging team to test the rig while it’s being developed, to help to finalize the rig to build all the desired functions that the animators might need.

Then, if everything went according to plan, the animators can start working on the actual animations for the character or object.



[h3]You mentioned the "desired movements that the art directors have envisioned". Is your team still able to provide your own input on the animations? How much back-and-forth collaboration happens when trying to figure out exactly how a character or object will move?[/h3]

Without doubt our animators have great freedom in the process. Sometimes maybe even too much! :D I strongly believe that during the development, everyone included in the production has ways to add their own touch to each character. Also the Art Directors are very welcoming of new ideas and feedback when it comes to that. We are trying to make the game as good as possible as a team, and if anyone brings up a valid point there is no reason not to listen to it.

There are many examples where we rather get a mood/feel for describing an enemy. For example: it should feel heavy, strong, and kind of soulless. Like a killing machine. While we get the list of abilities that the character can perform, we will try to add to the movement the mentioned characteristics. And that's how we ended up making the Vampire Thrall the big moving knight armor that slays players left and right.

Of course there are some examples when the art direction has a very specific idea for an enemy, but more often than not it's just a few abilities that they would like to see as envisioned. However, we work with the art directors very closely to make sure that the animations we created match the overall style, quality, and vision of Mandragora.

[h3]Have there ever been any animation glitches that ended up being cool or funny enough to keep in the game?[/h3]

Well the animators while working on a character are spending enormous amounts of time testing/playing with each version of animation in the engine. Any early signs of malfunction are fixed in the process. So it is very rare that an animation bug/glitch makes it into the game. So the answer is No, at least not that I know of.

However, there is a phenomenon that we call “The Molding”. But we could easily call it “X-Files”, too. What happens is: when we have finished a character, it has gone through all the feedback loops and passed QA tests etc. Then after a while, when nobody is working on it anymore, we tend to notice slight changes in the character's AI, or that the animations start to break. Like it starts walking backward while going forward, or shrinking or growing in certain animations.

For example, we had a phenomenon when out of nowhere, the hero’s elbow grew up to like 2 meters after every attack. Or when a 2 meter tall enemy starts to walk towards the player and its legs suddenly shrink to 2 centimeters tall, and the enemy just floats in the air on those tiny legs. :) These are the kinds of glitches we fight from time to time, but we try to make sure they are not making it into the final game.

Okay, that sounds pretty spooky! But I guess it all comes with the challenges of animation.

[h3]Speaking of which, what would you say you find more challenging: animating humans/humanoids or animating non-humanoid beasts?[/h3]

For me personally humanoids are the least challenging compared to other types. On the other hand, quadrupeds are my archnemesis. To be fair after 10 years in the industry I still struggle to create animations that I consider to be really good, no matter if its humanoid or something else! :D But it's like that for all the better artists out there who I know. I think we never see our work as finished, we just stop working on it after the time runs out.

As for difficulty, I think it really differs for each animator. I think it comes to what they like to animate more. They probably end up spending more time animating those kinds of characters, and therefore ending up being better in that field.



Are there any games in particular that have inspired your animations? Or do you prefer to find inspiration in other places?

There are a few games that I think did a very outstanding job animation wise, and the quality of them could be an inspiration for all game animators. :) I do check them from time to time to see how they managed certain parts of animation, or get inspiration for something cool.

As for player animations, I think ‘For Honor’ is one of the best I've seen. Even if it's mocap-based, which I personally don’t like to animate that much, I think what they achieved is really something special. Another one is ‘Elden Ring’. I think the boss animations are crazy good, especially the final boss. And let’s not forget ‘Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice’… they did insane boss and player animations too, hats off to them as well.

However I really hope that with Mandragora we will be able to set the bar high for animations in the side scroller genre. We really work hard and countless hours on each character to get the job done.

Well, our community has already very kindly called our animations "buttery smooth", so signs are good that Mandragora will get that reputation! (Fingers crossed!)
[h3]One last question: Do you have any advice for aspiring animators?[/h3]

Well I think I'm the living example that anyone can do it. I learned animation mostly from online tutorials, and forums that I found on YouTube and online. That was enough for me to land my first job as a trainee.

It's true that it took me almost 4 years on my own. You could speed up the process by signing up for an animation school, but it is not necessary at all. If someone has the resources for a decent animation school, that's probably the easiest way. I personally was not in a position back then to enroll in any online schools, so I had to work with what I found.

Nowadays there is ten times as much material available out there on animations - for free. So anyone can decide to go for it. And probably land their first job a lot sooner than I did!

For those who can't afford online schools, my best advice is to grind everyday till you make it. And for them I also plan to post some animation tutorials on my YouTube channel sometime next year, as my way of giving back to the community and to help absolute beginners find their way through the noise. Be sure to join the Mandragora Discord as it’ll be shared over there. Hopefully it won't bore people to death!

[h3]💚 We hope you enjoyed this latest interview![/h3]

If you have any requests for future interview topics, please let us know here in the comments or over on our Discord! We really love hearing from you and want to keep our topics as interesting as possible.

And of course, as always, thank you so much for supporting us and our game. We really appreciate it!

Until next time! 👋

Hi, friends!

[h3]Time for a new development update![/h3]

These past few months have been especially eventful for Mandragora. Especially back in August, when we had a booth at Gamescom, had our latest trailer featured during the ONL 2023 Pre-Show, and shared a first-try demo with Kickstarter backers and media!

If you didn’t get the chance to play that latest exclusive demo, we’ve now also uploaded a lengthy gameplay video of the demo over on our YouTube channel, so be sure to check that out by clicking on the image below!



Reaching the stage where we’re able to share this with you is a great milestone for us and our game. It’s been a key focus for us over the last few months, and we’re really looking forward to sharing even more Mandragora with you in the future!

So it only makes sense that this latest development update is also focused on the big bad boss you meet at the end of the Tutorial portion of that demo: the Warg!

[h3]So… how does a Warg become a Warg?[/h3]

With the Warg, as with most of the characters and beasts featured in Mandragora, their existence began as an initial idea translated to concept art.

Once we have the base concept for the character - in this case, the Warg - established, then we can work on the next steps that help bring them to life.



For our studio, there is a lot of collaboration between the various teams involved so we can ensure that the end result is the best one possible.

• Gameplay and character ability design: This is where we ask ourselves the big questions about their behavior, especially during combat. If they’re a boss, does their fight have multiple phases? What attacks do they have? Can the player parry or dodge them?
  
• 3D modeling: We also work on the 3D model for the character at the same time. This step is crucial as it brings the character to life, taking it from a 2D drawing to a 3D model. Because while Mandragora is a 2.5D game, all of our characters are fully 3D!
  

Once those steps are done, we have a kickoff meeting to discuss the next steps and how to best turn the design vision into reality. We then get to work on those next steps!

• Rigging, block animations, and temporary VFX: Our awesome animators brainstorm together on how they could best bring this creature to life. What do their movements look like? Is it purely a vicious beast, or does it think more tactically? How can the animations and VFX reflect that?
  
• Gameplay implementation: This is worked on in parallel to the above - it’s when we essentially add the logic behind the character model, to make sure it’s not just a pretty face. By implementing the relevant code in the Unreal Engine, we can set behavior for the given character, like what attacks they can use and when.
  
• Textures and fur simulation: These are added to the model to further help bring them to life. While not all of our characters have fur on them, it was really important to us that we make our furry Warg look exactly that: furry!
  

• Final animations and VFX: Now that the foundation has been laid, we work on final animations, making sure that they feel smooth and lifelike. We also add VFX here - which is particularly important for any of our characters with glowing magical parts!
  
• Final polish: This is when we make all of our final polish efforts that help all those other steps that we worked so hard on come together nice and neatly. This includes ensuring that gameplay works well and feels balanced, as well as polishing up all the visual aspects like textures, animations, VFX, etc.
  
• Audio and sound effects: Because a Warg without a menacing growl is no real Warg at all, right? Making sure each character sounds the way they should is another crucial step in helping said character really come to life.
  

Then, once all these steps are put together, we achieve the creation of the character that you’ll meet - and battle! - when you play Mandragora.



And the fight against the Warg consists of 2 phases:

• In Phase 1, it has various attacks it'll use to try to get the best of your character: Bite, Turn Bite, Dash, and Entropic Fissure Howl.
  
• Then, in Phase 2, it turns things up a notch by becoming much more agile - as well as utilizing its vicious Leap Attack!
  

We hope you enjoyed getting a deeper look into development, and more specifically, what the process looks like for the creation of each character in the game.

We also really hope you’ll enjoy facing off against the fearsome Warg!



[h3]And that’s a wrap for this update![/h3]

Thank you so much for all your support. We really appreciate it!

Please let us know what you thought of this development update in the comments below.

And if you have any requests for future updates, please don’t hesitate to suggest them! We love hearing from you.

Until next time!

Hi friends!

We are at gamescom this week with a short show floor demo for Mandragora so if you're missing out on the event, you can watch a playthrough of an extended version of the demo here for this week!

Or you can see our latest trailer which we debuted at Opening Night Live:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please leave them here or join our Discord.

And if you want to support Mandragora, please hit the wishlist and follow buttons and find us on social media at @MandragoraGame on Twitter, Youtube, and Instagram!

Hi everyone!

[h3]Time for another exciting interview![/h3]

This time, we sat down with the incredible Aysha Selim and asked her questions submitted by you over on our Discord server. Thank you to everyone who sent in their questions! We really love hearing from you.

We also hope you enjoyed our previous interviews with our Narrative Lead Brian Mitsoda and our Composer Christos Antoniou. Be sure to check those out too if you haven’t already!

Without any further do, onto the interview we go!


📸: Tarek Aziz

Hi, Aysha! Thank you for taking the time to sit down and chat with us.

Discord community member “dropko” had quite a few great questions about your career: How did you break into doing voiceover for video games? Was it intentional or by chance?

Aysha: Actually, it was by chance. I’ve been working in the sound/dubbing business since 1997. First, as Disney Character Voices International’s Creative and Operation Manager for the Arabic dubs until 2006, then as co-partner in the localization Company Masreya Media from 2007-2017 as Head of the Dubbing Department. In 2016, in my job capacity we had been requested by a client to cast the role of Ana. It had to be a mature voice with good English (no British or American accent) and whose mother tongue is Egyptian Arabic. We did send the client voice samples, which they didn’t like that much, so a colleague at the office suggested I tryout. So I did it from the couch of my home on the phone :) Surprise… surprise, I was approved the following day. From there, I ventured into the voice acting world. By 2017, as planned prior to voice acting, I limited my work at Masreya Media to Dubbing consultancy.

How important is collaboration with the game directors, developers and designers in creating the right voice?

Aysha: Extremely important. During recordings, there is the director and the writer and also a sound director for all the screams and other sounds. Together they guide the performer. It’s not like working on a movie or series script, where there is a dramatic line that you can read beforehand. The lines might seem just random, so a performer would need context and to stay consistent with the voice.

Do you believe your acting should affect in any way the characters' design or do you prefer something fully laid out?

Aysha: When it comes to Art, there is no “fully laid out”. There is always room to bring something of you to the character, as long as it is in line with the initial character’s design.



“truthell” asked: Do you have access to images or videos of your character before and during your voiceover?

Aysha: Mainly images. Anything available at the time of the recording is being shared with me.

And “J-dudd” wanted to know: Are there any specific voice performances you are taking inspiration from?

Aysha: One should be able to take inspiration from everything. It could be the performance or the actual recording experience.

“dropko” wanted to get your thoughts on a hot topic: Many "movie stars" very often voice over for animated movies and some even do for video games as well. As a voice actor, how do you feel about this?

Aysha: It’s always great for animated movies from a business perspective, but sometimes it poses a lot of difficulties due to movie stars’ schedules, especially with sequels. However, for video games, I feel it’s more of a mystery to have the characters voiced by non-movie stars in order not to have the image of the movie star in mind when hearing the voice. Voices are very powerful in themselves when you don’t have an image.

And “Sand Wraith” had another topical question: How do you think AI based speech synthesis will affect the career of upcoming voice actors in the next 5 years?

Aysha: It will definitely have an effect, but not for major roles or deep performances. No matter how advanced AI is, it cannot replace the soul of a human being performing.



“dropko” wanted to know: You started big with hugely popular games like Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm. Did it change your opinion on the role and importance of voicing a video game character?

Aysha: Absolutely not. All big names started somewhere and working with a new company has the advantage of being part of the team. I saw Mandragora growing from scratch and it feels like watching a baby grow and it’s thrilling to be part of that journey.
Before Overwatch, I had no idea about how huge video games are. Now, I can see how it is a world of its own and how the characters do inspire people.

“Screwdriver” was curious about the following: What, in the Mandragora Universe, prompted you to participate in its dubbing? What were the differences with your previous works for Overwatch?

Aysha: Overwatch was an already established game, so of course Blizzard. I jumped aboard. With Mandragora there was something fresh. The team that contacted me was very genuine and so passionate about what they do. Passion is contagious and I was hooked. It helped of course that the prelim images and music were perfect! and in my mind I thought “this is going to be BIG” and I want to be part of it.

Finally, to close this interview off, “dropko” also had a question about your work on Mandragora: Can you tell us a bit about your character in Mandragora and what challenges you are finding in voicing her?

Aysha: I just had my first recording session. The first challenge was finding the right voice. The voice had to be non-Ana, yet it had to be MY voice. The second challenge was understanding the character. It’s a very mysterious character, which will allow me a lot of exploration. I fell in love with her immediately and had loads of fun voicing her.

And that’s a wrap!

We really hope you enjoyed this interview with incredible voice talent Aysha Selim.
Special thanks again to everyone who submitted a question!

We look forward to hearing your thoughts right here in the comments or over on our Discord!

If you’d like to further support us and our game, please tell a friend about Mandragora and give us a follow on social media!

Until next time! 👋



[h3]Attending Gamescom? Don’t forget to check out Mandragora![/h3]

If you’ll be attending Gamescom (August 23-27), be sure to drop by our booth and check out Mandragora! You’ll be able to find our game and even try out a public hands-on demo at Koelnmesse’s Hall 8.1, booth C-020!