Aethermancer News

Hey and welcome to this new devlog where we will go on a secret mission to sneak into the map generator and see how it works.



In Aethermancer we use procedually generated maps for our overworld, that are based on different biomes. If you want to learn more about what our maps in general look like before we get started, feel free to check out this tour of Terastae we did earlier this year. I will keep this non-programmer-friendly since we'll mostly be talking about the logic and system behind all of our maps - so let's get going!



Depending on how you want to generate the map, there are multiple routes you can go. In general there are two types I would distinguish: You can use noise as the base (Minecraft does this) or you can use rooms (most roguelike/roguelites use this). Since we need quite a bit of control over what we generate and how much space we need, we're using a room-based system. However room-based does not mean that you will be trapped in one section of the map, it’s more used as a base for the generation and will still allow you to roam around the map and explore.



So the first thing we need is a general layout for our map that is based on rooms. Depending on what exactly you want those can look quite different. Below is what one of our maps would look like, which we will use as an example for now. All of our areas have four points at which they can connect: North, East, South, West. Depending on which points are connected, we end up with different shapes for our areas: O-area (1 connection), I-area (2 connections, which are counterparts), L-area (2 connections, which are not counterparts), T-area (3 connections) and X-area (4 connections).



Okay, now we have the basic structure for our maps but if you run across that map, the shapes are a bit ... meh. So instead of using the basic shape of each room, we use something called area prefabs. These contain predefined shapes (and a bunch of other things) which we use to define which part of our room is accessible and inaccessible. We are using a mix of these area prefabs that are then procedurally filled as well as completely hand-crafted, premade areas. For the sake of this devlog we are ignoring premade areas.



But there's one thing about these prefabs that is restricting them. If we have a room that connects North & South we can't use a prefab that connects East & West right? So we would need two different ones. If we now look at O-, L- and T-areas, we would also need 4 different ones just to cover every direction once. That seems like a lot of work so why don't we use a trick and do some sneaky magic to get rid of our problem? The solution we're looking for is rotation. By turning our area prefab we can make it fit for all rooms of the according type. Now we (in theory) only need one are prefab per room type, but if we use more than that it adds even more variety to our map. We use quite a few currently and there's always the option to add more.
Now we have a map that has a defined accessible area. Which is cool but ... we actually need to decide what goes where and how we want to fill the whole map? If we just filled it with tiles depending on if it's accessible/inaccessible that would be really boring ... and we don't do boring at this company so let's make this map pretty! For that we're using subbiomes which define how a room gets filled in terms of terrain and props. So depending on what subbiome and what area prefab we use, we end up with different rooms, which is pretty neat. Now that the accessible part looks cool, let's get to work on the inaccessible part!



So the first thing we'll need to do is determine how much of the inaccessible part of the map we actually need. There's little use in generating a bunch of things on the other side of the map if no one is ever going to see it, because they can't get there. So we're simply going to extend our current outer border depending on how much space you can usually see on the camera.
Let's figure out what cool stuff to place and where we want to put it. We could come up with a general structure of what we want the inaccessible area to look like and place that everywhere but again ... that's kinda lame. So let's divide the outer area into chunks, we're using the lazy flood fill for that. The nerds that want to learn more about how it's done can check out this video, for everyone else: We now simply have multiple smaller areas we can work with instead of one large one.



Previously I mentioned that the subbiomes have more information stored in them, among other things they also store what type of inaccessible subbiome can be placed next to them. This enables us to place inaccessible subbiomes with more intent so that things feel well placed instead of misplaced. Each biome can have its own type of border (e.g. water or fences) as well as a collection of different props that get placed in the area.



Okay now our map look quite nice and like a charming place to fight monsters. Now that's all, right? Well you know, it's a pretty good map but ... isn't it ... kind of ... boring ... in some places? Don't burn me just yet because we have more exciting stuff to add to the map! What if we wanted to aim higher and ... add heights?

For that we'll use a simplified version of the Wave Function Collapse. You can use Wave Function Collapse for a bunch of things but we will mostly use it to determine what kind of height we need where, which is a lot simpler than other cases where you can use it.
In our case we have the following basic rules:

• Each area has four sides (North, East, South, West)
  
• Each side can either be connected or not connected to another area
  
• Each side can either be a height or not a height
• If two areas are connected, the connecting sides have the same properties (since they are kind of one thing)
  

Keeping these rules in mind, we can determine for each connecting side whether it is a height or not. Any non-connecting side could be either, so for them we randomly decide whether they are a height.



Okay so now we know which side is what but ... what now? Well, the good thing is each of our area prefabs also has a height prefab for each combination, so we can use them to determine what positions end up being heights (aka what the actual heights look like).
This system makes sure that all combinations make sense and while also giving us a lot of freedom of how we want each height to look like. As long as the sides connect with the right heights, we can do all sorts of weird and cool stuff with heights without risking the map being unuseable (in most cases, there are still some restrictions as there are with almost everything).



[h2]I hope this devlog gave you a glimpse of what is going on behind the map generation of Aethermancer! We do have a bunch of other things that are going on in the map generation, but this devlog is already quite full with information so we'll keep that for another time.[/h2]

In today's devlog, we're pulling back the curtain once again to unveil one of our most versatile tools for making Aethermancer: Gradients. These unsung heroes in our toolkit are the secret sauce that breathes life into our visuals. Now, I know we're delving into the technical nitty-gritty, but fear not! We'll kick things off gently, gradually wading into the intricacies that make Aethermancer tick. There's a bit of something for everyone on this journey. Are you ready to witness the alchemy behind the scenes? Let's dive in!

Let's lay the groundwork: What even is a gradient? A gradient is a smooth transition between two or more colors. We can use it on a texture to avoid harsh edges, or we can use it to visualize the change of a color over time (called "Location" in the screenshot), which is ideal to take our animations to the next level.



Let's take a look at the fire in the game for example. Without a change in color the fire would look monotonous, static and, well, not really like fire.



Now if we use a gradient, we can breath some life into the inferno. We start with vibrant yellows and whites, converging at the heart of the fire to create a scorching, radiant core. Then we seamlessly transition to fiery reds and further to deepening hues of dark, red-ish brown. This allows us to mimic the nuances of actual fire.



Gradients don't always have to be linear though. We can also adjust them to take on any form we want. We could bend them into the shape of our monsters, or in this case the shape of the Aethermancer themselves (well, actually the dash if you want to be nit-picky):



Here's where it gets interesting. We're not transitioning between colors anymore. Instead this gradient describes how bright or dark parts of the image should be. With this brightness gradient we can make different parts of the Aethermancer glow. Now let's dim the lights and step into the game so we can take a look:



Now that we've established that we can use gradients to not only hold colors, but also other information, here's another example, that you might already have seen in action if you've followed the development of Aethermancer for a while.



Gradients like this allow us to mark different parts of our monsters for different effects by overlaying this gradient on top of the monster. Each hue holding an encoded information. This example comes into play when a monster meets their fate in combat. The dark tones mark the parts of the monster that disappear first, while the bright parts are the last ones to disappear.



I know it is hard to imagine, but the power of gradients doesn't end there. We can do more cool stuff, when we don't limit ourselves to the exact shape of a monster when we make gradients for them. A while ago I shared this blobby looking image on our Discord:



To the untrained eye it might not be immediately apparent, but Dark Elder is hidden in this texture. Each pixel in this gradient texture contains the information how far away it is from the outline of Dark Elder. A white pixel is 32 pixels away on the outside of the monster, a black pixel is 32 pixels away on the inside of the monster and a medium grey is exactly on the outline of the monster. (For the more technically inclined, this is called a signed distance field or SDF).



With this gradient we can create outlines of an (almost) arbitrary width, without having any issues.



For comparison, before we had that possibility we used to make outlines by displaying the monster multiple times with a slight offset. That works reasonably well for thin outlines (1-2 pixels), but breaks apart once you want thicker outlines or when you have a lot of pointy elements like Naga's spear



We're also using gradients and gradient textures in a lot of other places, like the Aether crystals, the wind simulation, our fake 3D, our lighting and more. But this devlog is already pretty long, so I won't cover them here. If you are interested in hearing about any of those topics or want more information on any of the topics in this devlog, let us know!

[h2]Hope you guys enjoyed this look into some technical details of Aethermancer. If you want to directly ask our Tech Artist Basti about VFX topics, head on over to Reddit to a little live q&a:[/h2]
r/AethermancerGame

Another long day of development ends in the twilight hours. The air in the old cabin we rented for a work-vacation is still thick from all the discussions. I almost did not hear the faint knocking on the door with the rain thudding on the roof.
I open the squealing door to see… nothing. Nothing except a small package. I raise my head but cannot see a person in this dark, stormy night. I call upon my colleagues, curious about the contents of the mysterious package. We open it slowly, tensely and see what seems to be a monkey’s paw. Almost missing the handwritten note, I pick up the ragged tag lying next to the gruesome object. “This magical paw will grant you three wishes.”
I look around and see shock and confusion in my colleagues’ eyes but also… temptation. Before anyone can raise their voice, Anton shouts: “Wait!”, grabbing the paw. “I recognize this! This is a cursed object I’ve read about. This is not a joke, this is dark magic. We should put this far far away and absolutely, under no circumstance, use it!”
Being the only reasonable thing to do, we follow Anton’s suggestion and store the paw away, into a dusty old cupboard in the basement. Shaken and agitated, but still so very tired, we decide to leave this situation for today and go to bed. The night outside is stormy and dark and my eyes become heavy while I watch the rain pour down the window.

[h2]"A NEVERENDING ODYSSEY"[/h2]

Jorge could not sleep that night. He kept seeing the combat UI before his inner eye, which he despised. He wanted something so good, it would make players understand combat in Aethermancer instantly. But he just did not know how and he did not have the time to focus on it between all the pixel art he was doing. Jorge knew, he could not resist temptation. So, he walked down the stairs, quietly, to not wake anyone before his grim undertaking was achieved, all the way down to the monkey’s paw. And he wished for time to create the perfect new combat UI.

The next day Jorge woke up with a clear image of a new UI before his inner eye. It was as if it was right there! Jorge was happy, his plan had worked! He was so excited, he sat down to draft a new combat UI even before breakfast. Later, full of enthusiasm, he showed it to the others. But the first thing he heard was: “I don’t like that the UI takes up so much space now!” The feedback did not bother him too much, critisicm is normal, even appreciated. He would go back to doing UI tomorrow.

The next day Jorge woke up with a clear image of a new UI before his inner eye. It was as if it was right there! Jorge was confused and felt like having a déjà-vu. It was a look at the calendar on his phone that confirmed his horrifying theory: it was the same day again. “Ok”, Jorge said to himself. “Don’t panic. This HAS to be because of the wish. I will simply take the feedback from yesterday’s today and make a new draft and it will all be fine.” He ignored his sweaty hands, his seething worries and got back to work. Later that day, he presented a new draft to the others. “Hmm… players should be able to see all relevant information at once! This is too consolidated!” And another person raised their voice: “And this looks way too futuristic for our game!” Jorge got back to his laptop, but now that he had two things he had to change, he was not able to finish it this day. He went to bed…

The next day Jorge woke up with a clear image of a new UI before his inner eye. It was as if it was right there! “Oh no…” Jorge sighed, realizing he was still trapped in the very same day. He started to panic. He decided not to get breakfast, but directly start working on the UI, incorporating all previous feedback, hopeful he would be able to finish it this time. But again… “The icons are too small!” “Can’t we have this part animated?” “I don’t like that we have numbers here!” It seemed like slaying a Hydra. You cut off one head and two new ones emerge. He worked day and night, the same day, every day. But everyone had something to nag about every iteration he made. Days passed, weeks passed. So much time passed.

Jorge wished to have time to create the perfect new combat UI. Now he had time to work on it forever and evermore until it would finally be perfect.



[h2]"THE INVASION OF BUGS"[/h2]

It must have been around midnight, when Galina woke up with a dry throat. Thirsty, she made her way to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. As she was standing there looking around the dark room, her gaze lingered on the basement door. “I’ve been asking the dev team for more features to show for ages… Maybe I could use the monkey’s paw to wish for more content…”, Galina thought. And so, after making sure that nobody saw her, she made her way down to the basement.

The next morning Galina eagerly waited to see if her nightly adventure was a success. She didn’t have to wait for long. “I’m finally done with the lamps!”, Anni said and removed a note from the task wall. Shortly thereafter Basti also threw a note into the trash and happily announced that he finished the lighting overhaul. Not even the dark, stormy clouds outside could dampen their mood when they went on their lunch break. “Finally I can record some new footage!”, Galina thought to herself. Their joy shouldn’t last for long.

“Hey Anni”, Galina said, “There’s a problem with the lamps. They are everywhere and appear in all sorts of places where they shouldn’t be.” “Really? That’s strange… Let me see.”



Anni started working on a fix right away. Patiently waiting, Galina looked out of the window. What is that eerie glow? Is that… a lantern post out there on the hill? That can’t be… and yet… it is there. “I fixed it!”, said Anni and snapped Galina out of her trance. “Thanks!”, she said, but when she turned back to the window, the lantern was gone. So Galina started recording again. But she couldn’t even finish one video before she encountered another problem. “Hey Basti, the new lights you made are flickering all the time.”



“I’m so sorry, I’ll fix them right away.”, Basti said and started working. Galina went to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea, when the lights in the house also started flickering. “That’s creepy.”, she thought, everything worked perfectly fine a few hours ago. As suddenly as the flickering started, it stopped again and Basti poked his head through the door. “It should be alright now. Anni just told me that we also have a dash move now, if you want to make a video of that.”

Galina looked at the clock. “I guess I have time for one more attempt today.” So she sat down in front of her laptop and started the game. “Oh, that dash move is fun! I’m so fast!” Galina played around with the dash move for a while to get the perfect shot. Then, suddenly, she felt an enormous pull from her core. It was as if someone towed a rope around her waist and attached it to a driving car. And as she was violently yanked away from her laptop, the room around her became blurry and disappeared.

About an hour later Anni and Basti came to look for Galina. But all they found was her abandoned laptop, playing a video:



[h2]"CREEPY CRAWLY SIZES"[/h2]

Adam’s bloodshot eyes slowly peeled open for the 100th time this night. Almost out of instinct, he grabbed his phone and started scrolling through Twitter to validate his sad, pathetic life with sweet sweet internet points. The latest monster reveal was just posted, and he was practically drooling thinking of all the praise. With shaking fingers he navigated to moi rai’s twitter page (@moi_rai_ please follow and like all of our posts please I need it) and let out and audible gasp once his eyes understood what befell them. Three likes… three. But at least there was one comment?



…

How could the monster designs that he, Jorge and Malika created with such love, hard work, talent, refined taste and masterful skill not become viral instantly? These thoughts and many others (ones that are so conceited that I’m too embarrassed to even write them) rattled his little brain.

Adam fumbled out of his bed and began grasping in the dark for the walls that would guide his path.

“You can fix this.” he reassured himself as he stumbled towards the dark basement steps, “everything is fine Adam, you can fix this”.

The flickering neon tube overhead revealed the cupboard in the basement that held the monkey’s paw. Hesitant, but still determined, even obsessed, he grabbed the paw and made a wish.

“I wish… for Aethermancer’s monster sprites to become… INFINITELY impressive!”

The following day, in the warm light of dawn, the artists were sitting next to each other drawing new monsters. Adam peeked over Jorge and Malika’s shoulders’ to see what kind of impressive monsters they were cooking up. It was… fine I guess? He looked back at the monster on his own screen and (despite his obvious delusional narcissism) deemed it just…okay. Maybe the stupid monkey’s paw was hogwash after all.

Just then, Denis came in and slowly inspected the newest monster designs. He seemed content. As he was leaving the room, he left the door open a crack and poked his head back through.

“You know what would make them even more…”, he paused, his eyes glowing for a brief moment. “…impressive? If they were bigger!”

Not bigger!! Adam, Jorge and Malika looked at each other, sighed and started adding pixels to their respective monster designs in front of the cold white glare of their laptops and drawing tablets.

A few hours later, Adam took his tablet to show the now even bigger monster sprite to Denis, who was sitting in the room next door, impatiently hammering his fingers on the table. “Make them bigger!”, he shouted at Adam, who had barely just opened the monster sprite file. He returned to Jorge and Malika who had both heard Denis’ wish.

All in a tizzy, they got back to the new monster sprite, adding more and more pixels to the beast. More limbs! Bat wings! Beefier torso! Huge biceps, Succulent quads, Six pack abs…(Sorry my imagination is getting the best of me) They barely finished when they heard doomed footsteps thudding towards them. Denis was back, his eyes looking unfamiliar, obsessed, almost possessed.

He took one look at the sprite and screamed: “It needs to be bigger!” Adam grabbed his graphic pen and added more and more to the monster, suppressing the shaking of his hand. “BIGGER!!!” Jorge added massive horns on the sprite. “B I G G E R!!!” Malika shouted back: “Denis, we can’t make it bigger, it can barely fit the screen anymore!” Denis’s eyes were unrecognizable.

Amongst the wails and screaming Adam kept drawing and drawing until the screen started flickering in a ghastly way. He flinched and dropped his pen. It seemed as if pixels were falling out of the screen? The computer started shaking, more and more pixels fell out. The monster that was supposed to be the most impressive monster the world has ever seen started climbing out of the screen! Everything happened in a blur. Adam, Jorge and Malika jumped out of the room and summoned the courage to glance back, only to see the demonic beast making a leap towards the person who was once Denis, who had a slight smile on his face. The art crew pressed themselves against the rattling door to keep the monster from bursting out of the room. Single pixels began to squeeze themselves through the crack beneath the door. More and more squeezed through, and they grew bigger, BIGGER. Growing in size infinitely, they eventually swallowed everything and everybody in the house.



I flinch, as a hand touches my shoulder. It was Daan’s. I must have fallen asleep when I sat down on the sofa right after the meeting. Was it all bad dreams? I take a moment to calm myself and realize, it was all a nightmare, it was not real. No monkey paw, no game development hell. No gruesome deaths. I sigh. Relieved. And then, a faint knock on the door. I open the squealing door to see… nothing. Nothing except a small package.

[h3]We hope you enjoyed this absolutely realistic stories about game development and wish you all a happy Halloween![/h3]

Welcome to a new devlog! This is our first devlog diving into the combat mechanics of Aethermancer. That’s right! It took a long time (lots and lots of iterations and internal prototypes) to get the combat feel just right, but now we are comfortable with sharing some specifics of the combat design. We are starting out with some key Monster attributes - the stuff that makes every single Monster unique, special, and worthwhile.




[h2]NAGA[/h2]

• Elements: Fire / Water
  
• Types: Attacker, Tank, Shielder, Power
  
• Signature Trait: Counter Attack: Physical Retaliation: This Monster launches an immediate basic attack against that enemy.
  

Monsters generally have two elements, three to five types, and a signature trait. What does that mean exactly?

Naga has the elements Fire and Water. These mainly determine which actions Naga can learn. Similar to Monster Sanctuary, we have four elements in Aethermancer: Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water. Unlike Monster Sanctuary, however, we also have actions that combine two of those elements at the same time. For instance, lightning actions are both Fire & Wind, whereas ice actions are both Water & Wind. Naga can essentially learn actions that are Fire, Water, or a combination of elements that include Fire or Water (such as Fire/Water, Fire/Wind, Earth/Water, etc.).

Naga has the types Attacker, Tank, Shielder, and Power. These tell the player exactly what the Naga is all about - what role it can generally take on in combat. The types also directly determine both the actions and traits that the Monster can learn. Actions are active skills, traits are passive skills. So basically, Naga can learn skills that help it deal attack damage, allow it to be a tank in combat, apply shields, and apply Power buff stacks.

Lastly, Naga has the Counter Attack signature trait. This is a passive skill that is unique to Naga - Naga always starts out with this skill, and no other Monster in the game can learn it. Every Monster has such a signature trait. The “Physical Retaliation” keyword means that this trait triggers whenever Naga is dealt damage by an enemy’s physical damage action.


[h2]WOLPERTINGER[/h2]

• Elements: Water / Wind
  
• Types: Attacker, Spellcaster, Debuffer, Critical, Armor Break
  
• Signature Trait: Eagle Eyes: This Monster can copy and use the last 2 enemy actions. On Copied Action: Apply Armor Break on target enemy.
  

Wolpertinger is more of a fragile damage dealer, with most of its types dedicated to helping it deal damage. It has both the Attacker and Spellcaster type, which makes it a hybrid damage dealer. The Debuffer type helps Wolpertinger apply lots of debuffs, and rewards it for doing so. The Critical type helps with getting more crits, enables new ways of critting, and also rewards Wolpertinger for getting as many crits as possible. The Armor Break type further helps Wolpertinger with applying a specific type of debuff, Armor Break, and makes Armor Break stacks on enemies even more devastating.

There are four core buffs and four core debuffs in Aethermancer. These are the most common buffs and debuffs in the game. Each element has a core buff and a core debuff associated with it. For example, Water is associated with Armor Break (debuff) and Regeneration (buff).

Wolpertinger’s signature trait Eagle Eyes lets it copy its enemies’ actions - which can be very useful when you’re trying to use your available Aether in the most efficient way possible. The keyword “On Copied Action” triggers whenever Wolpertinger uses such a copied action - rewarding Wolpertinger by applying additional Armor Break stacks.


[h2]ORTHRUS[/h2]

• Elements: Fire / Wind
  
• Types: Attacker, Critical, Sidekick, Power
  
• Signature Trait: Shared Fury: Whenever this Monster gains Sidekick or Power, that buff is shared with another random party member.
  

Orthrus is another rather offensive Monster, but focusing on physical damage and the Sidekick and Power buff stacks.

The design of Orthrus’s signature trait should feel familiar to our Monster Sanctuary fans. We generally tried to design the traits of Aethermancer similar to the passives of Monster Sanctuary - encouraging players to build powerful team synergies. You will find some key differences in Aethermancer however. For instance, you no longer need specific auras to get multiple stacks of the same buff or debuff - all core buffs and debuffs stack infinitely by default. So right from the start, if Orthrus casts “Sidekick” (buffing action which applies 1 stack of Sidekick on the whole party), it will result in an extra stack of Sidekick on one of your other Monsters. Crazy, right?

Signature traits are mainly designed with two goals in mind:

• Do something unique, which other Monsters can’t do. → Each Monster should stand out.
• Have strong potential to play or build around. → Each Monster should make the player interested to try out new strategies.

[h2]STAR SPAWN[/h2]

• Elements: Fire / Water
  
• Types: Spellcaster, Shielder, Aether, Power
  
• Signature Trait: Wrath of the Void: On Spell Action: If you have 1 or more Wild Aether, consume up to 4 of them to cast a random damage spell in the game with equal cost.
  

One of the essential mechanics of Aethermancer (which is also new for our Monster Sanctuary fans) is Aether. It only makes sense that there are Monsters with the “Aether” type which specialize both in accumulating Aether, as well as spending additional Aether for strong extra effects. Star Spawn is such a Monster - whenever it uses any spell (including both damage and support spells), it may trigger an additional random damage spell. We wanted to design Star Spawn as a prototypical, powerful spellcasting Monsters - what says “powerful spellcaster” better than casting extra spells every turn?

You already know about Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind Aether. One for each element - makes sense. There is an additional fifth type of Aether, however: Wild Aether. Only specific actions and traits can generate this type of Aether. It can be used as any type of Aether, which makes it very useful in combat. Missing a Fire Aether for your big “Fire Storm”? Just use a Wild Aether instead. Additionally, certain Monsters like Star Spawn utilize your Wild Aether in unique ways.

Also, Star Spawn’s signature trait reveals a hidden, third design goal for signature traits:

• Have the potential to make each combat and each run of Aethermancer feel different. → Each combat and each run should stand out.

This design goal is only present with certain signature traits, which feature randomized and dynamic gameplay elements. Having to deal with the unexpected is not everyone’s cup of tea, so this kind of effect is mainly found on certain signature traits. We generally reduced the amount of random effects in Aethermancer compared to Monster Sanctuary.

That’s all for today’s devlog. We hope you have a better idea of our Monsters now!

[h3]Hope you guys know more about our monsters now. If you want to directly ask our Game Designer Anton about the monsters in Aethermancer, head on over to Reddit to a little live q&a:[/h3]

r/AethermancerGame

I am so happy I finally have time to write to you! Last week kept me pretty busy, but was super special! The team finally got together for our very first real company trip in Cologne! We rented this charming old house for all of us for a whole week to spend time with each other and of course go to Gamescom. But the reason it was so special was that it was the very first time most of us met in real life! I’ve been looking forward to this for months!



Oh, I forgot, I need to give you some background! (Note to myself, I should write more about work in my diary...)

Oh, I forgot, I need to give you some background! (Note to myself, I should write more about work in my diary...)

So, moi rai games was started by Sersch some years ago, when he was working on Monster Sanctuary. He was working mostly alone but later with help from his brother and his wife and at some point our first Community Manager from the US. Most of the team gradually joined after Monster Sanctuary’s release (you are my diary, so you should remember, I joined around April 2021) from all over Germany, US, the Netherlands and Brazil! As we are all spread around the world, we never had an actual office. Working together remotely works great. We can choose our hours, don't have to commute somewhere and we still manage to spend quality time as a team playing stuff together online or having virtual coffee dates. But still… meeting in real life is different and that’s why this trip was so so so sooo exciting for all of us!!!

And maaaaan it was so cool to meet everyone! We taught each other our native languages (I can say so much cool stuff in BR Portuguese now huehuehue), had a huge snack pile and one of us (no name dropping) did a ranking of who seemed the most different from their online-version.



One of the first things we did was a hike! I guess that’s what you do at teambuilding events. We went up Drachenfels and Drachenburg (“Dragon Fort”). I felt like that was a bit dangerous since there were dragons living in that forest, but well, the others are badasses, what can I do



The view we got was pretty nice! All the way down and into all the little castle windows... Ooooooh... so many d e t a i l s I would have missed, if I didn't look c l o s e e n o u g h.



The next day, we mostly enjoyed spending time together! We played a lot of cool boardgames (can’t believe I forgot to take a pic of our boardgame pile!), for example Dune. Even though it’s a game of betrayal, our programmer Manoah never betrayed me in our alliance. Team building works! Yeahi! We also tried some black magic potion cachaça that our pixel artist Jorge brought from Brazil with a fruit named Jambu, that makes your tongue numb for a couple of minutes. Crazy! And I got a new game idea! Monster charades with Monster Sanctuary and Aethermancer monsters! Man, diary, try doing an Ooze, that was hard... Oh!!! And I forgot to mention the great food we had in Cologne! Yummyyyyy ~



Wednesday was Gamescom day, woohoo! As expected, most of the time was spent in the Indie arena (since indie games are way cooler than AAA anyway, duh) playing all sorts of cool demos.



We actually also met a new colleague who will join us very soon! Gamescom was a really cool experience and I also took a lot of notes in case we ever get to have a booth there for Aethermancer...



We didn’t do that much work on Aethermancer this week (except capturing videos for social media! Are you proud of me diary?), but you know what? It was the right thing to do. All the great moments we had together made us only stronger as a team and I really believe that this will make Aethermancer an even better game!



Our trip came to an end at some point, which left a bittersweet taste and I do feel a little sad, but then again I am sure we’ll meet again and until then, I will just have to destroy the others online playing Overcooked!

Talk to you later, Diary.

Galina

[h3]Hope you enjoyed this page of our Community Manager's diary (and maybe found what's hidden in this devlog)! Now it's time to head back to work on Aethermancer! This fall will definitely be exciting...[/h3]