螺钉与浮城 Bolt & Whalington News

[p]Our cat × mech Metroidvania Bolt & Whalington will be featured at PAX East in Boston, USA on the 26th!
Booth No.: 14087[/p][p][/p][p]Can’t make it to the event? No worries~
We’ll also be launching an online Playtest at the same time—everyone is welcome to try out the brand-new version![/p][p]This Playtest offers about 1 hour of gameplay,
featuring a condensed version of the early-game experience.
(There may be some differences from the full release, so no need to worry about major spoilers.)[/p][p][/p][p]We’ve also added hidden stages that showcase some of the game’s mid-game mechanics!
We’re looking forward to seeing you reach the true ending in this Playtest version![/p][p][/p][p]【Applications are now open! Simply click “Request Access” below the video on the Steam store page】[/p][p]Don’t forget to wishlist the game and stay tuned for updates![/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]Bolt & Whalington is a Metroidvania game where you play as Bolt, a Siamese cat exploring the floating ruins of Whalington. Reshape abilities and rewrite world rules with the "Setting Machine," switch mecha forms to craft weapons, battle enemies, and uncover the secret of Whalington.[/p]

[p]Hello everyone! I’m Bread, the producer of Bolt & Whalington — and also the game’s lead artist (which, to be honest, just means I’m the only artist on the team). A lot of players have asked why we chose a hand-drawn look, so today I’d like to share the story behind our art direction.[/p][p] [/p][p]For a metroidvania, art is a huge part of the experience, but it also comes with a certain expectation of scale: you need a lot of content. Since our team is small, I thought carefully about art style from the beginning. We needed something that could deliver enough variety and atmosphere without demanding extreme precision for every asset, while still looking appealing at a glance. A hand-drawn style fit that balance well.[/p][p][/p][p]With a one-artist team like ours, it’s simply unrealistic to draw ultra-smooth, frame-by-frame animation for everything — the workload would be enormous. If I tried to do that, Hollow Knight’s “third game” might be out before I finished our art assets.[/p][p] [/p][p]So our approach is more practical: we use solid base colors and simple shapes to communicate ideas, add detail with broken/fragmented strokes, and keep the outlines strongly hand-drawn rather than obsessing over perfect smoothness. It’s faster to produce, and it also gives the silhouettes a sharper rhythm.[/p][p][/p][h3]About our color direction[/h3][p]You may have noticed that compared to many metroidvanias on the market, our palette is brighter, rather than leaning heavily into dark tones.[/p][p]Personally, I don’t think “dark” or “bright” should be a goal on its own. Color exists to serve two purposes:[/p][p]1. Support the worldbuilding.[/p][p]2. Clearly separate regional themes across the map.[/p][p][/p][p]Bolt & Whalington takes place on the Whalington, a massive skyborne fortress-city. That naturally includes many open-air areas, and the atmosphere is designed to lean into a more fantastical feeling. Those conditions don’t really support a game made mostly of dark indoor scenes.[/p][p] [/p][p]Early areas use brighter tones; as Bolt travels deeper into the Whalington and begins to uncover hidden conspiracies, the environments gradually shift darker. Later on, once the “Floating Isles” map is unlocked, we also introduce outdoor scenes with overcast skies and storms.[/p][p][/p][h3]Color identity by region[/h3][p]I use a distinct color identity for each region. Strong, high-contrast palettes help reinforce the theme of an area and make it easier to remember.[/p][p]● Sewers (rats’ territory): a dim, grimy earthy yellow that feels dirty and claustrophobic.[/p][p]● Agricultural Area: reddish browns inspired by soil and farmland, warmer and more grounded.[/p][p]● Cabin sections: a vivid orange-yellow that suggests machinery, heat, and energy.[/p][p]● Residential District: cooler, rain-soaked blues that feel damp and a bit melancholic.[/p][p][/p][h3]A practical reason we keep things bright[/h3][p]There’s also a production reason for keeping the overall palette fairly bright: it’s a bit of a shortcut for building clear regional identity.[/p][p]If everything is dark, you often have to rely on ambient light, point lights, emissive objects, and extra effects to communicate color themes. That adds a lot of VFX and level-dressing work — and for a small team, that’s a compromise we simply have to make.[/p][h3] [/h3][h3]About transitions between areas[/h3][p]Some players have mentioned that transitions between areas can feel abrupt compared to other games, since we don’t always have dedicated “in-between” scenes.[/p][p][/p][p]The good news is that this doesn’t require entirely new assets — it’s mostly about blending elements from two adjacent regions. I plan to do this once most of the art resources are finished, but for now it isn’t the highest priority.[/p][p][/p][p]If you’d like to learn more about our development process or the thinking behind our design, feel free to leave a comment. I’ll share updates from time to time.[/p][p] [/p][p]That’s it for this devlog — see you in the next one![/p]

[p][/p][p]Hello everyone, I’m Bread, the developer of Bolt & Whalington, a Metroidvania-style game currently in development. If you’re interested, you’re very welcome to add it to your Steam wishlist — thank you very much![/p][p]Steam store page:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]Recently, I’ve been working on the environments for “The Sardine.” Since I’m a big fan of Howl’s Moving Castle, I’ve infused The Sardine with a Ghibli-inspired style. Do these scenes feel Ghibli-like to you?[/p][p]If you have any suggestions or ideas for improving the environments, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. Thank you very much![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p]Hello everyone! I’m Bread, the developer of Bolt & Whalington, a Metroidvania-style game currently in development.[/p][p]If you’re interested, feel free to add the game to your Wishlist — your support truly means a lot to us! [/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]As you can see in the image above, our protagonist Bolt has turned into a chicken… and even starts dividing like a cell. This is actually the result of our Setting Machine, a system that changes the rules of the world.[/p][p]When we set “Bolt” = “Chicken”, Bolt literally becomes a chicken and gains all sorts of chicken-related abilities. These new abilities can be used for exploration and puzzle-solving in the Agricultural District.[/p]

• [p]The first ability lets you press the left mouse button to explode, blasting yourself in a chosen direction.[/p]
• [p]Another ability allows you to hold the right mouse button to throw an egg in a direction.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]Now things get interesting. If we continue changing the rules and set “Egg” = “Chicken”, the eggs you throw will hatch into chickens instead. And when these newly born chickens lay eggs… they also lay chickens. This leads to exponential growth, eventually resulting in a recursive chain reaction — and finally, a massive explosion.[/p][p][/p][p]In programming terms, this is essentially an example of recursion and set growth:[/p][p] When an event happens → I give birth to a chicken → the same rule is then applied to my children, and my children’s children.[/p][p][/p][p]That’s how the scene in the opening image came to be. What started as a happy accident eventually became a feature we decided to keep, and we’ve since designed gameplay mechanics around it.[/p][p][/p][p]If you find this idea interesting, feel free to add Bolt & Whalington to your Wishlist. Your support is the greatest motivation for us to keep developing the game. ❤️[/p]