timeless-ephemeri

[timeless-ephemeri]

here's a renamon for pride ♥

i've really been going through it these last few months but i just really want to create more and feel better. so i'm gonna try my best to just love and believe in myself and keep working.

[timeless-ephemeri]

one of my friends is obsessed with this little freak

[timeless-ephemeri]

devlog january '25

as one of my new years resolutions, i decided to commit to putting in gamedev work every month. i'll be trying to keep a monthly devlog to help keep me on track as well. i'm excited to finally be able to share some stuff about my game, though it's still very early days in development. the project title is vertical reality and it's going to be a 2.5d platformer with a focus on time-attack gameplay. you'll use various optical media-based powerups to try to rush through short, tightly designed vertical levels as fast as possible. my biggest sources of inspiration for it are the sonic games and neon white, you could think of it as a bit of a combo of those with plenty of other things and my own ideas thrown in.

what do i have so far?

i've worked off and on (more off than on thus far, i must admit) fleshing out concepts and building out a prototype. in terms of actual game, i've got a first pass on the basic character control and physics. there's still a lot of polish here and there on it, but mostly it's just down to turning dials until everything starts to feel good.

originally i was using godot's built in character controller, but i got pretty fed up by its limitations and largely black-boxed nature so i ended up building my own. i had to figure out a lot of things like how to integrate physics and how to handle floor snapping and edge detection. i had a surprisingly hard time really finding practical resources on this sort of thing, so i had to do a lot of trial and error and debugging and whatnot, but i was eventually able to come up with something that seems to work pretty well and that i have way more control over, so i'm quite happy with my progress on that end.

in terms of the concept side of things, i've got a pretty solid foundation. i recently set up a personal wiki (via a neat project called tiddlywiki) and i super duper recommend it if you're doing gamedev (or any sort of project that would benefit from some organized documentation). slowly but surely i've been fleshing out ideas for the game, everything from worldbuilding to ideas for the powerup cds. i've still got a lot to figure out the specifics on, but it's definitely coming together.

most recently i finished the design for the player character, river! the design went through a ton of iterations, and i'm pretty happy with what i ended up with. i've built out a model for them as well, mostly for internal use. having a rigged 3d model as reference for a character you draw a lot (or plan on, at least) is extremely handy, as it turns out.

what am i planning next

i have a few short term goals in mind. one is to build out a little test level and really start dialing in the physics until i have something properly good feeling. another is to figure out the animations system and start setting up some placeholder animations. i also want to implement the systems to handle the powerups and maybe start prototyping a couple of the most fleshed out ideas for those. on the concept side of things i want to start doing some concept art for some of the environment design. i also want to compile a bunch of art and music that fits the sort of aesthetic that i'm aiming for. beyond that i'd like to start developing the narrative more, and the place to start on that is probably making more characters.

closing thoughts

i'm still very new to gamedev, i'm learning as i go on a lot of things. despite the frustrations though it's so far been a really fulfilling experience for me. i always kind of assumed i wasn't smart or talented or disciplined enough to ever make a game, and a part of me still very much insists that. but with each bit of progress i chip away on this, the more viable it seems to be. i feel like i'm writing these more for myself than anything, but hopefully some people will take interest in the project. please don't be shy about commenting and asking questions if you're out there, it'll make it feel a bit less like shouting into the void of the internet.

[timeless-ephemeri]

excited to share the protagonist for the game i'm working on, vertical reality. the design went through a lot of iterations and i think i'm pretty happy with the final result. i'll be doing monthly devlogs on here where i'll be sharing more about the game, the first one should be posted later today.

[timeless-ephemeri]

i love public transport!!!

TRAIN RIDE 🏙️🚄

Art trade with @timeless-ephemeri !!

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my half of an art trade i did with @soulguibo featuring her characters neon and mars!

[timeless-ephemeri]

i decided to do a quick piece last night. i got a bit inspired to try experimenting more with graphic design in my pieces. it's definitely something i need to practice more but i think it turned out pretty neat! it turns out the concentric elipse guide tool in krita is really good for this sort of thing

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[timeless-ephemeri]

it's been a while but i'm still alive! i asked for character suggestions and was recommended canti from flcl. i don't draw mechanical designs very often but they're a fun challenge.

[timeless-ephemeri]

i spent the last week better figuring out how to use blender, and made a model of ephy! still definitely a few rough edges to polish out (i now understand why weight painting is the bane of many) but i'm pretty happy with how they turned out. fully rigged and textured, plus some fun stuff like parallax mapping for the eyes in the glasses. down the line i definitely wanna polish it up more and maybe dabble with animating.

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recently i've had the itch to update my wardrobe and realizing i haven't really gotten new clothes in like a decade. in the process of figuring out what i'd want i decided to also practice drawing figures and clothing and sketch up some potential outfits. tried to get a good variety of materials, tightness, and fit. i'm not exactly a fashion expert but i think some of these are pretty cute.

[timeless-ephemeri]

they are in lesbians

hope everyone's having a pleasant summer! keep cool and hydrated ♥

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i finally got myself drawing again and did something up for pride month! i've got a lot more i wanna draw and maybe i'll even get some game dev stuff cooking soon. thanks for all the support so far on here <3

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already gotten a lot of love here, thanks so much for the warm welcome!

here's this funny blue hedgehog dude. i was kinda trying to capture the best parts of the uekawa and toei looks, along with my own personal flairs. still very much experimenting with art style.

[timeless-ephemeri]

first post on here! drew my new character ephy doing a bit of skating. experimenting with art style, i made a bunch of funky half-tone brushes and by god I'm gonna use 'em!