Bloom - Development Update

In a new development update for Bloom: Memories we are informed about the status with animations, tools and the design.

Since development of a game like this takes so much time, we tend to think a lot about where things are headed. Originally (before even this kickstarter) Bloom was going to be a hack and slash game. But, along the way, bit by bit, that design goal was chipped away as we wanted to inject more and more meaning into the game. We always wanted players to have the option to rampage through the game if they want, but also wanted to create a deeper experience for those interested. 

The last few months has seen even more of that evolution as we rethought the place of creatures in the game. Sure, there will still be aggressive creatures...but we have rethought the need to have the majority of them that way. Instead, we want creatures to behave more naturally (and instantly attacking the player for no reason doesn't really seem to fit).

It is no secret that one of the big goals we have had for a while is to create an emotion (and needs / wants) system that will steer that behaviour. We will be talking about that more later, but basically it frees up the design of the world to emphasis exploration not only in the world...but also the creatures around the player (what they want, why they are reacting the way they do, and what that means about the world / place they are found). 

This also lets us emphasize the "enemy" robots a lot more. Design wise, it will let us go wild boosting the strength of patrols and create a larger sense of danger (along with the high and low type of game-play it naturally creates as you explore). 

Anyhow, now that the revamped engine is almost back to where we were before and we have most of the world / creatures done (with animations!), the next step is going to be tackling some of these deeper systems and bringing everything together. You all know by now it has never been about making "a_game" ....we want to make something new. Expect things to get a bit more interesting :)