Saturday, July 25, 2015

Lady Crow

One of the scariest creatures in Mistland and definitely not someone you'd like to mess around. Lady Crow. Maybe not so Lady but certainly Crow. Jeez... spooky!

Other Worlds

Hello everyone!

When we talk about Mistland we don't always mean magnificent woodlands and mountains hiding in clouds of fog. Yeah, there are, for sure, many places that lie in four directions of it, but there is also a number of pretty unusual and mysterious worlds that can be discovered right here. They don't belong to Mistland, and yet they can be seen and visited if you're properly prepared and aware of how to get there.

Hell (Navia)

Yes, there is Hell in the Mistland universe. More precisely, beyond the Mistland universe. And, just like the Hell we all know, and that some already have a reservation at, it's stuffed to the gills with fire, suffering, madness and demon hordes.


Hell wasn't discovered until the end of the Great Hermetical War that devastated the Colony of Luceria several centuries ago. Before that time Hell was just a myth and legendary forbidden place that necromancers used to summon demons from.

But, after demonologists of the past created Dimensional Hammers and started bombing their enemies with their new weapon, they left many holes in the reality that turned out to be passages into Hell.

Later some of these holes closed, but a number of the deepest ones remained until now. Most of these passages are located in the southern part of Mistland and known under the name of Hell Wells.

This is how they usually look.

 

There are always tons of wandering demons near these wells, so I wouldn't recommend anyone to hang around Hell Wells as it's dangerous, pardon me, as hell! At least until you're cool enough to kill a couple of hell brats.

Going down there is even more risky business, so... you know. Gather some awesome abilities if you're not much into painfully burning alive. A helluva work to do for a little marsh imp...

In fact, there are so much things I could tell you about how Hell is constructed, how souls get trapped in Hell and expelled from it, how infernal energy plants power Hell, how demons can be killed, how to use Hell as a shortcut to distant places, etc. But it's probably too much for an update, and not everyone is always interested in getting into so much details. So, maybe someday. Or, probably, you will find it out by playing the game.

At this point let's just say that Mistland does have Hell. And it's a really dangerous place. Never go there! ... Yeah, who am I kidding?

Heaven (Iria)

Heaven in Mistland is definitely not so exciting place as Hell, but those of us, who like to spend some time on the coast of the glowing Rivers of New Life and gaze upon the endless flow of lives yet to be born, will be quite pleased.


Contrary to Hell there is no Heaven Wells. Demonologists never made Heaven Bombs, so the only way to Heaven is passing through the mysterious Creephole that may be found somewhere in Mistland.

It is little known about how to enter it, but some ancient books say that the Creephole opens occassionally, so you just need to know when and where such occassions happen. A lot to learn for a curious marsh imp...

What actually to do in Iria? Get some rest, read some words of ancient wisdom, know secrets of the past, get a glimpse into someone's memory... who knows.

Monumenta

Giants are stone creatures inhabiting northern regions of the continent. Giants are neither friendly nor hostile, they never express interest in what happens around them and it seems that they simply don't notice any other creatures.

They almost never appear in Mistland and usually wander through Northern Wastelands covering many miles at a time. Peoples of the North sometimes build houses and even small villages on the back of sleeping giants and travel with them.


It always was a mystery how giants were born and how the existed being so immense. Until one scientist came up with an idea of the so-called 'world of no gravity' that she named Monumenta.

According to her words giants somehow exist in two worlds, our reality and this mysterious world of Monumenta. Rocks float there, time changes and enormous life forms are able to exist. The door to this strange world can probably be found right inside the giants of the North.

But how to get inside a colossal stone creature? And why? More questions with no answers for a daring marsh imp.

So, this is it!

Hope, it wasn't too tricky for you to read this. I though it would be cool to give you some info about these not-so-Mistland places, although I must admit that it may be quite hard to read, especially for those who care more about action than story. Don't worry, I'll try to be less fancy next time. ;-)

Have a nice weekend and good luck to all of you! Take care!

If you meet a suspicious garden gnome, shoot straight! They may be quite malicious during waxing gibbous.

See you soon!

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Saturday 11

Sounds not scary enough, I guess. :-\

Let's repeat it using some old school technology.



Seems just right this time!

Ok, this is not a huge update, but you will like it. Why?

Because everybody loves graveyards! Bones, skulls, tombstones, zombies, gargoyles, mossy stones, coffins, etc. Calmness, cleanness, no annoying kids around...

The Old Graveyard of Mistland is all of this and even more. You won't ever find anything like this in any other video game that has a graveyard. Need I mention that it's even more impossible to try games that don't have any?

Yeah, the Mistland graveyard is cool. And, what's even more important, it is real! Not just a bunch of pixels.


     No way.

But some real masterpieces. Both Real and Masterpieces! Wanna see some? Enough talk, here you are!



     Friends forever
     Here lies the Queen of Tulips

Once they were white...




     These are how most of our bakers' graves look like. Of course there will be more unique tombstones. 
     A beautifully decorated classical grave... What can be cooler than that?



     A closer look.

     Another one

Yeah, how could we forget about these guys? Say hello to a freaky creepy gargoyle. 


     Three gargoyles.

     Tammy, Snooty, Chichi. The ugly, the ugly and... the ugly.


Hope you enjoyed this little spooky update. B-)

Rest in... whatever you like and beware the moor in the dark hours when goblins are drunk.

Later!

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Going Deeper Underground

Hey!

We all know that every good platformer should have a really cool dungeon level. Or many. The greatest secrets are always hidden underneath. And we all know how both scary and exciting it must be to go down and break them.

As every complex world full of danger and mystery Mistland has many underground locations. It's an absolutely new universe inhabited with shy Diggers, friendly Cave Herders, gluttonous Groguts, nasty Tattlers, and others. The world under Mistland has its own history, own rules, and it may be even more complex and strange than life on the surface.

Take a look at the game map.


About a third of what you see here is subterranean locations. Every single of them has its own story. Hearth of Morana, Shaft, Crystal Cavern, Shellmine, Underfields, Sewer, Ice Caves, Depot, Vaults, etc. Every one of them is unique and we try hard to make them look awesomely distinctive and special.

For example, the Sewer, an ancient underground passage between two fortresses, is completely manmade and has a number of gargoyles that serve as lamp posts.

     That's how they looked when they were made.

     Too bad nothing stays white in the sewer.

     Guys in action!


Another interesting location is called Shellmine or the Shell Gallery. Here you can see the remains of ancient sea creatures.

 
     Tons of shells were made to bring this place to life.

 
     And, although it's just a rough mockup, the level will apparently have its own special atmosphere.

That would perhaps be not so dangerous place. Yet there are many other dungeons that don't give you such a warm welcome.

 
     Deadly swinging maces. Classis!


     Gosh, a fire-breathing pig!

And this is just the beginning, believe me. ;-)


Finally (for today) let's tak about another nice location, a so-called Crystal Cavern. We all love crystal caves, don't we? So, it would be a shame if we couldn't get one or two for Knite and the Ghost Lights. And it seems that it has real crystals!

     We brought these from sunny Chile. God bless rich Chilean mines.

But sometimes you need something different. Something more special. Say, your own Mistland crystals. How about growing a couple using some chemicals and a bit of science?

     Dictum-factum.


     Crystalline everything!

That's how crystal caves are born. Hope soon you can see how they look in the game.

That's all for today, thanks for reading, guys and gals! Stay cool and never tease a troll, see you next week!

P.S. And for those who thinks it's not enough, here is a photo from another cute little game (also based on the world of Mistland) that Tisha makes in her spare time. We'll announce it on the Mistland channel on YouTube and on Facebook later this moth.

     Nine Vivid Images of Gorgeous Eviline Malle.

The clay extends fun. The clay expands consciousness. The clay is vital to adventure platformers.

Bye! Ciao! Пока! Ce sera tout pour aujourd'hui. Até mais!

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Cosmogony

Hello everyone!

Today you will know what happens after the Big Bang and how the world of Mistland is being created. Of course it would be a very long and probably not so easy to read scroll if I tell you about every single thing that was made to bring the game to life. So we start with a little piece of the whole story and will be revealing more in future updates.
Imagine

Ok, so, Mistland was born from clay, polymer clay, wire, wooden sticks, and tons of other stuff on the one hand, and imagination on the other. Before unpacking the construction materials you need to spend some time to make a sketch. Just like this one.


Later it becomes a bit more vivid...


And perhaps a lot bigger.





Some of these characters will wait forever. While others can suddenly materialize in the game video.


     Can you find this guy among the others?

Stealing from Reality

Another good option is taking cool things right from the street. It may be, for example, a street in Sintra, Portugal.



 How about using something like this in our game?



 A cool ancient fountain?



 We need two!



Two cool ancient fountains for the giant statue of the Dark Jester!


     This one was not stolen, though.

Boosting the awesomeness

Sometimes you feel that you need to do something better, cooler, and way more original. Sure, it often looks nice as is, but... as Mr. Bobinsky once said 'nice, but not so much amazing'.

As you know there will be a huge cemetery in Knite and the Ghost Lights. Old cemeteries always look cool but how to make yours stand out? Well, it should probably be...


     ...cute!



Obviously we don't need everything to be extra cute. Spooky stuff like this one should remain spooky and scare the hell out of everyone.



But if you want to try something different, make it cute. Even walls can look cute.


     Ordinary wall


     Cute wall

And machines too.



Ok, I think we're done for today, hope you enjoyed this update.

As for the business side of the project I can say that we're still trying to renew our team and find a new programmer for Knite and the Ghost Lights. The future seems to get brighter as we got some positive feedback from people that can help, but there are still many obstacles to overcome.

Anyway, we won't let down Knite and you, our bakers, and will fight to the last. Stay tuned and wait for the next update!