Arbiter - Monthly Recap - April 2024

Greetings ReBearers!

I have sadly not yet started the XVI DLC (fake fan, I know). It's just that every time I finish something in this god forsaken Rebirth game it tells me "There are new quests available in Gongaga!" and at this rate I'm starting to think I won't actually be done until Part 3 drops.

It probably didn't help that I binged all of Vinland Saga (incredible series btw) and became a Platinum Rank Alcoholic (I'm a Jamie main) but there's just too much god damn media to consume and I can only take so many chocobo digging quests before losing my sanity entirely.

But still, I yearn to gaze upon Master Rosfield once more. Do you think he's waiting for me in the hideout? Eagerly awaiting my return? "Where could Jordy be?" he somberly asks Gav. "I miss him oh so dearly..."

"Me?" I ask. Not to Master Rosfield himself of course, but to the vast ocean connecting our worlds and the winds that carry our whispers between them.

"Gongaga."

The Great Deku Corpse

We kinda cooked this month! I've been cranking away at asset production lately and I'm happy to say it's actually going pretty well! I basically have a big fat list of the remaining assets I need for the level and I've finally been able to really start chipping away at it.

I started out with some big 'ol twisty trees. These are probably some of the largest assets I've made for the game, but all in all they were pretty straightforward.

First I made a great dead husk which I'll be using for a few unique encounters around the level. I tried to sculpt these at first but quickly found their shape to be a little unruly to work with, so instead I decided to just model them by hand!

Afterwards I made a much livelier guy that serves as one of the main points of interest for the level. This one was a lot easier since I used the husk as a base, so I mostly just had to figure out the branches and canopy. I wanted to give the feeling that a once beautiful tree was starting to get overtaken by corrupted roots, and I feel pretty satisfied with the result!

The trees are just about done now, but there's a few things left I'd still like to do. One of the big things is set dressing (lots of additional roots, branches, grass, moss, etc.), but I'm planning to finish all of my major assets first so I can do a big set dressing pass afterwards. Other than that, I'd just like to experiment with the shape of the husk a little bit more and do another pass on the interiors. There'll be some fun visuals inside the trees, but I still have a few assets to make before I'm ready to show them off.

Some of the other tree-related assets I made this month were some long-ass branches for sliding (think KH1 Tarzan) and some simpler trees for platforming (think KH1 Tarzan). These aren't quite where I want them to be polish-wise, but they're about ~70% of the way there so I'll likely do another pass on them a bit later.

A Place of Worship

After the trees I moved back over to architecture! Finishing the temple assets will probably be my next month or so, but I'm feeling really good about where things are going. I started out by finishing my tileable textures so I could just sit down and make assets, and sure enough that's what I've been doing.

Architecture's actually been really satisfying to work on. There's a logic to building something man-made versus more organic assets like rocks and trees, and the process is super simple once you've got the textures in place. Over the past week and a half I got to make a new brick texture, a bridge, some brick debris, stone platforms, and even started work on a moon gate (after learning what moon gates are). It's been fun!

I also took some time to improve my environment shader with a technique called terrain mesh blending. This basically allows me to blend assets into the terrain to help make things feel more natural. It was a bit tricky to get it working with the new art style, but the result was absolutely worthwhile.

Arbiter: ReUse

Anyways, that's where I'm at! It's great to finally start ticking off boxes and I'm feeling pretty confident that I can finish the remaining assets without too much hassle. I've still got the whole-ass actual temple to make (on top of more set-dressing like fences, destroyed buildings, etc.), but while that will certainly take some time, I don't think the process will be too harrowing.

While this is the only level to really focus on the temples and culture that built them, I do plan on some infamous Asset Reuse™ for future levels as well. I'm not gonna push it to the point of being obvious, but I do think lore-wise it'll make sense to reuse them where I can. If you got it, flaunt it!

Thanks again for your support everyone! We're getting real close to that stage where everything starts coming together, but you'll have to bear with me a bit longer till we get there. Please look forward to it!

Cheers,
Jordy