Hi everyone! Evan Tor here for another dev update on Transmute. I've had a very busy last few months, and progress is coming along well! This ~month's update will focus on the story in Transmute, and how it'll tie into the Metroidvania aspects of the game. If you want absolutely no story spoilers, I'll put a clear NO MORE SPOILERS later in the post you can jump to to read up on other happenings. Alright, let's dive in! [h2]Story Time[/h2] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//36290598/5b1894f330375199593f99815b4c9a233ab22abd.gif[/img] [i](A work-in-progress look at one of the shots from the opening cutscene. Lights flicker as Moon sits at her ship's flight console.)[/i] I like to work in chunks. I'll start on one aspect of a scene, then jump to another, then circle back to polish it up. This allows my curiosity and creativity to drive my workflow. Above you can see the first pass on a shot of Moon's ship, The Space Urchin, getting knocked offline by an EMP blast. The story in Transmute will follow Moon Mikono, an anti-imperialist space scrapper who starts to unravel a wild conspiracy when she investigates a factory explosion that killed her mother on a distant planet. This planet, Terra 6, is one of a few bases for Foray MGC's terraforming and research facilities. I'm putting in a lot of effort to make sure the story doesn't take away from any of the sense of discovery, and there are a few story moments that can be done in various orders, so each playthrough is still somewhat unique. Another way I'm tying story to exploration is robots. The planet, much to Moon's surprise, is populated by various sentient robots upon her arrival. These robots all have various personalities and backstory. Some even sell goods, offer quests, or have journeys of their own. But you won't have a 'quest log' and these aren't just fetch / collection quests. They'll be discoverable and rewarding the same way typical Metroidvania elements are. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//36290598/41fd89d2a74ff077128f07b2b13393fdc2fc2bd9.gif[/img] [i](A group of bots that inhabit a renovated launch pad on the planet's surface. The bots are made of rust covered metal and are very cute.)[/i] The past two months I've written over a dozen main story cutscenes, as well as 4 complete side quest lines. These side quests are in the same vein as Hollow Knight's or Dark Souls' character stories, and each focus on a different unique character. They can be found in various places of the station, as they go about their own business and attempt to achieve their own ends. One character I can talk about is the Peace Scavenger. A morally questionable space imperialist, these scavengers have legal rights to explore, map, and take 'artifacts' from any unexplored or 'uninhabited' planet. Obviously these rules are in place to benefit those that made them, and it's quite a thriving business. It's up to you as a player how you interact with this Scavenger, and what becomes of their journey. I should also quickly mention the still image glimpsed at in the event preview / header is of Moon's mother, Wendy, interfacing with some sort of tech. So much fun to draw stuff like that! [h2]NO MORE SPOILERS[/h2] As for the rest of what I've been working on: [list] [*] Transmute now has a much more configurable save system, which will allow for cloud saves, sharing of saves, and save compatibility with any future updates or DLC. [*] There is a new UI to show off your inventory and upgrades! Check it out at the bottom of this post. [*] Fixed lots of bugs found by the playtesters over in the [url=https://discord.gg/TyvBPby6qB]Transmute Discord[/url]. If you want to help out with finding bugs / balancing the game, join up and let me know! [*] Implemented 2/3 of the Main Story. It's definitely more work and will take longer to implement than anticipated, but I think it'll add so much charm and backbone to the game that I know it's worth it. [*] Designed and implemented gameplay puzzles / challenges at key points in the story. These also give me some framework to make more traversal puzzles / challenges throughout the various rooms. [*]Reworked a major upgrade so it has a clearer and more powerful use. [b]Spoilers[/b] for a mid-game upgrade, its a Swim Boost that allows you to keep momentum gathered while falling to quickly dart through water and break through barriers. It's so much fun! Very physics based but hopefully not too finicky. [/list] That's all, see y'all soon with another update! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//36290598/7bdbe05a0c213c881f6357200f4ef15b71d46c0a.png[/img]