A Short Introduction

Hello everyone! Welcome to the very first devblog of the game: Devblog #0! Im taking this opportunity to let you know that, starting from this coming week, Ill be posting short development updates twice a week. These devblogs will be shared through Steam announcements and will give you glimpses into the game's mechanics, the enemies you'll encounter during Shorty's escape, and the worlds lore. Also, Im excited to share that the games demo is currently in testing and will definitely be ready in time for the Steam Next Fest this June. But Devblog #0 isnt just an announcement about announcements, so...

A Fantasy World to be Created

For this first Devblog, I have decided to focus on a topic thats close to my heart: Let me introduce you to the world where the game takes place and lets start from the beginning! During development, I realized that even though the game is set in a single location - the Tower - I needed a solid foundation to make the enemies feel more believable and alive. A "real" place they could actually come from. In the world of "Will the King Escape?", goblins are dazed by sunlight, and imps skip every other turn, but in time I've started asking myself "why?". To answer that question, about a year ago I started building the soul of this world: a fantasy setting that doesn't take itself too seriously. So dont expect tectonic plate accuracy or biomes governed by realistic climate rules. Instead, youll find a lot of over-the-top and quirky details, because I think it is a better fit for the tone of the game.

The First (Bad) Map

I started by drawing a map. It was... awful, honestly. Hand-drawn, then painfully (and very quickly) redone with a mouse using a very well-known graphics program. Ill share it with you for a laugh, or a cry, depending on your perspective. Unfortunately, I've lost the original paper version, so Ill just show you the digital one, that also incorporates the (terrible) political map that I made afterwards.

Bad Political Map

Even though the map was just meant to help me decide where King Shorty's enemies lived, the more I looked at it, the more it felt... lacking, to say the least. Because of that, after staring at that mess for far too long, I decided to redo it completely, with better preparation this time!

The New Maps

I have invested a bit in Wonderdraft (which I highly recommend to anyone interested in making fantasy maps!), and I've spent a couple of days recreating the world using its tools. Normally, Id draw everything by hand, which takes me ages, but I didnt want to detract too much time from game development. This seemed like the perfect compromise. (But in the end, I have done the """"heraldry"""" of each nation by hand in Inkscape). The result? Maps that I genuinely like and which I want to share with you, to help you immerse yourselves a little more in the bizarre world of King Shorty.

Good Physical Map

Good Political Map

If youre like me and love fantasy maps, spending hours analyzing every potentially meaningless detail, I hope youll enjoy these too!

What's Next?

Will I be showing more? Absolutely. But... I want to keep things short (see the pun?! Incredible!). So, for today, Ill leave you with just these two maps. I hope you enjoy them, or at least that theyve made you curious to learn more. If the world of "Will the King Escape?" has caught your interest, dont forget to add the game to your wishlist! Next week, right here on Steam, Ill be telling you more about the goblins. I will talk about their behavior and gameplay mechanics on Wednesday, but their lore will come on Saturday (complete with a map of their homeland!). I plan to follow this format for most of the games enemies, with a steady schedule of weekly updates. So get ready to spend 10 minutes (less or more) with me every Wednesday and Saturday! I wish you all a nice weekend! -Giuseppe

[ 2025-05-03 14:31:54 CET ] [ Original post ]