Hi! This week I thought I'd talk a little about the overworld exploration half of Tenderfoot. Here's an unnarrated, unedited gameplay video showing a good little snippet of it: [previewyoutube=ZtKo0XljaoA;full][/previewyoutube] A rapidfire overview of some of the overworld systems, in the order they come up in the video:

The Boat

Lets you move at high speeds for prolonged periods with minimal effort across the water. Your fastest form of travel.

Maps

Found at towns and other discrete locations, these hand drawn artefacts can be used alongside points of interest and shoreline shapes, to suss out where the player finds themself, and where they might go to uncover new secrets.

The Bird

'Zoom out' inputs (middle mouse wheel or left trigger) will let you take to the skies above your goblins as a bird. Useful for getting the lay of the land and planning your route forward, this also reveals distant markers that might not be visible from the ground.

Impulse Markers

Your goblins have urges they want fulfilled! These impulses are marked as they occur, and will specify in a tooltip which goblin wants what, and how much experience they'll get when their impulse is satisfied. Maybe it's an urge to pick a nearby tansy, or to visit a distant town they've never seen, or even to seek out and confront a dangerous enemy.

Herbs

Useful or desirable plants grow all across the archipelago, though some are much rarer than others, and most can only be found in specific climates. At low levels, herbs are useful as equipment, but they can also be traded for stronger gear, and many have properties that can be useful in the clothes-dyeing process. Gathering herbs is also an easy and pleasant way to gain experience.

Crouch Sliding

Holding left-shift (or B/circle on gamepad) will let you crouch into a crunchy slide, which is driven by physics and, if used down a steep slope, can be very useful for making hasty escapes back to the water level, where you're safe in your boat. Also a real satisfying way to get down the other side of a tall hill you just slogged your way up.

Bird Nests

The more of these you find, the more birds in your flock, the higher you can fly, and the further you can travel from your party as a bird.

Towns

We visit Lixiviant in this clip, and don't do too much there: grab the map (each town has a detailed map of its surroundings), rest, and briefly poke around in the hoard (where reputation can be exchanged for trinkets). Towns also often have goblins with powerful items they'll trade for specific things they want, as well as dyers, where you can turn various mushrooms and berries and roots into fashionable new styles.

Resting Places

Make sure to rest up after traveling to a new area! If your goblins are knocked unconscious or flee and so find themselves scattered after a fight, they'll regroup at your last resting place. But resting will also give the fog a chance to grow.

The Fog

A living presence that grows unless fought back, the fog that covers the archipelago is the place to go if you're looking for danger. The fog will be pushed back by your presence in it, unless something nearby is holding it in place. The fog can turn herbs into 'fae weed' which hold its presence, and it can root itself firmly in buildings and caverns as well. Within the fog you'll encounter roaming fog creatures, looking for a fight. If you're careful or quick you should be able to avoid these, but they'll keep you on your toes.

A Brief Development Update

• added 10 new 'dungeons' where you'll be able to unlock the most powerful breeds
• added 2 new enemy types, wind sylphs and shadowmancers
• a lot of new spell vfx
• the OST is done and we're hyped to start showing some previews on social media! I also did a no-mic dev stream over the OST the other day if you want to check out the VOD: twitch.tv/badru (I stream dev every thursday at 4pm pacific)
• a lot of balance changes
• a lot of bug fixing
• a lot of optimization
• some really exciting new abilities for even the early breeds
• more extensive 'multi-classing': mage breeds can now unlock an 'affinity' slot that will let them remember a spell from another breed if it falls within their current breed's affinities (e.g. a lavamancer has an affinity for fire and earth spells)
• some new special abilities on artefacts

Can you believe Tenderfoot is coming out in less than a month? October 21st!!! Mark it on your calendars, fellow nerds! twitter.com/tenderfoot_tact facebook.com/TenderfootTactics instagram.com/icewatergames/ discord.gg/B82BDEv https://store.steampowered.com/app/1061610/Tenderfoot_Tactics/

[ 2020-09-26 17:16:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

For a generation, the terrible Fog - one vast, voiceless, and cruel spirit - has been eating the once-thick forests of the mainland. Now, with nowhere left to call home, and granted magic by the friendly spirits of the archipelago, one small party of would-be adventurers sets out. Find a way to save the many goblin towns of the rocky coast, discover the truth of the Fog, and, if possible, put an end to it.

Raise a ridge of stone to block the enemy's approach. Flick an ember into the brush where enemy archers hide, then push a swell of water to intercept the flames before they endanger your own side. Evolve your party into a well rounded squad to better control the wild complexity of nature, or specialize and hazard the risks.

Featuring:

• vast open-world exploration
  
• highly interactive natural systems such as terrain height, soil moisture, plant growth, fluid flow, heat and fire
  
• 25+ goblin evolutions: shamans, druids, warlocks, wights, lavamancers, bog witches, knights, and more

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For now this is a small window into a very large project. Make sure to wishlist and follow (here and elsewhere) so you see updates as more of the game becomes showable!