Thanks again for all the support and feedback! Let me know if you'd be interested in some livestreams on RUclips, or if you'd prefer another platform like Twitch. Also, consider joining the Discord if you haven't already! It's a great time, and there are many more regular updates over there: farewell-north.com/discord
Hey! I think you should make the navigation on water automatic. It won't get rid of the animation problem, but it'll stop the quirky movements that players will most likely come across when controlling the canouh. You could also make it a safe point where they can save the game. (Also good scenery might help with long trips) - Sorry for spelling mistakes. English isn't my first language
I think a cool idea might for the lure monster would be to have the lure be a will o wisps or something similar so the player might think I should probably get that and it might still trick experienced players
Great devlog again. The improvements to the animations really made a big impact and I love the monster design. When you were talking about the lure I spontaneously came up with an idea for a monster. Imagine a creature which lures in the girl. Perhaps the monster is bird which sings a beautiful, but eerie song. I think it could be really distressing to suddenly have the girl, who usually follows you around, drift away from you. The monster could also change its appearance to be ever more horrifying as the girl gets nearer to it. You could require the player to"color ping" the girl to wake her up for a moment, or perhaps you have to get to the monster and ping color at it to reveal its true form to the girl so she's no longer entranced by it.
Really love how the game is coming along and the hand monster animation is absolutely perfect. A few suggestions: 1)I think it would be cool if the lure of the monster would be randomised(Reed,Lotus,Twig) so that the player can be tricked again and again into coming closer. 2)The canoe animation is good but the switching of hands is still a bit wierd and robotic. 3)Like the other comments, I agree that there should be some landmarks that line up at the correct angle. 4)As a beginner at blender,I found this really good modifier called skin modifier that really helps in making some character quickly and it even creates and armature with really good weights automatically.(Look up some RUclips videos about it) Thanks
Thanks for the feedback, I agree with all your points actually :) I have used the skin modifier, but I still prefer the more traditional workflow in a lot of cases
I love the new bridge idea and how it's shattered into shards! Maybe to make it visible to the player you can have a gust of wind when the player is within a certain vicinity that periodically makes the bridge visible, then fades back into the fog? Always looking forward to each dev vlog 😊
Good to know! I don't have any plans for that right now but who knows, if the game does well and people resonate with it, it would be really cool to do something like that
I'm glad I finally took the time to check out the channels that commented on my videos because it led me here. Your game looks breathtaking and your monster's movement is seriously impressive, can't wait to see how it develops! And thanks for noticing my little channel a few weeks ago!
A small thing that might help make the passing of the oar more convincing would be to have both hands meet at the middle of the oar. i.e. the upper hand comes down to the lower position BEFORE the lower hand moves to the upper position, instead of both hands letting go at the same time
You caught me, I'm cheating a little so that the animation can simply be flipped on the X axis, but once the main animation is in a better state I'll have to make this change for sure 👌
New paddling animation looks great! One suggestion I have is to look at the guy's grip in the J-stroke video, you'll see his top hand always grabs the butt of the paddle not further down the shaft. This might only be a pet peeve for me, but I think this could go a long way in making the animation look more natural. Not sure how much more difficult it would be to implement though. Loving these devlogs, always looking forward to your progress! Btw I also absolutely love the look of the new coloring effect from the last video 😍
The new bridge is actually solid. Another possible idea I have is to make it also more obvious where you need to go for it to form. Maybe add some like rocks with holes to look through or to line up or other such landmarks to help the player realize they should go
I love the idea of monsters luring you by seeming “happy” but they are just degenerates lol! I can picture them having different sort of smoke like or even oil like textures on their “skins” to kind of mimic that absorbing feeling of depression
A neat monster idea you could do similar to the hand is one of those statues you were showing around Edinburg, where it's broken apart like the bridge and the player needs to find the correct orientation to ping it and make the statue whole again. Once it's whole though it starts attacking the player in some way. The way you can encourage the player to activate the enemy is put it in some choke point where there's an objective on the other side. Granted it's always easier proposing an idea compared to implementing it. Also, thanks for making these dev logs, I really enjoy seeing the thought process that goes into games, and I also appreciate the inclusion of the scenery near you that inspires the art you make. Please post more and I look forward to when you finish this game!
This is amazing! Its obvious you've thought about the visuals quite a bit. If one of your main mechanics is going to be related to the concept of "looking at something from the right angle and pressing a button", then I have a couple of recommendations: Check out The Witness (if you haven't already), that game is a gold-mine of "look at stuff from the correct angle" material. And for gameplay, make sure there are non-visual cues as well. A magical audio hum (or maybe the music adds an instrument?) and a slight controller vibration when you approach the solution, or similar feedback. In general good design means there should be multiple ways for a player to detect something important in the world. Because the player controls the camera, it's often hard to make the player "do the right thing" and look in the correct direction, without spelling it out directly. Each sensory element you add that gives a subtle hint will help guide the player, while at the same time saving you from having to explicitly tell the player what to do in every situation. A general rule of thumb for good puzzle design is: the player shouldn't spend their time confused about where they are going, but rather spend their time figuring what to do to get there. There are also many players with reduced eyesight who would be completely lost without audio cues or haptic feedback.
I second using multiple sensory feedback methods. I have low vision and while i can still rely on my vision fairly well, small things can really help. Even just making sure things have good light/dark contrast. Perhaps certain things like that could be in an assist mode? Like higher contrast or brighter points on edges of shattered objects. Something that can distinctly 'connect the dots' maybe?. And if the game relies on color, I'd say it'd be good to consider colorblindness modes too. Cheers, game looks cool so far.
Thanks for the thoughtful feedback! Absolutely agree, and in fact I just had a conversation with my composer a couple days ago on how we can bring an audio element to this :)
This is soo cool omg! And such a big inspiration to me because I want to make a game too someday and I’m already planning the characters, story and mechanics and I like how you planned everything to make this epic monster! I’m gonna put your game on my wishlist now! ^^
Now that i think of it the concept of luring the player not only through monsters but gameplay is soooo cool, you can deceive the player into approaching “wrong” perspective spots by making them stand out and then have them be traps!
Weeping Angels go brrrrr. But seriously, it's been a while since I last checked your channel (CANNOT believe I forgot to subscribe T0T) and the game is so beautiful and has improved so much from the last devlog I've watched! Never stop doing what makes you happy! Looking forward to more progress! Congrats on all these cool additions and improvements!!!
I’ve been watching this and I really enjoy it. I dont know how I feel ab the game because I’m into more fast paced stuff but I really enjoy watching u make it
nice concept! also hell yes id really love you to see over on twitch! also i think the perfect sound for the creature would be like a really loud growing sound... fits the creepy appearance
Yeah that would be cool! I did start a twitch account, I'm not putting it out there much because I'm still getting used to it but if you'd like to follow it's twitch.tv/farewellnorth
First time checking this out. The paddling lopks really good imo, don't bash yourself mate. I'm gonna wishlist this as soon as it pops up in my feed again, saved it to watch later :) Keep going mate, the idea of this game is so unique!
Also #2, maybe make the end of the hand into a snake-like tail, would suit the loch ness vibe :) The tail could also be a weak point if you want to ads combat ;)
@@kylebanks I feel like the rowing motion would be more satisfying if it felt like the water was providing friction for the paddle. like its trying to scrape the water, but obviously not that hard
@@kylebanks In my opinion the canoe animations just look too janky. There's a few problems, such as the extreme distance the girl has to reach to switch sides with the paddle, which would be better if the canoe was thinner, and then there is the issue that the girl is lifting the paddle too high, where she should be rotating it more along the length of the boat, and just overall looking too robotic where there should be some curve in the hand/paddle movement. Think of it like this; The way it is now, the hand traces out a very geometric path, while a more human motion would be smoother and loop better. Emphasis on loops, because humans tend to make looping motions with their hands when performing an action. Circles, infinity symbols, all that. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but constructive criticism is better than mindless compliments i suppose. (god I am really terrible at not sounding harsh) anyway, I hope my feedback is helpful, and I'm sure you will figure out the animations. ( p.s. don't take my word for the ultimate truth, I am not an expert whatsoever. )
I think instead of only having the lure-hand appear a couple times, have a similar 'Water-Lure' that is actually good so the players have to go towards it not knowing if it's bad or good... If that makes sense
you could add some lures(idk what to call it) that look like the lure on the hand but make it obvious when there is color and make the hand a bit rare so players who have encountered the hand will still be able to be fooled but also make it escapable if it isnt rn
You could probably reuse the hand more if your water was deeper to hide the lure. So, in the initial encounter, the lure draws in the player appealing to their curiosity. For later encounters the lure acts as an early warning system that danger is approaching seeing as that is the first part of the monster being exposed on its way to the player.
Good idea 👍 The other thing I'm thinking is even once the player knows about it, you can still design areas such that they have to pass by the monster even though they know it's there. Seeing the lure and knowing they have to pass could build tension
@@kylebanks That would be a good way to establish tension. Maybe the player has to cross a fallen tree trunk or something as a bridge with a bunch of lures sticking out of the water. If you have a winter scene the log could be a bit slippery so the player slides slightly when walking on it. So, cold enough for frost on the log, but not ice on the lake/pond.
Also the monsters look pretty good for early development. I think there should be a certain point like once the monster gets too close it cuts to a scene where the monster lunges at the girl and she gets dragged under the water I think that would be super cool
I think that all of the monsters could be a physical representation of all the parts of the girl's depression. Over time as you restore colour and the monsters disappear it would be a representation of the girl getting happier. Also implementing chains that disappear with the colour into the puzzles to represent the chains of depression fading is a nice idea.
Procedural animations are amazing! and I think the little thingy that comes from the top of the hand, the one that is outside the water looks kinda odd to me, it might look better if it is something that the hand holds and its a finger of the hand, or maybe like a rod that passes through the hand , forcing it in and when the player comes close, that is enough stimulus to activate it, and it also ties to the mental health theme, like the illness is strong enough to overwhelm you, but it only starts it worse when you look directly at it(think about it) youtube recommended you a while ago and i've been watching the prev devlogs since a few hours, and the game looks amazing ^.^
I actually broke it off from the land so it stays fixed in place as the hand moves around separately. I felt it looked a little silly as is, and now I have the ability to do some ominous animations where the lure dips below the surface a moment before the hand strikes.
This looks really great. I made a game demo concept extremely similar to this for school, and after seeing this I think I wanna give up on the idea, everyone will just say its this but worse!
I wouldn't worry about it. I get a lot of comments saying Farewell North is a rip-off, and I truly think that no matter what you make there are always going to be people who say that. To be honest, since starting Farewell North and sharing it publicly I've been told of a dozen games that did "restore color" mechanics first that I didn't know about...
@@kylebanks as this is a game about restoring colour you could make some of the animals seem like monsters when not coloures but when coloured they are normal animals
Awesome stuff, love it! I have to point out though, I havent seen anybody mention the similarity between this hand and the "floormasters" from the zelda series
Thank you! I've only lived in Edinburgh for two years but it's hard to imagine leaving haha. Liverpool is really nice though as well, I've been a few times
Try checking out the music video "The Writing's On The Wall" by OK GO. That way it might be more intuitive for the player to find the correct spot and angle.
It all looks amazing dude :D I think, though, the reason the rowing animation might be slightly off is due to the speed at which the paddle is rotated when switching sides. It also looks a little off as she stops all her other movement when rotating the paddle in her hands. Maybe, if she rotated the paddle as a more combined movement with her arms switching side.
@@kylebanks I have no doubt you'll get it perfect! :D I'm also really into IK and procedural animation. If you want some great inspiration, you can search for "The Rain World Animation Process" here on YT. I believe they exclusively used procedural animations for all their monsters, and they look really creepy too.
Hi, I just wanted to let you know that I am very impressed by your work. The game looks absolutely stunning and the concept is amazing. I thought it took hundreds of developers to make a game with this quality. I also wanted to tell you that you are really inspiring me. At the moment I have just started a project in a class introducing openGL. I didn't really have an idea at the beginning and then I thought about your work. I am now trying to make a really simple world where you control a wolf that has only limited vision. All elements too far are not properly displayed, you can only see their outline. I am not really sure what you'll have to do in the game (normally we are just supposed to make a 3d demo not really a game). The idea will probably be to find pieces of a telescope to then see the stars but as you find pieces the night gets closer and closer and therefore your vision reduces. Anyway thanks a lot for the inspiration, I think you might have convinced me to give a try to Unity this summer. Good luck continuing your project !
Yeah! I've actually added a big arm to the creature which is rooted in the center of the lake, kind of hinting to a larger creature. Not sure if it'll ever be fully shown, but could be cool to explore
The hand could be part of the story. You must lure the hand to a certain area. So it comes together as a human. The human shrinks in size and reveals itself as something.
Niiiice 👌💚 That hand is proper creepy - and if you were going to do walking, having the 'arm' as a ragdoll dragging behind the fingers would have been truely zombie horror. We had 'sluagh' in our roleplaying Changeling change, 'sloo-ah' 'slu-ahk' 'slog' 'sla-ow' ... 'bean sidhe' is 'ban she' on the irish side... kiwis trying to pronounce gaelic 😅 Awesome that you are pulling in Scottish! There is so little of that.
oki quick thing that I noticed wth the canoo! if you're paddling on the right, you will turn left (unless you're using a fancy J-stroke) instead of right. I can't tell if that's what you're already doing, since the back-paddle and forward-paddle look pretty similar, but I can't imagine how tricky that is to animate! otherwise looks good to me :D and I love the bridges!
Hey thanks for the feedback! Funny enough I literally just posted a new devlog with a completely revamped canoe system, so I'm curious to get your thoughts on the new approach
I don't know if anyone else has suggested this, but I think the hand monster would work well if your companion went after it herself and you had to keep her from getting caught(maybe bark before she gets too close) and/or you could have some sort of reward for the risk of approaching it. I think something along those lines will let you use them more than you're imagining because there's still a tension to them even if you know about the trap already. Good work on the reworking of the puzzle, I only think you need to make sure its apparent that pinging color makes the object stay repaired. Otherwise looking a lot better.
Yeah completely agree, and I was thinking you can still force the player into encounters with the monster, even when they know it's there, with clever level design and puzzles.
I think even if the perspective puzzle is a bit tricky, once a player understands it, they'll know to look for it, which will make it easier. If you find a way to introduce it in a dead simple way, I don't think it will be much of a problem.
For sure! I also think when you're playing the game and seeing the puzzle as you move around it's much more clear than watching a short clip in a video
the dog's animations look glidey when turning because the back paws are moving during the turn. From my own observation, dogs turn by having at least one back paw planted on the ground (favoring the foot opposite the direction of movement). then the front paws are used to push the rest of the body into a new direction. I assume inverse kinematics would be a good way to tackle this since you know your way around it already.
@@NumbLittleOwl I tried to do something similar with the current particles, but they need work for sure. They're too disconnected from the paddle itself
Regarding canoe rowing physics. Paddling in the right side makes a canoe turn left. Paddling in the left side makes it turn right. It seems you've gotten it the other way around? But backwards paddling (reverse) seems correct in the video - as braking in the right side makes the canoe turn right (and slows it down). And likewise backwards paddling in the left side makes it turn left. I support you skipping the J-grip but I will suggest that the girl gets to have one hand on the top handle of the paddle (as shown in the real life footage). As an explorer I expect her to be somewhat capable of proper paddling techniques. Gripping the top handle let's you use the strength of your upper body instead of just tirering your arms as some silly tourist in a rented canoe.
Yep the idea is that I want the connection between right trigger->paddle right->turn right (and same on the left), so I went with braking instead of forward paddling to make this possible, which just feels better to play than right trigger->paddle right->turn left.
5:30 Why do you have to change the control scheme to fit with the new animation though? You could have something like this: A - Trigger standard paddle left side D - Trigger standard paddle right side Both A&D - Trigger J-Stroke paddle CURRENT side? (Assuming I understood your desired control scheme correctly)
You're right that would work, but I feel like that particular setup has some drawbacks where you still have the complication of having the side-to-side animations to switch between left+right side paddles, but you lose the more satisfying forward animation by having it fixed on one side
@@kylebanks Ah, so the character paddling one turn on each side for going forward was also one which was satisfying. I see... I thought it was primarily the movement scheme you were reffering to as satisfying. I don't feel satisfaction for animations that much. Just input vs. what I wanted to do.
Im new here but you should make a paint system to see a tiny little peek at that and have it like a hint system i dont know if you made this already im sorry if you did ill try to make another idea
Thanks again for all the support and feedback! Let me know if you'd be interested in some livestreams on RUclips, or if you'd prefer another platform like Twitch.
Also, consider joining the Discord if you haven't already! It's a great time, and there are many more regular updates over there: farewell-north.com/discord
Hey! I think you should make the navigation on water automatic. It won't get rid of the animation problem, but it'll stop the quirky movements that players will most likely come across when controlling the canouh. You could also make it a safe point where they can save the game. (Also good scenery might help with long trips)
- Sorry for spelling mistakes. English isn't my first language
I think a cool idea might for the lure monster would be to have the lure be a will o wisps or something similar so the player might think I should probably get that and it might still trick experienced players
Would love to be a part of your stream!
This game looks beautifuL!!!!!
personally I think youtube is better because I actually check it and so i'd see a stream if it was happening. I just don't check twitch
That bridge is looking much better than what i originally thought when i suggested it to you. Great work!
Thanks for the suggestion 😊
@@kylebanks Hopefully you can expand that to other enviromental puzzles,. Looks really promising!
This is the first time i see a developer implement an idea better than when it was suggested, he really understand what we want
Great devlog again. The improvements to the animations really made a big impact and I love the monster design. When you were talking about the lure I spontaneously came up with an idea for a monster. Imagine a creature which lures in the girl. Perhaps the monster is bird which sings a beautiful, but eerie song. I think it could be really distressing to suddenly have the girl, who usually follows you around, drift away from you. The monster could also change its appearance to be ever more horrifying as the girl gets nearer to it. You could require the player to"color ping" the girl to wake her up for a moment, or perhaps you have to get to the monster and ping color at it to reveal its true form to the girl so she's no longer entranced by it.
This is such a good idea, thank you!
I really hope he adds this
no jokes thats a REALLY good idea
Really love how the game is coming along and the hand monster animation is absolutely perfect.
A few suggestions:
1)I think it would be cool if the lure of the monster would be randomised(Reed,Lotus,Twig) so that the player can be tricked again and again into coming closer.
2)The canoe animation is good but the switching of hands is still a bit wierd and robotic.
3)Like the other comments, I agree that there should be some landmarks that line up at the correct angle.
4)As a beginner at blender,I found this really good modifier called skin modifier that really helps in making some character quickly and it even creates and armature with really good weights automatically.(Look up some RUclips videos about it)
Thanks
Thanks for the feedback, I agree with all your points actually :)
I have used the skin modifier, but I still prefer the more traditional workflow in a lot of cases
Procedural animations always blow my mind. They look so cool! Great job with the stepping animations
Thanks! Yeah procedural animation is so so satisfying when you first get it working and everything semi-magically comes to life, I love it
Bro i love how the hand crawls around its so creepy and cool
I love the new bridge idea and how it's shattered into shards! Maybe to make it visible to the player you can have a gust of wind when the player is within a certain vicinity that periodically makes the bridge visible, then fades back into the fog?
Always looking forward to each dev vlog 😊
That's a great idea, thank you!
reminds me of monument valley
@@kylebanks even better, have the wind blow in the direction of the correct answer.
I can't wait to play this game! 🙂 It's absolutely stunning and I also really like the unique game idea!
Thank you so much! That's very generous feedback :D
I can already see this game on the top charts! Great work man! 👍
Thank you so much 🙏
This is the type of game I would buy a collectors edition for, with trinkets and such, such an aesthetic game. some posters or summit.
Good to know! I don't have any plans for that right now but who knows, if the game does well and people resonate with it, it would be really cool to do something like that
My only word is: nice
🙏
🤌
Wow this is looking really good I really can't wait till the next dev log
Thanks so much!
I'm glad I finally took the time to check out the channels that commented on my videos because it led me here. Your game looks breathtaking and your monster's movement is seriously impressive, can't wait to see how it develops! And thanks for noticing my little channel a few weeks ago!
Hey, thanks so much 🙏
Keep up the great work on your videos as well, I'm following your progress and enjoying the devlogs!
The paddle animations sounds really difficult! Great work with the devlog!
Thanks Kevin! Yeah it's been a real pain, but it'll get there eventually XD
I just wanted to say, that I love your devlogs, keep doing your thing👍
Thanks so much 😊
A small thing that might help make the passing of the oar more convincing would be to have both hands meet at the middle of the oar. i.e. the upper hand comes down to the lower position BEFORE the lower hand moves to the upper position, instead of both hands letting go at the same time
You caught me, I'm cheating a little so that the animation can simply be flipped on the X axis, but once the main animation is in a better state I'll have to make this change for sure 👌
This game is such a great idea
Thanks so much :)
I agree
New paddling animation looks great! One suggestion I have is to look at the guy's grip in the J-stroke video, you'll see his top hand always grabs the butt of the paddle not further down the shaft. This might only be a pet peeve for me, but I think this could go a long way in making the animation look more natural. Not sure how much more difficult it would be to implement though. Loving these devlogs, always looking forward to your progress! Btw I also absolutely love the look of the new coloring effect from the last video 😍
Thanks so much for the feedback!
This is gonna do so well in the YT algorithm in like a month or so
Quickly make a Patreon my dude
Hahah thanks
Man i wish i was here at the start..... welp, time to watch all 13 episodes so far!
Haha enjoy!
This is amazing work honestly - it’s inspired yet very original. And it fits the aesthetic of the game so well!
Thanks so much, appreciate the kind words!
Your artwork on this is amazing. Love the monster by the way. Absolutely fantastic in it's aesthetic
Thank you, glad you like it!
wow this game is looking really nice, can't wait for next devlog
Thank you!
The new bridge is actually solid. Another possible idea I have is to make it also more obvious where you need to go for it to form. Maybe add some like rocks with holes to look through or to line up or other such landmarks to help the player realize they should go
That's a great idea, I'll see what I can do!
Great devlog! Love the new rowing animations and the hand looks creepy. It really fits in the colourless world.
Can't wait to see it all come together but happy to hear you like the direction!
New to channel its pretty amazing, at the start the colors were hard to look at now its actually likable i guess it just takes time to get used to it
Do you mean the uncolored version of the world? It's something I'm constantly tweaking, trying to find an interesting balance
@@kylebanks yes but thas only at the start. It actually becomes fun later on but then u will have to hope people will start liiing it before they quit
I love the idea of monsters luring you by seeming “happy” but they are just degenerates lol! I can picture them having different sort of smoke like or even oil like textures on their “skins” to kind of mimic that absorbing feeling of depression
Ohh yeah that would be cool, thanks!
Looks amazing! The statue in the river gives me spooky vibes!
Right?!
This game looks great! I love the vibe. Keep making these videos, I enjoy them a lot :)
Thanks, that means a lot!
A neat monster idea you could do similar to the hand is one of those statues you were showing around Edinburg, where it's broken apart like the bridge and the player needs to find the correct orientation to ping it and make the statue whole again. Once it's whole though it starts attacking the player in some way. The way you can encourage the player to activate the enemy is put it in some choke point where there's an objective on the other side. Granted it's always easier proposing an idea compared to implementing it.
Also, thanks for making these dev logs, I really enjoy seeing the thought process that goes into games, and I also appreciate the inclusion of the scenery near you that inspires the art you make. Please post more and I look forward to when you finish this game!
Thanks for the idea and kind words, it's always great to know when these videos are well received :)
Looking forward to playing this game! It looks great!
Thank you!
Man I hope you know, you really are a way better developer than 95% of the Yahoo's on RUclips making games in unity.
Thank you very much for the compliment, that's super nice. There are some crazy talented people out there though!
AMAZING work man. Absolutely beautiful conepets and Inspiring process. I cannot wait to see more.
Thanks Omri!
There is a cartoon called the little prince that has shadowy monsters that suit your game really well
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have to check that out
I just realized that the cartoon's main character, the little prince, has a fox pet which is not quite a dog but still similar
This is amazing! Its obvious you've thought about the visuals quite a bit.
If one of your main mechanics is going to be related to the concept of "looking at something from the right angle and pressing a button", then I have a couple of recommendations:
Check out The Witness (if you haven't already), that game is a gold-mine of "look at stuff from the correct angle" material.
And for gameplay, make sure there are non-visual cues as well. A magical audio hum (or maybe the music adds an instrument?) and a slight controller vibration when you approach the solution, or similar feedback.
In general good design means there should be multiple ways for a player to detect something important in the world. Because the player controls the camera, it's often hard to make the player "do the right thing" and look in the correct direction, without spelling it out directly. Each sensory element you add that gives a subtle hint will help guide the player, while at the same time saving you from having to explicitly tell the player what to do in every situation.
A general rule of thumb for good puzzle design is: the player shouldn't spend their time confused about where they are going, but rather spend their time figuring what to do to get there.
There are also many players with reduced eyesight who would be completely lost without audio cues or haptic feedback.
I second using multiple sensory feedback methods. I have low vision and while i can still rely on my vision fairly well, small things can really help. Even just making sure things have good light/dark contrast. Perhaps certain things like that could be in an assist mode? Like higher contrast or brighter points on edges of shattered objects. Something that can distinctly 'connect the dots' maybe?. And if the game relies on color, I'd say it'd be good to consider colorblindness modes too.
Cheers, game looks cool so far.
Thanks for the thoughtful feedback! Absolutely agree, and in fact I just had a conversation with my composer a couple days ago on how we can bring an audio element to this :)
This game looks so stunning and gotta love procedural animations
Thank you! Yes procedural animation is a lot of fun
Amazing video! Great progress Kyle!
Thank you Mikey! Welcome to the discord 🙂
Holy shit!! U are on another level bro!! All the best for the game , it looks so good!!
Thanks so much!
This is soo cool omg! And such a big inspiration to me because I want to make a game too someday and I’m already planning the characters, story and mechanics and I like how you planned everything to make this epic monster! I’m gonna put your game on my wishlist now! ^^
Thanks so much, that means a lot! Best of luck on your gamedev journeys as well
@@kylebanks You're welcome! ^^ Thank you!!
Monster looks incredible, great work :).
Thank you!
Great update! I love the lure monster
Thank you! Still lots of work to do but glad to hear you like the direction it's going 🙂
Now that i think of it the concept of luring the player not only through monsters but gameplay is soooo cool, you can deceive the player into approaching “wrong” perspective spots by making them stand out and then have them be traps!
Thanks, glad you like it!
Weeping Angels go brrrrr. But seriously, it's been a while since I last checked your channel (CANNOT believe I forgot to subscribe T0T) and the game is so beautiful and has improved so much from the last devlog I've watched! Never stop doing what makes you happy! Looking forward to more progress! Congrats on all these cool additions and improvements!!!
Thanks so much!
I’ve been watching this and I really enjoy it. I dont know how I feel ab the game because I’m into more fast paced stuff but I really enjoy watching u make it
Thanks! Definitely won't be for everyone, but I appreciate the support
nice concept! also hell yes id really love you to see over on twitch! also i think the perfect sound for the creature would be like a really loud growing sound... fits the creepy appearance
Yeah that would be cool! I did start a twitch account, I'm not putting it out there much because I'm still getting used to it but if you'd like to follow it's twitch.tv/farewellnorth
You could use the arm of the hand to tether it to the centre of the lake, providing a visual guide to how far out the hand will go
Exactly, that's the goal and what I'm working on as we speak XD
the hand monster is super cool
Thanks! I think it has a lot of potential, glad to hear you like the direction :)
@@kylebanks I think that the idea of it coming out of a single point is super cool too since it makes you wonder what’s under the ground
First time checking this out. The paddling lopks really good imo, don't bash yourself mate. I'm gonna wishlist this as soon as it pops up in my feed again, saved it to watch later :)
Keep going mate, the idea of this game is so unique!
Also, making sure that everybody is in the credits just shows how deep and high your passions runs! Definatly gonna get this now!
Also #2, maybe make the end of the hand into a snake-like tail, would suit the loch ness vibe :)
The tail could also be a weak point if you want to ads combat ;)
Thanks for the kind words and the feedback, really appreciate it!
I think the hand is awesome!! Super creepy-spider like walking motion. Well done.
Thank you very much!
I do always love a good disembodied hand monster thing.
The new rowing animation is almost perfect, honestly
Thanks Lucas! It's on the right track I feel, but still needs work
I like it as well, however it looks a tad bit artificial because his torso stays static while his arms move
@@kylebanks I feel like the rowing motion would be more satisfying if it felt like the water was providing friction for the paddle. like its trying to scrape the water, but obviously not that hard
@@kylebanks
In my opinion the canoe animations just look too janky.
There's a few problems, such as the extreme distance the girl has to reach to switch sides with the paddle, which would be better if the canoe was thinner, and then there is the issue that the girl is lifting the paddle too high, where she should be rotating it more along the length of the boat, and just overall looking too robotic where there should be some curve in the hand/paddle movement.
Think of it like this;
The way it is now, the hand traces out a very geometric path, while a more human motion would be smoother and loop better. Emphasis on loops, because humans tend to make looping motions with their hands when performing an action.
Circles, infinity symbols, all that.
I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but constructive criticism is better than mindless compliments i suppose. (god I am really terrible at not sounding harsh) anyway, I hope my feedback is helpful, and I'm sure you will figure out the animations.
( p.s. don't take my word for the ultimate truth, I am not an expert whatsoever. )
Duuude this looks so good already, I love it!
Glad you like it!
The localization is good, it's a kind gesture to the community when people contribute to your project
I'm super grateful for all the effort the localizors have put into it, it's been a really amazing experience
I think instead of only having the lure-hand appear a couple times, have a similar 'Water-Lure' that is actually good so the players have to go towards it not knowing if it's bad or good... If that makes sense
Yeah makes total sense, good idea!
you could add some lures(idk what to call it) that look like the lure on the hand but make it obvious when there is color and make the hand a bit rare so players who have encountered the hand will still be able to be fooled but also make it escapable if it isnt rn
Speaking of Scottish folklore if you know what a kelpie is this kind of reminds me of the concept, how it lures you to it and drags you into the water
Actually yeah that's a great comparison
Looks very promising! Great job so far
Thanks!
You could probably reuse the hand more if your water was deeper to hide the lure. So, in the initial encounter, the lure draws in the player appealing to their curiosity. For later encounters the lure acts as an early warning system that danger is approaching seeing as that is the first part of the monster being exposed on its way to the player.
Good idea 👍 The other thing I'm thinking is even once the player knows about it, you can still design areas such that they have to pass by the monster even though they know it's there. Seeing the lure and knowing they have to pass could build tension
@@kylebanks That would be a good way to establish tension. Maybe the player has to cross a fallen tree trunk or something as a bridge with a bunch of lures sticking out of the water. If you have a winter scene the log could be a bit slippery so the player slides slightly when walking on it. So, cold enough for frost on the log, but not ice on the lake/pond.
I just stumbled upon this video and I really wished I could play it
Some Grass Displacement could be a satisfying visual change🙂
Noted!
Can't wait to play your game. Looks fantastic!
Thanks Jeff!
Whoa - cool visuals, looks good in color and shaded
Thanks!
you can create a character change, from dog to mistress! by pressing a key
Good Monster idead ! it would be nice if the hand could do several different attacks Like Smashing Hard or trying To Catch the dog or other stuff ..
Oh yeah for sure, thanks for the suggestion
With the hand monster, you should give it some particles for the terrain it's on, like sand would look like sand etc. Love the concept
The bridge solution is brilliant! If you're interested, you can also consider more optical and perspective illusion puzzles!
like monument valley
Thanks! For sure, I love those kinds of puzzles so I'll check out monument valley, thanks for the recommendation.
@@kylebanks No problem! I really like how your game looks so far! Fantastic work
Also the monsters look pretty good for early development. I think there should be a certain point like once the monster gets too close it cuts to a scene where the monster lunges at the girl and she gets dragged under the water I think that would be super cool
I agree, that would be super cool indeed
Wow! Stunning art direction!
Thank you very much!
I think that all of the monsters could be a physical representation of all the parts of the girl's depression. Over time as you restore colour and the monsters disappear it would be a representation of the girl getting happier. Also implementing chains that disappear with the colour into the puzzles to represent the chains of depression fading is a nice idea.
Procedural animations are amazing!
and I think the little thingy that comes from the top of the hand, the one that is outside the water looks kinda odd to me, it might look better if it is something that the hand holds and its a finger of the hand, or maybe like a rod that passes through the hand , forcing it in and when the player comes close, that is enough stimulus to activate it, and it also ties to the mental health theme, like the illness is strong enough to overwhelm you, but it only starts it worse when you look directly at it(think about it)
youtube recommended you a while ago and i've been watching the prev devlogs since a few hours, and the game looks amazing ^.^
I actually broke it off from the land so it stays fixed in place as the hand moves around separately. I felt it looked a little silly as is, and now I have the ability to do some ominous animations where the lure dips below the surface a moment before the hand strikes.
Your game have a nice vibe, atmosphere
Thank you!
Keep up the amazing world-building.
Thanks!
I absolutely adore the visual style
Thanks!
This looks really great. I made a game demo concept extremely similar to this for school, and after seeing this I think I wanna give up on the idea, everyone will just say its this but worse!
I wouldn't worry about it. I get a lot of comments saying Farewell North is a rip-off, and I truly think that no matter what you make there are always going to be people who say that. To be honest, since starting Farewell North and sharing it publicly I've been told of a dozen games that did "restore color" mechanics first that I didn't know about...
Love it, really unique
Thank you 😊
@@kylebanks as this is a game about restoring colour you could make some of the animals seem like monsters when not coloures but when coloured they are normal animals
the hand looks sick
Thanks!
I like the hand-nessy! The head is a little weird, but maybe that adds to the creepiness.
glad you like it :)
so Inspiring! Great Work Sir!!
Thanks a lot!
Awesome stuff, love it!
I have to point out though, I havent seen anybody mention the similarity between this hand and the "floormasters" from the zelda series
Hah yeah I hadn't considered that but you're right, definitely similar
Annnnnd now I miss Edinburgh, I moved down to Liverpool for work and havent been back for a while because of lockdown.
The game is looking gorgeous.
Thank you! I've only lived in Edinburgh for two years but it's hard to imagine leaving haha. Liverpool is really nice though as well, I've been a few times
Try checking out the music video "The Writing's On The Wall" by OK GO. That way it might be more intuitive for the player to find the correct spot and angle.
That video is amazing, thanks for the recommendation!
It all looks amazing dude :D
I think, though, the reason the rowing animation might be slightly off is due to the speed at which the paddle is rotated when switching sides. It also looks a little off as she stops all her other movement when rotating the paddle in her hands. Maybe, if she rotated the paddle as a more combined movement with her arms switching side.
I agree the timing is not right at all, I'm committed to making it work though 😆
@@kylebanks I have no doubt you'll get it perfect! :D
I'm also really into IK and procedural animation. If you want some great inspiration, you can search for "The Rain World Animation Process" here on YT. I believe they exclusively used procedural animations for all their monsters, and they look really creepy too.
Awesome, will do!
This game seems really cool!
Thank you 😊
Hi, I just wanted to let you know that I am very impressed by your work. The game looks absolutely stunning and the concept is amazing. I thought it took hundreds of developers to make a game with this quality.
I also wanted to tell you that you are really inspiring me. At the moment I have just started a project in a class introducing openGL. I didn't really have an idea at the beginning and then I thought about your work. I am now trying to make a really simple world where you control a wolf that has only limited vision. All elements too far are not properly displayed, you can only see their outline. I am not really sure what you'll have to do in the game (normally we are just supposed to make a 3d demo not really a game). The idea will probably be to find pieces of a telescope to then see the stars but as you find pieces the night gets closer and closer and therefore your vision reduces.
Anyway thanks a lot for the inspiration, I think you might have convinced me to give a try to Unity this summer.
Good luck continuing your project !
Good luck to you as well! I'm very glad to have provided any kind of inspiration :)
Game looks great. I think people are being a bit harsh on the animations but I can understand you wanting them to be as good as they can be.
Thanks! I think there are a few glaring spots that really do *need* improvements/rework, and then a bunch of areas that could just use a little polish
The animations looks much better ! Nice job
And maybe to improve the dogs/ground link, you could use a mix of animation and IK/Procedural animation
Yeah for sure, I want to do this for the girl's feet as well once I do another pass at her animations!
This looks amazing
Thank you so much!
Idk if this is already what you are thinking but the arm could be part of a bigger monster which could be some sort of boss or part of the story/lore.
Yeah! I've actually added a big arm to the creature which is rooted in the center of the lake, kind of hinting to a larger creature. Not sure if it'll ever be fully shown, but could be cool to explore
The hand could be part of the story.
You must lure the hand to a certain area.
So it comes together as a human. The human shrinks in size and reveals itself as something.
Niiiice 👌💚 That hand is proper creepy - and if you were going to do walking, having the 'arm' as a ragdoll dragging behind the fingers would have been truely zombie horror. We had 'sluagh' in our roleplaying Changeling change, 'sloo-ah' 'slu-ahk' 'slog' 'sla-ow' ... 'bean sidhe' is 'ban she' on the irish side... kiwis trying to pronounce gaelic 😅 Awesome that you are pulling in Scottish! There is so little of that.
That's awesome, the bean sidhe is one of the others at the top of my list to incorporate as well!
oki quick thing that I noticed wth the canoo! if you're paddling on the right, you will turn left (unless you're using a fancy J-stroke) instead of right. I can't tell if that's what you're already doing, since the back-paddle and forward-paddle look pretty similar, but I can't imagine how tricky that is to animate! otherwise looks good to me :D and I love the bridges!
Hey thanks for the feedback! Funny enough I literally just posted a new devlog with a completely revamped canoe system, so I'm curious to get your thoughts on the new approach
I don't know if anyone else has suggested this, but I think the hand monster would work well if your companion went after it herself and you had to keep her from getting caught(maybe bark before she gets too close) and/or you could have some sort of reward for the risk of approaching it. I think something along those lines will let you use them more than you're imagining because there's still a tension to them even if you know about the trap already.
Good work on the reworking of the puzzle, I only think you need to make sure its apparent that pinging color makes the object stay repaired. Otherwise looking a lot better.
Yeah completely agree, and I was thinking you can still force the player into encounters with the monster, even when they know it's there, with clever level design and puzzles.
I think even if the perspective puzzle is a bit tricky, once a player understands it, they'll know to look for it, which will make it easier.
If you find a way to introduce it in a dead simple way, I don't think it will be much of a problem.
For sure! I also think when you're playing the game and seeing the puzzle as you move around it's much more clear than watching a short clip in a video
I am sooo excited for this game!!!!!!!
Thanks!
Looks great! Keep in mind people use the top of the paddle when paddling. Two hands on the shaft wouldn't get you far.
Thanks for the feedback, I've actually updated it to a double-bladed paddle in the later videos :)
@@kylebanks I saw that in your more recent posts. Enjoying the videos!
the dog's animations look glidey when turning because the back paws are moving during the turn. From my own observation, dogs turn by having at least one back paw planted on the ground (favoring the foot opposite the direction of movement). then the front paws are used to push the rest of the body into a new direction. I assume inverse kinematics would be a good way to tackle this since you know your way around it already.
IKs are probably the way to go here, good call
The paddle doesn't affect the water enough to make it look heavy, maybe a better splash will fix this issue?
Good idea, some more weight with particles and slowing the animation could go a long way to selling the effect
little whirlpools also usually form behind a stroke and I feel those would add a lot as well
@@NumbLittleOwl I tried to do something similar with the current particles, but they need work for sure. They're too disconnected from the paddle itself
Regarding canoe rowing physics.
Paddling in the right side makes a canoe turn left. Paddling in the left side makes it turn right. It seems you've gotten it the other way around? But backwards paddling (reverse) seems correct in the video - as braking in the right side makes the canoe turn right (and slows it down). And likewise backwards paddling in the left side makes it turn left.
I support you skipping the J-grip but I will suggest that the girl gets to have one hand on the top handle of the paddle (as shown in the real life footage). As an explorer I expect her to be somewhat capable of proper paddling techniques. Gripping the top handle let's you use the strength of your upper body instead of just tirering your arms as some silly tourist in a rented canoe.
Please note that I commented forward movement + braking and coming to a hault from forward movement. I did not comment on actual backwards movement.
Yep the idea is that I want the connection between right trigger->paddle right->turn right (and same on the left), so I went with braking instead of forward paddling to make this possible, which just feels better to play than right trigger->paddle right->turn left.
Agreed on the hand at the top of the paddle, I'll play with that. Thanks!
5:30 Why do you have to change the control scheme to fit with the new animation though?
You could have something like this:
A - Trigger standard paddle left side
D - Trigger standard paddle right side
Both A&D - Trigger J-Stroke paddle CURRENT side?
(Assuming I understood your desired control scheme correctly)
You're right that would work, but I feel like that particular setup has some drawbacks where you still have the complication of having the side-to-side animations to switch between left+right side paddles, but you lose the more satisfying forward animation by having it fixed on one side
@@kylebanks Ah, so the character paddling one turn on each side for going forward was also one which was satisfying. I see...
I thought it was primarily the movement scheme you were reffering to as satisfying.
I don't feel satisfaction for animations that much. Just input vs. what I wanted to do.
Im new here but you should make a paint system to see a tiny little peek at that and have it like a hint system i dont know if you made this already im sorry if you did ill try to make another idea