"Hello?" I shout into the hole. "Is anybody there?" The blackness responds: [h3][i]"Feed us..."[/i][/h3] [h3]"We are [i]HUNGRY"[/i][/h3] [h2]Developer intro[/h2] It is time to appease you all with an update. I'm Simon, the creative director at Twice Different, a tiny indie studio based in Australia which was fortunate enough to find some success with [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/998740/Ring_of_Pain/]Ring of Pain[/url], our debut creepycute roguelike card crawler. ...And now we're putting those funds into making the next dark roguelites with fresh gameplay... Mess (programmer) and I have been working on this idea since 2022, and announced it mid year to a viral reception. [h3]We originally thought Winnie's Hole would be a little, experimental game but the trailer announcement took off.[/h3] [i]The pressure is on.[/i] [h2]Expanding Winnie's Hole[/h2] Because of the huge response, we decided to be more ambitious... This means our timeline has also extended well into next year as we iterate and really [i]flesh it out[/i]... [h1]What we've been working on[/h1] [h2]A visual feast[/h2] The first weak point I wanted to address since announcing was the art. We've been iterating on the original art style (top) to add in more of that dark flavour and better fit the core audience. We're still working on this but here's a sneak peak of some experiments. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44215134/7216fe6fc83e64bf9caeeef84c044d9643314a85.png[/img] [h2]A holesome horror-comedy[/h2] [h3]How do you combine the strategic depth of a roguelite with the story we want to tell? [/h3] [i]The question taunts me as I gradually press my face into the wall. Slowly embraced by its cold, refreshing touch.[/i] We want to tell a story about a naive, bumbling host infected by a symbiotic virus. A virus with the power to transform its host into an abomination. Will you do this in the game? Yes. You will make a loveable yet horrendous monster. Beauty is only skin deep, right? The animals do not understand the virus, and the virus does not understand concepts like friendship. It's a matter of survival, and we are under threat... but it may not always be this way... As you progress through the game, each run is played in one of multiple regions in the world. Before I go into more detail I will add the caveat that we're really trying to provide a new challenge with the roguelite mechanics, which I'll talk more about in the future. We're trying to do much more than simply reskinning a game you've played before. [h3]We want this game to be a fresh experience. [i]A delicious morsel. [/i][/h3] To innovate on anything is a very explorative process. We've prototyped and scrapped dozens of different systems and features in the journey so far. This is pretty normal in game development and we're lucky we can afford the time to do this. All this is to say we're still finding the answers and [b]some details may change as we continue development[/b], but we will absolutely have a demo available when we get closer to launch. For now, I continue to indulge you in the current state of Winnie's Hole. Gaze upon the current game loop. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44215134/9bf2709965c4cfd9299a4a2056dbd491c77c6614.png[/img] Each play of the game, you and your host adventure into a region of the world, going through events and encounters which get more challenging until you reach a final encounter which really tests your build and the lessons you've learnt. [h3]The game loop has two main parts: [b]Exploration and Combat.[/b][/h3] Our combat system is solid and ties directly into the bodybuilding through mutations. You generate a deck of actions by growing mutations, then trigger them via the host's brain. Much like in Ring of Pain, we're aiming to make combat accessible in that we'll show the outcome of your possible moves. This means you can focus on the deckbuilding strategy and make plays based on enemy intents without needing to calculate it all. We let the game do the maths. Right now we're working on the exploration features which build on the idea of spreading the virus through the body of your host. This is where you make 'gut decisions' and influence the events they encounter. Most strategy games need a critical mass of content to prove a system, and this is what we're currently building out. All the risk/reward mechanics and features that can be added to exploration to turn it from a virus-builder sandbox into an engaging strategy game with more planning, tension and consequence. I'll do a deeper dive on both combat and exploration mechanics as we continue development. As the year comes to a close we wanted to share an update with you all. Thanks for reading, if you'd like to follow development and participate in future events or testing feel free to [url=https://discord.gg/twicedifferent]join us on Discord.[/url] If there are specific questions or things you'd like to hear more about in future updates let us know in the comments. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44215134/7d2d299615d2460d5955f7e1e821e9d56e7b126d.png[/img] Happy holidays to you all from the Twice Different team and our Chinchilla buddy! [h3]The hunger subsides?... [i]for now[/i][/h3]