Son of Nor - Action RPG

Son of Nor
Telekinesis • Terraforming • Combination Magic

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Hi, my name is Chris Polus and I'm the sound designer for Son of Nor, an upcoming game from stillalive|studios. We already posted this project in the Unity 3D forums under "Collaboration" as we were looking for additional hands, but as we progress and post updates I felt I better post them here in order not to spam the "Collaboration" space.

We created our first introduction video of our game. Check it out.

Video
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Game Description
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Son of Nor is a PvE multiplayer coop game for currently up to 4 players (split-screen, LAN, internet) that experiments with game mechanics. It has no UI, yet players have telekinetic powers, the ability to terraform, and multiple types of magic at their disposal. All powers have their individual tactical use and they can be combined to creatively prevent damage from or deal damage to enemies. For example, only basic magic can be invoked directly but basic spells interact with each other and can be combined to new, more powerful magical effects. Those can then be thrown at an enemy using telekinetic powers.

It's hard to describe, watch the mini video preview!

Game Facts
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Genre: This is a PvE action / puzzle type game in a desert setting.
Platforms: It will be released for PC and Mac. Depending on the response we get, we might consider further platforms.
Release Date: no idea, we're very early in the production process

Developer Information
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Website: http://www.stillalive-studios.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stillaliveStudios
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/sasgames
Dev Environment: Unity 3D

What do you think?
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We're looking for initial reactions. These are quite unique game mechanics and we're heavily experimenting with them. We came up with lots of spell combinations and other interactions and would like to get the idea out to see if "we're up to something here" and this could get good. None of the individual ideas are new or unique, we know, but we haven't seen a game that combines these things in the particular way we're trying to.

With all the "grind your way to success" type of games we wanted to create a game that really requires some skill to master. It's not enough clicking the spell button and looking at a homing spell missile. Fast reaction is key. Recognize spells your enemies throw at you, invoke countermeasure spells and shields. Throw things using telekinesis, but mind the fast moving enemy players. You have to aim well. You can even help your team friends making their own spells stronger, work tactically in teams. Of course, everything is in a very early stage...

Are we up to something here? What do you think?

I'll keep you up to date about our progress in this thread. With new concept art, screenshots or videos
Thanks for your time, folks!

Chris

 

This is looking awesome. I love the environments.
The particle modification/physics/terraforming etc is absolutely fantastic.

Well done.

 

Looks like a lot fun. I'm interested in what the future holds for this game

 

During our second to last development meeting where we sketched out some of the first maps you'll see in the game, we were also thinking about additional gameplay elements.

The creature you see below is not a spell but a living thing. And it's hungry. Instead of just battling other players on a map, at least in some areas of the world, you'll find these sand dragons that might just have picked you as its next lunch package. So you need to watch out and hide early enough. We're trying to bring more variety to the gameplay with things like this and make the world feel more alive.



There's just this drawing at the moment. We haven't scheduled the implementation yet or the way it appears and what exactly it does. We'll see

 

Awesome work so far.

Any plans on allowing telekinesis to push the player off of the ground to perhaps make super jumps or short ranged flying/escape?

Very original gameplay. Looking forward to more updates!

 

Hehe, hey that's such a cool idea. Short range jumps with the blowback of telekinetic powers. Well, I think this could be fun. I'm not sure if this really fits into the lore and world for this kind of action RPG style game, but I'll forward your suggestion If Julian isn't reading this forum anyway.

 

I've been away this week from the project, but development moved on it seems. Here's a short update.

• the main character was modeled and brought into Unity 3D
  
• work on animations for the main character
• work on chaos / order spells (were renamed from split / force)
• work on some AI started
• work on our own water system as unity 3d's system is very basic
• modeling of Sarahul buildings started
• work on a new map started
• work on first opponents (Sarahul) started
  

There's an early concept video of a chaos/order spell to see how it feels in the game.

We also changed the sand dragon a bit. I think it's not flying anymore but it's more a worm sand dragon eating through the sand. Maybe I can dig up some new concept art on this

 

This looks like it's going to be loads of fun!

 

Really cool job!
regards

 

This is very cool. I saw the thread over at TGC and made me want to try Unity3D again and I am glad you did.

Well I can't wait until the end of 2012, I'll be keeping an eye out for this.

 

We are currently working a lot on the magic system and AI. At the same time our modelers prepare models for our next map and some variations of Sarahuls (which are the opponent race). Here some preview of the wip:


We are still in need for a level designer and an animator. If you are interested in joining us, feel free to contact us at:
application@stillalive-studios.com
More information can be found on our website: Join us!

 

This reminds me of Avatar! the cartoon/anime (whatever it is).

Concepts look nice. Movement looks a bit problematic, like the collider is fighting with something. Model shapes could be more bold and dynamic.

Great work and finally something different.

 

What an interesting concept! I think the game looks nice, but the game mechanics are what I think will make this game really special.

 

The concept and gameplay look so very good. I really hope the art and visuals improve, because without them this game wont get the attention it deserves.

Might I recommend you try going about a bit more stylized art-style, less realistic, more simplistic. This will make the are load a bit more reasonable for a small team.

 

Thanks for the comments. I'm not the art lead, but I'll forward this thread so we at least read it

 

Whoa! You're actually working off a design document in an organized environment! Who the hell does that anymore?! lol

Have always loved minimal UI - ICO, shadow of collosus. The mechanics sound really neat and I love the PvP aspect that you'll be exploring first.

I will be watching this VERY closely. Looking forward to seeing the progress.

 

Haha, was that first line a laugh or a compliment Never mind. Well, we just have those documents as sort of a log. When we meet or have Skype conferences and we discuss stuff, it's hard to keep track, so we write it down. It may change dynamically during the development, but some things just get forgotten otherwise. It's more a guideline than a spec. (At least that's what I think.)

In other news. Priske415, we've got feedback in other forums too, regarding the visuals and some gameplay stuff. I was just skyping with the lead developer, who had heard similar comments, so we take it very seriously. We already addressed comments regarding the gameplay that it looks kind of slow in the video, which was right. And we're seriously considering doing something about the visuals. Currently I think it's a Unity standard renderer we're using, and frankly, you were right saying that it looks a little bit generic. That it could be much cooler with some distinct visual style.

Having said that, we have a great concept artist, but we don't have an artist who could really define the style and look in-game. Or in terms of technical shaders and stuff. All I can currently say is that we decided to play around with different things (washing out the colors so it looks more desert style, maybe adding some subtle outline shader to it to make it more cartoony, something along those lines to make the look more distinct).

If there's anybody out there who would have an idea or experience with this sort of visual direction, we'd be glad to have a chat with you. Do you have any ideas? Please reply here, we surely could use the help in this regard. Thanks!

 

VERY much a compliment. ^_^

 

I believe @Gherid_lacksGPS was referring to the fact that the level of professionalism shown by the use of a GDD is really seen, which is really a sad thing.

As for the art, washing out color and adding an outline shader is not what you want. If your looking to simplify the art and make it more doable you need to use simpler textures, not less colorful ones. Avoiding an outline shader at all cost is also probably a good idea. What I meant was just simpler shapes with sold color textures. Geometrically what I was thinking is just less visual noise, but before you do that your current 3D artist needs to work on his anatomy. If you could get me a perfect side view of the human character Id be willing to point out all of his current anatomical flaws with a draw over.

 

Take at look at Varmints as a possible model of aesthetic precedence.

Obviously the character design is different but, the scale / lighting / texture and overall mood seems conducive to your conceptual direction. See if you can find the children's book, too. Beautiful illustrations, just gorgeous. This is the visual style that popped in my head upon reading / hearing your intent.

 

Vermints look really cute. I like the "after the end of the world" kind of visual style in some of the scenes. Well, let's see what we come up with.

Thanks for the hints Priske!! I'll forward those so we can discuss it in the team at the next conference!

 

Finally an update from our side. There have been so many changes that I even don't know where to begin

The most significant change that's visible from the outside is our newly launched website. We hope to provide more content, images, videos, and development diaries now that we have a system that works for us. Check it out: http://stillalive-studios.com

We also have a new dev blog section where we would like to provide more insight articles about the history and development of the game. There's an article about where the game started a few months ago and the next parts will be about game decisions, visuals, GDKs and how far we've come to date. Later, we'll talk more about in-depth dev and 3D stuff.

We were quite busy talking to people interested in joining the project. And we got a great team together. It's so important having people that take the lead and the responsibility in their area and then deliver.

After extensive playtesting we mostly refined the controls and are still tweaking it. It's hard coming up with a system that allows to control telekinesis, terraforming, spell combinations and other things without having a GUI and dozens of buttons. It's one of the goals we set for the game: no UI. I don't know if we can really pull this through, but we try. I think we changed the controls a dozen times in the last couple of weeks and every time we think we have something, we need to change it because it doesn't work out in the long run. But I think we're getting there step by step.

After very cool artists joined our team we finally kicked off an internal project to define the visual style of the game. Being mostly a programmer and an audio guy, visuals weren't our strong suit. I'm curious what they come up with. Basically we're blocking out a level and trying different styles on it. Different textures, textures blended with real photographs, or purely hand-painted textures. We'll see what we decide on.

So I guess there will be more news coming now that we established an internal team, defined a workflow, priorities and especially responsibilities. This took up most of the time of the past weeks. And I close this update with some new concept art we did for the game.

 

And the second concept art from the same series, done by our environmental modeler and concept artist Krystian Ślusarz.

 

We had some great motivational boosts in our team during the past few weeks. One of them was being featured on awesome online sites like:
PixelProspector: http://www.pixelprospector.com/son-of-nor/
Indie Games: http://indiegames.com/2012/06/upcoming_action-rpg_son_of_nor.html
Kotaku: http://kotaku.com/5917984/this-game-might-actually-get-force-powers-right
Rock, Paper, Shotgun: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/06/14/ooooo-son-of-nor-has-terraforming-fire-tornadoes/

Most people complained about the very mediocre visuals. And they were right, visuals sucked. We just completed our internal project to find THE visual style for Son of Nor and we began creating the first assets in that style. Our concept artist Krystian came up with this really cool hand-painted texture style.

Wall concept rendered in Unity


Pillar


Wall Light


But ... it's not easy coordinating an international team and there's still lots to be done for the game. If you'd like to take part in this endeavor or know somebody who would like to contribute to an ambitious project, WE'RE LOOKING FOR ADDITIONAL HANDS.

More specifically, we're looking for:

• Unity FX Artist
• Unity Level Designer
• 3D Animator
• Programmer

Go here to learn everything about it: http://stillalive-studios.com/join-us/

 

My jaw has made contact with the floor. You definitely have my attention with this game. Good luck!

 

This is like a more awesome version of Avatar - Airbenders etc. Good job, insta-buy when it comes out!

 

Looks AWESOME keep it up. Will it be free?

 

Those new assets look absolutely great, congrats!

 

wow! this project looks veeeery promising!

 

Thanks very much guys! You're so great! We take all the encouragement we can get! It's definitely not a walk in the park. But we're on it! And don't forget to spread the word that we're looking for cool people to join us

• Unity FX Artist
• Unity Level Designer
• 3D Animator
• Programmer

http://stillalive-studios.com/join-us/

 

We extended our list

We're looking for:

• Additional Concept Artist
• 3D Environment Artist (for hand-painted textures)
• FX Artist (Unity 3D)
• Level Designer (Unity 3D)
• 3D Human / Creature Animator
• Programmer

Care to have a look? Go here to learn everything about it: http://stillalive-studios.com/join-us/

 

I love tele and the game concept looks like fun. I'll keep an eye on it and hope there is kind of "long time ambition" to play.

 

Our last update was some time ago. We were busy since making our next milestone.

The focus of this milestone was to create the first part of our first chapter of the game and implement the new visual style we defined. Our artists created beautiful hand-painted textures as you'll see in the trailer.

On a technical side-note: There's some vertex painting involved for the big level mesh, we created a system for spawning dynamic light and shadow rays. There's a cool, new magic shield, the fire tornado was updated a little but actually not much was done on the FX side. Many props are still in the works. So, yeah, the focus was really the new level and textures.

Next up will be the main character and new animations, as well as new areas of our first chapter of the game.

Enjoy and we appreciate any feedback.

 

really awsome work!

 

The game really looks great,
the environment in your last video update is beautiful, and while the terrain retains the monolithic feel - like it is built out of sand and rock,
the houses in the village seem a little out of place. I maybe off the mark here, but sand houses traditionally do not take isolated cubicle forms,
they are hemispherical or mound-like with a larger base than top or interconnected if culbicle, (for better load distribution)
trying out a different model for the houses might be interesting.
but like i said, i might be off the mark completely, in which case feel free to ignore the feedback.

thanks.

 

very much lika tatooine in sw

ur char is also a bit umm ugly xd, and ur animations are weird lookin. u need more work on ur 3D (models and animation). if its going to be launched for pc / mac u could do 10xTimes better models also i would recomend more exaggerated spell casting animations while casting

 

@oleomingus: Thanks for that input. You're right actually about those houses. It was also kind of a time constraint we couldn't really integrate them for the video like we wanted. We have to check if we can do that now and add the extra geometry or if we decide to move on after all. I'll take your input to our next meeting after we return from GDC / gamescom Europe.

@Mander: As I said above: Next up will be the main character and new animations, as well as new areas of our first chapter of the game. So you are absolutely right in saying the main character looks ugly, moves clunky, casting animations are non-existent. That's the next thing we are going to address now that we finally found great animators who will help us out So, stay tuned!

Thanks for the input and moral support guys, we really appreciate it. It also seems the Unity forums are one of the most valuable sources for good comments. You're a great community! Thanks

 

It is great to know that the input helped. with such a responsive development process, i am sure your game will turn out great.
Good luck !

 

I look forward to seeing where this goes.

 

We start posting behind the scenes videos where we talk about the development of Son of Nor. If you're interested, watch our first developer diary on YouTube where our lead programmer talks about a light shaft generator we developed in Unity.

 

So,is the project still going?Post more updates,please
Its a great game so dont give up!

 

Sure this project is still going We're constantly working on it, releasing videos of bigger milestones we reached (last video was our milestone for GDC / gamescom in cologne) and now we started with dev diary videos to show you some details we're working on behind the scenes Stay tuned for more.

 

While we're just about to finish our next dev diary, I wrote a comprehensive blog post about a topic that is super essential: communication.

We're telling the inside story about the challenges we face with 16 distributed people and try to show solutions that worked for us so far: what collaboration tools do we use, what have we learned from working together over a distance. I you plan on adding people to your team as a dev, this is definitely worth a read!

Share your experience. What worked for you so far? Have you made a similar experience? This is so important that talking about it helps every indie dev not make the same mistakes over and over again.



http://stillalive-studios.com/2012/essential-indie-lessons-team-communication/

 

Will probably do well if you polish it up with fancy and shiny graphics and effects. Remidns me a lot of "Cell Factor"

 

We have a new Developer Diary up on our site. As we think sound is very important in a game, we spend much time trying to get the right mood to a place. Dev Diary #2 is about the ambient sound setup for our first game chapter. I hope you'll like it.
http://stillalive-studios.com/2012/dev-diary-2-ambient-sound-setup/

@ShadoX: Thanks for the feedback, yeah, we're still working on the GFX side of things

 

If you make sure the RPG aspect is well thought out and hammered into place and shape I think I'd love this game. Will try it out for sure.

 

This week, we:

• tweaked our dynamic water system
• added some vegetation
• played with vegetation settings for wind movement
• played around with modular rock formations to save time building levels
• there was some level blockout happening for other parts of this chapter
• drew concept art for character clothing in the game (interested in seeing the concepts? add a comment and I'll ask if I can publish them)

You can watch the latest Dev Diary #3 video, where our programmer Gauthier talks about his implementation of the dynamic water system in the game.



Please keep in mind that we're still looking for 3D environment modelers! Do you know somebody who'd be interested joining us? Go here: Join Us

 

Are the levels going to be open arenas?

 

No. It very much depends on the location and story. This "open arena" style area just happend to be the first one we created, but there will be more locations in the first chapter that are not an arena. Like underground tunnels and a temple.

 

What is it you're thinking about when saying collaboration?