The Earth Called

The Sea of Oblivion is erasing the Earth's stories, and it comes in hordes. A pixel action roguelite, alone or 2 to 5 on one screen.

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

The Earth Called, made by one person and a patient test bot. The Sea of Oblivion erases the Earth's stories in hordes. Borrow the Forms of legends, let your deck do the shooting, and bring up to four friends to one couch. The Sea doesn't mind the company.
https://t.co/RfvLx9J7Fy

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

@Tcatstar @malletbounds A, I think. A back-sprite spends its whole life being glanced at mid-fight, and the black outline survives a glance. B is the prettier one, which I realise is no help at all.

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

@astropelican A 3D engine in PICO-8, and now it has lighting on triggers. Some people make games. Some people talk a tiny console into things it was firmly told not to do. Lovely work.

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

Dev diary: for weeks a thin line kept flashing across our skill effects.

In 32-bit floats, sin(π) isn't zero. It's slightly negative. Raise that to the power 0.7 and you get NaN, and one vertex leaves for parts unknown.

Fixed in one place. It had been copied to 22.

#gamedev

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

Dev diary: on Wednesday we posted a dragon in chains. Here is how the rescue ends. Hold the ring and the chains snap, the dragon rises, and it breathes once across the horde for you. No speech. Just the breath.
https://t.co/RfvLx9J7Fy #indiedev #gamedev #pixelart

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

@mgpstudios An ENVIRONMENTAL stamp on a boss kill is the best sort of credit: the room did the work and you get the medal. That orange glow down the stone corridor is lovely, too.

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

@toweradecom Welcome cut to two sentences is the bravest line on that list. We have been taking words off our screens one at a time, and every removal made it better. Also, a shop that stops you panic-buying your own Cannons is a kind shop.

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

@DoodleWizards1 An eraser as the boss of a notebook world is perfect casting. It is the one thing in the pencil case that wants everyone gone. Our game has a sea that erases stories, so we feel a certain kinship with Pencil.

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

@Cut_22_ Letting a shot cancel it is the right call; nobody should die admiring their own camo. Fair point on third person too. Maybe the inspect is where the camo finally gets its close-up.

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

@luden_io Thank you. Coming from people who build automation roguelites, we will take "fun" as a professional opinion and frame it.

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

Up to five on one screen. Nidhogg below, and a dark room where only the lantern shows the floor. Stay close to whoever is carrying it. Choose that person carefully.

https://t.co/RfvLx9J7Fy
#indiedev #localcoop #roguelite

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

@WeVennStudios Both, sort of. There is one ceiling for the whole screen, and each loud family of cards gets a share inside it, so the loudest one waits a beat instead of the screen turning white. The hammer did not ask for special treatment. It just stopped being buried.

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

Dev diary: by chapter 4 the screen was five walls of water and lightning. Same room, same deck, before and after a volume cap on the loudest cards. The hammer is visible again. The walls are still there, they just take turns now. #indiedev #roguelite #pixelart

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

@goldfishgamesco Only a visual trace for now; the damage has already landed by the time the stone splits. Making the cracks matter is tempting, though. Broken ground under a horde sounds like the right kind of trouble.

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

Dev diary: the giant axe used to be a flat picture sliding across the floor. Now it hangs over the target, chops once and cracks the stone. Same kit, different verbs. https://t.co/RfvLx9J7Fy #indiedev #gamedev #pixelart

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

@NogitsuneGurl That is exactly the message we wanted the axe to send. It hangs there just long enough to be polite about it. Good luck with your magic effects; the hold before the hit is half the trick.

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

Dev diary, English build this time: a dragon in chains, a blue ring of ink, and one Seeker trying to stand still inside it. Standing still is the whole job. Everyone else in the room disagrees.
https://t.co/RfvLx9J7Fy #indiedev #gamedev #pixelart

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

New field event: a Guardian lies bound in a ring of ink. Hold the ring for twenty seconds while the horde objects, and the chains give. The dragon rises and breathes once across the field. No thank-you. None needed.
https://t.co/RfvLx9J7Fy #indiedev #gamedev #pixelart

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

@FiresquidGames Release day tomorrow, then. Good luck with it. Our bet from the relic side: players merge whatever they got twice, not whatever is best, because a duplicate feels like a hint. Curious whether your forge says the same.

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

Dev diary: what each weapon becomes when it awakens. Kojiro's returning blade comes back as a flock of swallows. The giant axe stays in the ground as split earth. Sopdet's star becomes a constellation. Thirty-four on paper so far. Paper never argues. #gamedev

[The Earth Called @The_EarthCalled]

@chalthechalk 'The descent begins' over Floor 1 is a lovely bit of drama for a speedrun. Running your own game against the clock is the cruellest QA there is: you know every shortcut and it still finds new ways to kill you. Any route you never meant to leave open?