Tuesday, April 19, 2016

What's Cooking at Tasty Stewdios? (Apr 2016)




Hey fans,

Over the past month we’ve been focusing on an ongoing effort to really hone the universe that Tasty Game 2 takes place in. This world is bursting at the seams with storytelling possibility and chock-full of colorful characters, and also needs to be the setting of a compelling game experience.

This world is known as The Passages- an entire universe contained within a magical storybook, and operates on fundamental laws of narrative. Like any good story, particularly awesome characters can live on in our hearts and minds forever. But in the world of the Passages, being the main character in a compelling story means literal actual for-realsies immortality- and everyone’s got their own idea of what “compelling” means.

One of the biggest challenges in worldbuilding is striking a balance between the novel and the relatable. When playing the game, we want players to be immersed in our world, but we also want them to understand what they are looking at and the gameplay implications of each piece. For example, when you see a paladin, you need to understand it’s bulky and functions as a tank. This is particularly of importance given the weight of each decision in turn-based strategy games.

A principle that we’ve kept in mind is an 85-15 split between the relatable and the weird. Simply put, the majority of any given piece should be mostly relatable and grounded in a commonly shared idea or fantasy of what something is. So let’s go over some concept art and see this idea in action.

Please keep in mind these are all concept art pieces. We’re using these for direction and inspiration, not as final production art. That said, we’re hella pumped about what we have to show today.




First up, let’s meet the Crusader class. We call them “knight cops”, and think that’s a great starting point. It’s our take on the prototypical armored-up tank class. In game, these are the guys you want on your side to protect your allies and lock down key foes. They’ve taken it on themselves to be the law. Etched on their shields are the laws they uphold- the law is literally their shield. And what happens to law-breakers? You get written a ticket, because this class isn’t about dishing out the pain. That’s for their allies to do.


Speaking of damage, here’s the Outlaw. These gunslinging hotshots are the epitome of the rule of cool in The Passages. Their every action is guided by a flair for the dramatic, so they’re armed with machine pistols and are all about making a bang. Outlaws are defined by their rock-star personalities and are totally into making high-risk, all-in plays that can pay off with fireworks. They’re gunning for worldwide fame, or going out in a blaze of glory.


In the Passages, an individual’s story is evaluated upon their demise- because every good story has to come to an end. But there are those who aren’t all on board the idea of martyrdom in the name of immortality.

Meet the Heretic. As their name might suggest. they aren’t super popular in the world of The Passages. This class is comprised of those who would dare use healing and protective magics to disrupt narrative tension during an exciting conflict. They wield a wide range of protective and disruptive magics for any party that would invite them in.


Look out, it’s the Lookout! (I’m not sorry)

With all these adventurers going around the world seeking fame in a bid for immortality, there’s a great need for guides and mentors. The Lookouts are grizzled explorers, well-traveled and well-versed in the dangerous game of wilderness survival. As the premier scouting class, you can expect them to have enemy position intel on lockdown, and to have your back in case of a sudden ambush.


Last piece for today- the Exorcist class. The concept of life and death is pivotal in the Passages, so of course there’s a group that’s absolutely obsessed with it. Creepy and mysterious, an Exorcist has wields debilitating and animating magics to feed their fascinations. There’s whispers that they can even raise the dead. Well, less whispers, and more zombie-esque groans from shambling husks that the Exorcists surround themselves with. Weird.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this first look at some of the character classes in Tasty Game 2 (we still haven’t settled on a title). Look for more concept art in our next indev update- we’re just getting started, and have only covered half of the classes we’ve got planned for the game thusfar. Stay tuned!


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