Bloodstone - The Journey Home : News

Bloofdstone Release Version 1.0.1.1317

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:53:40 +0200

The time has come, "Bloodstone - The Journey Home" is now available for download...

Bloodstone - First Gameplay Trailer

Tue, 27 May 2008 21:32:41 +0200

[html] Hello everybody,

as promised, here is something to shorten the wait for the release of Bloodstone next week. The first gameplay trailer shows you a number of features such as the map, quest journal, inventory and the dialogue system during our tutorial.

We hope you will like it. You can watch the trailer on veoh too.

your Greenhorn Productions Team
Bloodstone ModDB Profile
Greenhorn Productions
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Bloodstone Release Close

Fri, 16 May 2008 14:15:23 +0200

[html] Hello everybody,

we're now very close to releasing Bloodstone. Just a few minor fixes left to do. Here is what it looks like at the moment:

The release date is set for June 5th and you can be assured to get a few more bits of information to shorten the wait.

We are proud of what we've produced so far and we hope you will like it,

your Greenhorn Productions Team
Bloodstone ModDB Profile
Greenhorn Productions

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Giant Insects and the search for a sound effect designer

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 16:37:49 +0100

This time we are going to show you our recently enclosed giant insects. Also we are looking for a sound effects designer to join our team and fill the country of Darynia with effects.

Media Update: Wolf

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 03:27:32 +0100

[html] Hello again,

Firstly we would like to apologize for the delay of the updates that we promised. This is due to an extremely high work load at the moment and other university assignments that are due in around now. Unfortunately this means the updates have to take a back seat at the moment.

We will be working hard on getting more updates up in the coming weeks. Including a large update containing some more of the monsters you will be encountering in Bloodstone: the journey home.

In the mean time here is the wolf model to keep you guys interested. I think it shows off the stylized and colourful aesthetic we are attempting with the creatures in the game.

Thanks for your understanding and keep checking back there is more coming soon.

Adam Sinclair
Greenhorn Productions
Bloodstone modDB
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Media Update: Flying Creature

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 19:25:18 +0100

[html] Hello people,

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and thanks to everyone who has continued to support our mod by voting in phase 2 for the MOTY awards.

Well I would like to introduce you to one of our creatures that exist in the world of Darynia, the friendly, well not that friendly, Flying Creature.

As you can see the initial concept is in the top left hand corner of the screen.Thanks to Adam our lead artist for providing us with a snippet of the bestiary that will be within our game.

Thanks again for reading, and continue to enjoy the holidays while they last!

Rich
Game Designer
Greenhorn Productions
modDB [/html]

Art Update 2: Environmental Art

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 19:17:48 +0100

[html] Hello everybody,

the last Art Update was about the weapons in Bloodstone and I know we promised you some creatures, but Adam is working on them as you read this so no worries, they'll be on here just after christmas. This one will instead give you a view into the environments of Bloodstone.

Darynia, the world of Bloodstone, is a bright and happy world with an ever blue sky and beautiful colours all around. These are the latest impressions of Darynia and you are among the first people to have a look at our new valley level:

Finally a thanks to everyone who voted for us in the MotY 2007 Awards and helped us to reach the 2nd round as one of the top 100 unreleased mods. Now we would like to ask you to please vote for us in the 2007 Mod of the Year Awards - Phase 2, where we can be found in the "unreleased" category as a Half-Life 2 mod.

Merry Christmas to everyone and thanks a lot for reading!

Greenhorn Productions
Bloodstone modDB [/html]

Game Design Update 2: It’s not what you think…

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 19:08:20 +0100

[html] Hello Again!

Well the time has come to deliver another game design update with regards to the mod Bloodstone-The Journey Home.

Within this update I’m going to give a deeper insight into some of our design features, mainly the Creature Levelling System. Firstly though I would like to thank everyone who has visited the website and the mod page, especially the people who have decided to watch, comment or vote for the mod.

In the last update I mentioned that creatures level up intelligently with the player (Creature Levelling System), and that it wasn’t what you thought. Well, let me explain what I mean when I say ‘intelligently’.

Firstly let me divulge to you the reasoning and background as to why, as the game designer for Bloodstone, I felt it necessary to implement this feature in order to enhance the gameplay for the player.

As a player of many role-playing games over the last 15 years, I always found that venturing into new areas far beyond the scope of my initial level 1 character was fascinating and exciting. Even though invariably I would end up being surrounded by a horde of evil bloodthirsty level 20 creatures, it gave me a drive and enthusiasm to reach the heights of their power and come back at a later date to inflict my revenge. This ‘level barrier’ as I like to call it, is kind of an invisible wall, preventing the player from reaching areas that they should not be able to reach at an early stage of the game.

If you play MMORPG’s such as World of Warcraft or Dark Age of Camelot, or offline RPG’s such as the original Baldur’s Gate, this ‘level barrier’ is in place. It allows the developers to control the player by keeping them in particular areas or zones, while also allowing players to set their own goals within the game; whether that is to inflict their revenge on the creatures that shattered their glorified dreams, or just to see what’s beyond that horizon. Some of the sharp readers out there will now be thinking, ‘level barriers’, doesn’t having creatures level up with the player kind of negate that?? Well let me explain further the intricacies of the CLS. The CL system is based upon the player’s enemies levelling and unlocking new skills as the player levels. This means that the player could encounter the same creature 5 levels later, and it would be stronger and have new skills, giving the player an increased and varied challenge throughout the game.

The system works by using a simple formula:

Min =< (Level + X) =< Max

Where Min is the creature’s minimum level, Level is the player’s current level, X is the amount of levels that the creature is higher than the player, and Max is the creature’s level cap.

So using the following formula:

5 =< (8+2) =< 15

This shows that the player is level 8 and has encountered a creature that is two levels higher than him at level 10. The creature has a minimum level of 5 and a level cap of 15, meaning that this particular creature would only start levelling once the player had reached level 4, and would stop levelling when the player reached level 13, as it would have attained its level cap of 15. The creature level cap is in place so that the player can still feel a sense of progression as they level up, while still allowing an increased challenge from the enemies they face. The minimum level restraint is in place so that certain creatures around the world will be at a certain level of toughness, preventing the player from reaching ‘high level content’ at very early levels (‘level barrier’). This will allow the player to explore the environment and set their own boundaries depending on how high level their character is. This will also provide incentives for the player to level up so that they can come back later in the game and pass these invisible boundaries by conquering the initially tough creatures present there.

As creatures level up using the CL system, they also unlock different skills and acquire new names. This allows player’s to easily identify if a creature is much higher level than them, and face an increasing challenge as the new skills are brought against them. So I hope everyone understands how the CLS will work, and I apologise for it being so long. I thank everyone who actually read it all, and I will leave you with an example of one of our creatures:

Skeleton
Min Level: 1
Max Level: 16
Level Difference: +1
Level Prefix: Shabby (1-4); Tattered (5-9); Rotting (10-15); Decrepid (15-16)

Starting Stats:
Strength: 58
Constitution: 69
Intelligence: 50
Hit Points: 250
Inner Power: 275
Attack Power: 29
Spell Power: 25
Absorbance: 8.13%
Armour Factor: 12
Damage Range: 28 – 51
Attack Speed: 4.3
Experience: 61

Yes there are a lot of stats, and yes, it did take me about 2 weeks to do all of the stats for every level of every creature in the game. Have a happy holiday and thanks for reading!

Rich
Game Designer
Greenhorn Productions
modDB

p.s. watch out for some renders of our creatures in the next few days from our resident lead artist Adam, and the next instalment of Game Design Updates from me! [/html]

Art Update: Weapons for Bloodstone

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 19:06:57 +0100

[html] Hey Guys,

The site has just been updated with a few more images, including the concept art for the weapons and some near-finished weapon models that will appear in Bloodstone – The Journey Home.

The concepts art for the weapons was created by our talented technical artist, Dave Walker. When creating the models and textures for the weapons I tried to stay as true the concept art as possible. I used the same colourful designs which will fit in with the bright and colourful world of Darynia. I also added normal maps and other shaders to make the weapons something to behold.

Keep a look out for an update showing renders of some of the monsters you’ll encounter in Bloodstone - The Journey Home, which will be arriving soon. Also, I'll add renders of the Zelorian energy based sword as soon as it’s ready.

Thanks for reading,
Adam
Greenhorn Productions
Bloodstone modDB

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