As things are going well for Dig or Die (575 reviews now, with 95% positives !), I'm thinking of hiring an artist to remake all the game visuals. Sprites, anims, backgrounds, UI - and most important, the art direction.

So if yourself (or someone you know), are interested by this task and think you have the skills, please send me an email to contact@gaddygames.com ! And if you have any question ask them as a comment here.

- Caution - this post is not a promise that this will be done. If I can't find the very good person to do the job, I'll keep my current arts. They satisfy me enough... But I feel that if the game had a better and more enchanting looking, it could improve so much the player experience, and take the game to a higher level...

About what I plan: I'll first finish the solo version (v0.2 update) with almost all the final game's art content. Then it will be the good time to redo all the arts, while myself will be doing the multiplayer. So that would be in August or September: nothing urgent here, for now I'm only looking for possibly interested contacts.
And very important: I'm talking of a real freelance job, with a correct pay (to be discussed), not a volunteer help. The duration would be about 1 or 2 full-time months, but that will depend of the final content and the arts design/quality proposed by the artist.


And here is some points about the design I whish for the game:
- No pixel art. Some are really beautiful but I think there are too many in indie games (by pixel art I mean a game that become horrible when rescaled or anti-aliased).
- The feeling should be calm, enchanting, alive (during the day - the night easily becomes stressful with the music & attacks).
- The design (and animations) will have to be "cost effective", fast to produce, as I have limited funds and time.
- I'll gladly discuss with the artist how to change some of the game technical rendering, to find compromises between technical constraints and final look.


Below are some my thoughts about some other games' art I find very interesting, so you might better understand what I've in mind for Dig or Die:

- Bastion: its design is very close to what I have in mind: colourful, joyful, very enchanting.



- Braid: I don't particularly like its overcharged design, but it's a very good example of an indie game that got a full relooking.


- Dofus: like Bastion, it really has the enchanting feeling I would like for Dig or Die



- Don't Starve: this game has such a special and original design! Even if i'm not sure I would be ready to go this far for Dig or Die, as it could repel a lot of player (and I've already a lot of gameplay mechanics that can repel players).


- Fez: I added it even if it's pixel art because it also has a very unique design.


- Gaia Defense: that's one of my old flash games. The arts were done by a very talented artist friend, Aurélien Marck . They are side-scrolling tile-based arts and very close to what could be done for Dig or Die. With a less dark design this could give something really nice.



- Machinarium: an example of a very original and unique design.


- Rayman: a classic that has a very joyful and enchanting looking.


- SteamWorld Dig: as Gaia Defense, a side-scrolling tile-based game that is very close to what I have in mind for Dig or Die.

As things are going well for Dig or Die (575 reviews now, with 95% positives !), I'm thinking of hiring an artist to remake all the game visuals. Sprites, anims, backgrounds, UI - and most important, the art direction.

So if yourself (or someone you know), are interested by this task and think you have the skills, please send me an email to contact@gaddygames.com ! And if you have any question ask them as a comment here.

- Caution - this post is not a promise that this will be done. If I can't find the very good person to do the job, I'll keep my current arts. They satisfy me enough... But I feel that if the game had a better and more enchanting looking, it could improve so much the player experience, and take the game to a higher level...

About what I plan: I'll first finish the solo version (v0.2 update) with almost all the final game's art content. Then it will be the good time to redo all the arts, while myself will be doing the multiplayer. So that would be in August or September: nothing urgent here, for now I'm only looking for possibly interested contacts.
And very important: I'm talking of a real freelance job, with a correct pay (to be discussed), not a volunteer help. The duration would be about 1 or 2 full-time months, but that will depend of the final content and the arts design/quality proposed by the artist.


And here is some points about the design I whish for the game:
- No pixel art. Some are really beautiful but I think there are too many in indie games (by pixel art I mean a game that become horrible when rescaled or anti-aliased).
- The feeling should be calm, enchanting, alive (during the day - the night easily becomes stressful with the music & attacks).
- The design (and animations) will have to be "cost effective", fast to produce, as I have limited funds and time.
- I'll gladly discuss with the artist how to change some of the game technical rendering, to find compromises between technical constraints and final look.


Below are some my thoughts about some other games' art I find very interesting, so you might better understand what I've in mind for Dig or Die:

- Bastion: its design is very close to what I have in mind: colourful, joyful, very enchanting.



- Braid: I don't particularly like its overcharged design, but it's a very good example of an indie game that got a full relooking.


- Dofus: like Bastion, it really has the enchanting feeling I would like for Dig or Die



- Don't Starve: this game has such a special and original design! Even if i'm not sure I would be ready to go this far for Dig or Die, as it could repel a lot of player (and I've already a lot of gameplay mechanics that can repel players).


- Fez: I added it even if it's pixel art because it also has a very unique design.


- Gaia Defense: that's one of my old flash games. The arts were done by a very talented artist friend, Aurélien Marck . They are side-scrolling tile-based arts and very close to what could be done for Dig or Die. With a less dark design this could give something really nice.



- Machinarium: an example of a very original and unique design.


- Rayman: a classic that has a very joyful and enchanting looking.


- SteamWorld Dig: as Gaia Defense, a side-scrolling tile-based game that is very close to what I have in mind for Dig or Die.

I'm now working on the first major update v0.1!
My first work has been to add pressure to the water simulation. As you can see in this .gif, structures can now be broken by the pressure force, and the water level can rise if pushed by pressure from below. And it makes the water flow much more smoothly: no more "sloping sea".

After that i've worked on the performances optimisation and multi-threading support.
Do not hesitate to follow me on Twitter and Tumblr, you so can get daily posts on the development progress.

I'm now working on the first major update v0.1!
My first work has been to add pressure to the water simulation. As you can see in this .gif, structures can now be broken by the pressure force, and the water level can rise if pushed by pressure from below. And it makes the water flow much more smoothly: no more "sloping sea".

After that i've worked on the performances optimisation and multi-threading support.
Do not hesitate to follow me on Twitter and Tumblr, you so can get daily posts on the development progress.

Here is a new minor update! It should be the last one before the first major update v0.1.
So from today i'll fully work on new features & content! Follow me on Twitter or Tumblr to get daily news of the development progress!


GENERAL:
- During the night, spawn much less often monsters that can't reach the player... It should make the floating-base trick much less effective.
- During the day, monsters don't become aggressive if they can't see the player (from 8 blocs), hear it shooting/digging (from 10 blocs) or be very close (2 blocks). Do not hesitate to give me feedback about this little infiltration feature.
- Add an UI icon for all passive items currently in use (Armor, Flashlight, Miniaturizor)
- Add Spanish translation )

BUG FIXES:
- Fix a crash that happened after 29 hours of play (I should have tested the game longer !!)
- Fix a big performance issue when there are a lot of blocks with physics. Now 7 times faster.
- Doesn't black-freeze anymore if localization file not found (the bug occured for Spanish players).
- Fix the pause menu that didn't really pause the game

BALANCE:
- Add 4 metal scraps at start to be able to build the AutoBuilder MK2 if we built another MK1 and 6 turrets.

MINOR CHANGES:
- Corrections for some chinese & italian text
- Change the version numbering (adding a build number for hotfix)
- Heal shortcut now use the weakest potion of the item bar

Here is a new minor update! It should be the last one before the first major update v0.1.
So from today i'll fully work on new features & content! Follow me on Twitter or Tumblr to get daily news of the development progress!


GENERAL:
- During the night, spawn much less often monsters that can't reach the player... It should make the floating-base trick much less effective.
- During the day, monsters don't become aggressive if they can't see the player (from 8 blocs), hear it shooting/digging (from 10 blocs) or be very close (2 blocks). Do not hesitate to give me feedback about this little infiltration feature.
- Add an UI icon for all passive items currently in use (Armor, Flashlight, Miniaturizor)
- Add Spanish translation )

BUG FIXES:
- Fix a crash that happened after 29 hours of play (I should have tested the game longer !!)
- Fix a big performance issue when there are a lot of blocks with physics. Now 7 times faster.
- Doesn't black-freeze anymore if localization file not found (the bug occured for Spanish players).
- Fix the pause menu that didn't really pause the game

BALANCE:
- Add 4 metal scraps at start to be able to build the AutoBuilder MK2 if we built another MK1 and 6 turrets.

MINOR CHANGES:
- Corrections for some chinese & italian text
- Change the version numbering (adding a build number for hotfix)
- Heal shortcut now use the weakest potion of the item bar

I just released a new minor update:

GENERAL:
- Add localization in French, Chinese, Portuguese-Brazil, German and Italian. You can choose your language in the steam properties of the game. And you are most welcome to help translating into other languages! Check the game local files to get the localizations files and send me your translation to contact@gaddygames.com, i'll add your language to the game and thank you very much!
- Steamworks is now implemented to get the game selected language.
- We can now place dirt. But only above natural background, to fill a hole. And you cannot replace broken stone either. Otherwise all the physics challenges would become useless.

BUG FIXES:
- Fix the cut sounds very annoying bug, and the fall sound stereo bug
- Fix a big lag in the world generation (growing plants part), and ingame (but less visible) too .
- Remove the fishes initial damage
- Cannot place backwalls behind a block anymore
- Try to avoid big perfect packs of monsters (where you though there were only 1 and in fact there were 20 packed together)

BALANCE:
- Add one metals crap (it means one more turret and no more stuck with not enough metal left to build the AutoBuilder MK2... unless you build the MK1...)
- Player is now slowed down when falling through platforms

MINOR CHANGES:
- Fix a bug with AI messages displayed too early
- [E] can be pressed from a bit further away
- Air bar now displays over the character
- Fix AI message display first-frame bug
- Saving during the night quits menu so we can read the message
- Music paused when game is minimized
- Properly display the grass border over the dirt border



Now i'm going to start working on the first major update v0.1!

***
Edit: now v0.058 with Italian and German!

I just released a new minor update:

GENERAL:
- Add localization in French, Chinese, Portuguese-Brazil, German and Italian. You can choose your language in the steam properties of the game. And you are most welcome to help translating into other languages! Check the game local files to get the localizations files and send me your translation to contact@gaddygames.com, i'll add your language to the game and thank you very much!
- Steamworks is now implemented to get the game selected language.
- We can now place dirt. But only above natural background, to fill a hole. And you cannot replace broken stone either. Otherwise all the physics challenges would become useless.

BUG FIXES:
- Fix the cut sounds very annoying bug, and the fall sound stereo bug
- Fix a big lag in the world generation (growing plants part), and ingame (but less visible) too .
- Remove the fishes initial damage
- Cannot place backwalls behind a block anymore
- Try to avoid big perfect packs of monsters (where you though there were only 1 and in fact there were 20 packed together)

BALANCE:
- Add one metals crap (it means one more turret and no more stuck with not enough metal left to build the AutoBuilder MK2... unless you build the MK1...)
- Player is now slowed down when falling through platforms

MINOR CHANGES:
- Fix a bug with AI messages displayed too early
- [E] can be pressed from a bit further away
- Air bar now displays over the character
- Fix AI message display first-frame bug
- Saving during the night quits menu so we can read the message
- Music paused when game is minimized
- Properly display the grass border over the dirt border



Now i'm going to start working on the first major update v0.1!

***
Edit: now v0.058 with Italian and German!

And here is a new update! Please tell me if anything is broken, as I updated the project to Unity 5 there could be unexpected behaviors (I hope not!).

GENERAL:
- Project updated to Unity 5
- 2 new musics for the night!

BUG FIXES:
- Health bars for turrets now properly displayed, and turrets are healed by healing turrets.
- Water surfaces doesn't disappear anymore. At least i found and destroyed you, you nasty bug!
- You cannot shoot through a block anymore (well in rare cases you still can, but it's much better now!)
- Fix bug when saving/loading during rocket take-off, or when you get hit during take-off
- Do not bug as hell anymore when spamming F9 keys. And F9 now works in the loading screen.
- Turrets should better handle monsters when they are out of screen. I think they were taking advantage of you being away to take a nap.

BALANCE:
- Repair turret: heal much slower, but with a greater range. It should not prevent enemies from destroying walls, but just help you repairing them.
- Rocket-jump effect doesn't occur anymore if you shoot up, to prevent unexpected and frustrating deaths.
- The first day start a little earlier to give a little more time to prepare the first night.
- Monsters stay in place longer when player goes away with a teleporter (they await your return!)

MINOR CHANGES:
- AI ship help: a lot of typos have been fixed and sentences have been improved. Thanks again Mackenzie!
- Sky goes dark when raining, and rain looks a bit more heavy.
- Iron support recipe update (1 gives 1 instead of 2 gives 2, that had no sense).
- The crack picture now shakes in the same time of its block
- Double-clic on an item in the inventory (or crafting it) add it in the item bar and select it
- Add the Autobuilder MK1 craft recipe (in itself)

Now i've still a few minor modifs to work on, and then I should be able to start working on the first major update v0.1!

And here is a new update! Please tell me if anything is broken, as I updated the project to Unity 5 there could be unexpected behaviors (I hope not!).

GENERAL:
- Project updated to Unity 5
- 2 new musics for the night!

BUG FIXES:
- Health bars for turrets now properly displayed, and turrets are healed by healing turrets.
- Water surfaces doesn't disappear anymore. At least i found and destroyed you, you nasty bug!
- You cannot shoot through a block anymore (well in rare cases you still can, but it's much better now!)
- Fix bug when saving/loading during rocket take-off, or when you get hit during take-off
- Do not bug as hell anymore when spamming F9 keys. And F9 now works in the loading screen.
- Turrets should better handle monsters when they are out of screen. I think they were taking advantage of you being away to take a nap.

BALANCE:
- Repair turret: heal much slower, but with a greater range. It should not prevent enemies from destroying walls, but just help you repairing them.
- Rocket-jump effect doesn't occur anymore if you shoot up, to prevent unexpected and frustrating deaths.
- The first day start a little earlier to give a little more time to prepare the first night.
- Monsters stay in place longer when player goes away with a teleporter (they await your return!)

MINOR CHANGES:
- AI ship help: a lot of typos have been fixed and sentences have been improved. Thanks again Mackenzie!
- Sky goes dark when raining, and rain looks a bit more heavy.
- Iron support recipe update (1 gives 1 instead of 2 gives 2, that had no sense).
- The crack picture now shakes in the same time of its block
- Double-clic on an item in the inventory (or crafting it) add it in the item bar and select it
- Add the Autobuilder MK1 craft recipe (in itself)

Now i've still a few minor modifs to work on, and then I should be able to start working on the first major update v0.1!