Hello all. I wanted to share another update. I am working on a small "demo level" that I will put here, so everyone can download it and give me input. My goal is to have the demo ready by the end of the month. I want to make sure the demo-level works correctly in all aspects, and has a good visual quality, even if the visual quality of the final game will improve over time.



After that, I will make a longer part of the game and ask Steam to reactivate the purchase button (possibly in November). The game will still be an Early Access game, as I said in this other update: https://steamcommunity.com/ogg/684340/announcements/detail/3329864090505675740



After that, I will be updating the Early Access game with more parts of the game until it is finished.

Hello again, this is another of those short updates I provide as a way to make myself not go into silence, and make myself work on the game :D

I have been mostly fixing bugs and testing more stuff on the environments. I made some tiny changes to the room you saw previously, and I think these textures look better.

The first thing I have to show is this video. I was working on a "full room" with some platforming and a puzzle, and while I was testing the room I was running into a lot of bugs, so I spent a lot of time just fixing bugs. A problem the original game had was all the bugs, but this one will be bug free.
Lavinia is still missing a few animations and better "transitions" (for example, from standing to crouching) but I'm getting there. Also the hair looks pretty cool:

https://odysee.com/@TheDomaginarium:7/nightmare1:a?r=8Xd2qeSoJ1UsmFgjbdCFQPMaGSbgwx9Y

I also tried different textures for the room I showed previously. I'm using more "roman-style" textures this time, to make this closer to the Exham Priory cellars, and these look a lot better.





I also tried this other room, just to see how it would look with different lights, for a more "storage room" kind of environment. The room is completely empty and that sucks but I'll add props when I am more deep in development.

Hello again. This is another short update, but I seem to remember in one of the more recent posts I said I would post constant updates, even if they were short, just to keep the information flowing and to show development is moving forward.

During July I was doing a lot of things, fixing bugs and adding the last couple of moves. I was also doing some level design work and character work. Now I just wanted to show a quick preview of one of the locations.

In the last post I said I was going to base the game on The Rats in The Walls. The Exham Priori castle (the one in the story) is a gothic castle but the basement are more like roman structures, and other underground parts are made of roman and saxon ruins. I imagine it as if things were built one on top of another in "layers", and at the very last layer I imagine some combination of temple ruins and caves.

This is the post in case you missed it: https://steamcommunity.com/games/684340/announcements/detail/3329864090505675740

And since the upper part is a castle, I'm already imagining cool platforming in the castle rooms, to find secret areas and such.

This is a test of one of the environments. It still needs a loooooot of work, and more details (and a lot more damage because it looks too "clean") and a more interesting lighting. You can also see Lavinia in there (with a bunch of debug stuff on top).







Also in previous posts I mentioned her name was Lavinia as a reference to Lavinia Whateley, but this one is going to be Lavinia de la Poer. I was thinking about making Lavinia albino like Lavinia Whateley but I'm not entirely sure so right now I'm just keeping her blonde. Right now this is what she looks like.





And she's got Classic Lara curves =D

BTW now that I am looking at the girl, I'm not entirely sure about the hair style...

I'll post again when I make more progress on the environment, and I hope I can have a short playable soon!

Hello all and sorry for not posting sooner. I had been dealing with a few different things (work and life situations) but I am now posting a quick update.

The first update is that I finally figured out the story for the game. After reading a lot and doing other research, I finally decided the game will follow the plot of "The Rats in the Walls". I thought it would be cool for this "Lovecraftian Tomb Raider" to explore/platform an adaptation of the Exham Priory castle and all the horrors underneath. I think it's going to be cool.

My plan is to an adaptation, similar to what Richard Stanley did with The Color Out of Space, where he took the story but added his own characters (and from a previous announcement you know the name of this game's character is Lavinia)

I'll start working on some levels to test the gameplay and also work on the visuals. I'll put that small demo here and then, when I have a larger portion of the game I can re-enable the purchase button, since the game will still be in Early Access, but this time it WILL be finished.

Also, I changed the protagonist. This is the new one:


I have also been fixing some of the bugs in the platforming, but now it is all working. The real test will come when I make those first levels, though. I also added some "sliding ramp" functionality that could be very useful for chase sequences.







My goal is to have more updates, and something to play, soon.

Here's another quick update. I got a pack of animations, so I have been adding the animations to the character. I have pretty much all the animations, except for a couple that I will have to make manually, but I will add those after I import the final character model into the game (the one I have right now still needs a few tweaks).

I also have a first look at the protagonist. I think I said her name was going to be Lavinia (as a reference to Lavinia Whateley) in another post, but in case I didn't, her name will be Lavinia. In the "original" Nightmare game the plot was about twin sisters, and I still kinda like the idea, but I am not sure.

Here's a short video with some updates:

https://odysee.com/@TheDomaginarium:7/3dplatformeranimsandchar:e

Things are sloooooowly moving forward. I think it's now time to work on a real test level (a level that actually feels like a game level, with challenges, puzzles and all) to see how it all works together.

Hello again.

This is the (almost) complete move set. I just realized I missed a couple. Now I am testing the thing over and over to see it can go from one move to the next without any issues (for example, wall run-jump-grab bar or jump off bar-grab ledge).

Video:
https://odysee.com/@TheDomaginarium:7/3dplatformermoveset1:0?r=8Xd2qeSoJ1UsmFgjbdCFQPMaGSbgwx9Y

As I said in a previous post, I am using moves from both Classic Tomb Raider and Prince of Persia, but I want the "base gameplay mechanics" to be more like Classic Tomb Raider so, after I finish testing and fixing bugs (won't take long) I will spend some time making some grid level to define jump distances.

Soon I will start working on the character so I can make some animations and also a test level. I still need to figure out a new story but I am not sure how it should start. I like the idea of Classic Tomb Raider with a "she-Indiana Jones" kind of protagonist (and some Lovecraftian stories have explorers or researchers) but I also like the idea of the protagonist that just happened to be there when all stuff happens.

Hello all. Merry (delayed) Christmas and happy new year.
This is another small update to show off some moves. I think it won't be long until I can put a character (not the final character, but still a character that shows-off some of the moves better).

My goal is to have a move-set that combines Classic Tomb Raider and Prince of Persia. Right now I have running, walk toggle (running will be the default like Tomb Raider, and walking is performed holding a button), crouching, roll-to-crouch, hanging from a ledge and climbing up a ledge, running up a wall and jumping off the wall, running along a wall and jumping off the wall. I still need to make the "climb on top of short objects" move and then swing bar moves.

And then I need to make sure all of them work together and that you can go from one to another seamlessly (for example, running along a wall to grab a ledge) and also fix bugs.

This is a short video with the wall run and wall jump.

https://odysee.com/@TheDomaginarium:7/3dplatformerwallrunjump:8?r=8Xd2qeSoJ1UsmFgjbdCFQPMaGSbgwx9Y

Now, as I finish this part I will figure out the protagonist and the story!

If you played the current build and somehow managed to get past some bugs, you know there was a "chase sequence" and you had to perform a bunch of platforming moves. The idea was to have something like the Dahaka chase sequences in PoP Warrior Within.

One of the things I want is a horizontal wall run. Right now it's still a little buggy but it's kinda working. This is a short video of the cylinder doing some wall runs.

https://odysee.com/@TheDomaginarium:7/3dplatformerwallrunning:f

I know the video is not really a big deal, but I think posting these short clips keeps me engaged, and also the few comments or likes make me push forward to finish this game, and make it good.

Hoping I can reach a full playable in the next few months, with a character and all!

Hello all. Well, I finally have some news to share. I will mention different things in no particular order.

The first and most important, I have started to build the game in UE4. The mechanics will still be a combination of Classic Tomb Raider and the Prince of Persia "sands trilogy". Right now, I have a "character" that can hang from a ledge and move along it (as seen in the video), and also jump off the wall and climb up the ledge.

https://odysee.com/@TheDomaginarium:7/ezgif.com-gif-maker:79

My plan right now is to get all the programming done (to have a "character" cylinder that can run around, climb, wallrun and all that, and also a basic enemy) and then continue from there. It still won't go as fast as I would like because it's pretty much a weekends-project but I think I can get the mechanics finished fairly quickly.

I have been using Unreal Engine since early 2020 and I have learned a few nice things and have also improved my "workflow" a lot. For example I can get very realistic characters in UE4 now with "realistic hair" (like the image below) and I've also learned a lot about AI so I can make better enemies (I can't make super-amazing AI like your AAA super-games though).



Even if this is a reboot, the only clear thing is this is still going to be a "Lovecraftian Tomb Raider". I will worry about the story later, but I will be seeking advice from some Lovecraftians I know, to make sure the game feels truly Lovecraftian even if it's not directly adapting any story.

I still can't give an ETA but I hope things will start moving faster after I am done with the mechanics part. At some point after that I will upload an update, and when we have something that looks and plays nice we can see about opening purchases again (my goal is mid-2022) because I will definitely not be like "Hey! I have a moving cylinder, so the purchase button is enabled again!"

When I have another update (with another moving cylinder) I will post again.

Have a nice day!

Hi there. I'm just copy-pasting a response I just made in the forum a few minutes ago:

Hi there.
Yes, you are right, it's been a while. I'm not sure if you have read the announcements I posted (in the "news" section around here), so I'm going to give the quick summary:
The team abandoned the project in early 2017, I ran out of money, and, after almost a year of working on this game on my own I realized it was too buggy, so everything had to be rebuilt from scratch. I tried to "fix" the bugs, for example, fix the platforming, the navigation, but it's been impossible so rebuilding the game from scratch is the only option. At some point I began to try out some ideas (see the August 2018 update), and some are working (others aren't).

So, after a lot of thinking, I decided to do what I would have done if I had not been forced to release in early access: try a crowdfunding campaign so I can hire a new team to work on the game. If you see above, on november 2018 (a couple of posts above) I stated I was not going to involve other people in this game again, but I changed my mind because involving people is the only way to finish this game considering its current state (specially the part where it's very buggy).

I remember in one update I said I was broke. That's why I began to work on smaller games (for example, The Dreamlands: Aisling's Quest). Things are slightly better thanks to that game, but I am still not in a position where I can drop everything and work on the nightmare since I have bills to pay and family to take care of.

So, after that looooong explanation, it all depends on when I can get that new team.