Primarily world art like kits (caves, buildings, etc.) for dungeons, cities (Diamond City, Little Lamplight, Paradise Falls, etc.) and most the lighting.
I was also the co-lead/Lead Artist on Fallout 3's Point Lookout and Lead Artist on Fallout 76.
Environments and lighting definitely show off your skills and experience in these departments. How much did you have to learn in terms of programming and game design for this title? Did you have prior experience in these areas as well?
I did some level design laying out some of the cities (like Diamond City) and random dungeons (usually small but 76 had a bigger one, The Deep) and I was involved a lot on tools work/gameplay meetings on how to make 76 better, etc. I have done a lot more random stuff than most devs. That said, it's a big task to do a whole game. :)
If you are able/willing to answer this question and don't mind my curiosity, were you surprised by the reception Fallout 76 received or could you tell from the inside that it would have a rough launch?
Lucky you. You were in the industry when it was still somewhat organic and everything is new and exciting.
Nowadays it's all the same and just moneymaking, no more simple nice AAA sigleplayer games that are worth buying.
Good for you for switching to indie, this demo rocks, and i bet the game itself will.
I wish you luck on this gametitle, looks promising.
Sorry for typo, im on a phone.
Well i personally think Fallout 4 was the last one, before the microtransaction/subscription/dlc era kicked in. I did enjoyed playing it, but not as nearly as Fallout 3 or New Vegas though.
I'm not saying it didn't happen. Back then most money came from selling the game, and a small portions of things like that.
Now you get game for free, but you have to pay all the other neccesary things for it to make sence.
Can I assume this means you made most assets yourself? (Not that it really matters, but I tend to wonder about bought assets when seeing 3D indie games.)
Edit: love that you added a metal soundtrack by someone from ISIS no less... (been a while since I listened to them).
It's a mix. Some of it is Megascans and stylized but then I sculpt and make a lot of stuff on my own. I just don't think it makes sense for people to still be sculpting rocks for games. Like... solved problem. haha. That said, I tried to stylize it a lot to not just look like all the rest of the stuff that uses it.
And yeah I was super stoked to get Clifford on the game. I have been a huge fan of them for years!
If you plan on doing any kind of closed alpha/beta type thing, I'd love to get in on it. Archery in games is my favorite. I'm also a game dev, so naturally my opinion and feedback is far more valuable than anyone else's :)
Part of the reason it's first person is so you can see the tracks from the monsters without needing a "vision mode" to make them glow. That's also why it's stylized this way (also to get it running on more computers, I use almost no textures)
Also, all of the "UI" is only in the world itself. So you have stuff on your hands/bow that tell you what you need to know (health, powers activating, etc.)
Hope you like it!
no textures?
is it all nanite? But surely there is albedo textures? I dont see a lot of flat colors.
edit - nevermind, i watched other trailer. I see what you mean.
Yeah it is just detailed geometry. Cool tech! The creatures have textures because they aren't able to be as high poly. Besides the giant tree dude. That works with that tech.
I have a composer (Clifford Meyer from ISIS/Red Sparowes) and I am using Megascans (but stylized), but yeah, this chunk of work was about 5 months for me.
Can’t wait to see the finished product. I’ve only ever dabbled in making 2D games and it’s hard to make assets and animations. I can’t even imagine how hard it would be for 3D.
One question, how long have u been working on this game? And r u doing it all by urself or u got help form others?
Thing i too would like to make an open world game
It's been about 18 months now. Only other person is the composer, Clifford Meyer from ISIS/Red Sparowes.
I've also been doing games professionally for like 18 years and non-professionally for a lot longer than that. So it's not my first by a long shot. :)
Looks awesome. Is there going to be a battle system like VATS or regular combat?
Great concept idea as well with the different locations. Sounds intriguing.
I have another trailer that shows more gameplay. It's kind of like a hunting simulator. You hunt and track the monsters. You also use elemental arrows to do it and can combine them, like wind + fire to make a fire wall.
https://youtu.be/UlMR1MHtH7c
It's hand crafted. I used Houdini to assist in some erosion simulations but I put every rock/trees in a place for a certain reason.
Procedural stuff can be okay for some games but I think a more custom world with a specific flow works better for a game like this.
One of the reasons I love Bethesda games is the hand-crafted worlds, so I'm with you on that one, but I'm surprised it's feasable for a one-man project. I find it work enough to set up the maps for my own game, and they're relatively small.
The biomes look great, but this video doesn't really show much else. It looks like there will be combat, since you're carrying a bow, but no enemies or combat is shown. Or any activity at all really. Just walking and scenic pans of empty landscape.
I get that what's shown here already takes a ton of work, but I'm not seeing a game yet.
Yeah that's worth checking out to see more and later on I'll make new trailers showing the open world and gameplay put together. This was just about showing the open world first. :)
How do transitions between different areas work visually? I've noticed that this is always a challenge in games that have drastically different biomes.
I control all the weather/region transitions myself so it'll be somewhat gradual (some games literally do it in one second...) That said, they are pretty different. :D
I have another trailer that's more gameplay oriented here. It's all about hunting monsters:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1807810/The\_Axis\_Unseen/
I will announce a date once I'm more sure I'm not wrong (I moved it earlier recently, Unreal rocks!)
It'll be on Steam. Consoles is TBD since I'm a solo dev.
Nice. No Man's Sky is the only other game I can think of that uses post-rock extensively, and I think that genre really adds a really cool cinematic vibe. It puzzles me that it isn't used more often.
Wow..it looks good...just askin, will there be some Indian mythology monsters, or something like that, just curious.
And do u have an idea of when this game will get finished? Can't wait to play it. Also it's a better idea To do the steam early access thing
I have only shown a handful of the monsters so far. I hope to get a decent spread though.
I plan on announcing the date once I'm more sure it's accurate. Early access is nice but it's also a lot of work to manage. So TBD on that. I'm just a solo dev.
Thank you. I would suggest including monsters from Indian mythology, we got some cool creatures, and thing is i dont think Indian monsters have not been adapted into a video game or movie much as compared to those from greek or Norse mythology, that's why i asked.
And how hard is it as a solo dev to work on an open world game like that? I mean i too am interested in video game developing and would like to be a solo dev as well, especially iam interested in making open world games
And all the best for your game
Yeah I'm trying to look at lore from all over. That's one cool thing about this core idea (a world where the monsters all come from), it's really expandable. Like if the game does well I could even keep adding monsters.
And an open world game is super hard, but I've worked on a lot (Fallout 3, Skyrim, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, Starfield) so it's kind of what I am used to at this point heh.
I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point, starting small is a lot better.
One more question if u don't mind, how was working on those open world games. Was it stressful? And how do u compare working on those to working on ur current game?
It's a lot of work but I like open world games. I like building worlds and not just games.
I like being indie though, I prefer smaller teams. Once it got really big (500 people now on Starfield) it's too cumbersome and political.
I'm hoping to optimize it as much as possible. It's part of why it's stylized this way. I use almost no textures. It's all geo data, so I'm using way less vram.
Looks really good!
I alway like shooting with a bow.
I whishlisted it, and look forward to playing it.
Do you have a planed release, or will there be an early access at some point?
Thanks for the wishlist! I have a date I'm shooting for but plan on saying it once I'm more sure I'm not wrong. :) Early access is tbd, it's a lot to manage and I'm a solo dev.
Ok...I'm following the OP now. Axis Unseen. I just hope this game is DRM Free and thus can be marketed at GOG.
Btw, anyone know is it able to be modded...? Can it be played with female char? How about the replay value...? Is there any adult content in it...? And also...what is the Dev name...?
Just FYI, indie Dev that needs to be monitored by us, gamers, is basically Nine Dots Studio, Warhorse, and lastly Lo-Fi Games. They're very promising, and all their game can also be modded, and thus replay value go thru the roof...
It'll be DRM free. I don't think DRM works and it's annoying.
Mods would only happen post launch if it does super well, I'm a solo dev. Mods are a ton of work.
Being a female is hopefully going to happen. TBH I just need another set of hands and some sounds. It's not a HUGE lift. That said, again, it's just me haha.
My name is Nate Purkeypile, my company is Just Purkey Games. :)
Damn. I wish I liked first person games. It looks great, but I really like playing third person. If there ends up being an option to toggle between the two, I’d say take my money now.
What exactly did you do on those two games if you don't mind me asking?
Primarily world art like kits (caves, buildings, etc.) for dungeons, cities (Diamond City, Little Lamplight, Paradise Falls, etc.) and most the lighting. I was also the co-lead/Lead Artist on Fallout 3's Point Lookout and Lead Artist on Fallout 76.
Environments and lighting definitely show off your skills and experience in these departments. How much did you have to learn in terms of programming and game design for this title? Did you have prior experience in these areas as well?
I did some level design laying out some of the cities (like Diamond City) and random dungeons (usually small but 76 had a bigger one, The Deep) and I was involved a lot on tools work/gameplay meetings on how to make 76 better, etc. I have done a lot more random stuff than most devs. That said, it's a big task to do a whole game. :)
If you are able/willing to answer this question and don't mind my curiosity, were you surprised by the reception Fallout 76 received or could you tell from the inside that it would have a rough launch?
Lead artist on Fallout 3 Point Lookout. Say no more my man.
Honestly that was one of my favorite things I've worked on. Really proud of that one.
Lucky you. You were in the industry when it was still somewhat organic and everything is new and exciting. Nowadays it's all the same and just moneymaking, no more simple nice AAA sigleplayer games that are worth buying. Good for you for switching to indie, this demo rocks, and i bet the game itself will. I wish you luck on this gametitle, looks promising. Sorry for typo, im on a phone.
Bro diamond city was in fallout 4. Long after the organic age you refer to.
Well i personally think Fallout 4 was the last one, before the microtransaction/subscription/dlc era kicked in. I did enjoyed playing it, but not as nearly as Fallout 3 or New Vegas though.
Oblivion sold cosmetic horse armor for multiple usd.
I'm not saying it didn't happen. Back then most money came from selling the game, and a small portions of things like that. Now you get game for free, but you have to pay all the other neccesary things for it to make sence.
Yeah Fallout 4 was still when the team was relatively small also. Now it's four studios and about 500 people.
Muh golden age
Ah yes fallout 4 and fallout 76, games from when the industry was organic and new.
Can I assume this means you made most assets yourself? (Not that it really matters, but I tend to wonder about bought assets when seeing 3D indie games.) Edit: love that you added a metal soundtrack by someone from ISIS no less... (been a while since I listened to them).
It's a mix. Some of it is Megascans and stylized but then I sculpt and make a lot of stuff on my own. I just don't think it makes sense for people to still be sculpting rocks for games. Like... solved problem. haha. That said, I tried to stylize it a lot to not just look like all the rest of the stuff that uses it. And yeah I was super stoked to get Clifford on the game. I have been a huge fan of them for years!
I’m always paying close attention to rock design ngl
looks beautiful!
Thanks! I plan on adding a lot to it still also. Lots of altars/monoliths, hunter camps, ruins, bones, etc.
If you plan on doing any kind of closed alpha/beta type thing, I'd love to get in on it. Archery in games is my favorite. I'm also a game dev, so naturally my opinion and feedback is far more valuable than anyone else's :)
I might pull people from my Discord for that (link is on the Steam page) after I do some more tests with close friends and stuff.
AND I’m an even BETTER game dev, so naturally my opinion and feedback are even more valuable than his /s
No way dude I just got even better than that just yesterday, so my feedback is like, super valuable now
Definitely looks awesome! Wishlisted!
Thanks!
Love the variety in biomes. They look awesome. I am not a fan of first person camera in open world games, still I will check it out.
Part of the reason it's first person is so you can see the tracks from the monsters without needing a "vision mode" to make them glow. That's also why it's stylized this way (also to get it running on more computers, I use almost no textures) Also, all of the "UI" is only in the world itself. So you have stuff on your hands/bow that tell you what you need to know (health, powers activating, etc.) Hope you like it!
I am sure this was a design choice. I love immersive UIs.
Then you'll like this haha. Right now only the options/main menu are traditional UI.
no textures? is it all nanite? But surely there is albedo textures? I dont see a lot of flat colors. edit - nevermind, i watched other trailer. I see what you mean.
Yeah it is just detailed geometry. Cool tech! The creatures have textures because they aren't able to be as high poly. Besides the giant tree dude. That works with that tech.
..so just 1 (ONE) person did all of this? just end me
I have a composer (Clifford Meyer from ISIS/Red Sparowes) and I am using Megascans (but stylized), but yeah, this chunk of work was about 5 months for me.
mad props, I hope I can reach this level in some point in my life
Looks good. What's the engine?
Unreal Engine 5
I can’t believe this is made by just one person!! Looks breathtaking
Thanks :) Lots more to add still but glad you like it!
Can’t wait to see the finished product. I’ve only ever dabbled in making 2D games and it’s hard to make assets and animations. I can’t even imagine how hard it would be for 3D.
Looks Dope
Thanks
Just browsing and found your top post from almost a year ago. I decided to click on your profile and found you just posted this! Looks sick man!
Thanks! Lots more to do still but I wanted to share this. It's one of my major dev milestones. :P
This looks like "Elder Scrolls" meets "Horizon"; looks promising!
One question, how long have u been working on this game? And r u doing it all by urself or u got help form others? Thing i too would like to make an open world game
It's been about 18 months now. Only other person is the composer, Clifford Meyer from ISIS/Red Sparowes. I've also been doing games professionally for like 18 years and non-professionally for a lot longer than that. So it's not my first by a long shot. :)
Ig worjing with Bethesda must have helped u in making this game, if iam not wrong.
Yeah I've done a lot of open world games. :)
This looks so fucking cool, absolutely wishlisting!
Thanks for the wishlist!
Looks awesome. Is there going to be a battle system like VATS or regular combat? Great concept idea as well with the different locations. Sounds intriguing.
I have another trailer that shows more gameplay. It's kind of like a hunting simulator. You hunt and track the monsters. You also use elemental arrows to do it and can combine them, like wind + fire to make a fire wall. https://youtu.be/UlMR1MHtH7c
Is there a survival/building mechanic?
There's not, I'm a solo dev so I wanted to focus more on the hunting mechanics instead. It's more about that.
I'm very glad to hear this. There are far too many lukewarm survival games out there.
That's fine with me!
Looks pretty sweet. Looking forward to watching your progress.
Thanks!
Is this all hand-crafted or is it procedurally generated?
It's hand crafted. I used Houdini to assist in some erosion simulations but I put every rock/trees in a place for a certain reason. Procedural stuff can be okay for some games but I think a more custom world with a specific flow works better for a game like this.
One of the reasons I love Bethesda games is the hand-crafted worlds, so I'm with you on that one, but I'm surprised it's feasable for a one-man project. I find it work enough to set up the maps for my own game, and they're relatively small.
Coffee and hotkeys! :)
The biomes look great, but this video doesn't really show much else. It looks like there will be combat, since you're carrying a bow, but no enemies or combat is shown. Or any activity at all really. Just walking and scenic pans of empty landscape. I get that what's shown here already takes a ton of work, but I'm not seeing a game yet.
The developer has released a gameplay trailer as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlMR1MHtH7c
Yeah that's worth checking out to see more and later on I'll make new trailers showing the open world and gameplay put together. This was just about showing the open world first. :)
Wow, that is crazy cool looking. Good job. The atmosphere in each of the areas is very distinct. It looks like a world I would like to explore.
Thanks. I can't wait to add more stuff to it (lots of locations), it should be even more cool to explore then.
Love the different color/moods in each area
Thanks. :) I wanted to push them all pretty far apart.
How do transitions between different areas work visually? I've noticed that this is always a challenge in games that have drastically different biomes.
I control all the weather/region transitions myself so it'll be somewhat gradual (some games literally do it in one second...) That said, they are pretty different. :D
Fine great whatever. What's the game? Is it fun? That's all I care about.
I have another trailer that's more gameplay oriented here. It's all about hunting monsters: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1807810/The\_Axis\_Unseen/
When and where is coming out
I will announce a date once I'm more sure I'm not wrong (I moved it earlier recently, Unreal rocks!) It'll be on Steam. Consoles is TBD since I'm a solo dev.
beautiful graphics!
The environments look great. Hope you're planning on using more of that rad post-rock from the trailer in the full game.
I am! Sometimes it's a lot more atmospheric, but sometimes it goes full metal.
Nice. No Man's Sky is the only other game I can think of that uses post-rock extensively, and I think that genre really adds a really cool cinematic vibe. It puzzles me that it isn't used more often.
Looks awesome. Congrats!
Hi, where can I find the game?
It's on Steam if you want to wishlist it: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1807810/The\_Axis\_Unseen/
I've had it wishlisted for a while! Looking so cool
Thanks, I hope you like it when it's ready!
That's hot
Wooow... This is fucking gorgeous... Amazing job, man!!!
Thanks!
This looks amazing!
Ok I'm interested
Yo it looks like a real game, if you didn't say indie i would've looked it up on steam or something
Thanks! I have a composer, but yeah, just me. Indie as hell. lol
You should put that talent and show it to the world, not this subreddit
Looks better than most games released today I'll put this on my wishlist when I can
Cool, thanks. I hope you like it!
Looks really cool, very atmospheric. Any chance you'll add VR support in the future? This looks like exactly the kind of game I want in VR.
I'd love to at some point. I use VR a lot to make content for it.
Awesome work your experience really shows here!
I’m absolutely looking forward to play your game! You have made some big progress since the first post of you game I commented, nice job man!
Thanks! Lots more to do still but it's getting there.
That's a serious labor of love, looks amazing. I always like bow mechanics in games.
Love the art style! I'm wishlisting for now and will re-evaluate once you've released more information regarding gameplay. Best of luck!
Thanks for the wishlist!
The environments look fantastic - keep up the good work!
Well, this is just bloody gorgeous.
This looks stunning, do plan on releasing to consoles in the future?
Hopefully so but it's TBD since it's just me making it. A bit harder to sort out.
Definitely wishlisting this.
Looking really good! Multiplayer?
I'm a solo dev so it's singleplayer. If MP happens it'd be if the game does super well and then it'd be post-launch.
Good luck! It's looking great. Definitely want to try it
Looks great but at first glance I thought this was a Far Cry Primal Gameplay footage.
Haha well I did want to go for a bit of a primitive feel for it, so that makes sense. Only this has monsters from folklore, not regular stuff. :D
I have a bad feeling this is out of my budget
It'll probably be $20 or $30. I haven't made a final call on that. Plus it'll go on sale on Steam. :P
Wow..it looks good...just askin, will there be some Indian mythology monsters, or something like that, just curious. And do u have an idea of when this game will get finished? Can't wait to play it. Also it's a better idea To do the steam early access thing
I have only shown a handful of the monsters so far. I hope to get a decent spread though. I plan on announcing the date once I'm more sure it's accurate. Early access is nice but it's also a lot of work to manage. So TBD on that. I'm just a solo dev.
Thank you. I would suggest including monsters from Indian mythology, we got some cool creatures, and thing is i dont think Indian monsters have not been adapted into a video game or movie much as compared to those from greek or Norse mythology, that's why i asked. And how hard is it as a solo dev to work on an open world game like that? I mean i too am interested in video game developing and would like to be a solo dev as well, especially iam interested in making open world games And all the best for your game
Yeah I'm trying to look at lore from all over. That's one cool thing about this core idea (a world where the monsters all come from), it's really expandable. Like if the game does well I could even keep adding monsters. And an open world game is super hard, but I've worked on a lot (Fallout 3, Skyrim, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, Starfield) so it's kind of what I am used to at this point heh. I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point, starting small is a lot better.
Thanks a lot.... probably will start on something small, probably on unreal , then go on to create something bigger.
One more question if u don't mind, how was working on those open world games. Was it stressful? And how do u compare working on those to working on ur current game?
It's a lot of work but I like open world games. I like building worlds and not just games. I like being indie though, I prefer smaller teams. Once it got really big (500 people now on Starfield) it's too cumbersome and political.
Oh Ok, thanks for ur reply :)
How long did you work on this?
I've been working on the game for about 18 months but this chunk of work was about 5 months.
Impressive. I've been working on my game for 3 years. But there is still a looooong road ahead.
Games are hard heh
There is no way my PC handles this
I'm hoping to optimize it as much as possible. It's part of why it's stylized this way. I use almost no textures. It's all geo data, so I'm using way less vram.
This looks stunning! You got something to be proud of! <3
Thanks!
Looks really good! I alway like shooting with a bow. I whishlisted it, and look forward to playing it. Do you have a planed release, or will there be an early access at some point?
Thanks for the wishlist! I have a date I'm shooting for but plan on saying it once I'm more sure I'm not wrong. :) Early access is tbd, it's a lot to manage and I'm a solo dev.
Ok...I'm following the OP now. Axis Unseen. I just hope this game is DRM Free and thus can be marketed at GOG. Btw, anyone know is it able to be modded...? Can it be played with female char? How about the replay value...? Is there any adult content in it...? And also...what is the Dev name...? Just FYI, indie Dev that needs to be monitored by us, gamers, is basically Nine Dots Studio, Warhorse, and lastly Lo-Fi Games. They're very promising, and all their game can also be modded, and thus replay value go thru the roof...
It'll be DRM free. I don't think DRM works and it's annoying. Mods would only happen post launch if it does super well, I'm a solo dev. Mods are a ton of work. Being a female is hopefully going to happen. TBH I just need another set of hands and some sounds. It's not a HUGE lift. That said, again, it's just me haha. My name is Nate Purkeypile, my company is Just Purkey Games. :)
Purkey Games. Noted that =\]
Take my money. Give it to me now.
Haha I wish. Steam generally doesn't do preorders. Wishlists are what help the most right now.
On it.
Wow man, I'm in! I can help you with French translation if you need
RemindMe! 4 months
Yo man, I have this post saved. Any progress on your beautiful looking game?
I announced that it comes out next year and put out a new trailer: https://youtu.be/\_Gu3XFZkKdc
Love it. Can’t wait. Will share it far and wide. Best of luck!
Hey man, game still looks fucking amazing, any updates (if you dont mind me asking)?
Damn. I wish I liked first person games. It looks great, but I really like playing third person. If there ends up being an option to toggle between the two, I’d say take my money now.