Hello again, Aether & Iron Fans!
Let’s talk about the Twitter posts from the past 2 weeks.
We want to provide players with multiple ways of playing Aether & Iron, with different kinds of weapons, abilities, and so forth, so the cars are being designed to be modular to allow for these kinds of attachments.
Not everyone in New York is out to kill you, but even those who aren’t affiliated with the many mobs still need to be armored and ready for a battle. As you can tell, these cars resemble the average car of the decade while also being outfitted with enough armor and weapons to be a threat. Let’s hope you can find some of these allies during your adventures in New York!
This is a building from the Lowers, the industrial sector of New York. Once “the world of tomorrow” for the people on the ground, the Lowers have fallen into decay after the Uppers, and subsequently, the Heights were built. While not exactly a pleasant living experience for the many workers living there, life here was much better than for those still on the ground, stuck in the Boroughs. As you can see, the buildings of the Lowers have a distinctly 1910s industrial feel, with brick walls, metal pipes, and water towers on every roof.
In stark contrast to the hard edges and gritty look of the Lowers, the Heights are sleek and stylish, representative of the sophistication of the elites who live there. A combination of form and function, everything in the Heights is the best that humans can create, able to outperform anything on any level below. And yes, don’t worry, you’ll be able to drive this elegant beauty as you make your way around New York. 🙂
Dev Update
Let’s take some time to delve a little more into what we’ve been doing recently.
Mechanics:
Cars will be moved through a system of waypoints, and we’ve done a lot of work to ensure that the AI can use the waypoint system as well as a player. AI can now move around and target players.
User Interface:
Parallax has been added to the world map, giving it a lot more of a “dynamic” feel than simply a flat image. Nodes, which represent events and other points of interest, work, as well as a prototype for the item shop.
The art team has been hard at work designing more 2D assets, including icons for map nodes, heraldry images for the various Barons who control New York, and the many tiny details for buildings and vehicles.
Thank you for joining us this sprint! We’ll show more in 2 weeks!
-Brenton