Son of Nor

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We're taking a look at how core aspects of Son of Nor evolved over the past 3 years! This week: The Magic System.

  • We're having a look at how the Magic System changed during the development of Son of Nor. It's an interesting view at game design and changing things to make them better.

  • Magic was the third core game mechanic planned for Son of Nor. The game was designed with these 3 powers in mind: Telekinesis, Terraforming, and Magic. And they're still present in the game.
  • Magic System v1: Spells were charged for a one time use by conjuring balls of sand in geometrical patterns (triangles, squares, stars etc.) This made the combat very slow since people were busy conjuring sand balls instead of using magic for the fight.
  • Magic System v2: We moved from a pattern-based casting system to a gesture-based system in v2. Draw magic lines on the ground to conjure fireballs, wind spells and shields. This worked more or less quickly. But it still took too long to do in combat.
  • Magic System v3: This one only exists on paper, fortunately. Since conjuring spells and combining magic was so slow in previous versions, we thought the solution to this problem was to let players create "macros" in an editor before you start the game. Sort of a Crazy Machines for spells. Instead of conjuring a fireball, make it stronger, add another type of magic to it for magic combination, we wanted to let players do that in this editor in advance and then only cast the final product. We quickly scratched this idea.
  • Magic System v4: Today's magic system is quick, fast paced and works great in combat. You don't have magic abilities from the start. You need to get the power of absorbing elements in the temples you explore during the game. Once you got the ability you can absorb the fire element from a fire place, the wind element from a dust devil and so on. Once absorbed you can use the power immediately 3 times without drawing, conjuring or arranging patterns. After casting a spell, an area of that power remains active to interact with other spells. This is important for spell combinations. Cast a wind push and immediately after it a fire burst to combine wind and fire for a fire tornado. It also interacts with the environment. Add fire magic to rocks to make fireballs. Cast fire on sand to get glass for additional ammo if you run out. You can also enhance this glass shard with fire magic, of course and thus, basically create your own fireball if needed.
  • Son of Nor is now in the Steam Store as Early Access version. Thank you for supporting us: http://store.steampowered.com/app/264000/
  • Watch the previous episode on Telekinesis:
  • Watch the previous episode on Terraforming:
  • Get into the discussion and join our forum: http://forum.sonofnor.com
  • [VIDEO]http:

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    http://about.me/ChrisPolus - my website, music, sound design, videos and services.

    I'm the
    - producer of Son of Nor (devlog on gamedev.net)
    - sound designer of the Arcan Chronicles
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    Watch what we're working on no that we released Son of Nor on Steam Early Access.
    • We've gathered a ton of input and feedback from the Steam Community Hub, Let's Players, and articles about Son of Nor. See what action points we've taken in this week's dev diary.
  • Son of Nor is now available as Steam Early Access version. Thank you for supporting us: http://store.steampowered.com/app/264000/
  • Featured Indie Title: Ace Ferrara. http://www.aceferrara.com
  • [VIDEO]http:
    [/VIDEO]
    http://about.me/ChrisPolus - my website, music, sound design, videos and services.

    I'm the
    - producer of Son of Nor (devlog on gamedev.net)
    - sound designer of the Arcan Chronicles

    We've got new animations and a very special surprise for telekinesis users!

    • Again this week we gathered a ton of input and feedback from our forums and let's players. See what action points we've taken in this week's dev diary. PICKING UP AND SHOOTING SWORDS!

  • Our main question to you: How do you think we could improve close combat so that it doesn't feel clunky?
  • Son of Nor is now available as Steam Early Access version. Thank you for supporting us: http://store.steampowered.com/app/264000/
  • [VIDEO]http:

    [/VIDEO]

    http://about.me/ChrisPolus - my website, music, sound design, videos and services.

    I'm the
    - producer of Son of Nor (devlog on gamedev.net)
    - sound designer of the Arcan Chronicles

    Here's an exclusive sneak peek at the Essence Temple and the city of Taro that we're currently working on.

    • We've gathered a ton of input and feedback from the Steam Community Hub, Let's Players, and articles about Son of Nor. See what action points we've taken in this week's dev diary.

  • Our main question to you: How should we show that NPC are quest givers as opposed to passive NPCs?
  • Son of Nor is now available as Steam Early Access version. Thank you for supporting us: http://store.steampowered.com/app/264000/
  • [VIDEO]http:

    [/VIDEO]

    http://about.me/ChrisPolus - my website, music, sound design, videos and services.

    I'm the
    - producer of Son of Nor (devlog on gamedev.net)
    - sound designer of the Arcan Chronicles

    AWESOME UPDATE THIS WEEK! Bury enemies, destroy trees, dragon! Watch this week's dev diary.

    • We finally managed to implement some more complex things (that also took more time) you guys were commenting on and requesting! If anything, THIS dev diary is the proof that we're listening and keep improving Son of Nor bit by bit!

  • HUUUUGE content update coming this week! New main menu, new customization options, new playable characters, featured map, new loading screen, loading screen tips, new fun sandbox map, visual improvements, much better player guidance and improved gameplay in level 1, destroyable trees, pick up branches and use them as weapon, and BURY ENEMIES! And new levels will be available with this content update, too.
  • Our main question to you: What do you think of the new sand-burying mechanics?
  • Son of Nor is now available as Steam Early Access version. Thank you for supporting us: http://store.steampowered.com/app/264000/
  • Get into the discussion and join our forum: http://forum.sonofnor.com
  • [VIDEO]http:

    [/VIDEO]

    http://about.me/ChrisPolus - my website, music, sound design, videos and services.

    I'm the
    - producer of Son of Nor (devlog on gamedev.net)
    - sound designer of the Arcan Chronicles
    The NEW update is here! It has many changes, fixes and lots of improvements to the earlier levels. Revamped main menu, pick up and throw Sarahul swords, shields, bows, take dry trees apart. We totally revamped the first levels according to player feedback!
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    Notable things in this update:
    • The Main Menu has been revamped! Check it out, tell us what you think!
    • New "Featured Level" option in the main menu. This allows you to jump right into the action of late-game levels. This will only be available during Early Access with the purpose to get more feedback of the latter levels in the story.
    • Three new levels are now available! these come after the finishing up the Yant'shaza chapters. You will find a BIG surprise in here.
    • We have improved and changed lots of things on the first few levels, including the tutorial. Can you see the difference? Do you think it is better?
    • We have improved the short-range combat by combining MASS TK with TK Shockwave, also now pressing the LMB will create a TK PUSH.
    • More things to pick up from the environment! Tear dry tree branches or use Sarahul swords and bows as throwable weapons!
    • And many many small fixes for quests that were not working under certain circumstances.
    For even more info, see the complete changelog here:

    http://about.me/ChrisPolus - my website, music, sound design, videos and services.

    I'm the
    - producer of Son of Nor (devlog on gamedev.net)
    - sound designer of the Arcan Chronicles

    A huuuuge update to Son of Nor's Early Access version has landed! See what's new in this video!

    • There are so many new things in this update that I don't know where to begin :) Completely overhauled tutorial and first level to give it a lot more OOMPH, improved graphics, improved quests, improved cutscenes, bury enemies, better close combat, pick up enemies' weapons to shoot them. We listened to feedback a lot and implemented as much as we could into this update. Try it out!

  • Our main question to you: What do you think of our improvements in this update so far?
  • Son of Nor is now available as Steam Early Access version. Thank you for supporting us: http://store.steampowered.com/app/264000/
  • Get into the discussion and join our forum: http://forum.sonofnor.com
  • [VIDEO]http:

    [/VIDEO]

    http://about.me/ChrisPolus - my website, music, sound design, videos and services.

    I'm the
    - producer of Son of Nor (devlog on gamedev.net)
    - sound designer of the Arcan Chronicles

    In episode 99(!!) we're showing how the sum of Son of Nor's features make it a great game!

    • We've focused so long on showing single features we've been working on on a week-by-week basis that it's now time to have a step back. Before our Dev Diary turns 100, we're giving you an overview of what type of game Son of Nor is.

  • Our main question to you: What cool feature have you discovered while playing Son of Nor?
  • Son of Nor is now available as Steam Early Access version. Thank you for supporting us: http://store.steampowered.com/app/264000/
  • [VIDEO]http:

    [/VIDEO]

    http://about.me/ChrisPolus - my website, music, sound design, videos and services.

    I'm the
    - producer of Son of Nor (devlog on gamedev.net)
    - sound designer of the Arcan Chronicles

    Hey this is looking really interesting. I'm going to follow this! I love the behind the scenes & developer logs, keep them coming

    Thanks! We do, it's, after all, episode 99. We're 2 years in doing this already.

    http://about.me/ChrisPolus - my website, music, sound design, videos and services.

    I'm the
    - producer of Son of Nor (devlog on gamedev.net)
    - sound designer of the Arcan Chronicles

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