To all our readers the first week of production for Son of a Gecko has come to an end. Each discipline was focused primarily on the implementation for the first playtest and adding the very basics for the grey box. With each discipline having created the layout for the level we are on track to finish the full production in the remaining 6 weeks.

I'm Hayden, one of the Game Designers for Son of a Gecko and the person primarily running the Itch.Io page. In these week-to-week DevLogs we hope to show you our progress over the 7 weeks of production for our game Son of a Gecko. I hope you enjoy, and if you like what you see, stick around to see where it goes, and to see the finished production on December 8th.

Art - Recap

This week the artists were able to block-out, model, and sculpt a substantial amount of the base assets of the game, as well as texturing a few of the weapons.

For the player character we have the gecko captain Daudini. The artists were able to do the concept, rough block out, and full sculpting.  Our artist Joaquin is primarily responsible for all the character models you see below and in-game.

For the enemies we have the concept images and color palettes.

Our artist Sol has also started and worked on modelling, sculpting and texturing the item assets throughout the game (e.g. Dynamite, Barrels, Weapons, and Environmental assets). 

Our environmental artist Joshua has also been working on some of the level blockers found throughout the map which are primarily in the form of boulders.

The artists have also made a functioning basic Water Shader as well as a Sparkle VFX to denote pick-ups which have been primarily made by William.

Artists: Joaquin Gundry, Sol Blackshaw, Christopher Matthews, William Saunders, Joshua Mcalister

Design - Recap

This week the designers were focused on the base level design and grey box for said level, as well as concepting and fleshing out the storytelling which will be told through the environment. We also were able to acquire some basic sounds for the core parts of the game (moving, shooting, reloading). 

For the grey box we were able to successfully create a base layout with the added block outs of the player model and the enemies as shown below. The design of the level and most of the grey box was made by our designer David.

Our designer Astro has been finding and developing sounds for the game and has created a base library for the basic character sounds of walking, as well as the primary player weapons pistol.



Alex our primary narrative designer has been creating the system we will be using in order to develop our narrative the player will figure out throughout the game.

Our development plan includes multiple rounds of playtesting, and our designer Stephen has been creating the systems, surveys, and recording equipment in order to ensure a successful round of playtesting during the first cycle late next week.

Designers: Hayden McCormack, Alex Dabkowski, Stephen Blake, David Caruso, Astro Alessi

Programming - Recap 

Our Programmers have been busy creating the movement systems with a WASD system. They have also been creating the base Game Manager, UI Manager, and Sound Managers for the game. Another example of the work the programmers have done this week is a first draft of the UI HUD system.

For the movement system it is using the WASD movement system with the ability to look towards where the mouse is clicking in order to have the character face the direction he will shot. The WASD prototype and the shooting systems were created by our programmer Ryan.

The programmers have also created the beginnings of a Main Menu system for the game.  The UI systems of the game have been so far developed by our programmer Dan.

The programmers have also created a first draft at the UI Hud for the game that will have the Health bar, Ammo Count, and Dynamite Power-Up meter.

Programmers:  Ryan Horwood, Daniel Woodhouse

I hope you enjoy what you see and come back again next week for the Week 2 Devlog to see where Son of a Gecko goes from here on its path of Production. This has been Hayden McCormack of the Borg Studios team, see you all next week!