[Environmental][Small]Between the Seas

Work on Falling Water is in a phase where I need to think about conceptual stuff for a bit before building more screens but I still want to build screens because that's fun. So, for now, I'm building screens for something else.

This will be a small environmental, zero challenge, just a walk through nice scenery. It's based on Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost part of Germany, an area I love a lot. In the level you'll get to walk from the east coast (the Baltic Sea) to the west coast (the North Sea).

I'm attaching some pics of *real* Schleswig-Holstein below, as well as one screenshot (out of only three screens so far, but then, I only started yesterday). Unfortunately I don't remember how to embed images in the post itself.

Couple more photos...

This is going to be wonderful Your photos are great and that screen design is splendid. I guess we are both making levels based on our real life travels

This is going to be wonderful Your photos are great and that screen design is splendid. I guess we are both making levels based on our real life travels

Yep, consider yourself my inspiration for this (though this is really a lot less ambitious than yours)!

Very nice photos. Looks like this will be a great level.

I am already in love with the title.

Just hit 10 screens! At this rate I'll be done in a week, or maybe two (depending on how much real life interferes).

Warning: this is going to be a tiny level, it's basically just a postcard of my summer vacation. Maybe 30 screens total, at a guess?

Just so people know what to expect.

I'm putting a lot of effort into each screen, though. I'm finding it oddly fun to try to transpose a real place into the medium of Knytt Stories, using only tilesets that already exist. I'm taking a painterly approach, lots of layering; use of foreground/background - which, with some tilesets and places, takes absolutely forever. One particular screen I made took four hours!

Some allowances have to be made, of course... both in terms of fidelity to the real world, and in terms of "gameplay" (extremely limited to begin with, and some inconsistencies re: what's on layer 3, occasionally - due to the tileset combinations and the layering.)

I think maybe I just need to feel like I can actually *finish* a level, now that I've taken up my mammoth project again...

11 screens!

(Final screencount will probably be around 30.)

Looks really good so far. Can't wait to see the finished product. Love me a good short aimless nice-looking level

Love me a good short aimless nice-looking level

I feel like there hasn't been this sort of level in a while.

Quote from: SC on September 10, 2023, 19:30:28

Love me a good short aimless nice-looking level

I feel like there hasn't been this sort of level in a while.

I'm absolutely ready to make more.

Hit [strike]20[/strike] 21 screens today. So, yes, I'm getting back to Falling Water soon.

34 screens done, 13-15 still to do. Constantly revising the number of screens still to do upwards as I discover that I need more transitional screens to make everything feel coherent. But also making fast progress, so should still be done very soon. Having a slightly quieter weekend ahead and a lot of the screens I still have to build aren't as complex as the ones I've already built, so I think I might be done with the bulk of the building by the end of the weekend. I'll need a little longer yet to polish it a little more, and also maybe add a couple of custom ambiances (which I still need to research).

Now featuring an absolutely fantastic flock of sheep made to order by Polana!

I was lucky to see some more little snippets of the level while drawing the sheep and I'm sure it's going to be one of the prettiest enviromental levels ever plus I love going to Baltic sea for vacation so I'm really looking forward to play it.