Sin Spire - Dev Log 08

Hello everyone! I come with news of progress! This week, I focused on something I had been neglecting for a while – weapons. They had taken a bit of a backseat as I prioritized characters, dungeon generation, and other core mechanics. However, since I've set a goal to create most, if not all, of the art assets (3D models and textures) by the end of September, it was time to tackle this.

Before diving into weaponry, I also worked on something I mentioned last week: the logo! Initially, I considered commissioning someone for it but decided to give it a try myself. The result? Not great. I ended up with a bubbly, cartoony logo that didn’t match the darker tone of the game. After going back to the drawing board, I created a minimalist, horror-themed logo that I’m much happier with.

Seen above is a WIP title card. I’ve omitted a key character from the WIP since I plan to reveal her at a later date. With the logo done, I can finally start creating art for the Steam page. A few more screenshots, and I’ll be ready to overcome this self-imposed roadblock and start working on the Test Build.

Now, back to weapons.

I had a few ideas for the direction of weapons in Sin Spire, many of which were inspired by Silent Hill (the lead pipe is a direct nod). While I’d always planned to include firearms, I hadn’t yet implemented systems for ammo or projectiles. Over the past week, I modelled, animated, and implemented two firearms: the Mauser Pistol and the Lever-Action Rifle.

While I worked on these relatively quickly, it ended up being quite draining, especially with everything else I’m juggling. To avoid spending too much time on weapons, I decided to limit the number of guns to four, representing core archetypes: pistol, rifle, shotgun, and SMG. Since Sin Spire isn’t a shooter, there won’t be a heavy focus on a wide arsenal. There will be more melee weapons, but not many and those are simpler by comparison.

In addition, I’ve been integrating last week’s environment assets into the procedural dungeon generator. There were a few bugs, and I had to create a new door type, but everything is mostly functional now. Soon I'll hopefully be able to finish off all the base assets for every dungeon.

I’ve also been working on a story-central character, the one planned to appear on the title card. I won’t reveal her just yet, as I plan to dedicate a larger post to the story in the future. I’ve also started looking into voice casting. None of the enemies or Stalkers have voices yet, and there are quite a few of them, alongside the story characters. I’ve asked my friend (who voiced the Widow in HotPW) to help with casting, and some work has already been done there. I’ll share more about this as the process unfolds.

Overall, progress is steady, which is great. There are still plenty of art assets to create for enemies, Stalkers, and environments. That said, I think I can get a significant chunk of it done this month. I’m not counting animations in the September goal—those will be worked on next month, along with story elements and gameplay polishing.

Anyway, that’s all for this week. Next week will be... something. Most likely more art. I also apologize for not having any exclusive content for Supporters the last few posts. When I get back to working on enemies, I’ll make sure to prepare some special content for you guys. Until then, take care!