Robo Instructus devblog Updates on the development of coding puzzler Robo Instructus

Concept Art Revealed

I'm a game developer currently working on robot engineering puzzle game Robo Instructus. For my previous posts look here.

In the time since the last update Tom van de Merbel has finished his work on the first stage of art production for Robo Instructus. That first stage is concept artwork, and since this is a 2D game and Tom will be handling all the art production, the concept art is particularly interesting as a look toward how the game will end up.

This frozen scaffold will be one of the first impressions players will get from the final game. It’s the start of the puzzling about how to play the game and what this place really is. The concept phase fleshed out pretty much all areas of the game ensuring both my & Tom’s ideas of how the game worked were in sync, and that all the art ideas should work. Not least the titular robo that players will be titularly instructing.

Is this the kind of automaton you’d be happy to command?

They’ll be a few level backgrounds as you progress downward through the game’s coding puzzles, keeping things fresh and rewarding players for continuing. After the scaffold we get to the underground facility where things will get much more interesting.

Above is actually just the top corner of the concept, and indeed there is more concept work. Hopefully these peeks give an interesting insight into the look of the final game.

Music

At the same time as art production the game’s composer Richard Thomson has started producing the first notes of the game’s sound track. I’m hugely excited by this, hearing just the initial samples of music alongside the game already elevates the experience.

Story systems

Finally my own efforts are still aimed at the game’s story systems. I’m starting to feel happier with how the unlock style is working out and am in progress converting my old info into this format. Still lots to do but I am feeling even more inspired by the talented artists helping make this idea a reality.