We here at Gaslamp Games wish all of our dear readers to have a very happy Valentine’s day and, as such, have created some cards to assist you in your courtship rituals with the ends of finding the love of the man / woman / boiler / fishperson / infinite black abyss that most fulfills you.

(We also did some actual work on various things, so stick around for that too. I’ve cleverly mixed in development discussion with the silly pictures, and in at least one case they’re slightly related. Mostly they’re not.)

#1. A Very Special Knock On Your Door

Ministry regulations forbid me from talking more about any of that, so divert your attention please to this image:

Evocative, is it not? That’s what happens when Nicholas adds gamma adjustment (and the gamma isn’t adjusted). It looks cool for a shot or two, but there’s a bit more work that needs doing.

(And now I can tell everyone who keeps bugging me about the game looking washed out “SEE? THIS WAS THE IDEA ALL ALONG. I ANTICIPATED EVERYYTHINNNG”. What, bitter, me? Do you know an art director that isn’t a dynamo of spite and slow-burning resentment? … … Ugh, I’m going to go micromanage someone until I feel better. Joseph, tighten up the art on level three! Sean, make it more yellow; no, less yellow! Chris, the thingy needs to insist upon itself less due to the implied synthesis of contextual zeitgeist! Etc!)

#2 That Secret, Forbidden Love

And we all know how that turns out.

Speaking of tentacularity, Nicholas decided to indulge in a little shader jankery (that I’ve been begging for since 2012) to make our foliage look a bit more natural by having it wave about in the air in a manner very much like it does not care, an effect I’ve been enamoured with since seeing it at work in Settlers 2. You can see the lovely results to the left:

(Unfortunately Nicholas also tweaked the shader last night after I complained about how all the trees looked like tentacles due to waving on both x and z axes. Would have made a good gif, and I’m sure, ahem, that we’ll find a good few places to use the “tentacles waving gently in the Invisible Light of the Unseen Configuration” vertex shader.)

#3 There Are More Cogs In The Clockwork

Ah, perhaps this day will not have treated you so well — fear not, for we’ve equipped you with the means to show the target of your disaffection that love is not a thing to forget, to treat poorly and forget to keep well oiled and up-to-steam and filled with a 1:1 ratio of bituminous and anthracite coal as to avoid firebox overheating. Yes, it is the encoggled heart is the heart that loves truest of all. (Or so I am assured.)

And if that tickles your fancy, I’ve got just the thing for you: We’ve added on-map indicators for jobs being performed on all sorts of things that can be scattered across the map: trees, rocks, shrubberies, small flowers, and so on. Unfortunately (and to Nicholas’ delight, I might add) they’re all tiny cogs attached to everything. Daniel immediately assumed the Despair Position — But no Daniel, do not despair! These are merely placeholder indicators of generic work being performed and shall soon — soon! — be replaced with the appropriate icon per-job so that you may distinguish tree-chopping from rock-clearing from berry-picking from longpig-butchering and so on.

It’s coming along nicely.

(And I’m never drawing a cupid ever again.)