Sunday, 25 June 2017

Mass O' Kyzt - Lore #2

Apparently this is a series I'm doing and I have to do something to procrastinate for Devlog #6, so let's get on with the lore!

In the "Lore Overview" video I made, I already discussed how the Kyzt are all connected via a hivemind. However, I failed to mention the fact that it is indeed centralized, with the controller being carefully protected by each of the small creatures it manages.

The controller of the Kyzt has been dubbed the "Brain" by previous human or allied expeditions to planet Ky. Successful communication has been briefly established with the brain on occasion, though current psychic translation technologies are primitive at best. Psychic translators can rarely hold a sustained connection for more than a few seconds without breaking either the device itself or the mind of the participant.
 
Despite the fact that the Kyzt themselves will expend exorbitant amounts of energy to prevent any perceived combatant from getting near the Brain, the Brain itself will prioritize non-violent communication. It will often attempt several psychic frequencies before becoming frustrated and forcing itself into the mind of the approaching combatant, usually killing them in the process.

However, even after the individual has died, the Brain can still probe for stored memories and any thoughts conceived in the last 5 minutes. Once the relevant information has been scanned and interpreted, the body is destroyed and stored beneath the Brain to be used at a later date as an energy reserve.

Like the creatures they control, the Brains can also change their physical form. However, they tend to be less flexible in doing so, often retaining the shape of a large blob, sometimes with external appendages.

On planet Ky, there are multiple Brains controlling multiple sects of the Kyzt. Generally speaking, they all possess the same or similar amounts of power and expendable energy stores.

These sects have had disagreements - either regarding the trade and allocation of domestic resources or one of them just got confused and started hitting the other - but these have never escalated to a full-scale war. Were it to ever escalate that far, it could be catastrophic for the planet as a whole due to their respective power.

Either way, stay tuned for Devlog #6 at some point in the future, hopefully within a few days!

How to play video games

I'm back, baby! It's no longer a million degrees Celsius so I can finally return to making videos and working on Mass O' Kyzt. I expect that Devlog #6 will be somewhat delayed since I've effectively dropped 3 days doing nothing, but hey- you're getting this. Enjoy it.

To put it simply, your time is valuable. You should always be minimizing the amount of time you're wasting. If you're like me, you might want to try dividing your time into either creating content or consuming content. If you're doing neither of those two, you're usually wasting your time.

Thursday, 15 June 2017

Mass O' Kyzt - Lore Overview

In the far future, humanity has inhabited the furthest reaches of space. Finally, mankind lives alongside alien species on distant planets.

Unfortunately, this man is stranded on an unfamiliar planet and the native species have no plans to live alongside him. He finds himself on the planet PSR J1841-0500 b, colloquially known as Ky. The inhabitants, the Kyzt, are small beings with powerful psychic and shape-shifting abilities. They are able to determine their victim's weaknesses with razor-sharp precision, and due to their hivemind-like behaviour they have no qualms about sacrificing their own in the process.

So, what's the plan?

Well, the first step is to defend him from the oncoming Kyzt.The second step is to sound a distress call and hope for the best. Good luck!

So that's the current lore-oriented pitch that I'm working with. I'm still in the process of adjusting it a little to make it flow more comfortably, and pending design changes I might end up totally re-writing it.

In the meantime, let's explain the Kyzt.

The Kyzt are a psychic hivemind of small, cuddly creatures. Think the Adipose from Doctor Who mixed with the Ood. Through their collective psychic power, they can probe the mind of their target and figure out what its biggest weakness is. Due to the malleable nature of their bodies, the Kyzt are able to adapt their physical form to their needs.

Also, they don't particularly enjoy getting invaded by creatures without psychic capabilities. The Kyzt take refusal to enter their psychic network as a haughty show of dominance, regardless of whether you're actually able to do so. Think of it as jumping into a wolf den and simultaneously making strong eye contact with every other wolf, or chasing down a gorilla in the jungle.

To fend you off of their planet, each of these aliens will summon a small burst of psychic energy to shock you. However, if you don't respond to this they may get stronger. Perhaps this small burst of psychic energy will become a larger burst of psychic energy, or perhaps they'll strengthen their legs to run faster.

They might even begin to strategize their approach- turning some of them into larger, slower but tougher creatures while others may be able to fire on you from a distance.

Of course, you're not defenseless amidst the Kyzt. You are a space traveller. Obviously, you have a lazer gun. While the Kyzt don't get massively harmed by lazers due to their psychic shielding abilities, it will cause them to absorb the energy through the eye-like structure on their body and be forced to release it in the form of a short-range teleport. Don't worry, they'll be back soon enough.

Generally, members of the Kyzt don't die. They all share the same consciousness, so the death of any single body is felt the same as losing a finger would feel to you or me. It hurts, but you still have 9 more fingers. Plus, pending the procurement of a very particular resource they are able to regenerate their fallen comrades. Unfortunately, this very same resource is the only known material which can fully destroy the Kyzt if wielded properly, dispersing their psychic energy into the void and leaving their corporeal forms as lifeless husks.

Everything which I just typed out is open to a lot of change and adaptation as time goes on, but this is the first revision. Maybe I'll do more of these posts if they're well received or if I think of more ideas for the Kyzt, their planet, or other associated species.

Tuesday, 6 June 2017

Let's try this again - Godot vs Unity

About 3 months ago, I made a video titled "Godot Is The Best Engine - Godot vs Unity". It's currently my most popular video, sitting at over 8k views. Unfortunately, this is also the video which I'm the least proud of. In fact, I'm decidedly unhappy with this video, even going so far as to re-make it. This re-make is what you're reading now.

Sunday, 4 June 2017

Devlog #3 - Combat, Knockback, Title

Welcome to the third update post on my project, now named "Mass O' Kyzt". You can thank the Youtube commenter SmallsMalone, who gave me a very similar idea for the title.