Phase 1 is in Full Swing!

Welcome to what feels like the first REAL Dev Log.

It's been over a week since I announced GUTTERBORN to you all, and in that time I have been working on various things which I would love to share here today including lore drops.

But first, let's look at some (very unfinished) concept art :D 

Welcome to Venterra - The Capital of The Federation of Adon, better known by it's other name Ferradon

This unfinished concept art shows the backdrop of the city from an undecided POV. It is also not decided yet whether this will be used as a point for which the player can navigate the world by selecting from here a list of the sectors the player can enter. For example, there's the inner commercial sector, the barracks (building with flag) and slums around it to the left and then there's a federal / political sector to the right hand side where the A shaped building is. The letter A is the symbol of the federation and the towering structure acts as the center of Ferradon's government.

This concept art is unfinished and may be used as more than just concept art but thought I'd just show it for now.

I also have a general concept idea for what the UI of the game will look like. Here it is

Scrap/Colony War (Known in-game as The Conflict)

In 2043, the world as it was known ended when the great powers waged a devastating war across the globe. Entire nations were erased, and the planet was left poisoned by radiation and ruin.  

Over the centuries that followed, radiation levels slowly receded and humanity began to rebuild. New states emerged from the ashes of the old world. One of them was Ferradon.

Ferradon rose as an industrial power, built atop the remains of pre-war infrastructure and scavenged technology. At its heart stood Venterra, the capital city and political center of the nation.  

Venterra later became the focal point of a brutal internal conflict. As Ferradon expanded southward, the government established extraction colonies deep within vast, arid lands left unclaimed after the, now ironically named, final war. These colonies were tasked with recovering old-world resources to fuel Ferradon’s industrial growth.  

Over time, the colonies grew powerful economically, militarily, and politically. Tensions escalated, and eventually the colonies revolted, fighting a war of independence against Ferradon.  

The Conflict devastated Venterra. Fighting over supply routes, scrap reserves, and infrastructure tore through the city. Though the government retained control, Venterra never fully recovered.  

Today, the city is scarred, fractured, and struggling. Relationships between citizens are fragile after the conflict. Broken machines line the streets, half-functional systems keep the city alive, and survival often depends on what can be salvaged, repaired, and sold.

The Player

Who are you? You play as a drifter from the suburban/shanty district. You've been a lone wolf you're whole life with no family or friends. One day, you receive notice that you are the last remaining member of your old family after your final relative passes away, and a run down apartment in the city has been left behind for you to inherit.

You will be able to eventually customize your character and make them more personal to you rather than having a pre-named or pre-defined character. Small details from the beginning are all that's set in stone from the start. But the character customization will most certainly not be in the early demos of the game.

Game Mechanics

Right now here is the shortened list of planned features:

• Apartment Customisation
• A branching story that changes based on who you befriend
• Crafting
• NPC Relationships
• Crime Encounters
• Day/Night Cycle
• Seasons (city and nature sprites change as seasons change)
• Job/Progression
• Scavenging and restoration system 
• Addictions system
• Survival stats
• Fishing mini-game (more for fun and cooking recipes than for making money)

I have created a lengthy Game Design Document, or GDD, that goes into massive detail on each system as well as individual items and ingredients to be present in the game. I don't really wanna show much of that yet though as it is highly subject to change.

Music Production

I have begun making small samples of music using a MIDI keyboard and MPC beats software. I would like to, later down the line, look into creating a full length theme song for the game that would feature on the main menu and credits. I may hire someone to make this for me at a later stage as I believe I'll only be able to learn to make small looped tracks for in-game music

That's about it for this dev log folks, see you next week

Best Regards
- K