Hello everyone!
I'm one of the co-founders of HytekLabs, a new studio focused on creating high-quality assets and experiences for the Hytale ecosystem. We've been heads-down working on our first major project: a medieval fantasy defense mini-game
A core part of that experience is the Siege Collection. Today, I wanted to share a first look at two of the heavy hitters in our arsenal: the Cannon and the Mortar.
The Progress So Far
Everything you see here was built using Blockbench. Our goal with this collection is to balance that "chunky" low-poly feel with enough mechanical detail to make them feel powerful in-game.
- The Cannon: Designed for direct, high-impact fire. We’re currently refining the reload animations to ensure there’s a clear visual cue for players during intense waves. We currently have a few basic animations such as fire, move, idle, etc.
- The Mortar: Our solution for indirect area-of-effect damage. We're experimenting with the arc trajectory to make sure it feels satisfying to land a hit on a cluster of NPCs. We are still developing the animations for this machine.
Caption: Early block-out of the Siege Cannon. Focusing scale and hand painted texturing. Curious if there is too much geometry and the wheels are too round.
Caption: The Mortar base. We wanted this to look stationary and formidable. Also texturing in a similar but not exact same way as the cannon.
Why we need your feedback
We’re at the stage where the silhouettes are locked in, but we’re still tweaking the fine details before we move into full texturing and vfx.
- Readability: Do these look like they belong in the Hytale ecosystem?
- Scale: Based on the screenshots, do they feel "heavy" enough, or do they need a broader base? Are areas containing too many cubes?
- Features: What other siege weapons would you consider "essential" for a wave defense game? (We currently have ladders, rams, and ballista's planned).
What’s Next?
This is just the beginning. We’ll be updating this devlog regularly as we move into the texturing phase and eventually show these assets moving within our Hytale environment.
If you’re interested in following the studio's journey more closely, feel free to follow us here or over on X: @HytekLabs.
Thanks for checking us out! — Cheops, Co-Founder of HytekLabs