Procedural Creatures and Efficiency: Where Beasts Were Born DevLog 4 

I actually think I'd rather the player just control one character and the game be multiplayer. It just sounds really fun to go hunting beasts with the boys.

The companions don't have to also be witches. Familiars, summoned demons and even maybe a beast stolen as a hatchling would fit a "witch" theme, and contribute to run variety on the player side. It could even allow for some big melee units to enter the battle under player's command. Unrelated but important: the beast showcase shots use a very different camera from gameplay. Maybe the beasts' details are better seen from a high shoulder surf perspective, and we never noticed because we have seen them up close so much we fill in the details and imposing feel in the isometric view in our heads. Something to consider.

I dont know if this is just me but the game gives off a very stop-motion like artstyle that i cant really describe. Looks amazing

I think one could draw inspiration from the monster hunter series, where there are traps as tools, but also creatures get "exhausted" or hurt over time that gives windows of opportunity for side/back attacks. Also, there are more powerfull attacks (like charging), which when dodged by the player leave the weak spot open for a few seconds as a reward. In the end it really depends on how you want this to play out. I have never seen RTS-like controls on such a rogue lite, I imagine it is quite exhausting when its get faster, and rather repetitive when being slower. You could keep the current setup and just rely on it being more fun in multiplayer, similar to monster hunter, where solo missions are possible, but require more prep/traps/timing. Tile-free turn based, like Divinity 2, could also be an option, but there you loose the option for skilled aiming and reaction time to be rewarded. love the concept of the evolving creature rogue like, excited to see where you'll end up

For combat you might want to look at the original Dragon Age. I wouldn't go the turn based route, but I liked that you could automate your teammates by giving them some basic strategic options. Where to position, what enemies to target, what spells to use, etc... Then you can still swap and control individual team members directly, while the others are automated.

Having a little creature hunter tribe to manage could be a lot of fun. Like a stone age hunting party exploring these caves. Would let you make the creatures a lot deadlier too because one tribesman dying would mean you still have some remaining, so you could afford to give each of them less health. Real time with pause would probably be the option that requires the least amount of manual dexterity to succeed in and more about strategizing, positioning and trying to predict creature behavior, trying to keep as many of your tribespeople alive as possible.

You sold me on the enemy evolution and the whole claymation-like look and jittery animation. This game screams uniqueness

TWO OPTIONS for ending question. 1: you go the "friendly npc" option, and similar to Madden games have a single button for all of them. What this means, enter combat with enemy while friendlies in the vacinity, and they all have an attack command ready. You press L1 or E once for the first friendly, twice for second, etc, making it easier to choose and keeping combat real time. 2: Go even deeper and make the player species also evolving with you in it, having to fight others for the alpha of the group, your species also wandering the world. - and just as an experiment, you should definitely see if you can bring the camera into an almost 3rd person lock on type situation. The graphics are actually amazing to look at, and is artwork.

Remember Clive Barker's Jericho? You can switch between your AI controlled characters on the run, giving the other two witches some simple commands while playing the main one. These commands can be in form of markers, which later on become just a map markers for your teammates in multiplayer. I think this mechanic is pretty easy to use and doesnt break the pacing unlike tactical pause. Also it plays great on WASD with mouse aiming. Over all great game idea and design, instantly wishlisted, keep on killing it!

OH LORD, IT'S HERE! DEVLOG 4! THE PROPHECY CAME TRUE!

that system looks amazing. We need more genetics sims. They're starting to come back into popularity and I love it.

After being on a permanent state of pant shitting while playing rain world I can safely say this is a very exciting project

I think you could base your view over the creatures as if they were alive, if they have the goal of protecting the place and having offspring, they would probably run or rage when low hp, and also when the player is low hp. i think thats an interesting solution for the combat sistem, those behavior changes make the diference between facing the armored side only and dealing enough damage that the monster reveals the weak spots. PD: amazing work in this update :DDD

- Tactical Pause is a must (at least as an accessibility tool) if doiung antyhing with more than one unit to control Maybe (since we are a witch and all) grant the character a teleport spell with long recharge, or even better cast teleport-back-to-this-place spell on the ground where player is standing and after 3s teleport back to that place. It will encourage baiting monsters into specific places before 3s runs out (so pressure). That should help with positioning as part of the gameplay without needing to stealth & stuff

The more I think about your game, the more I feel like it should be third person over the shoulder. And this is coming from someone who loves top-down games

Since the protagonist is a witch, you can focus on giving the player different abilities making it possible to target different areas of the creature. Possible spells are stun/slow, different elemental attacks, AOE, Decoy/Mirror image illusion, Teleport, Summon minions (possibly even some of your previously encountered enemies?!), summon wall/obstacle and more. All of these different types of spells would in turn allow the creatures to evolve countermeasures (either direct resistances to them or to evolve stratifies that works better against them)

I think since the PC is a witch and has magic, you can certainly give abilities that allow you to distract a creature or block its ability to lock onto the player. For example, you can give an invisibility ability that lasts for a couple seconds and the player can use it to circle around the creature and stab it from the side or behind. Or an ability that creates a visual duplicate that makes the creature attack the illusion, allowing the player to retreat or maneuver around the battlefield. Maybe abilities that lower the creature's attack damage, allowing the player to afford getting hit a couple more times while circling around to reach other areas on its body. Maybe an ability (or sidearm) that doesn't damage a creature but grapples or tangles some of its legs and hinders its movements temporarily. I think having a variety of abilities like these for players to choose from can also allow the player to "adapt" their tactics to the new creatures as they evolve. Or an ability that temporarily makes a creature attack another creature instead of the PC and work as a distraction. As for additional characters, I think unless you're planning on an RTWP gameplay, it might be best to allow players to control only one character but set the behavior for their companions through a menu system. Dragon Age: Origins and Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire had versions of this, though they were both RTWP cRPGs and the player could swap to and control any of the characters at any time. I'm not sure how well it would fit a Roguelike, but it may be worth checking out. Multiplayer can be cool too, but I sure hope the game would still be playable in a single-player mode.

This whole concept and games is awesome! I love the procedural creatures idea! And let me tell this: This game is one of the creepiest I've ever seen. And I love it!

Love the look! An animation deep dive would be really interesting

Not sure if you’ll see this but I’ve been watching this dev log series since the start and ahh! It’s so cool and you’ve come so far. The creatures look so sick and I’m just wishing you the best man. Top notch videos too!

wow the movement of the beasts looks awesome and unsettling, great job!

The amount of work you put into this is unthinkable, keep grinding

procedurally generated creatures in games are the most interesting way to do them. hope stuff like this becomes common place in the next 2-3 years

I feel that this game will feel good with any of the control options. However, it could be cool to have different options for different game modes. Like for example, in single player mode, the player can have a tactical pause to Strategize an attack. In this pause, the player can move the camera around freely and tell the characters where it will go once the pause if finished. Then when unpaused, the player can regain control of the main character. Then of course, in multiplayer you can't pause, so they'll have to strategize in real-time combat. I also would enjoy it if this game had a combat system similar to Rim World. Either way, I love the idea of a strategy game where you control multiple characters. Maybe the player can start off without any allies, but they can hire some to aid them on these adventures through the cave by trying to gain resources to take home and sell. This will also give the monsters time and an explanation to how they evolve before the player returns. Tbh, this game has so much potential with your concepts and tools that you've created. I'm extremely excited to see what this game "evolves" into, lol

Hell yeah! Finally a new video. I've been following the progress on discord, and can't wait to watch this video. Great project, mate!

Love these devlogs, this project is evolving very nicely! For the player movement, I could imagine using a control system similar to Project Loki. It's a game that's in closed Alpha so it's not super easy to get access to if you want to try for yourself, but basically you control the character movement with WASD and use your mouse to aim where your weapon is pointing. It feels super natural to control and avoids all the potential frustrations that could come from an RTS style of movement where the pathfinding may sometimes just walk the player straight into a beast or take them on a route that they weren't expecting. Keep up the great work, I'm always looking forward to the next devlog!!

This is a very cool concept my guy I hope the project grows and develops and receives the support it needs.

Glad you're back man! The game looks sick! I am still in awe how detailed the procedural generation is and how well it works together!

Those creatures you are making are positively terrifying, I am definitely going to play it once it's out, hope you do playtests/demos soon, or even early access through patreon, as this looks absolutely sick!

An interesting idea to tackle the "backside weak spot" issue you talked about could be adding a slide for the player that's only accessible in melee form. Imagine, the large monster chasing you is about to catch up. You've been kiting it for a while now taking shots at a heavily armored head and you can't bring it down before it's going to get to you. You switch to your melee weapon, charge in, slide under the beast (dodging it gobbling you up), and stab, slash, and crush its weak spot or damage its legs, slowing it.

Do not give up I'm loving your devlogs

Grundgütiger! Looks fantastic! Given the bones have a clear hierarchy, you could probably bake an additional "flow map" that guides the directionality of the scales.

So for the single-player multiple character control, an idea I had was you could select a key to be the swap key (Say its L Alt) and you hold the swap key and then press a different key which is designated to one of your characters (Say you use Alt+W to swap to "Warrior", Alt+A to swap to "Trapper", Alt+D to swap to "Mage", etc.). This would allow you to quickly swap between characters while maintaining finger placement for movement keys. The character's you aren't controlling would probably have a basic AI and maybe you could select a personality or task for it while it's not controlled? Like have the trapper either focus on "control" traps or supporting allies or setting up more turrets, etc.

one thing to consider.. a heavy creature is dangerous because of mass. to running over the character, charging like a bull or a bear or an elephant or a rhino would make sense. the other thing to consider is larger creatures have mass and momentum, therefore don't get going or turn or stop as fast. it's the difference between trying to target a chicken or a rabbit vs an elephant. the elephant, though nigh unstoppable, is a big easy to hit target that doesn't move or turn tremendously fast compared to a chicken, cat, dog, etcetera. and then there's things like kangaroos. I have no idea what to say about those, lol. but there are also things like snakes, which, when big can be fast in one direction, especially when *coiled to strike. or crabs that move sideways instead of fwd/back, or lobsters which mostly move backwards. so... movement, strike speed, mass and momentum. I guess those are my thoughts. :-)

this video is so impressive that i see several impressive ai youtubers that i watch talking about how good it is. it is incredibly impressive and i am glad to see you succeed where i gave up

I was just thinking about this game yesterday, glad to see another devlog! One thing I would like to say is how cool the beasts look when you view them up close. I think when the enemies are really small on the screen all their features blend together and it's hard to see what part is what. This would almost make me want to play in first person so I can view them better but I know that's a big design change and probably not what you want.

Controlling several characters sounds like a lot of fun!!

Between traps and multiple characters is deployables / summmonables etc. Like throw down a turret and flank, then the creature has to decide whether to after you or the turret. Or summon a skeleton to assist you, again creature has to choose between you and it.

one of the coolest games ideas I've seen. can't wait for the demo

Bro the creatures look fantastic after the colourful scales

I love everything about this game, from the idea, down to execution. as long as single player will be the viable option I will buy it on the spot. I wish I had brain power to do such awesome math magic :)

Firstly, this game's overall concept is incredible and I am now subscribed. Secondly, I really like the RTS idea (with tactical pause options) with the player controlling a little party and navigating the caves. Mainly because I can't recall a fast-paced RTS like that ever existing and as someone who plays them a lot it sounds like fun. It would make multiplayer bonkers as each player has their own squad allowing them to tackle multiple objectives or team up to defeat larger foes. It's not too hard to imagine my mates screaming over Discord as their squads are overrun and we all have to make a desperate counter-offensive to rescue what few squad members remain. Or if traps/deployables are available but rare, using them to set up defensive lines manned by multiple people when particularly large hordes of beasts are approaching.

i just got this recommended and im hype'd wishlisted allready

i like the idea of having simple commands for the other characters like ''move here'' using cursor and a bound key, 1,2,3 for example, and they automatically act after that or something

I love the claymation art style, it adds to the creepiness.

I think it would be super cool if players could tame one creature and have it help them fight. Depending on the creature it could help as dps, tank or allrounder. Add a base where you can keep and breed captured creatures and that's a super palyable game.

A good set of games to look at when it comes to fast paced real time combat with large enemies with weak spots would be monster hunter. The way I see it, the way they tackle the issue of positioning is a couple different things. One, the monster doesn’t have to be facing the player to execute certain moves. Tail moves are done when the player is at its back without the monster having to face them, kicks or “hip checks” are similarly done when the player is attacking from the side. Two, the monsters have animations that take a certain amount of time to execute to be able to attack, with a build up and recovery time before and after. This way, the attacks can be anticipated, and the player can position to attack the monster in a weak spot that is out of the attacks hit box. A way you could do this that still enables this type of procedural and random creature creation could be to have specific attacks for each body part, or potential body parts. Legs can kick or hip check, maybe certain proportions could lead to it being able to lift and do a claw attack. Tails can sweep side to side, mouths can bite, and maybe based on positioning, spikes can be thrust towards players. The animation length, the damage output, and hitboxes could be determined by the proportions of the body part. A long skinny tail could whip back and forth over a large area, but not so too much damage. Whereas a large chunky one would be a big built up attack that leads to a devastating sweep.

great stuff my man, i can feel this project will be a success, the uniqueness of the evolutionary mechanic combined with a grim atmosphere makes for a great experience! best of luck to you!

Im so glad you uploaded this! I was trying to find your channel for hours the other day!

I really love the idea of this game, there aren't many games where the environment adapts to you instead of the other way around. I also really like the logo!

I love the little pauses the monsters do it makes them feel alot more insect-like

I hope this goes in a horror multiplayer direction because this looks awesome, traps and weapons feel more on theme then magic and spells

One of the coolest projects I've seen in a while

Honestly, the idea of RTS controls (less personal, more tactical hunting in groups) and tactical pause (to facilitate precise aiming at parts for the subservient units) feels like it'd lead to very fun encounters. You'd still have room for personal attachment via outfitting/customizing (even if just naming) particular units.

Add an option for multiplayer via the steam streaming process that lets you play a friend's game with them directly. Additionally, multiplayer in general (especially local or private multiplayer, no need for big servers) would be amazing. Maybe have turret or beacon type items as well, as one part of the magic system, so that someone can be an indirect support for the rest of their fights. Additionally, necromancy sounds like a good fit for "evil witch gang" magic casting.

A quick draft on how I think the multiple character controlling could work: At the start of each excursion the player gets 3 monster hunters. At any time they can choose one to take full control of. They can also use keys to give commands to the two you are not controlling. Out of the three one is a larger more defensive mage, one a more ranged archer, and a supportive caster with less damage. Each command is one key that applies to one hunter to do one thing, and if direction is needed it looks at where your mouse is. For example G might tell the archer to specifically target a body part of a monster determined by where your mouse is, H might tell the bulkier mage to stay a set distance from the monster your mouse is over and cast spells to distract it, J might tell the support caster to summon light between the least health hunter and the monster attacking them. I'm not sure how comprehensive the commands should be or if they should be key bindable.

This is an amazing idea, I've been wishing for something like this for a long time. Huge long time fan of Aliens Vs Predator Extinction on Ps2, not too many "Alien" feeling games or creatures controlling games. You're amazing man!!

Awesome concept! I've wish listed. Am looking forward to your ongoing work.

Looks inspired by Species: ALRE, which is fantastic :D you are doing cutting edge work here!

it would be really cool if the witches had different abilities that you could set for each witch before the round. this way different playing styles and tactics can develop. Thanks for your videos and I love the concept of the game

I'm glad this is still coming along. I dunno how well it fits the theme but I definitely am hoping that there is a minion based magic path in this. I'm a sucker for em. Also, the goal of hunting and actually having to gather meat from the beasts for like a tribe seems like it would be an interesting game mechanic. Not only does it flesh out why you're in a cave fighting monsters, but it also allows for a reprieve that lets the game process the generations while the player manages the village. That could also incentivise players to go after bigger monsters as it adds an element of time to the game as now they have to find food before the village starves. It even can add some elements of certain species getting over hunted and wiped out so it makes the players choice of prey more tactical.

Looks rly nice. Maybe something to stream in the future!

Hey the game looks awesome, added to my wishlist, something that popped in my head is maybe take inspiration from Kenshi for their controls? That game allows you to make groups of multiple characters aswell, so you can command squads who could be specializing in certain combat, for example maybe a squad of tanks to draw aggro and a squad of ranged DPS?

Wait Iitteraly had this idea of evolution based roguelike like 3 month ago ! Glad someone is doing it !

One cool aspect you could have is weapon types and allowing monsters to recognize and learn player behavior, reading active weapons/spells. Take for example you have a spear and two short swords that have varying roles. -The spear for example is used to attack from the front at arms length and could even be used to push limbs back or punish it's advances. -The short swords could excel at close range and typically be used behind the monster where it's safer. The monsters could learn this strategy and start to aggro on anyone holding short swords and starting turning away from them, this could catch the player off guard and really drive that arms race you're looking for. Players could then start hot-swapping where they switch just as they attack. Then the monsters start to realize anyone going behind it is likely to use swords and attack them. Only for the player who it turned it's back on draws the swords and hits it with co-ordinated strategy and reaction to opportunity. This doesn't have to be weapons, they are more a vehicle for my idea. Spells can function the same and monsters could start evolving to have resistances to commonly used spells forcing players to have to stray from relying on one they have mastered and become multi-proficient. That's just my ideas though. Feel free to critique it. This game seems super interesting so I thought I'd throw in my hat.

Ptocedural beast system is super cool. I really want to fight evolved creatures depending on my enviroment, and they are different every time. Truly a wonderful concept

Wow! That looks amazing! The idea of procedural creatures is awesome! It reminds a little bit SPORE. I think your game is really cool!

For multiple characters, I feel like the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon mechanic would fit here. What mechanic you may ask? Well, you could set your partners AI once you progressed far enough into the game, you'd unlock new commands for them (settings for their AI). Commands such as, keep your distance. Run away. Go off on your own. Even restrict what combat abilities they can use, to fit what you needed. I feel like, leveling up your comrads to unlock new commands would work really well in this. Commands such as: Keep your distance Close Combat Stay Wary (try to avoid aggro) Stay close to me Only attack my target Flank my target And such things would really add an element of strategy, and also making players change those strategies as the monsters catch on and evolve countermeasures against a comrad who had been on the same command way too long

Love the multiplayer idea. And even then, the player can control 1 to 2 Carrecter's even if they play online if the party has a low amount of players. And instead of tactical pause it can be an adrenaline rush where times slows down affecting both players. But will each individually have a set amount and have to control and communicate when and how they should use this ability.

INSTANT subscribe. This is incredibly impressive and original! As for gameplay ideas: 1) You could combine the turret/trap idea with the multiple witch idea. Instead of spawning a trap, you summon a new witch/projection/creature to fight for you. Mid-combat, the creature gets distracted by the summon, allowing the player to switch to the offensive. Or the witch can summon in anticipation of danger (for some duration), and that lets you include monsters that can sneak up or dash, bc the player can travel with some protection. 1-A) Options for the summons are limitless. Some could be specifically for drawing enemy attention. Some could dash away as they distract, making monsters turn and reveal their weak spot. Some shoot projectiles. Maybe the location of the summon is strategic (behind the enemy, in the air). Maybe some summons spawn more summons. 1-B) It's a roguelite, so you could offer different summons with each run, picking up new, more powerful ones between levels. This also gives the player something to do while the next generation of monsters load, effectively hiding the load time. 2) If the weak spot is always on the back of the monster, include attacks where the monster slashes/spins/turns, where these have sweeping AOE. Then the ProcGen can choose between balancing sweeping attacks vs protecting its weak spot. 3) Similar to #2, have attacks that turn the monster. 4) Stunning is good too. Maybe close-range attacks stun for longer, encouraging different playstyles (ranged/close). This one's the easiest suggestion to implement.

straight up, this is the best looking evolution game on the market

One thing that sticks out to me in the gameplay footage is that it's not particularly clear when a monster dies. It just kind of stops moving, which is especially unclear for enemies with that start-and-stop skittering-type movement. My first thoughts go to a visual effect like a flash or something, but that might not fit the tone of the game (maybe you could get away with something subtle) Maybe once you get sound effects sorted away for the monsters, a little death sound effect would be clear. I'm just spitballing here, but hopefully this helped a little😅

I was already very impressed with the game before I saw that you were making this in panda3D lol. That was the first 3D engine I ever used, and I had no idea it could support crazy projects like this. Great work!

Ive always liked the concept of evolving creatures and wondered how it could be used to beneift gameplay. This game has a lot of potential, Im really looking forward to what you do with it next.

So far, the one thing I would revert is fusing the vertebrae; I loved the way they moved before that fusing, and hate the way they move after that fusing. Everything else you did to speed it up was great.

That looks amazing! You are a pro issue solver! Regarding gameplay, I always think it's important to still have a good single player experience. So, having multiple companions to the player may be a good solution, but just think about also creating friendly bots. I'd rather still focus on a mainly single player loop, that can be extended to a party optionally. To solve the combat challenges, just think about a more complex behaviour to the creatures. They can have more vulnerable states like being dizzy after receiving some attacks or being tired after spending too much energy. Their movement can also be slower in terms of angular velocity and they can have like attack/retreat states to open breaches for the player to attack them, and also make them feel more "alive". The player could also have different skills that enables him to quickly change position like dashing, flying or even teleporting, so he can reach the vulnerable parts. Also, vulnerability can change on more variables than only "hit location". You can mess around with different attack types, elements or anything that goes beyond "vulnerable parts". As a fan of shooter-like games, I do encourge you to work mostly on long distance attacks with cover points rather than classic melee close range button spamming attacks :D! Keep going!

YIPEEEE. You weren't liying when you said that this video were going to come out soon. Awesome! You got a new wishlist!

maybe add a dash function where the player is temporarily invincible to melee attacks but ranged attacks from the beasts can still hit but with that dash you could run at the beast and get behind it plus it would be fun to dodge attacks but for balancing make sure it has a decent cooldown

Custom fitness scores is a brilliant idea!!! I would love to potentially see the ability to select 2 or three per generation, that would be used for different species, if for instance you wanted to train both tank destroyers and building destroyers together. Another thing that would be awesome (and this is pretty far off) is using the evolution system to train the best beasts possible, and then unleashing them on other players, in some twisted form of a farming simulator.

Multi character control would be neat but it might end up feeling like a click go here and hot keys for attacking. If you use a controller the joysticks could guide movement of each character separately, the corresponding triggers could represent melee and magic attacking. And the buttons could toggle a targeting system. I'm absolutely loving the progress you have made and am excited to see a final product. It's super fun watching the whole process!! Keep it up!!❤

This game is so cool! I love the scales idea and I can't wait to try the demo!

you can technically set up the controls like an RTS but it would make an extremely high skill sealing

I think one of the best ways to control multiple characters at one in a game like this is to do it kinda like the Dragon Age series: RTS, but you can pause time at any point and queue up actions on each character before resuming time. For obvious reasons, this would likely not work as well in multiplayer, but you probably wouldn’t need to control multiple characters as a player in multiplayer mode; the only exception I can think of would be 2 players each controlling 2 characters, in which case you can just make a “ready up” system for unpausing time, so that both players have to agree to unpause time before it actually does so.

I like the idea of multi unit control gives a lot of flexibility and fine tuning to how a players tactics can be used to overcome possibilities of heavy predator kinds of creatures

Personally I really like the multiple character idea, to not slow down or stress you out with having to control multiple characters on the fly, I think companions that you could upgrade or arm with different items would be the most fun and easiest to get the feel for. Plus that would be the easiest to lead into a multiplayer setting since you would be used to the companions moving on their own anyway!

woah woah, what's this? This looks really interesting, I'd love to give this a shot one day! Looks up my alley

This is my favorite devlog to follow. I am truly in awe of this, amazing :)

I get the impression that you had to itch to make a cool procedural monster generator and had been letting gameplay take a backseat to that. I think what you've accomplished so far is pretty sweet, but I'm hoping you keep spending your time improving how the game feels to play. Good luck on your project! :)

Great video again! The only thing is that I want to reiterate that I really think that an open-ended evolution algorithm would serve you better! Having a fitness function is easy, but it's very hard to balance! Instead, it's probably best to just let life be life and naturally select itself. The best fitness function is context. Life finds a way. It's also the consensus amongst scientists in the ALife community, but I really think it would also be better from a gameplay perspective My DMs are open if you want to have a chat in that direction

8:31 Maybe adding a dogeroll with i-frames could make the fights more interesting and give players the speed to get behind a monster

Depends on what general gameplay vibe you want the game to have, but out of 2 options of a) having a single "main" character accompanied by AI-controlled minions or b) making WBWB more of an RTS-like game where you have direct control over every character, the second one sounds more fun to me, but also easier to balance and to develop, also from the perspective of future potential multiplayer integration. In that case I would definitely make the game more knowledge- and strategy-based than skill-based. I also don't think the ability to pause would fit the game too well in either case.

Maybe regular controls for main character and drawing "order arrows" with hotkey + mouse movement? Like attack from this side, escape in that direction escape from that place/keep your distance from that side of beast, skirmish along that line etc. that would take into account relative position of order arrow to the beast instead strictly on terrain as those orders would quickly become obsolete or detrimental when beast would move away from it's original position if order were tied to terrain

Since spore I’ve always dreamed of someone doing a game like this that’s awesome

I think making the players and creatures compete for resources would make for a nice gameplay goal. It can act as distractions for the player to take advantage of instead of planting traps, but also gives incentive to kill the creature and not only run away.

Stumbled upon you thanks to a friend. Your game sounds really interesting. I am not a big streamer, but I will give your game a try on stream, whenever the time comes!

I would love a play test of this game been wathing the game for a while and cant wait for playable version of this, great work keep it up.

you just got wishlisted :)

I think Magicka is a perfect example of such party-based game, and it is a lot of fun!

With multiple characters, I feel like the player character could be a sort of "chief" or leader, and the npcs somewhat disposable, with you able to find others hiding in the cave and recruit them, or even finding another group of npc witches that might try to attack you for whatever loot you may have, and recruiting the last one after they surrender, it would also certainly make the creatures more terrifying, as they drag one of your group away into the darkness, as well as allowing a "on kill" evolution bonus to creatures.

Love the ideas! Can't wait vor the demo!