Update from Mikko:

Let me introduce you to the new version of Overgrowth theme music. Although I thought the first version of the theme song was quite good already, we thought it needed some updates. The new version has more powerful orchestration and it describes the nature of the game better this way I think. Instead of describing all the changes it had and splitting it into atoms, just listen and enjoy it. ;)

When I started work on this sword, I decided I wanted something that looked original but still functional. After experimenting I came up with this shape. The extended handle on the back of the blade is so that a hand can be moved up for extra leverage when pressing the sword after a strike, or if the blade gets stuck.

The model is only using 238 triangles. We have a bigger budget for each weapon, but it is a good idea to cut out any polygons that don't help define the shape.

We are testing out the use of object space normal maps on Overgrowth. These maps provide all the details that show up in the lighting. Object space maps have a few advantages over tangent space maps, like being able to fix them in Photoshop if they have errors.

Sword

Sword Normals

Sword Wireframe

Check out the video in HD here!

I made the blood react to the underlying surface details: you can still make out the shape of the bricks and mortar even when they are completely covered in blood. I also completely revamped the lighting to accurately reflect the sun and sky, but that is a different blog post!

In the spirit of team introductions, here is Mikko's, the music composer for Overgrowth. We will update you guys with some of his music soon.

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Hey! Im Mikko, an outsourced (and finnish) music composer in the Overgrowth team. I will be responsible of the game's musical themes and moods.

I started music composing in the beginning of the 90's with Amiga 500 and Protracker. I did lots of electronic music before I figured out how cool would it be to create orchestral music, so I started learning that stuff. The first game I produced music for was a submarine game called Deeptrouble for Mac in 2002. Since that I've done music for a pile of games, Penumbra series being the most known of them (and soon Overgrowth ;) ).

Currently I'm studying digital music production and (hopefully) should have my bachelor's degree pretty soon. I also run a music production company and independent music label (The Sound of Fiction) as well.

Favorite Games: Starcraft, Tony Hawk games, Ultima V, Wizard of Wor

Random Fact: I'm a great fan of retro games. The first computer game I played was Revenge of the Mutant Camels back in 1984. Oh, those days...

Be sure to watch this in HD! David has started work on the next gen blood engine in Overgrowth and made this video. We still have a lot of things we want to do with the blood, but I thought this was awesome enough to post outside of the Secret Preorder Forum where it started.



Keep in mind that this is just the beginning - we just thought this was cool. David has a ton of awesome blood tricks up his sleeve. Expect a follow up post pretty soon. :)