DevLog 5 – Designing Tools of Destruction

Hello Cultists!

It’s time for another DevLog, and today we’re here to talk about… weapons! In this piece, we would like to shed some light on the process of designing tools of destruction in Forgive Me Father 2.

When designing weapons for the sequel, we have that one little advantage over the first installment, which is players’ feedback. We want to take what we’ve learned from the exciting journey Forgive Me Father was, and once again give players the experience they deserve by creating weapons that are creative, look stunning, and most importantly, are fun to play.

Speaking of stunning looks, if you like the way we portray guns, enemies, environments and, well, everything, please consider nominating Forgive Me Father 2 for the Steam Awards in the Outstanding Visual Style category – details can be found here. But we digress; let’s get back to all the things that go BOOM!

Forgive Me Father had some really awesome weapons, like a Spitter shotgun (the one covered in tentacles), which felt fun to use, looked badass, and sounded powerful. And when it comes to the sequel, we won’t settle for less. You can expect weapons to paint the room red and to produce tons of that sweet, sweet gore, and all of that with style — comic-style, to be exact.

We are trying to create an arsenal of balanced weapons that can be exchanged depending on your preferences and current needs. We want players to be able to use the weapons they like for more than just one level, to use them throughout the whole game if they want to. Let’s take a starting pistol, for instance. There are many games where well-designed pistols can be used for most of the walkthrough or even the entire experience, to take care of weaker enemies or just to finish the wounded ones.

In Forgive Me Father, variations of the same weapon archetype differ significantly. Some of them are designed around completely different play styles, so everyone will be able to find something for themselves. When one gun is perfect for obliterating Lovecraftian monstrosities in close combat, the other is better suited for landing a killing shot from afar, for example.

Concept:
It all starts with asking the right questions. What weapons would players love to see in the sequel? What is the purpose of this particular weapon? Is it Lovecraftian enough?

Our goal is to make every weapon unique and have a different vibe. Let’s say a revolver feels like it has weight while you hold it. It’s ancient but reliable — it’s your old friend. On the other hand, weapons may look like the newest technological achievement (remember that it’s the XX century) that has just left the production line. And let’s not forget about weapons straight from Lovecraftian horrors, covered by tentacles and powered by unknown forces. Lots of guns, lots of possibilities.

Art:
As soon as we get the idea of the weapon we want to make, the process of creating sprites begins. Based on everything we have gathered until now, our artist creates several drafts to finally pick “the one” together with our creative director. After that, we’re working on detailing the chosen variant. Some tweaks here and there until we achieve a version that matches our needs.

The process is quite simple, but it’s definitely better to show you how it actually looks, than go into detail in writing. Take a little peek at the Revolver’s concept graphic.

Animation:
Okay, so we have the looks, now it’s time to bring these weapons to life, and that’s when our animator steps in. The whole process revolves around making smooth and fun-to-watch animations while maintaining a distinctive comic-like feel. So, how is it done?

Weapon animations use a combination of two animation techniques: frame-by-frame and rig animation. In the sequel, we’re taking weapon animations to the next level by adding depth to them with custom-made camera movements for every weapon. The advantage of animating frame by frame is that you have total freedom over how the weapon looks or moves. Essentially, we combine the strengths of the two approaches, and as a result, we can make stylized and smooth-looking gun animations much faster.

Another thing completely new for us is creating reload animations, since there simply were no reloads in the first installment. Those of you who played classic FPS games from the 90s will understand. As the final step, we’re working on small but important details like adding muzzle flashes or their substitutes.

It’s testing time! As for the last part of designing weapons, we simply take them for a spin to look for glitches and possible defects. The testing loop looks something like this: gameplay-looks-gameplay-looks, and that’s until we’re completely happy with the results.

That’s all for now! Thank you for reading and make sure to get yourself a copy of Forgive Me Father 2 if you haven’t done it already and if you did, leaving a review of it here on Steam would be really nice! And don’t forget to drop by our Discord to chat with us and other players!

Until next time,
Byte Barrel Team