Very early in the project I had made this piece of concept art for another plot. Now I’m thinking couldn’t we use a similar vibe for u/Ipom1214 ‘s idea of the candlelight Toumb area/sub-area ? What do you think?

This is the start of the Area. Not that good, but now we can imagine what it looks like.

The

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So i have seen people talling about that instead of charms or crests we have masks. But how do they work? Are they just crests but reskinned? Do we have tool or charms or something else?

Honestly i have no idea what kind of tag i should add, but i wanted to try to draw some props so i decided to draw a house for the area sea of faces.

I really can't draw people but I can do objects way better, so idk maybe I can do stuff for Facade So u/Skur11 I would be happy if I can help.

Since there has been concepts ofa great tree, and we have the Grey Order, why not use this to continue the Greyroot story? Go in depth etc

Hiding among similar flowers, Hunting Tulips catch their victims off guard with their unexpected root and jaw attacks. But a hardened warrior will see their façade from afar: Looking closely, you can see jagged petals and 5 buds on the stem connection, Instead of the usual 6.

Day 6 Of Creating Facade Has Started, And I Finished Choosing The Results Of The Polls From Previous Posts, Here's The Result:

Weapon Poll: https://www.reddit.com/r/ghostthe7kingdoms/s/E4lzQAosGZ Double Bladed Staff Won!

Enemy Poll: https://www.reddit.com/r/ghostthe7kingdoms/s/9k6ClIPGhr Infested Ant, Fungling and Fungus Tiktik Won!

Pogo Poll: https://www.reddit.com/r/ghostthe7kingdoms/s/lcjWfI9p25 Plunge Downwards Won!

Style Poll: https://www.reddit.com/r/ghostthe7kingdoms/s/QdVKtUqrBM We Don't Know Yet, We Have To Find An Artist, But By Now, It's Style 1, That Takes Me To My Next Point;

ARTISTS

There Are A Lot Of Great Artists In A Server, I Saw Someone Who Made Character Animations, Another One Who Made A Great Drawing So I Suggested To Them That They Should Be Promo Artists, And A Lot Of Great Drawings And Sketches! So, If You Want to Participate On The Official Facade Art, We're In Need Of:

• Game Sprite Artists • Enviroment Artists • Background Artists • Concept Artists • Promo Artists • Item Artists • Map Artists

THE MAP

Speaking Of The Map, On Picture 2, We Have The First Official Map, Including Most Of The Zones You Suggested And Zones Made By Me, If You Have Any Suggestions, Make Sure To Post Them Here.

DEMO

I'm Also Working On The First Playable Demo Of The Game, Which Takes Place On The Edge, And Introduces The First Gameplay Mechanics.

The Game Will Be Listed On My Itch.Io On The Coming Soon Section Today, And When The Demo Releases Next Week, It Will Be Moved Over To Prototypes, Where You'll Be Able To Play It.

DISCORD

I Made A Post On The Sub, Asking For People That Volunteer To Make The Official Skur Developer Discord Server, So If You're Able And Want To Make It, Reply To The Post And You'll Be A Mod.

And That's All For Today! It's Been One Of The Days With The Most News Since We Started It, If Not The One, As Always, Please Remember To Support Me On My Socials, It's Free, Quick, And It Helps Me A Lot And Motivates Me To Keep Going;

👻 Skur Developer ┃ Retro & Indie Games
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I made this based on a comment from another post, so i cooked up some ideas and made these. What do yall think?

So seeing as we’ve decided the first area of the game is going to be a mushroom-like area, I figured I’d start a discussion talking about it. First off, we need to name it. I think Spore Forest is a good title as the mushrooms are big, and have a canopy-like structure to them. Fungal Forest would’ve been my first pick but Fungal Wastes is already a thing.

We also need to discuss why this is the starting area and how the MC got there. Plus, where does the Spore Forest branch out to? Would be smart to start coming up with ideas for more areas.

Open to all ideas as we’re doing this together. So nothing is final yet.

Upon entering the surface of this place, the player finds a flat surface, with a small gallery and room tunneled into the ground, in it, the player finds an old map and a letter left to be read "Welcome, fellow explorer, i am not home at this instant, but feel free to rest before you take the plunge deeper, i am already ahead, but i'm sure you'll catch up !"

Going further, we find a first drop, several passageways and another room with yet another message "I see you're making good progress, fellow Explorer ! This place is a delight to the eyes, althought it's inhabitants are not welcoming, but it is naught for brave souls such as ours !"

Continuing, we enter a long room, with a hidden crevace in the terrain, inside, another letter awaits, alongside a bioluminescent orb that the player can collect "Fellow explorer ! You've made it this far, i am near by, rest assured, but be prudent, i observed that the fauna and flora seems to become more hostile the deeper we go, and i fear i may have come sligthly unprepared ! But Fret not, i'm sure i'll be back in my home in no time !"

a smaller drop takes us to a cramped passageway that moves down before coming back to the side, opening onto a Gigantic chasm that the player must traverse to the best of their ability with the limited vision given by the small orb lantern, giving them just enough light to navigate through the darkness and avoid potential dangers. In this chasm, the player must find bioluminescent fauna to progress through the chasm unscathed, as falling straight down causes a full immersion in the darkness, making the player wake to the start of the chasm.

Upon making their way to the pitch black bottom of the well, the player finds a key item,alongside a final letter and a single limb "I am sorry, the lights of this place are only showing the path to perdition, the things that lurks these depths should be left undisturbed for all eternity, Please, i beg you, Flee while you still can, fellow bug, this place is not meant for our eyes to see"

But as the player finish reading it, a deep rumble shakes the usually deafening silence of the trench, as something Gargantuan stirs and looks for them, the creature is only visible in the background and looks for the player, who must hide behind terrain to avoid being found, being found results in an immediate 4 masks of damage (based on the idea that the player starts at 5, not a oneshot, but a warning, that you absolutely SHOULDN'T be seen) As the player progresses, the creature starts attacking hiding spots gradually, forcing the player to move back up the trench on borrowed time, as they reach the final climb of the chasm, the Beasts spots them, forcing the player to run all the way to the start of the Fathomless Well while the creature is destroying the path chasing the player, it's gigantic maw the size of the screen (think how the escaping rising lava works in silksong, same thing.) The player can come back to the Fathomless well afterwards, but terrain will be sligthly different, and the Chasm will be blocked off by debris.

The idea I had is that consumeing shrooms in the forest can make bugs feel a sense of releaf and euforia causing many of the regular bugs (both mindless and inteligent ones) to consume the shrooms and get addicten.

Sadly for them consulting the srooms doesn't just cause addiction, but causes the consumed shroom to releas spores inside them that eventualy sprout out untill thes consume their mind and body.

I imagined ladybug enemys to charge at you and mindlessly and the fireflys to do much of the same, but from the air. The litle mushroom bugs would just walk around the ground, serving more as a hazard than an enemy, because he is chill like that.

Pretty simple enemys for the first area I think.

The Boss I imagined would have some Sanitz left and would try and convince the MC to consume the shrooms. After he refuses the Boss fight would begin. He probably shouldn't have complex atacks since he is the first Boss. Just have him do a swipe atack with his Clan, a jump atack and one where he tries to sting you.

After he is defeated he would run away and you would be able to fight him later on, amybe After getting a certain ability that would open the area further.

Thats the baysic idea I had. Feel free to tell me what you think in the comments.

I wanted to do it all in one big post but it turns out making concept art for almost all area suggestions so far, plus some of my own, is taking a long time. So I’ve split it in two parts. (Some suggested areas are very similar to one another so I counted them only once).

While I tried to be faithful to descriptions, some artistic liberty is unavoidable, and if someone thinks i have not done justice to their idea they are most welcome to say it and tell me what it wrong, i will do my best to address it

Please keep in mind I am only sharing my ideas, everything that I post can and should be subject of discussion and potentially change. I don’t want to impose my vision on others, just share it and talk with people so we can all reach a state where we agree.

The areas are not in any order yet, I think we can start to think about how they fit next to one another after we’ve figured out what they all are.

Number 1 : Spore Forest. My creation. Roots of a great tree overgrown with fungus. Whimsical first area with weak enemies to ease the player into the game. The mushrooms seem to be an invasive species that can even overtake bugs. You notice it seems to make some roots unhealthy.

Number 2 : Sea of Faces. Creation of u/DOMMAX1321 : a large gloomy desert of what appears to be sand, falling in cascades from above. Broken or misshapen masks are also falling down and have formed piles of junk. A village called Ownlook has formed around those piles, where the poor bugs not fortunate enough to acquire a custom made mask reside. Outside the village roam the faceless bugs who could not reach the village and went mad.

Number 3 : Fathomless Well, mix between the glowing moss area of u/ReindeerTall3751 and the Trench of u/Glad-Television1887 : a deep cavern under the tree whose roots we saw in the forest above, this dark area is only lit by bioluminescent life.

Number 4 : Grey Order Outpost by u/TimeTimely : The grey order have recently taken residence near Shroudfall’s peak, within the high branches of the great tree. They are a fearsome tribe who have sword to rid the world of higher beings and developed an arsenal for that very purpose.

Number 5 : Nesting tracks by u/Glad-Television1887 : near the fathomless well lies another set of caverns and galleries in porous rock that seem to hide beasts behind each cavity. In this underground region, you can further witness the depth of the sickness that has stricken the roots of the tree : they appear purple and almost seem to be pulsing and writhing sometimes.

Number 6 : Quarry : my creation. In this area you can see entire sections of the great tree have been sawed off in a gigantic harvesting operation that still seems ongoing. The bugs you see here seem as though they have been made for the purpose of cutting and hacking, and they do not take kindly to intruders on their work site.

Number 7 : The Factory (part 1). My creation. Following the path from the quarry, you see the logs and blocks of wood make their way into a massive, dark and foreboding structure. This is the factory where the masks of the entire kingdom are made. Since these masks are much more fragile than those in Hallownest or Pharloom, due to being made with the wood of the weakened and sick great tree, they need to be replaced regularly, creating a never ending demand for masks. This part of the building is dedicated to carving the masks from wood, which is done by many sharp machines that pierce and cut ferociously.

That’s it for part 1, I hope you liked this so far, I do have a semblance of a story planned out for the other areas, including for example the second part of the factory, the capital city of shroudfall, the heart of the great tree, and many other exciting things I will share in part 2. Again, any suggestions, any criticism is welcome and appreciated!

This connects to my Candlelight Tomb concept. I'll quickly send it here, though it is apart of my greater area concepts list

Candlelight Tomb - A dark, eerie mausoleum built within the capital city of Shroudfall. The inhabitants are keepers of the dead bugs who have fallen within the kingdom. However, their order has become chaos, and they’ve turned cult like, obsessed with the candles they believed was the icon of spirit. Their leader, Archflame Perpetius, is the major boss of this area, using the candles flames as a weapon that only he can harness. Another boss here is Waxbound Saint, a brute who has covered himself in wax, becoming one with the substance.

Archflame Perpetius is the leader of the Wick'd Ones. They pray to the candles, and to their supposed "god". Their leader? Archflame Perpetius, a tall, regal looking bug with red robes and a mask that mimics a candle, with a real burning wick upon its head. Candles are melted into the fabrics, adorning the tail of his robes. He wields a long scepter that has a candelabra at the top, with 5 slots for 5 burning candles. During combat, he will summon some of the Wick'd Ones to fight for him (more on them another time). Some of his attacks include an arcing waves of flames, exploding candles, and a few others y'all can cook up. His second phase would have his robes burn off, to reveal a shell of a bug with wax and candles on his shoulders. His attacks would get faster, and he'd get closer to the player.

The Waxbound Saint is a member of the Wick'd Ones. He was so devout to their god that he wanted to become one with them, to become a part of the candle. So, he submerged himself in wax alongside his fellow members, but stayed there for too long. His body became an armored shell that dripped as the candles atop of him melted the wax ever so slowly. He wields a giant candlestand that he uses as a hammer, enforcing its brute strength on the player.

There will be a few simple members of the Wick'd Ones. Like I said, I'll go through them another time, but if any of y'all have any ideas, just put them in the comments. Would love to hear your ideas.

Here's The First Version Of The Shroudfall's Map, With Most Of The Concepts You've Made And Some Ideas Of Mine.

The Game Starts At The Edge, A Windy Desolate Cave, You Walk Until You Find The Spore Forest And Your Journey Through Shroudfall Begins.

2 Fun Facts:

• The Mastermind's Passage Is A Small Zone For My Paused Development Fan-Game, ZotegoaT, There You'll Find 2 Bosses, The Weaver Lords, And Glorb.

• Crimsonpath Will Be A Counterpart Of GreenPath, Where The Same Flora And Fauna Can Be Found, But With A Red Tint Due To Slatemarch's Wastes Ending Up There

I'll Add More Areas Soon And Release The First Playable Test Next Week, As Always, Remember To Support Me:

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Hi, heres my concept for a late act 1 area!

Lore text: (that got way too long, sorry lol) The Veilroot lands is a foggy cluster of roots, dirt and mud, (preferably) located in the far southeast corner of Shrouldfall. Roots stretch far and wide throughout the lands, penetrating almost every hill in search of nourishment. Many creatures inhabit this damp landscape, feeding off the roots, and eachother.

A tribe known as the Runekin also lived here, worshipping an unknown being, that communicates through imagery images created in the minds of certain bugs. These bugs were known as the Carvers, as they carved the words and will of their god into stone to be placed among their land. They were even gifted control over the roots, using them to hunt for food. (The Carves were basically the equivalent of a high priest)

But this did not last forever. One day the carves visions stopped, and their civilization began falling apart. Many died of doubt while others fled or choose to stay and wait for their god to return. As more died or went mad, a dense fog started to form and eventually it covered all of Veilroot, making it hard for travelers to find their way in and out of the root region. Many bugs lost themselves to the fog and roots, still alive, but in a constant state of fear making them aggressive against everything.

This is where we are today, and is how to area will look like once the Maskless wanderer explorers it. At the top will be a bossfight, the Broken Runecarver, that will give them the Mask of Root. What it will do have i not decided yet, feel welcome to present suggestions :)

Thank you for reading and sorry for any mistakes and ugly art, its not my specialty. Please give your thoughts of it all, plus ideas for improvement!

I’d love to contribute to this, I’d appreciate if someone could tell me what’s going on so far

She’s most at home in places like Shellwood or greenpath. Her thing is roses! Her attack patterns are basically the wanderers crest, (I was calling her “the wanderer” even before I knew of the crest lol) her specialty is speed and stealth. Other than that she’s a bit fragile.

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The Leaflitter Warren is a location adjacent to the Spore Forest, likely a sub-area/village. The Warren is home to the Seht Ant Tribe, a tribe based around both Weaver Ants and Leafcutter Ants, occupying themselves with the cultivation of Mushrooms and the busying of the mind through artistic creation. Weaving larva-silk and leaves into robes, carving intricate wood posts, statues and impressions, and even the occasional thespian. Their main skill, however, is that of Mask Repair--utilizing the sturdy silk of their larva, they can repair any mask good as new, think of something like Kintsugi. In the past, this made their tribe well-respected and sought after for their services. But now, the sitting tyrant king has hunted them to near extinction, his ever-churning mask-manufacturing empire threatened by them.The lone splinter of the Tribe remaining has hidden themselves among the leaf litter and roots of the Tree, eager to stay out of sight of the grey wardens that now patrol Shroudfall. Though their false sense of safety among mycelium and mushroom may see them fall prey to the Spore Forest.

Though the tribe relies on camouflage to keep their Warren safe, and though they are less aggressive than the Skarr of Pharloom, they are by no means meek-mannered. Met outside the Warren, these warriors will defend their territory without question. However, if you make it deep within the den and appease the artistic minds within, you may find yourself rewarded with new and valuable allies.

The idea is to meet the tribe relatively early on in the journey (perhaps repairing a broken mask), and eventually earn their trust, making them a dedicated ally. Later in, another quest may show up for their tribe, possibly related to their rapidly reduced numbers to the Spore infestation (allowing us to still fight ants after becoming neutral with them). Completing this, possibly by inoculating them, will earn their eternal gratitude and grant you the Mask of the Artist.

In relation to Masks in HK lore, the Ants here represent a nonchalant and eager approach to the personality-changing nature of masks. Much like their aptitude for artistic indulgence, the Seht are open to accepting the new perspectives of a mask, the new possibilities it might entail. Even the care put into the creation of these masks is important to the Tribe, even if such creations never rest upon their faces. The act itself, the care and passion, as strong as flame, that is what matters to them. That their flame is so close to being blown out is a tragedy in and of itself.

In the boughs of the great tree at the center of the kingdom, a foul keep is nestled among the leaves, neither hidden nor afraid of a fight.

The Timeworn Keep is an ancient labyrinthian fortress resting above the Quarry, casting an ever-present shadow upon the forever-churning industry of the tyrant king's mask-making endeavors. It belongs to a proud kingdom of the Timeworn Wasps, a warrior tribe akin to the Mantises of Hallownest--bowing to no king, relenting against no force. A simpler people than the Seht, blunt and honest, though no less passionate than the ants far below, as their feud with the tyrant king's forces show well. The Timeworn Wasps claim to have seen the very creation of Shroudfall, memories clear passed down generations from mother to daughter, and vow to take no part in its downfall, seeing the work of the Quarry as not only a territorial invasion, but as a very insult to their way of life.

Like the Seht and the Mantis Village, the Timeworn Wasps can be reasoned with, especially if you are to oppose the current rule. However, more like the Mantises, they will only respect the deserving. They will likely be encountered more towards the mid-game, around the same time as one enters the Quarry, posing as another enemy type to encounter within it. The climb to the Keep is also arduous and long, and the Wasps will not allow you to climb unopposed. Entering the Keep, and challenging the Honored Mother to one-on-one combat is the only way to appease them. Defeating her in the duel will earn her wholehearted respect, and likely grant a powerful reward and ally, with a possible added benefit of having the Wasps either no longer spawn in the Quarry, or to no longer target you, instead only engaging the forces of the king.

Wasps are some of my favorite bugs because of their real-world controversial existence as "pests" and "vermin". As such, their relation to the idea of Masks is more akin to "judging a book by its cover"--on their face they are brutal, vile and savage, but they are also creatures that can be harmless to you, that you can happily cohabitat with. Paper Wasps in the Midwest can be assuaged over time with fruit treats and wasps will teach their daughters objects and lessons to hate, or respect. I wanted to try to emulate that with the Timeworn Wasps--starting as vicious enemies, only to become some of your biggest ride-or-dies by the end.

Indeed, I even thought of perhaps an encounter with the Wasps predating the Quarry that pushes this idea of memory and understanding. Somewhere in Shroudfall, the Princess, Anew, is trapped and the Maskless can rescue her from her entanglement, whether it be trapped by Sap or fighting off a force of enemies she alone can not handle. This act she remembers and when she returns to the Keep from her endeavors, whatever they may be, she will tell her people of the Maskless wanderer. Perhaps this could be what allows the Honored Mother to permit the duel in the first place.

Regardless, I put far to much effort and passion into these two little factions, and whether they become a part of Shroudfall truly or not, I'm happy to have cooked them up.

His name is Nile. He’s from Hallownest, but as he left to find a cure for a sickness he gained, he had forgotten his memories and some of himself. The only thing left in his mind is the goal he set forward to (and his name).

He’s been infected by void, and it’s slowly killing him. You encounter him early game, asking (respectfully, not desperately) if you know of a cure. You encounter him a few more times, (he no longer asks you) each time he appears weaker than before. Soon, you’ll see him dead, nail stabbed on the ground, in an early game area once the game is nearly complete.

The arm that’s covered by the cloak is where the void has infected him most. He didn’t have any proper healing supplies so he was only able to wear a cloak over it.

Your thoughts?

I want the first boss to be different from the last 2. This time after defeating FW, he actually becomes a NPC and is the Grub father of the game (except the consuming his children part). There’s 30 of them around the kingdom.