As of last night, we are finally indexed! Stabjack's tiny team is beyond excited about this development. The itch.io community has been amazing so far, and we're very grateful for all of the support, especially the folks in the Discord server.  As we are feeling a bit celebratory, I wanted to share a brief look behind the scenes. Today, we are showcasing a bit of our art process.

Roguelike deckbuilders usually focus on gameplay above all else, supplementing it with stylized art and tantalizing hints about the game world. We wanted to exceed standards in both of those departments. The idea for knife-fights in first person view came to us as we were discussing how to make Blackjack look cool. Sure, even the simple game at the core of our own is filled with tension, but it's not very exciting from a visual standpoint. 

Below is the design sheet for our protagonist, Jack. He is a hard-boiled detective who spent his life around scraps and crime scenes. Our story starts with him stumbling onto the scene of his wife's murder and uncovering a supernatural mystery.

First-person combat would enable us to bring enemies right up to Jack for a great sense of immersion. As some of our playtesters noted, they almost appear to be attacking the player. In addition to lovingly crafted animations, we use camera work to emphasize the physical nature of the combat. The camera slips back as Jack struggles to block powerful attacks, tilts subtly to emphasize a powerful slash, and shudders as you take damage.

One of the most challenging parts of development was designing a UI that accommodated the first-person view. Here is one of the earlier iterations:

Before combat was ever animated, detailed storyboards were created for every action. You can see some of them below.

In many ways, this is just the beginning. With Alpha behind us, we have many months of work ahead to fill out the game with more content. Many new demons, items, and NPCs will be added, along with more devastating cases to unravel. We hope that you continue to follow us as we work hard to make Stabjack one of the best games in its genre.