#1 - What is ANIMIST? (An exploration of the setting)

Dawson here again! Last week, I discussed the very early beginnings of our current project, ANIMIST, and the very early assembly of our team, now known as Dancing Light Productions. You can read that here if you'd like, but otherwise, I'll go ahead and elaborate on what our game actually entails.

Rooted in a love for games revolving around intricacy in design, such as the works of Arkane Studios' Dishonored, our goal with ANIMIST is twofold: Create an interesting setting (which I'll elaborate more on shortly!), and then design fun, interactive levels within that setting. Since our team is small (roughly 8 members in various specialties!), we're taking our time to slowly build things up and reach a level of appropriate polish. While we do that, though, we have had plenty of time to build out the world, so I'd like to go into some detail about that!

In short, the game will take place in a setting known as the City of Dancing Lights, a formerly utopian society founded by remnants of a continent-spanning empire, which itself is dissolved after the mysterious destruction of one of the planet's two moons. The City of Dancing Lights itself is based around a formation referred to as the Courtyard of Light, an structure that has been radically altering the life around it in mysterious ways. The members of the City (a shorthand that I will be using referring to the setting moving forward) are mainly comprised of three groups:

The Chamber: A group of scientists that attempt to understand the world around them by studying frequencies. These members of the Chamber are responsible for the development of the Glimmer, automata built via a mix of the remains of man and machine. Prior to this, however, their technological improvements to the City's arsenal are nothing to laugh at; One notable member was able to develop suits of armor able to generate, conduct, and redirect bolts of electricity, which turned out to be very useful quelling the working class on the behalf of the nobles of the City.

This is the Conductive Focus, the main feature of the armor worn by the Chamber. Within the guard of the elbow is an engine to generate power, which is then directed to nodes on the forearm and knuckles. The user's arm is protected with a padded leather, to mitigate potential accidents in the process of charging and releasing electricity. More importantly, however, we expect it to be a tool usable by the player within the demo.

The Animists: A group of philosophers that aim to achieve ultimate self-fulfillment, and in the process, achieve a form more harmonious with their world. They are a driving force behind the spiritual understanding of reincarnation, something the Courtyard of Light (the formation at the City's center) has been responsible for in recent years.

If you've read the last devlog, the concept of the "Knife-Throwing Summoner" was mostly adapted into the general abilities that the Animists possess. This essentially became what we internally refer to as "jelly magic", and will be elaborated further upon in future posts.

Mockup of how the "Jelly Magic" looks visually, on an early concept of a member of the Animist faction.

The Aristetra: In essence, the Aristetra are the wealthy individuals of the City, establishing themselves early on as a force to be reckoned with. Early on, before the usage of the Glimmer automata, the Aristetran nobles were guarded by members of the Chamber in their specialty armored suits. Once the Glimmer were developed, however, a majority of the nobility signed on to become machines themselves, aiming to live well beyond their expected lifetimes. Most did not survive the downfall of the city, either by the Glimmer turning against the people, or the working class finally getting the upper hand. Those that did survive, however, were mostly driven mad in the process.

While these three groups dominate the City, there is still one more group that needs discussion.

The Glimmer: Named for their glimmering forms made of brass, copper, and steel, the Glimmer are made of an amalgamation of the human form and machine. A joint effort of the Chamber and select members of the Animists, the Glimmer are produced by inserting a soul into these produced bodies, a lethal process for the original living human. The soul itself is bound within a "Metronome", a device that mimicks the frequency of the original human's body. More expensive models (typically reserved for members of the Aristetran elite) were more mechanical in nature, but most models are built on top of a human skeleton. Partially, this made it easier to construct, but more importantly, it helped the soul bind to the Metronome without rejecting it outright.

An early example of what the more advanced Glimmer look like. Most are built upon the same base frame - the key difference in this model being the addition of two arms mounted above the shoulders,

As part of the disaster that ruined the City (an event known as the Rain of Brass), the Glimmer turned on the human populace, wiping them out almost entirely. The survivors that remain have constructed safe areas, attempted to keep the Glimmer within the walls of the City, or took advantage of the disaster to loot now unoccupied buildings.

Anyways, that covers the utmost basics about the City of Dancing Lights, and what we hope to show you beyond the demo of ANIMIST! Next week, I'll go into more detail about the work we've done so far, showing of a gallery of concept art that we've produced during our preproduction phase. Hope to see you then!