Hello, friend! Let's look together at how Oliver's Tale progressed this month! Telegraphs! If you've played action RPGs, you've probably seen glowing circles, flashing lines, or ominous red zones appear on the ground during combat. These are called telegraphs - visual indicators that warn players about incoming danger. Think of telegraphs as a game’s way of saying, “Hey, something bad is about to happen here - maybe move?”  They give players a chance to react, dodge, or prepare for an attack. Fully parametrized, no textures, pure Math & Magic 🪄 In short, telegraphs are an essential part of making combat feel fair, and satisfying. So next time you see a glowing pattern appear under your character’s feet… run! Telegraph Circle shader A Game-Changer for Tail Movement Tails are extremely hard to animate so they look natural, and in our game you Animating tails in games is no easy feat. Traditional animation methods can make tails feel stiff or out of place, especially when you have a lot of creatures or characters with tails. We knew that Oliver's Tale is going to have a lot of tails.🤓 - Sorry, Couldn't resist Instead of manually animating each tail frame by frame, we calculate tail animations procedurally  in real-time. This means the tails move and react dynamically, adjusting to the character's motions as they walk, run, or jump. New set of equipment for Oliver is almost there! Let me introduce you the high-poly model of Oliver's second-tier armor! It is designed to reflect intricate flame motifs, sharp lines, and fire accents that make it feel both intense and fierce. It’s not just about looking cool, though; every detail reflects Oliver’s character. I practiced my vector graphics drawing skills a bit 😇 Wait for next month post to see what we are preparing as a head piece😉 Immersive Combat Experience We’ve just introduced a new set of damage reactions to make combat feel even more immersive and dynamic. Here’s what we've added: Animation Reactions  – When a character takes damage, they’ll react with specific animations considering attack direction. Flash Highlight  – To give even more feedback, we’ve introduced a flash highlight  that briefly lights up the character when they take damage. Orientation Towards Attacker  – Now, characters will orient themselves towards the attacker after taking damage. On top of having those reactions we have Death state utilizing Ragdoll physics now! These reactions are designed to add a layer of realism, making each hit and attack feel impactful. Wrapping Up for Now This is just a glimpse of what we’ve managed to accomplish this month. Behind the scenes, we've started crafting the intro cinematic for the game, started shifting all our characters to use root motion by default, and rolled out a bunch of important fixes to smooth things out. I am thrilled with the progress so far and can’t wait to share even more updates with you soon. And if you haven’t already, don’t forget to Sign up for our Demo  if you didn't do it yet😉 And to get news ahead of time - subscribe for my socials: Threads , X , Bluesky Thank you for reading!

Hello dear friend, and welcome! I have so many things to share with you! Soon you will learn how did we decide to flip the game upside down, so Oliver’s story will never be the same! Let's make friends! In January we decided to go social and share our game updates on X , BlueSky and Threads , and I can tell you I am not the best at it, got around 30 subscribers in a month 🤓 ... At the same time Karina started her Threads about Oliver's Tale and got 120 subscribers over first day! 🤯 Now we make our first steps at building connections with people and talking about our game, and actually.. both of enjoy it a lot! Think Tetris, But with Swords & Gems! 🔷🗡️ In Oliver’s Tale, character progression isn’t just about leveling up - it’s about strategically arranging your inventory. Picture Tetris, but instead of clearing lines, you’re creating powerful synergies: place a gem next to a sword, and it grants +10 Damage. Sword receives 3⚡Electrum damage after Crystal is placed next to it Every item’s position matters, turning your inventory into a puzzle where the right combinations unlock powerful boosts. It’s not just collecting gear it’s engineering your build! 💪 We flipped the table… Yes! We’ve overhauled Oliver’s Tale’s demo to drop players straight into the heart of its perilous world. From the first minutes, you’ll battle the threats of fractured sky islands. Forge Island is long forgotten and overgrown factory of military robots where ancient menace seems to be revived. Concept art by Anna Kulakovskaia ( Art station ) The demo throws players into chaos immediately: after a mid-air ambush, you crash-land on Forge Island, a storm-battered land overrun by hostile machines. No slow introductions, just relentless exploration, combat, and unraveling the mysteries of this world. BTW Sign up for our Demo if you didn't do it yet😉 First of the Ashborn is here! The first mini-boss in Oliver’s Tale’s demo: Razorfang, a twisted fusion of human and rat. Once a man, he’s now a harbinger of the Ashborn - a faction that embraced brutal mutations to endure Earth’s collapse. Meanwhile Oliver is dressing up with T2 set of gear! Here is the sneak pick on T2 set for Oliver that he would obtain on Forge island. On behalf of whole mini-team of Oliver's tale, thank you for you interest in our game. 💖

Hi fellows! Welcome to the first dev blog from the Tinkers team! Yes, that's what we call ourselves because "tinkering" perfectly captures the spirit of what we do - crafting, tweaking, and bringing imaginative worlds to life. But let's cut to the chase - you’re here for the juicy behind-the-scenes scoop on what we’re cooking up! Mithras Has Entered the Game! Our first NPC character is officially rigged and live in the game engine. Say hello to Mithras , the Watchman of Electrum , a timeless guardian and embodiment of order. Mithras concept art Mithras character in game It is still WIP, in the future we are going to improve shader effects and add procedural tail animation. Robots learned how to navigate! Our ancient military robots, the first hostile faction in Oliver's Tale , have mastered navigation! They can now patrol levels, chase Oliver, and avoid obstacles. We are polishing paper design of that faction now, their abilities and synergies. Spinner abilities design implies that robot making bullet hell on distance and deadly on short range, at the same time it becomes vulnerable after using melee ability Brace yourselves, these relentless adversaries are almost ready to bring the challenge! Itemization and ability systems are coming together! While the robots are learning to chase, I’m focused on connecting Items with Abilities. Equipment will now define both passive and active abilities, allowing players to customize their playstyle. By tinkering with gear, you'll be able to forge a unique approach to every challenge. Here I am equipping swords to first and second slots, then activating second slot that shows that I have ability for Left mouse button Stay tuned as we bring this exciting feature to life! Wishing you all a joyful and magical Christmas holiday! 🎄