My name is Raúl (better known as raulbayushi, a role-player nickname given by a friend many years ago, which I show with pride) and I would like to talk a little about me and Crimson Breath’s birth.

When I was a child vampires movies terrorised me and, for me, the most evil being was Dracula, played by the inimitable Christopher Lee.

Those old Hammer movies showed the prince of darkness as a creature of nightmares that had to be feared and fought by all means (sun light, crucifixes, holy water or, as last chance, covered under the blanket and keeping the night-stand light on). Dracula was the villain par excellence.

A few years later came into my hand “Interview with the vampire”, by Anne Rice, and my understanding of myth staggered. For the first time, the vampire was shown as a figure which could empathize with, and no longer caused me terror but an obscure fascination.

The vampire was the new hero (perhaps antihero?) and so was displayed on films, role-playing games and, of course, video games, among which I feature with special affection the memorable “Castlevania: Symphony of the Night”.

The first time I played this title on my new PSX I fell in love with its music (ringing in my playlist while I write this post) but above everything with those animations, exhibiting a fluidity never seen to date. I promised myself that someday I would develop a videogame with a vampire as main hero, and it would have a style and movements comparable to Alucard’s (there is no harm in asking).

Some years ago I took up this old idea with no specific goal, just as a hobby, so I dust off (virtually speaking) BennuGD manual and started to work on some preliminary sprites. While I placed pixels and fought with the color palette, I was mulling over the game title, the character name, his motivations, story… By that date I never heard about a GDD so, the result was this…

Uriel, a vampire just come out after centuries of lethargy, having its abilities reduced because of the inactivity and… No less than 25 frames just to get its gabardine flaps naturally!

The entire animation was not bad, but I knew I was setting high standards for the rest of movements, and I was especially worried about the walk cycle. Finally, Uriel’s walking animation used 16 frames

Something did not fit well. Character aesthetics was too modern, Blade style, and I leaned towards something more Victorian. The animation didn’t convinced me neither, so back to blank canvas and start from scratch.

This design was closer to my desires, but I realised I was putting the cart before the horse. I did not raised the character’s story, its origins, its motivations and, of course, I did not set the odyssey that he was going to live to reveal his heroic condition, because go shopping does not forge heroes.

That said, I put aside pixels and began to define the entire context of the game, existing factions, conflicts, main character, allies, antagonists and so on. Having all this elements well defined, I back to work on sprites.

So this is how, after that previous work, Julian Rouge was born. Crimson Breath’s hero. A Napoleonic soldier who was killed on Egypt’s campaign, but got a second chance thanks to Valeria, who would be since then his immortal companion.

Once I had some decent animations, I started to build a preliminary scenario where to put Julian running, going upstairs and slashing.

To be the programmer, graphic artist and musician of a game is an absolutely madness, and I knew this project would take a lifetime. I did not care, because it was just a hobby with no expectations, but two years ago, participating on Global Game Jam, I had the opportunity to show my demo, and this is how I met Devs&Dungeons members, a community of game lovers and developers who praised my work and encouraged me to continue.

I was aware that, if I wanted to get Crimson Breath done, I would have to share my dream with other people, so the project stopped being a one-man adventure. I gave that first path with a group of colleagues who, for one reason or another, were left on the road, but I thank them wholeheartedly every step taken to my side.

However, good luck put in my way some wonderful people who are now part of this adventure too and share my vision and enthusiasm. I give the floor so they introduce themselves and tell their own stamp on Crimson Breath, because I know we will walk together the rest of the road.

This wish is to you too, who are reading me right now. Stay with us, join us on this trip. The night awaits you on Crimson Breath.

#devlog #CrimsonBreath #gamedev #pixelart #madewithunity #wip