ORB FIGHTERSDEVELOPMENT JOURNAL

A WORLD IN THE MAKING

Small beings.
Limitless possibility.

Follow Orb Fighters as a living sandbox takes shape: expressive orbs, physical powers, and fights that leave a mark.

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MAGNUS painting beside the approved dark slate appearance with cream minus and plus eyes and a bright textured blue meridian
Work in progress MAGNUS: the dark mineral shell and original cream glyphs remain, with a bright textured blue inlay and readable sigil. Core interiors are still flat and the halo hue is subtle.

Latest from the workshop

NEWEST FIRST
TERRA faces BLAZE across the textured stone court during a flame attack
Work in progress Ordinary-game input replay. The new court and solid orb materials are visible; flame overlap still makes contact hard to read.
M2In progress

Back on the stone court

TERRA and BLAZE are back on a textured stone court, with a closer third-person camera, a brighter Box sky and a smaller control bar. Their solid shells, single coloured seams and small glowing eyes now appear in the ordinary game. The scene is still rough: fire can hide the fighters, the camera crowds them at close range, and the distant squares need more depth and atmosphere.

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October 2 TERRA painting and Godot studio comparison with a warm mineral shell and green inlay
Work in progress October 2 appearance study, included for context. The original rectangular eyes remain; the pale core and bright textured inlay need refinement. This is not a capture of the new combined game.
M2In progress

Building the shared game

Work is now focused on the ordinary game: choose an orb, move freely, shape a technique and face an opponent under the same rules. The controls, native simulation, world saves, places and dialogue are being connected in one project. Several parts are implemented in source, but the combined build still needs its next launch and play check.

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Warm mineral TERRA and deeper red BLAZE close together in gameplay after the scene-light adjustment
Work in progress 5.00 s - Warmer stone and deeper red in the actual gameplay scene. This is recorded ordinary TERRA input versus autonomous BLAZE, not human GUI play.
Work in progress

Ordinary controls in the duel

A twenty-second run replays ordinary TERRA mouse and key inputs against autonomous BLAZE. This is recorded-control gameplay, not a person playing through the GUI or the keyframed reference fight. The approved mineral orbs are now in gameplay, with warmer stone and deeper red from adjusted scene lighting.

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TERRA and red BLAZE face each other across a rising stone wall as an ember blade meets it and a long plasma tail extends forward
Work in progress 1.63 s - The blade meets the wall with both fighters' eyes and shells inside the portrait. The plasma tail still competes with the contact.
Work in progress

Read the wall hit, then the recoil

The first blade contact with the wall now keeps both fighters' eyes and shells inside the portrait view. Intact stone rises through the floor between warm TERRA and red BLAZE, while the plasma tail still competes with the blade. The owner-approved mineral appearances and current court lighting remain in this authored reference scene.

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Eight selected paintings beside owner-approved default orb appearances with mineral wear, cream eyes and bright textured inlays
Work in progress Owner-approved default appearance for reference and gameplay: original cream glyphs, soft accent halos, bright textured inlays and more readable sigils. New moving captures remain to be reviewed.
Work in progress

Original small glyphs, eight shell directions

The eight orbs keep fine stone and ceramic mineral wear, distinct shell colours and their original small cream eye glyphs. MAGNUS stays dark slate. These paired views show the selected paintings beside the latest appearance in a dark studio.

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BLAZE drives an orange blade toward TERRA amid sparks in the earlier reference pass
Work in progress Before: the contact is readable, but bright sparks and steam crowd its focal point. This is authored reference-animation WIP.
M1In progress

A cleaner reference fight

We have withdrawn the short video from this reference-fight update because the action is too confusing. Frequent angle changes, crowded fighters and weak plasma shapes make the exchange hard to follow. These work-in-progress stills remain for comparison while we rebuild the sequence.

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Warm earth-colored TERRA faces vivid red BLAZE at a staged contact
Work in progress Latest selected orb material WIP. Red body shading is clearer, but the blade remains hidden; the next reference render changes the contact staging.
M1In progress

Testing moves as a complete chain

A technique can now reach the native duel core as a complete ordered chain of moves. The core quotes the whole chain before accepting it, so a later step cannot quietly overspend Glow or reuse matter that an earlier step has already reserved. An invalid step leaves the world unchanged.

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A surviving stone pillar stands after a scripted Keep action
Work in progress Later native capture of the paid kept build. Its surviving state is tested, but the pale box material is unfinished; detailed stone shading is next.
M1In progress

Kept builds survive a fresh world

The latest scripted control test now keeps a real, surviving stone build. The player targets it, pays once, and a repeated Keep action spends nothing extra. Clean leaves that paid kept build intact without issuing a refund.

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TERRA shapes stone beside BLAZE during a native input test
Work in progress Later recorded follow-up to the scripted contacts. The native input path works, but the pale pillar reads poorly; surface materials are next.
M1In progress

The controls reach the duel

The latest scripted control test produced three physical contacts and a broken guard between TERRA and BLAZE. Every authored movement and power-shape upload in that run was accepted. The controls and shared motion now connect to the native duel's consequences.

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TERRA and BLAZE stand beside a newly formed stone pillar
Work in progress Later native control capture, not the backend fixture described above. Geometry and costs are native, but stone shading and the small viewport need work.
M1In progress

Giving moves real consequences

The new duel backend now runs inside Godot. It accepts authored movement and power shapes, checks the available Glow and existing matter, and resolves physical contacts. Animation supplies the movement; the core accounts for its consequences.

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The development journal home page with dated progress posts
Work in progress Later journal screenshot. This earlier layout still had no post media; images and short WIP clips are being added now.
M1In progress

The development journal is live

This journal is now online. It brings together the latest development posts, milestone status and a readable summary of the design, so the progress of Orb Fighters is easier to follow on a phone.

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MAGNUS prepares magnetic power above scattered metal filings
Work in progress Cosmetic component WIP: tangible filings show the field, but they disappear at phone size. Larger, clearer alignment changes are next.
M1In progress

Making fields visible through matter

The latest MAGNUS study shows magnetic power through metal filings and moving alloy fragments. The field becomes visible through what it moves, giving this fighter a different shape language from stone, plasma and electrical discharge.

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TERRA faces the camera under a dense stone-dust effect
Work in progress Camera-revision WIP: the fighter is large, but dense dust and speed lines compete with its eyes. Cleaner contact shapes are next.
M1In progress

Framing the moment of contact

The latest reference-fight camera brings more of the action into view. In the recorded revision, 466 of 600 frames meet the current fighter-size and framing target, up from 332. The target is 480, and all three major impacts now keep the fighter shells inside their safety margin.

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TERRA is shown in a dedicated dummy view above technique fields
Work in progress Later control-only follow-up: the dummy has its own view. Combat is unavailable; more space for the fight is still needed.
M4Groundwork

Making the workshop readable

The technique workshop now gives its live dummy a separate view. Larger text and scrolling controls let you adjust a recipe without covering the orb's eyes. The control guide has its own space, so instructions stay clear of the demonstration.

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TERRA faces BLAZE while a gesture charge is shown
Work in progress Input prototype only: combat is unavailable in this version. The faint guide and cramped opening view need correction.
M4Groundwork

Testing the controls before the duel

The first control prototype now runs inside Godot. A recorded input session exercises direction and charge, releasing a technique, quick reactions, lock-on, Clean and Keep requests, and the technique workshop. Thirteen checks passed for input handling and saved recipes.

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TERRA braces below a cloud of stone dust
Work in progress Later reference-animation WIP: dust and stone crowd the contact image. Clearer effect staging and quieter scenery are next.
M1In progress

A clearer fight, a brighter world

Orb Fighters is building toward fluid, creative power fights in a world that remembers what happened. The first reference spar pairs BLAZE's plasma with TERRA's stone shaping. That short fight sets the quality target before the systems grow around it.

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