Dev Diary #8 - Wonders of the Deep

Hello Work-from-homers! 

This week we are sharing a glimpse of a late-mid-game location ~

The country that I grew up in roots back to the ancient kingdom of Srivijaya; a Buddhist thalassocratic Indonesian Empire based on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 8th to the 12th century AD. Srivijaya was the first unified kingdom to dominate much of the Indonesian archipelago. The rise of the Srivijayan Empire was parallel to the end of the Malay sea-faring period. Due to its location, this once-powerful state developed complex technology utilizing maritime resources. In addition, its economy became progressively reliant on the booming trade in the region, thus transforming it into a prestige goods-based economy (description referenced from Wikipedia) 

Having that said, we synthesized this knowledge with some local folklore, cultural references & our own little spin to the settings - and thus the team and I created an ethereal location that is filled to the brim with otherworldly tension. This level features not only some of the challenging puzzles of the game, but also a memorable boss that haunts you endlessly for intruding her territory. 

We've also designed a level BGM that features a spin on the local instrument of Gamelan; a traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. The most common instruments used are Metallophones played by mallets and a set of hand-played drums called Kendhang which register the beat. (description taken from Google)

This type of instruments are amazing at creating a feeling of zen when played to its intended drone-like rhythmic nature, it also creates a deeply haunting and mystical sensation, hence why its always been heavily associated with a supernatural horror setting in Indonesian stories/ films, which I find unfortunate sometimes because it is also a majestic sounding type of music and can be utilized to instill a sense of grandness and awe into a setting.  

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So with that thank you for reading this insight into our project! 

We are a small Indie-company that makes game due to our love and passion towards storytelling, art, puzzles, adventure & culture, so if you like what you see, do consider supporting us by wishlisting SAMUDRA on Steam

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1116260/SAMUDRA/

or

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https://twitter.com/khayalan_arts/

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Cheers & have a hygienic week ahead folks!

- El