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"Now orbitting AXL-4. Preparing to scan."

"Entering orbit right behind you."

"Conducting surface scans... ... wait a minute. This is bizarre."

"What are you reading?"

"Scans are reporting signs of life all over the colony."

"Life? But, we haven't heard anything from this colony in months. Their life support systems failed."

"Their life support system did fail, but... there's active life forms all over the colony."

"Perhaps some survived. I'll try to broadcast a message. Give me a minute."

"Hold on, something strange...
ZZZT! ... interference."

"Honey? You're breaking up."


"What did I say about calling me honey...
ZZZT! ... missions?"

"I can barely hear you."

"Wait a minute. I'm losing my navigation ...
ZZZT! ... not responding!"

"Aisha? Aisha!"

"I can't...
ZZZT! ... being pulled to the surface! I say again, I'm being ... ZZZT!"

"Aisha!"

"... ZZZT! ... ZZZT!"

"BUDDIE! Scan Aisha's pod! What's her status?"

"Scanning... ... Scientist Aisha and her bot are being pulled towards the surface of AXL-4."

"We need to go after her!"

"Warning! Receiving interference from surface colony."

"I'm losing navigational control! BUDDIE, what's going on with my pod?"

"We are being pulled towards the colony. Entering atmosphere."

"BUDDIE, override pod control! Get us out of this pull!"

"I am sorry Marv, we are descending at a rapid rate. The gravitational beam that was attracting us is off. We are now being pulled in via gravity.

"Get us out of here, BUDDIE!"

"Unable to regain pod control. Pod experience dangerous levels of gravitational pull. Preparing to impact surface."

"Convert all power into life support!"

"Converting... ... life support fortified. Brace for impact in 5 seconds. 4. 3. 2."


A McBacon Jam 3 game, featuring the collaborate work of four members of RMN, including aspects from various games and genres compiled together which have inspired us on our game making journeys. Cold at Heart is a sci-fi dungeon crawler, where you experience what it means to survive in a brutal environment, being hunted by an enemy you do not understand. Alone, on an icy planet, wading through an abandoned colony. Will you survive? What horrors await you in this colony? You and your intelligence drone step into the maw of darkness in search of your wife. Embark on this dungeon crawling sci-fi experience with custom graphics and music as you journey into the remains of an environment overcome by a nightmare.

Tileset and sprite art: Gredge109
Level design: Luiishu
Musical composer: Luiishu
Character portraits: Ratty524
Battler graphics: Ratty524
Consultant: LockeZ

Latest Blog

Cold at Heart Demo RELEASED! A letter from Gredge.

The alpha demo for Cold at Heart is now available!


Inspiration

Cold at Heart was made for the McBacon Jam 3 contest, in which the four of us, Luiishu, Ratty, LockeZ and myself, came together as a team to make a game. The theme of the contest was Inspiration. In other words, what has inspired you on your game making journey?

It was something different for all of us, and in many instances, it was a few things that were brought together. For one, the colony itself was inspired from a movie that is a favorite of Luiishu's, the atmosphere of the colony, taken from the same movie. For another, Metroid, as showcased in Ratty's amazing battler and face art, as well as Luiishu's atmospheric soundtrack. For me, my inspiration primarily concerns the story: Dreams. Quite often I'll have a vivid dream which, upon awakening, I realize could make a good premise to a game. In this instance, it's the story of Cold at Heart itself, heavily inspired from a dream I had, with many of the same events.

Another big inspiration for me concerned the sprite and tileset art. The style I have is inspired heavily by our own Pizza's amazing artwork on this site. Watching his examples has aided me in developing my own style.

Working with this team on this project has been an incredible experience. Ratty contributed through his dynamic and amazing face and battler graphics, setting the stage for our enemy encounters with his unique craftsmanship. Luiishu headed up the level development, with his top-tier mapping and design, bringing to life the haunting atmosphere of the colony. LockeZ provided his excellent consultation, aiding us in further developing our game mechanics throughout the process. The contributions of this team are far too many to list.


Continuing the project

We are determined to continue this project. Even now, far more has been crafted beneath the demo, with areas and resources not yet in the demo. A plethora of work has been done on this game, and rest assured, it will see completion. Feedback is welcome throughout this process. Even now, I am aware of some issues concerning the Alpha demo. I would greatly appreciate your feedback and subscription to this game, as more updates are soon to come!


What this project means to me

Finally, it is difficult to express what this project means to me. Our team consists of some of the greatest developers of this site, all with their numerous contributions and accolades. For me, as a somewhat newer member to this site, this was a big moment for me, where I could take advise and apply it from these great team members.

This is the first major showcasing of my sprite tile set art in a game. While I have applied some before such as my work in Transcendence, this is my first step into actual 32x32 design for VX Ace. The character sets, sprites, managing different sets and a palette have all been a major elements of design to learn. Furthermore, taking on the combat system was a challenge: how do I make a dungeon crawler that feels solid? My previous project, Dungeon Crawl: Party of Four!, was a project I learned a lot from: I heard what people liked and disliked about the system. I took what I learned from that project, and applied it in the making of this game's battle system. Whether people enjoy it or not, well, it's all up to you to say! I hope it feels fun and solid to you all!

Thanks for reading! Check out the alpha demo, and subscribe to this page for future updates. I hope you all enjoy our project, Cold at Heart!

Posts

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Frogge
I wanna marry ALL the boys!! And Donna is a meanc
18536
Snazzy! This is looking really good you guys!
Thanks, buddy! I wholeheartedly appreciate your comment. It truly warms my heart.
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
author=Frogge
Snazzy! This is looking really good you guys!

^^ Thanks!
Can't wait to try out this game!
Thanks everyone! I hope you all have fun with this demo. It will be continued soon!
"Unable to find VR Gothic font"

Also why are the DATA files in .rar format?
author=byproduct
Love the esthetic!


Thank you! It was an idea we bounced around for a bit, and I really like the fact that we went with the icy planet theme!


author=AlexHeartnet
"Unable to find VR Gothic font"


What version of Windows are you using? It might not have the font, but the font is part of the default package in recent operating systems. You may have to try and find it and install it. In the future, I'll edit the script to give it alternative fonts to choose from.

Also why are the DATA files in .rar format?


An old data folder got included in .rar format when we were having problems synchronizing the project across team members. That data file you saw is the old one, a left over file which I'll remove in future distributions. The actual DATA files are encrypted.
Windows 10, upgraded from a win7 install. Installing the font worked, now I can access the game menu! Now there is a different error blocking my progress.

"Unable to find file:

Graphics/Characters/Vehicle"
author=AlexHeartnet
Windows 10, upgraded from a win7 install. Installing the font worked, now I can access the game menu! Now there is a different error blocking my progress.

"Unable to find file:

Graphics/Characters/Vehicle"


That is really strange. I'll have to re-upload when I get back in town after this weekend. Maybe a fresh upload would help. I don't think I've seen anyone else mention this problem, and I can't imagine what it is (especially since I don't have a vehicle spriteset).

The only thing I can think of, is that the game does not have the RTP files with it: if you don't have the RTP downloaded, you'll have to download it off of the official RPG Maker site. But other than that, I don't know what to think of it.

Thank you for notifying me of these issues, by the way. When you actually are able to play it, I hope you enjoy it!
Oh, thank you. It is... playable now, at least. Now if only the status effects would show properly...


Is there anything wrong with these pictures?
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
Yeaaah it's probably a bug on our part. The demo was made within a short timeframe and not all of our assets are complete. We'll definitely address these things in the final release.
author=AlexHeartnet
Is there anything wrong with these pictures?


ΦÜÜΦ?
AkarithePeanut
A lazy teenager's spirit in a mid 20 adult's body
2205
Cool game! I am wondering what´s happening in that colony all right. Good introduction, good to know that you are having fun on this. Keep working hard!
Thank you! There are lots of fishy stuff going on in the colony, that's for sure.
Played a little. I agree with last review's idea of visible enemies, or at least, a less insistent battle spawn. Battles are not short and while searching on the camp it's quite annoying to be fighting all the time.

Apart of that, loved the combat mechanics, with "Buddy" as support and "Marv" as the one who is capable of fighting.

More positive things: it's nice that the game starts so fast, with short introduction. Sometimes we make the mistake of creating long cutscenes / text windows while the player is wanting to play.

Art is also very original and nice to see. Love the colors, remind me a bit of Steven Universe and make the graphics quite unique.

It seems to me this game has a lot of potential when fixing some light issues. Good work. Longing for updates.
Thanks for playing and taking your time to share your thoughts! I'm glad to hear that you managed to enjoy the game so much, even though it was just an alpha demo.

Even though it hasn't been that long, the game has still gone through quite a bit of changes for the better and there's a lot more to come, so stay tuned! We've got some pretty big plans for this one.
Thanks for the feedback! Definitely more improvements to follow.
author=Luiishu535
Thanks for playing and taking your time to share your thoughts! I'm glad to hear that you managed to enjoy the game so much, even though it was just an alpha demo.

Even though it hasn't been that long, the game has still gone through quite a bit of changes for the better and there's a lot more to come, so stay tuned! We've got some pretty big plans for this one.


That's good news! Thanks for keep improving it, it has a lot of potential
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