Dev Blog #7
almost 3 years ago – Wed, Jun 23, 2021 at 07:25:47 PM

Hello everyone, I hope you’re enjoying the sun. We are too, but things on our end are just a little more demonic than yours.

In this update, we wanted to take you on a journey to meet some of the various new enemies you’re going to encounter as well as some graphical updates we’ve made thanks to you backing the project and us being able to devote a lot more time to go the game.

First up is this plucky fellow that you might remember from the Prologue Demo we uploaded to steam, let’s take a look, shall we…

And not to be left out... here’s his Boss too!

You’ll see that the Devourer (or Glutton as we call him) has some fancy new jewellery. As a heads-up, you might be needing that!

OK, so now let’s look at cool new stuff.

You might remember these little fellows from the demo too. However, we’ve upgraded their arsenal now and they’re armed with huge blood-covered forks! In the Demon Realm, these guys are employed to feed the Glutton so don’t get too close.

Now, all we need is someone to cut up the meat for the Glutton... and bingo! We have these new, Headless Butchers who we’re super proud of. These rotten devils can’t see you, but can hear you and react to their surroundings based on sound, so tread carefully, or else!

Next up we have one of my personal favorites: the Screamers. These annoying demons hide in the shadows underneath their cloche and when you get close they run after you screaming the entire team. The sound effects here are pretty horrendous - and no, don’t ask how we made them!

Then we have the Needlers. These pointy-nosed demons can throw their heads towards you at a fair pace, so make sure you don’t get in their range or you might get the point!

Finally, for this update, we have Scelesta, a new boss that you will have to appease before you can rescue the tortured souls she keeps. While she might be smaller than some of the other bosses, don’t get her angry!

What do you think of this month's update? Let us know in the comments below!

Dev Blog #6
almost 3 years ago – Thu, May 20, 2021 at 05:43:51 AM

Hello everyone! I hope you’re all doing well and the sun is shining wherever you might be.

For this update we’re going to be taking a look at some of the cutscenes in Sunshine Manor.

Since these cutscenes might contain minor spoilers for the story, we did want to warn you before you end up scrolling down.

--

--

--

--

There, that should be enough space. Let’s dive in!

In the screenshot above you can see the infamous Clement Aitken for the first time. This guy is the original Mr. Sunshine who starred in the successful Sunshine Hour television show. However, the image you see presents him, well, certainly not at the best moment of his career!

This tent looks absolutely fine doesn’t it, we can’t see anything strange about it. Can you?

Now we see Aitken at the peak of his career with a huge audience of adoring fans! So… what happened? What changed? All will be revealed in Sunshine Manor!

We’d love to know your theories on how Sunshine Manor connects to Camp Sunshine, so leave them in the comments below. What we do know is that you’re going to be in for some big surprises!

Dev Blog #5
almost 3 years ago – Sat, Apr 24, 2021 at 09:57:09 AM

Hello everyone! Has it really been a month already?

Development work for Sunshine Manor is in full force at the moment, and right now, we're adding in some absolutely off-the-wall elements for one of the Demon Realms that we think is going to really tax your brainboxes. It's going to be fun, and we can't wait for you to see the new stuff!

But … GOOD NEWS EVERYBODY (did you read that in Farnsworth's voice?), you've unlocked a chiptune bonus soundtrack thanks to the additional pre-orders we have generated through our Backerkit store!

We will begin working on the chiptune version once the entire soundtrack has been composed, but I wanted to share a few examples of the music within Sunshine Manor. This is something we're absolutely focused on as each demon realm has its own themes. Let's take a listen!

Dev Blog #4
about 3 years ago – Tue, Mar 09, 2021 at 01:37:33 PM

Hi everyone! Over the last month we’ve been focused on fine tuning the established gameplay mechanics of Sunshine Manor and making Ada even more responsive. Sure, it might sound cool but, in reality, is utterly boring coding and bug fixing, so we thought we’d do something a bit special for this update… how about we see the special cover?

Rather than read our mumblings and ramblings, we’ll let Graham describe the process and thinking behind the cover himself:

Graham Humphreys

With two conflicting bases to consider, this presented a bit of a challenge. The child-centric view of a young girl (the subject of the game) with a ‘Scooby-Doo’ sensibility, plus the setting of an adult slasher, horror franchise.

I was provided with some gameplay screengrabs, so I was equipped to construct my basic image. My brief requested the Girl, a Creepy House and the mysterious Hooded Nemesis.

I decided to keep the girl in control, utilizing the power of her mind to summon up the tools for her battle. It would have been too easy to make her a screaming victim, or give her physical weapons and play to the horror clichés. I wanted it to be about control, not submission. Intellect, not force.

My hooded figure is a nod to any number of men that hide beneath a cowl - religious inquisitors, The Red Death, phantoms (of both opera and grave!), Lord Sidious... and the entire pantheon of literary gothic villains - all patriarchs and cowards!

These - and the creepy house - filled the main brief, but by adding the blooded blade and a mound of skulls, dripping with blood, I could satisfy the horror quota.

I like the ambiguity in the composition... is the child the killer, or the hooded phantom? (There is, after all, a sub-genre of killer kid films!). As with all my work, I began by compiling the reference, mostly using web sourced imager. I often make up characters from three or four different sources and try never to take a complete direct reference - sometimes I’ll take photographs of friends - or myself, using a timer.

I even have a small collection of human skulls I can photograph when needed (human remains have to be proven over a century old for legal procurement - I’m not a grave digger! Two are ex-medical schools. As for the others...

This layout uses symmetry and the effect of a totem pole - a solution that always works well. My final composition is traced onto watercolor paper, a wash applied, then the image painted over the pencil lines, cross checking my printed reference as I go.

I use gouache, a water-based paint that dries quickly and allows me to use a variety of brush techniques, from washes to ‘dry brush’, fine lines to heavy blocks of color. The final art is scanned for digital delivery, with any minor color balance made in photoshop as necessary.

--

So, there you have it, a life-long ambition finally realized thanks to your support!

And without further ado here’s the finished cover!

As a thank you to everyone, we have prepared a few desktop wallpapers of this to give away to everyone. Click right here to download them!

And as if this couldn’t get any better, here is a photo of the man himself holding this wonderful piece of art!

Dev Blog #3
about 3 years ago – Sat, Feb 13, 2021 at 01:08:40 AM

Hello everyone, we hope this update finds you all well! It’s Valentine’s DAy weekend, and since we’re currently hard at work polishing the second mission in Sunshine Manor, we wanted to start the celebrations with a sneak peek at what we have in store for you!

The Maid’s demon world is very fashion conscious, and you’re going to need some serious threads to stick it to the demon that’s holding the Maid hostage. Talking about that, let’s meet her!

Vestasia is the ruler of the second demon realm you will explore, and she rules over her factory with an iron fist. You’ll find all manner of demons and workers here, forced to carry on until they break, all in an effort to create the latest demonic fashions! You’re going to need some serious tricks in order to take her down…

The second Demon Realm also introduces our first ever boss battle in the Sunshine Saga! This is still a work-in-progress, so there might be some changes introduced in the final version of this particular boss fight.

That’s all for this time around. Thanks again for your support!