iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

(1/2) It's been a little while (too long perhaps), but to keep this short, the project is still alive in someway, it's just i've come to realise that the project outgrew my capabilities and became something I didn't really like making... #gamedev #indiegame #solodev

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

It's been far too long, but I'm slowly starting to get back into a routine. Finished the HUD portraits for visual representation of switching out the current player character. Will get a showcase of the mechanic soon...maybe. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #pixelart

Image showcasing the HUD portraits used for detailing current team members, for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. Each portrait uses the main dialogue sprite of each main character, atop a red decal strip on which the character's passive ability icon (a flower of sorts) is positioned within, with an abstract colour switch fade pattern falling off to the right.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Started work on the Team HUD UI, basically the first steps of replacing the Follower system with a switch-in team mechanic (only because it will save my sanity in the long run). #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #pixelart

Image showcasing the first three Team HUD Portraits for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. Depicting the characters Corrin, Isla and Jade, each portrait is comprised of a character bust against a back strip, which details the flower symbology of that character's passive ability with a abstract line divided shadow pattern.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

Hey all, just a quick update; I recently started a new night job (gotta make that money somehow), so as you can imagine it's really changed my development schedule for the game. That's not to say it's over, just things will be a bit slower from now on. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Getting back to sprite work, thought I would change up the characters each session to avoid burnout; this time I selected Jade and began work on her Idle animations. Going to spend the rest of the week on sprites, so it might go quiet for a little bit. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #pixelart

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Back on the writing grind, planning the narrative. Game writing is a fun challenge, because you have to consider mechanics as well as the typical story components like characters, locations etc, but I love a challenge. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

Photo depicting a snapshot of my notebook, with notes planning the core narrative for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

Finished some behind the scenes dialogue stuff, but I did change some visuals around both in the UI and level as well; the most notable of these is the addition of child drawings, as a prompt that these are objects Corrin can talk to...trust me, it makes sense, kinda. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

Currently working on getting the dialogue system to fit into a more central repository, so I don't have to hard code every string value of text; safe to say, I've learnt quite a few things today. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

You know you're getting a bit too into the narrative, when written notes for just two sections of it, looks like a well-worn journal. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

Within the ranks of The Council's vast empire, stands the metal machines of carnage, the Steel Priests; but don't let the name fool you, there is nothing holy about these merciless masters of brutality. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #pixelart

Image showcasing the design sprites for the final entities for the Demo version of Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. Depicting The Council's hive-mind machines, the Steel Priests, there uniformed design of steel blue is accented by glowing red rank markings. All bar the Spectre, which takes on a probe droid design, assume a humanoid like appearence; however, the Redeemer's legs are replaced with numerous metallic tenticles, giving it a taller height befitting of it's high-ranking role.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

Continuing on with dialogue busts; had to do some character redesigns (Both for bust and overworld sprite) so it's taking a little while longer, should all be wrapped up tomorrow though...well for this batch anyways. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #pixelart

Image showcasing dialogue busts for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. Since the last bust showcase, I've finished up the remainder of the Raft Dwellers, and implemented the core of The Council enemies.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

Slowly working through the character busts for dialogue and cutscenes (well at least the ones for the Demo). Like everything else, these might not be finalised, but they're pretty close. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #pixelart

Image showcasing the first 13 dialogue/cutscene sprites for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. Each sprite is a detailed bust form of the character's in-game world sprite, keeping as close to the orginal design as possible, but with some liberties taken to compensate for the more detailed sprites.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Finally finished the cutscene mechanic; obviously I'll need to make the actual sprites, add audio and tidy up any imperfections, but the foundations are done, so that's another milstone achieved. Followers next I think. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #pixelart

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

I really should get more consistent with updates; but I've been head deep in a lot of Archive/Lore writing reccently (it's a rabbit hole that never ends), which explains the lack of posts. Starting next week I'm getting back on track to more "important" things. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Created some icons for the Archive sections for use in the Main Menu; was originally going to make them like encyclopedia britannicas, but since the UI is mimicking a digital interface, I decided to go with CDs instead. Should get them in and working tomorrow. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

Image showcasing icons for each Archive section for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. Designed to look like CD sleeves with a partially taken out CD, in keeping with the digital design on the Main Menu, each one keeps to a smilar red theme with imagery depicting the idea of what each section represents; for example, the Nebrullian Botanicus depicts leaves on its sleeve, as the Botanicus covers everything to do with plants and fauna.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

I have this folder on my Desktop where I just store notes for ideas, bits and pieces for narrative and whole bunch of rough Microsoft Paint sketches; so I thought I'd share a few of them, just so you can see none of my ideas started out perfect. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

Image showcasing a bunch of different sketches done in Microsoft Paint during the planning stages of designing the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. Some of them represent closely the finished design, but changes and alterations were made mostly on all final assets; these sketches just show that the idea didn't start out perfected.

Image showcasing a bunch of notes to do with various aspects of the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale during the planning stages. Some of these represent final additions to the game, while others were of ideas that either morphed into something else or were dropped entirely; these notes however, should make it clear that the crux of the game was never a uniformed idea initially.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

3/4 of Corrin's Walk Animations are complete; I'm not someone who can animate for hours on end without getting burnt out, so completing an animation set is big progress in my eyes. Hopefully I'll get them all done and replace the old ones soon enough. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #pixelart

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

What was supposed to be a couple days, turned into a couple weeks; but the Intro Intermission is finally done. However, considering I went overboard and made it 8 minutes long, this is only a snippet of it, but it will give you a good idea as to why it took so long. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

I would have had a nice preview of the intro Intermission by now to show off; but tests proved I needed to rethink the interface of the Intermissions, both from a visual standpoint and from a player engagement standpoint. Thus I have spent time getting the new UI made. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

Image showcasing a work in process shot of the new UI for the Intermissions for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. Depicting a tablet device in retro-like colours laying atop mismatch wood planks with charred burn marks; these assets are some of those used for the "Broken" variant of the scene.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

Currently doing some recordings for the intro Intermission; a sequence that needs to be completed before I can test additional mechanics in order. I'm no VA, but it is sure as hell fun. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

Image showcasing a recording setup as I record some dialogue for an introduction sequence for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

I apologise for the lack of posts in recent times; I've been focusing on getting the Combat overhaul done, which requires a lot of other things to be done. On top of that I've been working on the Archive entries as well. Hopefully soon I'll be able to show some things. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

This journey of overhauling the combat has allowed me to re-factor a lot of other systems as well (such as NPC Spawns and Level States); which does ultimately mean a lot of tearing stuff out and rewriting sections...but at least it'll save me the headache in the future. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

Image showcasing a Notepad write out of a basic outline of Level States for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. Each section details the changes in states to the levels, the order of cutscenes and dialogue triggers and what each asset included is (Player, NPC, Enemy or Scene object).

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Just a quick update, combat is coming along (even though currently it is just error busting), and I'm also side-loading doing the narrative for the Archive (the place for people who like to read); as such there really isn't a lot to show...for now. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Well I've made it sub 1000 with the errors (for context it was over 2000), who knew overhauling the combat was so invasive; mind you most of the errors are to do with name changes and references, but when you're working with multiple moving parts, it's not always easy. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

Image shows the script error count within Visual Studio, for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. It displays 815 errors, which is down from the 2000+ I had to begin with. These errors are due to the chnages in the combat system, where a ot of references broke or were removed, thus causing the mass exodus of does not compure to spew all over the project.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

The issue with doing a combat overhaul, is that at one point you begin to realise just how ingrained the old system was into everything else (especially when rewriting scripts and moving data around); in short, it's going to take a little bit longer to finish 😄. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Finished the design layout of the combat character selection scene; hopefully I'll be able to implement the functionaility tomorrow and be well on my way to actually giving the combat revamp some legs. (Character sprites are for testing). #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #pixelart

Image showcasing the design for the combat character selection scene for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. This image displays not only a similar monochromatic-abstract backdrop to the main battle scene, but also shows us the UI components of the character selection window, with selected characters placed dymaically in the scene to create a sense of belonging and depth.

Image showcasing the design for the combat character selection scene for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. This image displays the scene before selecting characters, where there is no selection menu or character sprites, but rather 4 plus icons to indicate adding characters.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

Finished up the Combat HUD UI (bar the Effect icons), making a little mockup to showcase how they'll look during the encounter. I used a muted palette to capture the essence of the scene, making everything visually pleasing. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #pixelart #UI

Image showcases a mockup scene for the combat for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. Depicting the monochromatic abstract scene with it's phantom leaves and rain; HUD elements are now layered on top for visual feedback during an encounter.

At the top centre, we have the Speed Timeline, detailing the turn order of characters with portraits and speed values. At the top right we have the Inspection button which would allow us to open the Inspection menu for further character details.

At the bottom left to centre, we have the current character details, with a portrait, HP/DEF bars, Finality bar and effect icons (the bars of which are isolated from the scene via a black background). From the bottom right, we have the attack icons of the current character(from left to right: Basic, Special, Ultimate and Finality), with a transparent flower depicting the Passive Ability and symbology of the character.

As a last addition to the mockup, we have stand in characters showcasing how each team will be displayed within the scene, with characters getting further away and inwards due to forced perspective, with the further most characters fading out to create the illusion of depth.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Went a bit ambitious with the new combat scene redesign; but there is just something so compelling about having an abstract-monochromatic backdrop, but the characters in full colour. Despite 3D not being my forte, it came out rather well I think. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Updated the main character portraits; some of them directly on the sprite, but all of them updated design wise to fit the new HUD and Combat UI. I'm not 100% with all of them, but if I keep editing them, we'll be here till next June, so their good enough. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #pixelart

Image showcasing the updated character portraits for the seven main characters of the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. Each portrait takes design elements from each character's overworld sprite, but adds refinement and detail.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Just spent a day and a bit planning Act 2 of the narrative; there's something nice about not always being plugged in, so I planned it in a more analogue way...I just hope I can still read my handwriting when I come to actually writing it. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

Image showing a whiteboard and notebook with text detailing various stages of the plan for Act 2 for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Microsoft Paint, great for planning & quick note taking...and also procrastinating; but hey, I feel more creatively motivated now. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

Image showcasing a quick plan for Skill Trees, as a part of the combat system for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. And also maybe a quick sketch because I got sidetracked.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

I swear I do more than make attack icons, but I've finished them all now for the demo characters (well, the player characters anyway), so I can get back to planning the revised combat system...and everything else for that matter. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #pixelart #screenshotsaturday

Image showcasing each of the main player characters for the demo build of the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale, next to icons that each represent their different attacks/abilities for use in the game's combat system.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Another 2 attack icon sets completed; they're simple things designed for visual aesthetics, but creating them with the idea of the characters they represent, gives them more meaning beyond simply UI icons, adding on additional layers to the deep narrative. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #pixelart

Image showcases the attack icons of Isla, Corrin, Jade and Volyur for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. They each represent the characters personalities, traits and secrets, making them not just visually pleasing, but thematically important as well.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

You know things are getting serious, when you start making spreadsheets to calculate stat totals; never thought I'd be using Excel for its intended purpose every again, but here we are. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

Image showcases a screenshot of an Excel spreadsheet detailing character stats and level progression for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

Now that I've reworked the attacks for some of the characters, I thought I'd get a start on making the attack icons (just to vary up my workload). They each represent their attack name, which in turn represents the personality of the character. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #pixelart

Image showcasing some attack icons for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale, namely for the characters Isla and Corrin. Each icon is indicitive of the attack name, which represents the personalitiy and state of mind of each character; adding extra thematic weight to the narratively driven game.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

After some deliberation, I have decided to rework the Combat system, not because it wasn't working, but because it wasn't very...intuitive. So I'm currently re-planning the mechanic and all additional aspects, in hopes to make something even better. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

It took a minute and a surprise ambush of issues in the last couple of hours, but finally you can collect items in the overworld; as a nice cherry on top they even play nicely with the previous mechanics...now then, just got to make them useable. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #pixelart

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Just a quick update, I've almost completed the collection mechanic of items in the overworld; it's taken me longer than expected, namely because I had to remake a font face, fix some SFX issues and get the actual bloody thing working...bug free of course. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

Started the implementation of collectables and consumeable items; thus far I have created the inventory icons alongside some world items to obtain said consumeables. Hopefully I will be able to implement the collection mechanic tomorrow. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #screenshotsaturday

Image showcasing some UI icons for consumeable items for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. Each icon is bordered by a white border with a coloured background depicting their rarity (Grey - Common, Green - Uncommon & Blue - Rare). Each icon also contains a coloured strip on the bottom right to act as a background for the numerical amount of said item a player may have.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

The thing I love about creating a narratively-driven game, is that everything has purpose; from the first sprite through to a character's dialogue and the reason why you chose English Vermillion for the UI. I'm enjoying this journey, I hope the destination is just as good. #gamedev #solodev

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Were having a spot of sunny weather where I am at the moment; which would be nice if my room wasn't a heat trap boiling me like a kettle. Think I might switch gears from sprite work and find a cooler place to work on something else...or take a really cold bath. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Every mistake is a learning experience is what they say; and today I've learnt that the hard way. Basically all my character sprites have been ruined/displaced, so I'm going to have to redo them all...my fault really, but still, it's the last thing I needed. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Altered the boot-up screen of the Menu sequence, just to give it some refinement (both audibly and visually). I know I should leave it as is, but I just can't help but fiddle with it some more...this is probably why I don't get anything done. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #UI

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

I'm proud of this, I mean I'm proud of all the things I've made; but this menu sequence is by far my favourite piece. I have a few little additions to add like tooltips & additional menus, and a couple of edits, but at it's core it's finished...finally. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #pixelart #UI

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

When your Main Menu looks like this, you're either a little too invested, or everyone else has been doing it wrong. I'll have a video demo of it tomorrow, but it's 8pm and I need a break. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame #pixelart #UI

Image showcases the Main Menu UI in it's standard form, for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. Arranged like a desktop interface, each aspect is sectioned off into windows with as much detail as you would come to find on any typical desktop; the use of a retro red and cream off-white flat colour palette gives it a stylish design without being overbearing.

Image showcases the Main Menu UI with the Start Menu Pop-Up open, for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. Arranged like a desktop interface, each aspect is sectioned off into windows with as much detail as you would come to find on any typical desktop; the use of a retro red and cream off-white flat colour palette gives it a stylish design without being overbearing.

Image showcases the Main Menu UI with the Wallpaper window open, for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. Arranged like a desktop interface, each aspect is sectioned off into windows with as much detail as you would come to find on any typical desktop; the use of a retro red and cream off-white flat colour palette gives it a stylish design without being overbearing.

Image showcases the Main Menu UI with all windows minimised to see in full one of the wallpapers "Glass Mountains", for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. Arranged like a desktop interface, each aspect is sectioned off into windows with as much detail as you would come to find on any typical desktop; the use of a retro red and cream off-white flat colour palette gives it a stylish design without being overbearing.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

This Main Menu overhaul is...getting there; parts of it are working, some are not, I guess it's going to be a long night. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

I'm having too much fun making these mock adverts for the Main Menu; sometimes I wished this was the game. Either way, just a couple more to go and then I can actually get the Main Menu overhauled...I think it's going to look quite good at the end. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

In my attempt to make the Main Menu feel more alive, I might have got a bit carried away, because I've decided that the start menu the player can open up should display some mock adverts in-line with the game's "lore"...anyways, progress thus far. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

So I'm in the process of giving the Main Menu a much needed graphical and functional refresh, and considering it's laid out like a desktop interface, why not give the player the chance to change the wallpaper; but first I had to make them. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

Image showcases the wallpaper designs available when changing the Main Menu wallpaper for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. There are 18 in total, ranging from basic colours, to abstract shapes and even more detailed set pieces.

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Vyre || Prophecy: Corrin's Tale @vyrevermilion.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Just finished up writing the text for the Tips (I know, riveting); but in all seriousness, I decided to make each one rather witty and humorous, because let's face it, most Tips are mundane and boring and no one reads them anyway. So here's a little taste. #gamedev #solodev #indiegame

Excerpt from a word document detailing some examples of tips for the game Prophecy: Corrin's Tale. There are three in total, one from each of the three main categories: General, Combat and Comical. The tone of language is supposed to be unserious and witty as a way to make the tips feel worth the read (even if they don't offer that much help).

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