Echoes of Somewhere

Footage from the game in progress. Environments and characters created with the help of AI, or completely with AI.

Echoes of Somewhere is an experimental 2.5D point and click adventure game anthology series developed by a group of game industry veterans on their free time.

The project relies heavily on AI generated content and as such is an experiment in itself. We will be documenting the progress here in this development blog. For good or for worse.

Each episode in the series is about 1-4 hours of classic point-and-click gameplay in a new world with new characters. Even the art style will vary from episode to episode.

The episodes will be released for free one by one when completed.

Latest posts from the blog:

  • The Adventure Game Hotspot Podcast
    by Jussi Kemppainen on September 20, 2023 at 09:54

    I was recently interviewed on the Adventure Game Hotspot podcast. We talked about Echoes of Somewhere and the potential and the limits of using AI for game production. The post The Adventure Game Hotspot Podcast appeared first on Echoes of Somewhere.

  • Using Midjourney for game locations (city hall part 1)
    by Jussi Kemppainen on September 18, 2023 at 04:09

    Sometimes these locations require more art direction. More specific features. In these cases, a lot more work is required. Here is a breakdown for how to direct Midjourney for game locations using it’s vary region and pan / zoom out features. The post Using Midjourney for game locations (city hall part 1) appeared first on Echoes of Somewhere.

  • Building a Puzzle
    by Jussi Kemppainen on September 11, 2023 at 04:19

    Building Adventure Game Puzzles is fun. This is a very complete breakdown of creating a bathroom scene with its puzzle in under 2 days! (Spoiler alert!) The post Building a Puzzle appeared first on Echoes of Somewhere.

  • New teaser trailer
    by Jussi Kemppainen on September 10, 2023 at 11:14

    The original teaser trailer I did way back started to look a bit dated with old character, locations and UI, so it was time for a new trailer! The post New teaser trailer appeared first on Echoes of Somewhere.

  • Custom post-process effect: Anamorphic Bloom
    by Jussi Kemppainen on September 4, 2023 at 04:26

    Anamorphic bloom is for sure the most cyberpunk aesthetic there is. I wanted to use it as a use case for learning how to create post process materials for Unity URP. This post explains the process. The post Custom post-process effect: Anamorphic Bloom appeared first on Echoes of Somewhere.

  • Premortem Games interview
    by Jussi Kemppainen on August 31, 2023 at 21:13

    A really interesting gaming news site, PreMortem Games posted and interview about Echoes of Somewhere. The post Premortem Games interview appeared first on Echoes of Somewhere.

  • Using AI as inspiration for UI design
    by Jussi Kemppainen on August 27, 2023 at 22:07

    All throughout the project, I have been slightly tweaking the UI from time to time. Now that I have a better understanding of the functionality of the UI, a more polished look and feel begun to creep into my mind. The post Using AI as inspiration for UI design appeared first on Echoes of Somewhere.

  • Rendering custom shadows with URP shader graph & apartment ext location
    by Jussi Kemppainen on August 21, 2023 at 00:00

    As I upgraded the render pipeline for the game, I noticed that my custom shadow rendering shaders turned pink. It was time to transition from custom HLSL shading for the environments to a more modern shader graph based approach. The post Rendering custom shadows with URP shader graph & apartment ext location appeared first on Echoes of Somewhere.

  • Additional effects for the apartment scene
    by Jussi Kemppainen on August 13, 2023 at 22:20

    I have been working on the apartment for absolutely forever! I have begun to approach this room as a vertical slice for the game. This post is about some of the features I added this week: simulated cool air mist and fluorescent light flicker. The post Additional effects for the apartment scene appeared first on Echoes of Somewhere.

  • Footstep Audio
    by Jussi Kemppainen on August 11, 2023 at 12:23

    I have actually never before done footstep audio set for a game. I wanted the system to be able to play audio from animation events and work on multiple different surfaces. Read how I ended up doing it. The post Footstep Audio appeared first on Echoes of Somewhere.

3D Characters for Sanoma Pro

I modelled, textured and rigged a set of 3D versions of 2D characters created for Sanoma Pro Educational books. They are used on AR content on an ABC book called “Ystävien Aapinen”, ”Ystävien Lukukirja” and an English language book series, “Come With Me”, with 3 installations rolled out.

I also developed the scripting for the Unity scene-flow and asset bundle loading, user interactions and the Morph-based facial animation workflow from Blender to Unity.

Character animations by Janne Roivainen.

Iron Danger – Shard of Time

A release trailer I created for my game Iron Danger

Iron Danger is my debut PC/PS5/XBOX game as a game director.

It is a game all about maximising your actions in combat with the help of infinite redos and intuitive trial and error. It is basically a gamified combat sequence animation tool (so cool)!

Play Experience

Gamescom 2019 Best experience: Winner

Finnish game awards 2021

Best creative achievement of the year 2020: Winner

Big screen game of the year 2020: Nominee

Finnish game of the year 2020: Nominee

TechRaptor

Best of E3 2019: Nominee

Rock Paper Shotgun: The best game you missed in march: Iron Danger

A lot of games market themselves as being built around a “unique” mechanic. And while 90% of the time these mechanics are not in fact unique, every so often you get one that’s the real deal, and this tactical RPG with functional time travel is certainly one of ’em.

Iron Danger for consoles

Iron Danger was released for PS5 and Xbox S/X in 2023. Gamepad controls were finally added to the game and I think this is the best way to experience the game.

Soundtrack

Iron Danger main theme cover by Game Music Collective

Screenshots

Info about the game

Gameplay

Iron Danger is a tactical combat game with a unique time manipulation mechanic. A never before seen combination that blends the tactical depth of turn-based games with the exciting action of real-time games.

Tackle challenging encounters with your party of two characters, using a variety of skills and highly interactive environments.

Maybe you will set an enemy on fire and kick them into a grain field for a proper barbeque, or set up a trap and fell a tree on top of them. The options are endless and it is you who will be deciding your own approach!

You have control over time

You have control over time

The core of Iron Danger is its unique time control mechanic. You can rewind time for up to 5 seconds whenever you want, trying different strategies and combinations of moves until you find the right one for the task at hand.

The time manipulation allows us to combine real-time combat gameplay with controls from more traditional, tactical turn-based combat games. This gives tactical combat a puzzle-like element, as you can continuously keep trying new approaches to turn impossible odds to your advantage and synchronize the actions of your characters for the perfect outcome.

You will die, but you will not fail!

World and Story

Iron Danger is set in a world of lofty fells, primeval forest, and placid lakes… as well as living gods and monsters of steel. The city of Kalevala, home of the humans who rebelled against the gods and forsook their protection, shines in the middle of this world, surrounded by towns, sea lanes and and woodlands under its protection.

But from the frozen north, a witch queen is leading her army on a quest for vengeance against the lords of Kalevala. Ancient ruins from the days when gods dwelled on the earth are opening to unleash forgotten powers, tempting humans and striving to overtake the world.

You’ll take on the role of Kipuna, a sharp-witted village girl, who becomes imbued with an ancient power that grants dominion over time and death. You must use your wits to control it as you’re drawn into the midst of a war between the city of Kalevala and the armies of the Northlanders driven by their witch queen Lowhee.

Your task is to master the power, in order to use it for mankind’s protection, while your enemies will seek to harness it in the service of total destruction.

Features

Use unique time-rewind mechanics and experience a new take on tactical combat combining best aspects of real-time and turn-based combat.

Use highly interactive environment for your advantage to succeed against impossible odds.

Adventure in a world of steampunk fantasy and meet its unique inhabitants inspired by Finnish folklore.

Fight epic boss monsters on the path to fulfill your destiny.

No grinding; character progression pace is controlled by the story and every fight matters.

15+ hours of gameplay

Reviews

PC Invasion – 90
“Iron Danger is a fun game that takes us to fantasy Finland and lets us play with time. This is a surprisingly good combination before you take interactive environments and the vibrant art style into account. If you want to play a fantasy RPG that’s lighter on the RP and heavier on G(ameplay), try this one out.”

DarkStation – 90
“From its inception to the execution, Iron Danger showcases a rare, coherent vision where everything comes together to form a unified experience, not least because of truly novel gameplay that holds it all together. I’m afraid that Iron Danger has spoiled other games in its genre for me. I can no longer imagine playing formulaic fantasy tropes with rigid combat and eternally repeated, tired systems.”

Player2 – 83
“Iron Danger feels like a breath of fresh air for CRPGs. While not a perfect game, its unique, time-based combat system is a pure joy to play with and worth the price of admission alone.”

Iron Danger Dev blog

  • Friday Rewind #27: What’s going on?

      15.11.2019 – HP Noronen Woah, it has been some time since last post! After miserably failing our once per week – cycle, let’s try to get back to track. This time it’s more progress report kind of thing. The main reason why we haven’t been posting anything is that our hands have been even The post Friday Rewind #27: What’s going on? appeared first on Irondanger.

  • Friday Rewind #26: Community heroes

    13.9.2019 – JP Lyytinen Community Challenge We held a small challenge in our Discord server rewarding the most active weekly member with a “shard”. Everyone with 10 shards (10 weeks of being most active) would get a character with their likeness in the game! And as it turned out two heroes came out on top: The post Friday Rewind #26: Community heroes appeared first on Irondanger.

  • Friday Rewind #25: Skills and more skills

    13.9.2019 – HP Noronen   One of the major things we’ve been working lately is to polish character skills, add some new skills and rework on our skill upgrade mechanics. Let’s take a look at main things on that work.   Gaining new skills When adventuring in the world of Iron Danger, our playable characters The post Friday Rewind #25: Skills and more skills appeared first on Irondanger.

  • Friday Rewind #24: UI elements in After Effects

    5.9.2019 – Jussi Kemppainen Using After Effects for UI artwork For the longest time I tried to fight back the tropes of fantasy game UIs, but now after a lot of push-back from the team I have succumbed under the pressure and am now redoing the UI artwork. I wanted to go all in crazy The post Friday Rewind #24: UI elements in After Effects appeared first on Irondanger.

  • Friday Rewind #23: Gamescom conquered, now it’s time for Pax West!

    30.8.2019 – HP Noronen Gamescom conquered Gamescom, the biggest consumer event in gaming industry, and we survived through it! As mentioned earlier, we had own booth at Gamescom as well as had pile of press meetings booked. During the three days of press meetings, we showed the game to over 200 journalists. In addition, our The post Friday Rewind #23: Gamescom conquered, now it’s time for Pax West! appeared first on Irondanger.

Videos of Iron Danger from around the web

Video about Iron Danger by Force Gaming
My interview by Geek-Pool
The full Finnish Game Awards ceremony 2021

Behind The Scenes

The first prototype of the game rewind mechanic from 2015

Related works

Iron Danger – Teaser Trailer

A teaser trailer I created for my debut PC game as a game director.

Iron Danger Proof of Concept

A proof of concept trailer for Sami Timonen’s Iron Danger movie.

Iron Danger – Teaser Trailer

A cinematic teaser trailer I created for my game. Music by Ilmari Hakkola.

I created this trailer from a level I made for Iron Danger. The VFX, models and animations I used we from the game, but naturally I had to create custom animators and special versions of the particle systems to create a frozen in time effect. An effect the game leans heavily on, as time stands still while you plan your next moves.

Iron Danger – Shard of Time

My debut PC/PS5/XBOX game as a game director. A game all about maximising your actions in combat with the help of infinite redos and intuitive trial and error. Winner of Best Creative Achievement of the year 2020 at Finnish Game Awards.

2D Characters for Pikku Kakkonen

I was commissioned to design and create modernised versions of the classic characters in the Pikku Kakkonen children’s programming logo.

In addition to the modernised logo characters, I designed the 2D version of one beloved puppet character.

For this, I did extensive research on the different visual styles and technical solutions for different children’s TV programming. 2 versions of each character rig was created, one for realtime applications in Unity, and one for pre-rendered animations in After Effects. They used the same sprite sheets I created in Affinity Designer and the animator controls were the same. But for unity I scripted them using C# and for After Effects I used AE Expressions.

Short clip displaying the simple mount rig controls in Unity 3D

The work was built on top of my previous Angry Birds rigging, completing the “just a head” rig for the birds with full body controls.

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