Originally published as an Advisory Hour Substack post on 2026-10-15. This first-party site copy preserves the text, localizes public supporting media, and connects the record to its project trail.
Original post
I wasn’t satisfied that Relay Zero only implemented a partial game experience. It was good, but I wanted to push further. That became Relay Zero 2: The Varnisher.
I’ve put more time and effort into this project than it merits, and I’m not going to apologize for that. It’s been too much fun watching it twist and turn into different things. It’s also imperfect and a good deal could use polishing and improved. I’m resisting the temptation to improve it further. (Running out of tokens helps)
The current incarnation moves away from the sci-fi vibe and into a painted world. That direction came out of the footer I recently added to my website. I wrote about its animated boats, lighthouse, fishing robot, and day and night cycle, all with this oil-painting feel.
I’d seen other people building tools to support painting, and I wanted to try making my own system. The footer was one result, and I’m pretty happy with it.
Then I started thinking about what would happen if I reskinned the entire Relay Zero game this way. Keep the 2D mode as a map view, let you drop into a 3D perspective, and make the cut scenes out of oil paintings.
After all, it’s the future. Why not?
The current 3D view uses an over-the-shoulder camera, set high above the field. The apprentice is built from little voxels, with a jointed body that runs, turns, and swings the cutter. There’s a surprising amount of movement in that little figure. She winds up for a strike, follows through, and squashes and stretches when she lands or gets hit.
The game itself is much more complete now, too. There are bosses, the full set of items, and an ending that leads into a second quest. The machines stand in the 3D world as pixel sprites, while the scenery gets the oil-paint treatment.
The cut scenes take that idea further. The camera moves through a painting while the characters run, leap, and slash across it. There are sparks, flying gears, and captions. It’s a pretty unusual combination, and I wanted to see how far I could take it.
Even standing still became something to experiment with. Leave the apprentice alone for a few seconds and she’ll stretch, yawn, play a little reed pipe, or hold out a finger for a butterfly. Finding items unlocks more of these little idle animations. There are seventeen now, which probably tells you something about how this project kept expanding.
Also, there’s a launch video. After working on Lodestar, it occurred to me that these projects were getting sophisticated enough to deserve a better explanation than a few screenshots. So this time, I put together a ten-minute video showing the game and explaining what’s going on.
I also tried something different with the narrator. I don’t particularly like how that turned out, but the text-to-speech model behind it is nine megabytes.
Yes, nine.
The narration could be better. Still, getting it from a model that small is its own interesting experiment. I’m closing the book on this one. It’s had plenty of my time, and it’s been a lot of fun.
There’s more game than free time.
The Video Trailer
The video trailer is the first 10 minute-long AI produced video that holds a narrative. I’m getting a sense on how to push these things longer. The world is soon to be swimming in vast galaxies of planets comprised of oceans of content, far more than humans have time to explore and experience.
But for now, a game experiment. Give the Varnish a try. It’s a novel experience.
Play now: Relay Zero II: The Varnish
Read more: https://ericrhea.com/gamelab/relay-zero-v2.html
Connected work
- Relay Zero II Build Notes: Follow the painted world, apprentice animations, and cut scenes.
- Play Relay Zero II: Explore the colony after the paint went on.