Team Evolution -- Week Ending 22 Sep

We received an unexpected surprise this week, but one that has certainly benefited us--Charlie Mimnaugh has joined our team! With his design sense and Maya skills, we expect great contributions from him as we tackle our last five weeks before the IGF submission deadline. In fact, he's already taken a few of my newest level designs and made whitebox models to drop into Unity.

Which brings me to the next point. Up until now I have struggled with getting a good grasp on how our levels should feel, what would make them the most fun, and how to really let all the features shine. However, because of a fairly simple paradigm shift (no doubt brought on by using some level planning strategies taught in Joe Bourrie's virtual worlds class--thanks, Joe!), these goals have become clear. Now that we have these new levels, it's finally really evident how all the pieces come together. The gameplay has been there for weeks, but without a refined space to use those mechanics to great effect, it was difficult to enjoy the whole experience as intended. And it is good. :)

In short, combining the new levels with the steady flow of new art assets, we're starting to see the true face of our game appear. It is incredibly exciting, after the months of work, to see our intentions take truly playable shape. Awesome.

Five more weeks, and we can't wait to see what we can make happen in that time!

- Troy

One Step Closer -- Week Ending 15 Sep

The deadline for IGF submissions seems to come almost exponentially faster with each passing week, so we're working our tails off to get everything into the game that will make it stand out.

One of the big features implemented this week is the ability to select which character you'll use before entering the chosen level (see the newest concept art for our Hunter class). The engineers are really hitting their tasks out of the park, and gameplay is almost entirely complete. They've even added a number of features to our engine that will make for incredibly smooth design implementation when building the individual levels.

We've created a few extra test levels, and we're using them to determine which chunks are the most fun with our particular gameplay style. From there, we're actually building each successive level with a specific trap in mind, trying to design them to teach the player step-by-step how to use them all.

And that's what we'll be doing next week. Keep an eye out here for test footage soon!

- Troy

Art Feature -- Week Ending 8 Sep

Just wanted to pop in and mention that things are rolling along well in the art team! We got some solid concept work from everyone, including our new outsource members, and some of the assets have moved into full 3D production.

Remember how I mentioned that in order to add a bit of fun to the narrative we opted to create a few avatars for the player to select? Check out these ideas from the mind of Dave Gilder.

Sasha has revisited her Dodo designs and offered a smattering of whimsical takes on her original. Simple and to the point--a range for us to choose from when we select and model our final version.

And both Sasha and Becky have mocked up a stylized take on the environment and world itself. What do you think of the color palettes and geometry of the set pieces?

The game is really starting to come together! Stay tuned for more!

- Troy

The Steady Push -- Week Ending 1 Sep

Not much new to add this week, but just a quick moment to say that we've recuperated from the summer completely now, and development is in full force. We have updated, revised backlogs and new schedules that should keep us on target and in great shape to polish a solid, fun product to submit to the IGF.

Further, we've got one more new addition to our team, artist Becky Pennock. Her work speaks for itself, so we're chomping at the bit to show you some of her images next time. We're excited to have our new teammates, and we can't wait to see the extra level of polish that their efforts will bring to our game.

- Troy