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

Together Again -- Week Ending 25 Aug

Welcome back! We've been on summer hiatus from our thesis game, Last March of the Dodos, but we're reunited and ready to bring our game to the next level (yes, I just said that). Based on test sessions with several different groups over the summer, we've re-evaluated a number of aspects of our game. After deciding that we are on the right path to where we want to end up, we're confident that we can make it all come together by our end-of-October IGF submission deadline.

While the engineering team is focused in large part on fixing bugs and addressing overall functionality, we've also got them working on a new shop feature that is available in real-time so that players can purchase traps as they need them--at a price, of course.

From the art team, we've established some concrete rules for creating concepts and true assets. We feel that we struggled to find our style early on, but that by following our new criteria we can make a truly cohesive, exciting aesthetic to display the in-game carnage. As part of this, we also have a new outsource artist who is helping us complete all the assets we'll need. Please welcome Sasha as you take a look at some of her ideas!

Finally, we've also determined that we need a true face for the players as they go about hunting the last surviving Dodos. Look forward to some artwork depicting the shady characters who are bent on leading these adorable (but not too bright) island fowl to their  ultimate demise!

- Troy

Only Days Left! -- Week Ending 21 Apr

The art flowed this week, and many of the assets are now in place, not to mention a slew of hilarious sound effects! Brandon modeled a sweet new level for our upcoming alpha demo, and it looks great in the game engine. There's a great vertical element to it, and it should be a blast to see in action once the engineers finish laying the pathfinding system onto it.

In addition, all sorts of smaller (yet necessary) features have been implemented from the engineering side. Four of us put a ton of work into cracking out a fun menu GUI, and now the project actually feels like starting up a software product and jumping into a real video game. It's incredibly rewarding to see things falling into place.

And it's a good thing that they are, because we give our official presentation to the original MGS cohort in a matter of days! Jesse and I are going to spend some serious time hammering out the best presentation we can, and we plan on letting our fantastic team's product speak loudest of all.

We're excited to put the final touches on the alpha build of Last March of the Dodos, so keep an eye here for its official debut!

The Physics of Fun -- Week Ending 14 Apr

Chain reactions in Last March of the Dodos are awesome! The engineers have implemented the ability for players to combo Dodos from trap to trap. This includes everything from the physics of knocking the Dodos throughout the game space, allowing them to be hit with successive traps as they flop around, and keeping track of increasing score multipliers with each trap collision--until they finally come to rest and poof out of existence. With just the physics of some of the traps alone (the mine, for example), it's a blast to send a group of Dodos flying in every direction, and then to watch them bounce around the environment like ragdolls. Other enjoyable scenarios we've discovered include shooting a Dodo with a cannonball so that the force carries it up and off a ramp into space, luring Dodos with bait up a ramp so that they fall onto a mine as they drop off the end, and simply watching them repeatedly run into player-positioned walls until they figure out they're solid and adjust their course.

The individual features involved in these reactions will, of course, require a hefty amount of tweaking to make the experience as fun as it can possibly be. At the moment, the force of many collisions is on the high side, so it's somewhat difficult for a player to precisely calculate where to place the various traps in a chain. Further, creating engaging level designs has proven to be part of the challenge in this process (not that it's ever easy) since there are so few limitations with how players can use their traps at the moment.

Additionally, art assets keep coming along, too. We now have models for the boot, ramp, walls, mine, bomb, environmental fixtures like island huts, and--of course--the impressive Dodo! All the pieces are coming together nicely to make for an incredibly promising alpha build of the game.

Can't wait!

- Troy

Good Thing We Planned for Debugging -- Week Ending 7 Apr

Don't be too scared by the title of the post. Things are rolling steadily forward with Last March of the Dodos. The game is in great shape, and the player can now easily make selections from a clean, focused drop-down inventory to place a wide array of traps in the Dodos' paths (or force the Dodos out of their paths to trigger said traps).

Unfortunately, some of the new functionality of trap chaining has added a bit of extra work to programming the physics of those chain reactions. The engineers are on top of it, but it will take an extra bit of time to get everything in perfectly functioning order. Luckily, we scheduled an extra week of development time strictly for the purpose of overcoming such challenges and debugging everything until it runs smoothly--silky smoothly.

In addition, we've got even more environment, trap, and Dodo modeling completed, as well as a basic map of the menu and gameflow progression. The game marches forward, so check back next week for a new video demo of Last March of the Dodos in action!

- Troy

Alpha Is Imminent! -- Week Ending 31 Mar

Last March of the Dodos is in great shape! Significant progress was made this week by every member of the team. We've got several new mechanics ready to go (chaining, scoring, and more), not to mention several additional trap types available to the player.

In addition to the direct development of the game, even more of the design details have been solidified as our process has evolved. Trap chain potential has been fleshed out to the point that we can now envision emergent gameplay beyond our original designs; that is an exciting prospect!

More models and concept art continue to come to life as well, and it's fun to see how the aesthetics are shaping the gameplay itself.

Another playable build is on its way, so keep an eye out on Last March of the Dodos!