The Home Stretch -- Week Ending 20 Oct

For serious. A week-and-a-half until IGF submissions are due. And you know what? We'll be ready for it! The team has really pulled together during these past few weeks, and we're down to our final batch of tasks. Over this last stretch, it will be all about putting the levels into the game, balancing all the mathematical scoring features and trap costs, and testing like crazy (not that we haven't been testing along the way).

In other words, I'm incredibly proud of our team. We present the game's progress to the faculty and other students one final time tomorrow before crunching out the last 10 days, and I am excited about the product we'll be putting on display. Wish us luck as we push through to the end (not the IGF is the end--we've still got 6 months to make this baby shine until we publish in the spring)!

- Troy

A Few Additions -- Week Ending 29 Sep

This late in the game (no pun intended), I would typically do everything I could to avoid making significant changes or adding features to a project. As it turns out, we did everything we could under the existing design, and we still needed a little extra something to get it where we think it will really stand out.

With that said, we've tacked two more main features onto our IGF release backlog, so watch out for them! The first is a revamped meta game, wherein the Doins have more influence on playing more of the game and thereby having more fun destroying Dodos. They have a purpose in reaching the final levels where Dodos are in great abundance, and the layouts are constructed for optimal Dodo combo-ing and vaporizing.

That last bit leads into the second addition. Many of the traps are now being tweaked to allow for precision Dodo bouncing, thus giving the ability (and encouraging) to create more deliberate trap-to-trap chain combos. It should turn out to be a blast (again, no pun intended).

Check in over the next four weeks to see how the game wraps up for IGF!

- Troy

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

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