Yai Gameworks upcoming game release plans and news
I thank you all who participated in the Yai Gameworks 2018 Questionnaire survey a couple months back. As many are probably aware of I am a man of many ideas, and indeed probably too many. I release 2-3 games a year but dates get pushed back, some are left idling for months to years before they eventually release. I won’t promise this won’t change, but as a solid effort applying some strategies I’ve learned within the last few months and a plight to achieve one of my dream games, Complete Isolation, I will explain a crazy thing I’m about to try and apply myself to do, then the reasoning, and finally the specifics.
Between February of 2018 to April of 2019 I want to release 12 video games onto Steam.
Now there’s a few reasons I have chosen to attempt this honestly foolish errand, especially foolish for me. I originally had set my sights to work on a dream project I’ve had in my head for many years, my first actual big project titled, “Complete Isolation.” I held a funding campaign for this game back in 2013 on Indiegogo, who’s funding has been used for all my projects to produce the music you all hear in my games. Still, here we are five years later and CI still does not exist. I want to make it, I desperately do, and I originally had planned to commit myself to it this year. That was until all my analysis, self-reflection, crunching, talking with others, and reason pointed me to pursuing another goal first, to do something else foolish first so that CI would be a less foolish endeavor and a safer bet.
You see, Complete Isolation is planned as an episodic gameplay experience. Episodic releases work best on a timed release manner; being timely with episodes is important. That means having a good groundwork you can easily build off of, self-discipline, a solid plan and commitment, and short development cycles. These are all things I need to master, and trying to wrangle that first-hand on an episodic game would be setting many up for disappointment of delays when I inevitability failed to deliver on time. I need to practice this first, but in a form that isn’t both as anti-consumer and as financially risky as a longer term episodic game. Climb a hill before a mountain kinda’ thing.
Add to this CI needs to look the part, it has a bigger investment, bigger cost, and as I’d be tackling a large chunk of the game myself from coding to design to music and writing and voice directing I’d need someone to do the art, a pretty sizable amount of drawn art and sprite work as well. But the needed art amount is hefty, and I’m not in a financial position to offer a decent payment upfront. Rincs, my partner in crime on projects who’s done the drawn art on my projects, hasn’t seen a cent from Yai Gameworks sales and I feel awful about it. I need her for a longer term but don’t want to run her ragged, and need to pay her properly for her work. I should save up and split profits, but even that is a huge uncertainty. I need to secure more income, and allow her more time to do art for the project between her busy life.
Add to all of this having Yai Gameworks name out there and more experience under our belt can only be a good thing.
I decided to propose a challenge to myself, a series of experimental games on a planned and tight schedule. This is a way to work myself to a position where I can hopefully form the experience and conviction needed to do an episodic structure, all while getting more games and experiences under my belt. All while hopefully earning some money and making some more things available to all of you guys I hope that y’all enjoy. It may even work out to be a good way to market it as the steps up to try and achieve Complete Isolation.
There’s more to all of this. But I plan to in the upcoming week make a video detailing it all a little further. This plan isn’t just to make more games however, it’s to make an over-a-year plan and stick to it. The first game of this challenge is already released, it can be found as Please Love My Computer Game on Steam. However, I will now detail the rest of the plan to you all. I cannot guarantee I will be able to meet and achieve what I hope to, but I can tell you I’m going to be working hard to achieve my own dreams which I view this as a crucial step towards.
So if things pan out, what can you all expect?
APRIL 2018:
-”The Crack I Found That Taketh”
A nearly dialogue-less 3D exploration and discovery experimental game about a crack in the floor.
MAY 2018:
-”Red Haze” big content update
The big content update for Red Haze hits, including all endings, new areas, new story, new secrets, lag fixes, more scene skips, and more.
JUNE 2018:
-”Unlabeled”
An 8-bit game inspired by Hellnight and Nanashi no Game about an NPC in a small RPG village that one day gains sentience, and begins to be stalked by an ever-evolving monstrosity. Partner up with other people in the village that can permanently die at anytime, leading you down different storyline paths.
JULY 2018
-”Hellscape”
You are a Demigod on a dying world abandoned by the True Gods. Walk among men and explore the hellscape left behind,meeting devotees, non-believers, deformed and withering beings who may love or hate you. You may guide them to nurish a future, or trample them into oblivion. What gift may you give a disgusting world with no hope?
AUGUST 2018
-”The Killing Kink Nunster”
A B-Horror Comedy game about a group of college kids who all are a bit messed up and kinky getting trapped in a cathedral with the monstrous nun known as the Killing Kink Nunster, who wishes to eradicate their sin and pay their dues with their blood. It’s a lot weirder and even more twisted than you think.
-”Close Your Eyes -Anniversary Remake”
A remake of Close Your Eyes with new content, a new scenario, a remake of Girl’s Graveyard, new modes, a new open world connecting world, and a lot of surprises to prep for the eventual sequel.
SEPTEMBER 2018:
-”Cootie Patootie”
A reimagining of a previous game I made for Ludum Dare. Join Cootie Patrootie as she goes on a magical journey of self-discovery to find love!
OCTOBER 2018
-”RODE: Remorse Observation Dream Emulation”
For the 20th anniversary of the cult gem, LSD: Dream Emulator, have this 3D first-person love letter to it.
NOVEMBER 2018:
-”Box Pusher”
A nice relaxing little puzzle game about pushing boxes. It might seem a little off, but that’s probably nothing.
JANUARY 2019:
-”The Seafaring Incident”
You’re on a seven day cruise in the Pacific, but something is very wrong. Over the course of 7 days you’ll need to investigate these mysterious circumstances and work out how to keep your head above water.
FEBRUARY 2019:
-”The Silhouette of the Alluring Rose”
A more normalized RPG Maker-esque dark fantasy puzzle horror starring a frilly girl… IN 3D!
April 2019:
-”(untitled at this time)”
An experimental little MMO experience in a Yume Nikki-esque exploration game.
Regardless, this will be a busy year, and I hope to surprise you all throughout the year. The easiest way to keep up with Yai Gameworks news, socialize, little surprises, and collaborate is to join the official Yai Gameworks discord, which you may find here: https://discord.gg/EVwaARY
Please Love My Computer Game now available for free
http://store.steampowered.com/app/796910/
I hope you guys love it, I really hope you do.
Please Love My Computer Game out now... in other places
http://store.steampowered.com/app/796910
Please Love My Computer Game, a FREE game release, is now on GameJolt, itch.io, & RPGMaker Net:
Steam release will come soon but first needs to get through Steam's review process.
Please Love My Computer Game is a little free game of cryptic mysteries, road blocks, atmosphere, and discovery.
"She waits. Explore an abandoned house in black and white as you solve cryptic puzzles and try to make discoveries. If you like to work with others to discover things, then you may like this game. I hope you love it, I really hope you do."
Close Your Eyes -Anniversary Remake- Early Access releasing on January 24th for $4.99
Thanks to the wonderful feedback on the Yai Gameworks 2018 Questionnaire and some wonderful occurrences that happened towards the end of 2017, I'm here to announce a finalized date for the release of the early access for Close Your Eyes -Anniversary Remake-. The early access version of the game will release on January 24th, 2017 for the price of $4.99, though with a 5% discount for the first week of launch (and an additional 5% off for 10% total if you buy through the Yai Gameworks Complete Bundle).
The Early Access includes the full remakes of Close Your Eyes and Girl's Graveyard within them at launch, fully completed and playable from start to finish for all possible endings and secrets. Over the course of the months afterward will work on the other game modes, the new scenario "Close Your Eyes - Beneath the Surface", "Close Your Eyes -Anniversary Mode-", and "Girl's Graveyard: Challenge Mode". The price will raise by a bit right before the game leaves Early Access, but I will announce when that is ahead of time. I am aiming for August 31st as the release out of Early Access, but to prepare for potential delays the latest may be September 28th.
If you're curious about the Red Haze content update, it will release before the end of April 2018 I promise. Found Horror Game 11.exe also will definitely release sometime before CYE -AR- comes out of Early Access. Hope this transparency helps, I know I juggle things a lot but all of these things will be completed by the dates I have just mentioned.
Happy 2018 everyone, I hope to surprise you a lot with Yai Gameworks productions throughout the year!
Yai Gameworks 2018 Questionnaire ; Asking the Community for Feedback
Very important, I have a 10-question Questionnaire for Yai Gameworks in 2018 which includes some future stuff about projects. The questions are long-winded, but I really appreciate your guy's feedback. Questionnaire will end on January 8th: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScB_I1OVgoPGYhDIo-I4lO-wm6gvd-owasuZRRCXiRejrxtEw/viewform?usp=sf_link
Has questions related to Close Your Eyes, Red Haze, and much, much, MUCH more.
Close Your Eyes -Anniversary Remake- releasing on April 27th, 2018
Close Your Eyes -Anniversary Remake- will be releasing on April 27th, 2018, which is the 4-year anniversary of the original Close Your Eyes releasing for Ludum Dare, and the 3-year anniversary of the original Redux version. The remake includes 5 scenarios, including a remade Close Your Eyes and Girl's Graveyard which polishes the game further, adds new areas, new threats, new story, and new surprises to both. It also includes an 'Anniversary Twist' on both in a new scenario, and a complete brand new scenario known as 'Beneath the Surface', as well as a hub with secrets that connects all five scenarios together.
The remake will release for $4.99 USD, and I hope it surprises a lot of you. I'll have more information early next year, but a few blurbs I can share is the Remake between all of its scenarios should be 7-16 hour experience, there is around 30 new pieces of artwork for new story scenes done by Rincs for the title, there's 100 Steam Achievements (and most of them I tried to make interesting to get), and some segments of the original game have also been greatly redone and changed (two examples I can give, the Judith Manor Key Collecting section has been entirely redone in a new (and in my opinion, much better) way, as well as a completely new path if you choose to leave the manor, and similarly there's a new path instead of doing the train puzzle in the early parts of CYE, but the train puzzle path has a lot new to it as well).