Liberated
Comic Short: Echoes of the Liberated #2
Best of The MIX
What's shakin? Cause you all just voted Audience Selection Award for Best of The MIX!
ICYMI – The MIX Live Showcase is a digital take on the showcase normally located in San Francisco, and it's all about promoting nifty independent games.
We'd like to thank everyone who voted for us, and of course The MIX team for holding a fun and positive event in these noir times.
Wishlist and Follow all the winners here on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1108590/Eldest_Souls/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/875310/Liberated/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/837460/Batbarian_Testament_of_the_Primordials/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/730390/Raji_An_Ancient_Epic/?snr=1_7_15__13
See you in the black-and-white streets of The City!
The Game Festival only made us stronger
We also prepared a small summary of how things went.
Spoiler alert: it went really, really well.
Comix Zone vs. Liberated: are they really similar?
So we decided to write up some of our thoughts and invite you to talk!
Comix Zone vs. Liberated: are they really similar?
Yes. They're video games that look like comics.
But also not really...
When we set out to create a playable graphic novel we knew that we're going all-in on the concept. Not making a game that's like a comic book in one way or another. We started creating a digital comic that you read and play.
Even having established this, the Comix Zone comparison is inevitable, Comix Zone is part of our DNA. But is it really similar?
First things first, Comix Zone is TO THIS DAY absolutely outstanding. It dared to do something incredibly creative with the comic book framework: it made a comic ALIVE. Its wonderful, vigorous art style makes it look great even today.
It's also what makes Comix Zone so different from Liberated.
Comix Zone takes comic book traditions and tropes, both narrative and visual, and then it goes crazy. The protagonist is aware of the fact that he lives inside a comic book. He jumps between panels, breaks the fourth wall--the game is very tongue-in-cheek in this regard. It's like a test of how far you can push interactivity in gaming; how wild your imagination can run.
For this reason, Comix Zone isn't exactly a playable comic book—because it's not a story told through this medium. It's a super fun and imaginative parody of comics, showing what would happen if some mystical force made these hand-drawn characters come to life.
For Liberated, we wanted something different. We wanted to simulate the paper comic — embrace its boundaries — make you feel like you are interacting with a real comic book.
We love the smell of paper, the sound of pages turning, the dynamics of framing, the way onomatopoeias stimulate senses they don't actually pertain to.
And so, Liberated is at its core a comic book story, a graphic novel — like the ones you can find in comic book shops. It just so happens this one is rendered and has panels where you decide what happens through gameplay. But it has a cover, pages you can turn, issues to collect, and it's 'printed' on a glossy paper that reflects light when seen from a certain perspective. It doesn't break through the comic book limitations, it embraces them and lives within them.
To us this is the critical difference between Comix Zone and Liberated.
Comix Zone is an action game that has fun with comic book aesthetics.
Liberated is a comic book that you can play.
But what do you think?
The 30,000 Wishlist Challenge
With your help we can reach the next big milestone soon, and we're cooking up something special...
For the 30,000 Wishlist Milestone, we'll release the first ever track from our Original Score
It's the least we can do as thanks for your support — and if you played the demo already, you know the goodness that you're in for.
Hit Follow on the store page to get notified about the track!
Wishlists are the lifeblood of every upcoming indie, so we can't thank you enough for your support! Just like we say through our game, every single person matters. So help us get there: Wishlist Liberated (if you haven't already), and consider sharing the game with your friends. There's no better time to see what's in store than with the Steam Festival Demo available to play!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/875310/Liberated/
Over 4,000 Downloads in 24 hours!
Over 4,000 model citizens reported for duty and downloaded the Demo.
More than 30% of you are here from China—hello friends—we hope that the story of Liberated resonates with you in a meaningful way. And in second place at 15% from the USA, well uh, we're getting there...
As thanks, we've processed the behavioral data into a fun chart for you!
If you haven't yet, grab the Steam Game Festival Demo and join us: store.steampowered.com/app/875310/Liberated/
DEMO AVAILABLE NOW
We’re thrilled to join the Steam Game Festival: Spring Edition!
Play the demo and get your hands on Liberated for the first time between March 18-23.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/875310/Liberated/
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
The demo is a selection of action scenes from the first two chapters of the game. It was originally made for exclusive press events at GDC and EGX London, but since we can’t be there with you in person — this is… actually even cooler!
A few things to note:
- We really recommend playing with a gamepad, M+KB controls are supported but still need work
- You’ll jump around the comic a lot, you’ll get a tease of the story and a good sense for the gameplay
- Story will play a much bigger role in the final experience on release
- All planned languages are supported in the demo, and it's a lot: English, French, German, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Simplified Chinese
We’re super excited to share the demo with you, but it comes with a teeny tiny asterisk. Liberated is still work in progress, so you may encounter glitches or performance issues. Rest assured we’ll iron them out before release. Check out the Demo F.A.Q for more info.
WE'RE COUNTING ON YOUR FEEDBACK
Join the discussion!
We’re making this game for YOU, so your feedback will be invaluable. Share your thoughts: tell us what you liked and what you didn’t. And if you run into technical troubles, let us know in the Technical Thread.
Also, fill out THE SURVEY once you've completed the demo — you’ll get some Liberated goodies in return after the event!
We’ll be here chatting and taking notes. Have fun!
Echoes of the Liberated #1
Now that you have tasted life in our noir cyberpunk dystopia, would you like to see more of it? Let us know in the comments below!
You woke up in a safer tomorrow!
Subject: You woke up in a safer tomorrow!
Dear Citizen,
Great news! You are now part of the Citizen Credit System.
CCS grants you (or takes away) points for every action. This way, you can see EXACTLY how much value you bring to our society.
How does it work, exactly?
- HIGH CCS will grant you a badge of Model Citizen, and unlock exclusive social benefits.
- NORMAL CCS means that you have nothing to worry about. But remember: you can always do better!
- LOW CCS is a symptom of social retraction. You will be prompted to readapt to your community.
We've made self-improvement easy and measurable! Moreover, this fantastic new tool lets us deal with anti-social individuals to ensure your comfort and safety.
Share your appreciation on social media: https://www.facebook.com/liberatedgame/ (+10 CCS bonus will be granted.)
Let me personally wish you a great day!
Automated Information Dispenser
Pax means Peace, so thanks and PEACE OUT to our PAX East 2020 guests
Meeting you there, seeing you play Liberated, hearing your opinion about it, and witnessing that you sincerely ENJOY our game was simply THRILLING. Getting a Writers' Choice award from Moon was cherry on top.
Big huge thanks to everyone who stopped by! They say numbers don't lie, so here's what Liberated really meant to the players at PAX.
- 96% (!) of players LIKED the demo
- 90% of players stated they'd definitely recommend Liberated to their friends
- VISUALS were the most frequently chosen single outstanding element of the game
- SHOOTING MECHANICS were the most frequently chosen single best thing about the gameplay
We had the pleasure to meet awesome gaming journalists and bloggers, and you can already find two new previews of our game.
Platform Agnostic (start at 31:20): https://open.spotify.com/episode/3AJD2EkfNPFW0Nz5QFs5up
Handsome Phantom: https://www.handsomephantom.com/liberated-pax-east-2020-preview/
Next stop: London. See you at the EGX, the biggest gaming show in the UK!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/875310/Liberated/