Solace State New Demo and Narrative livestream: LudoNarraCon 2022
Our game Solace State is an official selection at #LudoNarraCon presented by Fellow Traveller, a free digital convention showcasing narrative video games! ššš
Join Solace State's Director Tanya Kan, Narrative Content Integrator Sunny Evans, and Community Manager Julia Pyo as we discuss the game's writing and narrative design while we play through the new demo! Aka chat about the fine things in life.
āØ Stream schedule: Thurs, May 5th: 6-9pm ET / 3-6pm PT: New demo playthrough + narrative
It's the longest demo we've ever had in the game's existence, clocking in at over 12,000 words! If you've ever wanted to know about how it is like to write a game with 31 characters with dialogue lines and full character poses (and countless more background characters), join us! We welcome questions!
For the LudoNarraCon expo itself, it runs from Thursday May 5 to Monday May 9th! There's over 40 amazing narrative games exhibiting, and many panels and fireside chats! The expo starts at 1pm ET / 11am PT live on Steam. For more information, please see LudoNarraCon's main website here.
Our time-limited demo
will be available from May 5 to May 11th (1pm ET / 11am PT), coinciding with the end of the LudoNarraCon sales!
Want to chat with us more, during and after the livestream? Join our Discord here!
Solace State Demo + Livestream for #WomensDaySteam!
From March 7-11th, download and play our new, limited-time demo for free! Just head to our Steam page and download it when the event starts.
And on March 8th, at 7pm ET, join Solace State Director Tanya and Community Manager Julia for a live playthrough of the demo! It's a great opportunity to ask them any questions you might have about the game, game dev, or just to chat. Can't wait to see you there!
Solace State's 2021 Roundup!
"Hello, world!"
Despite a year when challenges seemed more insurmountable than ever, Solace Stateās development went full steam ahead! Solace State in 2021 has seen more production development from both myself and our larger team than in any previous year. In fact, those of you who have played our last demo might notice how far itās come even in the sample screenshots below!
My name is Tanya Kan, and Iāve been working on Solace State as the video gameās Director for years. Iām a studio owner who balances administration and marketing with development work, which includes leading in writing, art direction, 3D art, game design, and level design.
And Iām making this game so much bigger than what I initially anticipated, because I need to tell this story about a young woman coming to grips with how her personal anguish has a political root. Itās about her journey to find herself in a community and to move away from wholesale apathy, all while really gaining ownership over the choices that she can make.
Of course, you as the player will be able to likewise gain ownership over her journey within our choice-driven narrative. Below, the player makes a choice for Chloe when meeting Torrent for the first time.
None of us exist in a bubble away from politics, health, art, and work, so all my life Iāve never separated these spheres from each other, and made politics and health my artās key themes.
Creating this narrative feels like distilling and bottling up a bit of hope for now, and for later. I hope you enjoy reading what weāve been up to for now, and get excited with whatās to come.
Team
As for Solace Stateās core development, our team has gotten larger since the beginning of 2020, bringing five additional specialists to help with Solace Stateās production pipeline. And everyone brings with them unique perspectives and experiences. I learn something new weekly from the most junior to the most senior person!
Character Complexity and Art
The narrative now has over 30 characters with narrative lines and character art. We also added in a new main character, Sueli, who has both her own character arc as an experienced community leader, and can be Chloeās potential love interest. Sueli was uniquely challenging to me as a writer at first, because Iāve lived with the story of Chloe, Rebecka, Torrent, and Alden and how they intertwine for years. But now, I cannot imagine how Solace State could possibly work without Sueli too.
Hereās a cute comic of Sueli! For more Solace State comics, be sure to join our Discord and follow us on Twitter for more! If you want to see us create more comics, please give us a nice comment! <3
Weāve expanded a lot more narrative nuance into how different characters experience gradual autocratic control, including through increased militarization, misinformation, and crackdowns.
We also improved on a lot of character art rendering, so that the camera can pull in tighter to give you those deeply emotional shots of the characterās expressions. This is combined with a lot of large 3D neighborhoods for Chloe and her gang to explore. Much of the architectural modelling is already complete, though we are working on adding details, colors, and shaders to them to really make them pop.
Visual Novel Presentation
Speaking of legibility, after some testing, we made the speech bubbles ADV style so that itās much easier to read for hours on end (ADV style is the more typical UI design style of having a screen-space text box at the bottom of the screen). Previously, 3D speech bubbles were rendered at an angle and limited our camera composition as well. The diegetic text and the transitioning cameras are still very much features weāre keeping, of course!
Narrative
Writing the entire narrative script is almost done, and thereās a part of my heart that shrieks at that, because how can a story be done? But it will be, and itās a warming feeling nowadays that, when I re-read through Solace Stateās dialogue, I find myself enjoying it. I enjoy its whimsy, its self-reference, its allowance to let its characters breathe and live and make mistakes, and find joy.
We use Articy, an interactive storytelling management system to plug into Unity Engine for our branching story paths and many variables. This is just a small part of the larger picture!
Thank you for your continued support!
Healing from a difficult year also means reminding myself that I can have stress, but also moments of serenity. We are all actively trying our best! And Iāve got such a good team to remind me that Iām doing the best that I can, too.
Shout-outs to our team members who have put in the most hours the past year in Solace Stateās development: Gabiās been working with so much nuance on Solace State as Lead Programmer that they predict many of my questions. Reilly, Character Artist, builds ample intention into each pose and outfit that she creates. Ashley, Writer, helped me reframe the narrative pacing, from our writing room meetings to her first drafts. Lauren, 3D Artist, dives into creating many neighborhoodsā architectural assets and its painterly style. Seamus and Sunny, newest to the team, have moved us forward by leaps and bounds on level design and narrative content integration respectively. And Jayme makes sure we stay focused and capable in taking on our responsibilities every week as Project Manager.
Whenever I write, now and in the past, Iāve always circled around concepts of injustice and unfairness.
But perhaps the other thing I canāt help is to find the silver linings in every dark cave, and to make it into a conversation. And, what better way for Solace State to do that than through interactive storytelling driven by choice?
Peace and love, Tanya
Solace State at LudoNarraCon 2021 panels!
Solace State Director Tanya Kan will be participating in TWO panels at this yearās LudoNarraCon, presented by Fellow Traveller! We think fans of Solace State will definitely be fascinated by this yearās topics, so check them out below.
If you haven't heard of it before, LudoNarraCon is a fantastic free digital convention by Fellow Traveller, celebrating all kinds of narrative games.š Weāve attended in the past and are thrilled to be back this year.
Watch these panels and others on the Steam sales page or at ludonarracon.com during the festival (April 23-26, 2021).
First up: Cyberpunk was a hot topic this year. Let's talk diversity in the cyberpunk genre.
These diverse developers from Solace State, Umurangi Generation, Love Shore, and VA-11 Hall-A discuss how to use aesthetics, narrative, and game mechanics to build meaningful speculative fictions about marginalized groups that challenge the status quo. Hosted by Tanya Kan, featuring Christopher Ortiz, Naphtali Faulkner, and Son M.!
Tune in to this panel on Friday, April 23rd, 2-3pm PT!
In our second panel, we invite you to learn directly from the indie game narrative experts! How can we think about writing and creating game narratives that initiate change?āļø Hosted by Jenny Windom, featuring Cara Hillstock, Picogram, and Tanya Kan!
To listen in on their storytelling discussion, be sure to tune in this Saturday, April 24 from 3-4pm PT!
Again, you can watch these panels and others for free on the Steam sales page here: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/ludonarracon?tab=4 or at ludonarracon.com during the festival. See you there!
If you miss it, the panels will be looping throughout April 23-26, 2021 on Steam!
Solace State at PAX Panel and Game Devs of Color Dev Interviews!
The next 24 hours are SO MUCH VIDEO CONTENT. Some are external events at PAX and Game Devs of Color Expo. Please check out our updated calendar below!
At 4PM ET (still Sunday), Gabriela Kim Passos and Tanya will be at an interview with Sharpie at Game Devs of Color! Register here in advance: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2020-game-devs-of-color-expo-online-tickets-95251799697?aff=tw
Tonight at 6PM ET (still Sunday), we will have a livestream with Seage, Reilly, Tanya and Julia about all of the arts in. This will be happening right here on Steam Stream!
Finally, tomorrow 11AM ET (Monday), we will wrap up our team Steam stream with a chill shared canvas drawing session with Seage, Tanya, Gabi!
It'll be a lot of fun, join us!
Q&A and team art jam during our workday!
This Monday September 21 at 11am ET ** NEW TIMES!, we're wrapping up the incredible celebration of Game Devs of Color Expo's Gradient Convergence with a chill workday, Q&A, and our gamedev team's art jam! We'll be drawing on one canvas in good fun. Join us for a morning/afternoon/evening of good energy and great vibes!
Who's partaking in this livestream? Tanya Kan, Director and Executive Producer Gabriela Kim Passos, Lead Programmer Courtney "Seage" Howlett, Character Artist
You can also download our free time-limited demo from Sept 12 through Sept 21!
Schedule
If you miss the livestream, the event will be replayed during the course of PAX x EGX and Game Devs of Color Expo!
What other events are happening during PAX x EGX? Check out this calendar! It's now updated with new streaming times on Saturday 19, Sunday 20, and Monday 21!
Be sure to check out our other events at PAX Online - Tanya is on a PAX panel about representation, organized by Jenny Windom, with Josh Boykin, Cara Hillstock, and Victoria Tran! Sunday 20 at 2:30PM. Watch: https://www.twitch.tv/pax3 More info: https://online.paxsite.com/schedule/panel/beyond-101-representation-in-indies-the-industry-and-beyond
Tanya and Gabi are also interviewed at Game Devs of Color on Sunday Sept 20 at 4:10PM. Tune in: https://gamedevsofcolorexpo.com/
Before, during, and after the event, you can always strike up a chat with our team on our Twitter or our Discord.
Arts!!! 2D characters + 3D environment art of Solace State
Want to explore the relationships that brew under the pressure of a militant biotech city? That demands great art and great level design! This Sunday September 20 at 6pm ET, we're so excited to present to you the artwork of the characters of Solace State, and the environment art of the city that brings the experience of this game alive.
Who's partaking in this livestream? Tanya Kan, Director and Executive Producer Courtney "Seage" Howlett, Character Artist Reilly MacKay, Character Artist Julia Pyo, Community Manager
You can also download our free time-limited demo from Sept 12 through Sept 21!
Schedule
If you miss the livestream, the event will be replayed during the course of PAX x EGX and Game Devs of Color Expo!
What other events are happening during PAX x EGX? Check out this calendar! It's now updated with new streaming times on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20!
Before, during, and after the event, you can always strike up a chat with our team on our Twitter or our Discord.
Game mechanics, UI, and UX design in choice-driven narratives
Want to explore hidden possibilities within a militant biotech society? That demands good UI! This Saturday September 19 at 3pm ET, join the devs about how our narrative choice system and UI changed the user experience, and the narrative design of the story.
Who's partaking in the livestream? Tanya Kan, Director and Executive Producer Gabriela Kim Passos, Lead Programmer Roy Button, UI and Graphic Designer
You can also download our free time-limited demo from Sept 12 through Sept 21!
Schedule
If you miss the livestream, the event will be replayed during the course of PAX x EGX and Game Devs of Color Expo!
What other events are happening during PAX x EGX? Check out this calendar! It's now updated with new streaming times on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20!
Before, during, and after the event, you can always strike up a chat with our team on our Twitter or our Discord.
Emotional storytelling in Solace State
This Friday 2pm ET, join Solace State's Director Tanya Kan and Game Writer Ashley Cooper as they discuss the finer points of Solace State's emotional story and its characters. Tune in if you're curious about what goes into game narrative design!
You can also download our free time-limited demo from Sept 12 through Sept 21!
Schedule
If you miss the livestream, the event will be replayed during the course of PAX x EGX and Game Devs of Color Expo!
What other events are happening during PAX x EGX? Check out this calendar! It's now updated with new streaming times on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20!
Before, during, and after the event, you can always strike up a chat with our team on our Twitter or our Discord.
Chill game dev workday stream
This Wednesday 2pm ET, join Solace State's Director Tanya Kan as she works on some game dev in the middle of the work week. AMA! What she'll work on will be a surprise, so tune in!
You can also download our free time-limited demo from Sept 12 through Sept 21!
Schedule
If you miss the livestream, the event will be replayed during the course of PAX x EGX and Game Devs of Color Expo!
What other events are happening during PAX x EGX? Check out this calendar! There's also Game Devs of Color's Gradient Convergence coming up!
Before, during, and after the event, you can always strike up a chat with our team on our Twitter or our Discord.
