For PAX West this weekend, wanted to post some quick details about where you can find the game if you happen to be going to the show (and show you a preview of our new in-fiction brochures in the image above)
We're in the Indie Megabooth!
This year we'll be in the Indie Megabooth down in the heart of the fourth floor of the convention center. We are in the back left corner, adjacent to our good friends at Thimbleweed Park. The Indie Megabooth folks made this cool video to help you know where to find us. Take a look at all the cool games on display this year, or look for us at at the 10:52 mark.
In the Seattle area but don't have a PAX badge? No problem, we'll also be showing off the new demo at the Media Indie Exchange or "The MIX" event on Friday night, September 1st, from 7-11 pm. You can still RSVP for a FREE ticket here:
Our fantastic voice acting power couple Ellen McLain and John Patrick Lowrie will be happy to meet you and sign whatever you might bring (or sign some Church literature) at our PAX booth. They will be at our booth at these times:
Saturday 12 to 1 PM
Monday 2 to 3 PM
You might also enjoy the PAX Panel they'll be participating in. The panel focuses on their work with Valve, but we have it on good authority they'll be talking about The Church in the Darkness too and you just might hear a song in there... Here's the key information:
Not in Seattle?
Sorry for all the PAX-related posting for those not in the Pacific Northwest this weekend. After the show we'll be sharing more about the demo, including some video of the new demo map and other cool stuff we will be showing at PAX. So check back here in September...
The Church Returns to PAX East
We've spent the summer heat working hard through new features and building out Freedom Town. Now we have a new goal in front of us: we'll be showcasing a new demo at PAX West, coming up September 1-4th. PAX West last year was the first time we showed the game publicly, and this year we'll have a more prominent space at the show, but can't reveal where just yet. (Shhhh... secrets.) Look for an update from us as soon as we have it. And if you can't make PAX, we'll definitely be posting some footage from that new demo as soon as we are able.
Also, we've continued working on our FAQ for some of the most common questions - in our last post we talked about how we're working on a release date but don't have one just yet. Here's another one that comes up a fair amount:
"How re-playable is the game and how many storylines are possible?"
This is a good question, and I always try to be clear about it. The game has procedural content elements to it, but at the same time it's not as procedural as some full-on procgen games. It's not as procedural as, say, the original Rogue. Most of the physical space of Freedom Town stays relatively the same each game, but where you start the game, where your objectives are, and all the gameplay elements are shuffled around each time. And the story changes. The dogma and beliefs of the Collective Justice Mission stay similar on a surface level, but the ultimate motivations of Preachers Isaac & Rebecca Walker will change. And naturally saying exactly how all the systems work would be a spoiler, so I'm treading carefully there.
So how repayable will the game be? I think someone who plays it once or twice will have a fun experience, but won't be seeing the whole story. To see a more complete story, you'd need to finish it at least four times, and to see all the content many more times than that. If you're someone who is a completionist, wants to get all the achievements and find all the side story content, you're going to be playing more like 8-10 times at a minimum. And then we've got difficulty levels for those who really want to push themselves.
Hope that informs you but also keeps you intrigued. Until next time,
- Richard
Talking Controversial Games with Game Informer + Release Dates
Thought you might want to check out The Game Informer Show this week - I got to talk about The Church in the Darkness (as you might expect), but also cults, other games about cults (maybe you’ve heard of some of them), controversial games, games that never came out, and other games I worked on that did come out like State of Decay and The Suffering. It’s a long one!
Also, as a quick addendum, we were reviewing the survey results from our last mailing list survey, and think we'll make a FAQ for the most commonly asked questions. (Oh, and if you want to join the mailing list, here's a handy link: http://paranoidproductions.com/mailinglist/ )
It may not surprise you that we got a lot of questions about the ship date. That comes up on here a fair amount too. Believe us we are working toward locking that down and no one wants to ship more than us. But we also don't want to announce a specific date until we are very confident about it, and we also want this game to be everything we all want it to be. Thus nothing specific yet. Unfortunately our first FAQ answer is probably not the answer you want to hear. Apologies. But we hear you, and we're working on it.
- Richard
Kinda Funny Goes to Church
Back at the Game Developers Conference Greg from Kinda Funny played our new demo and liked what he saw - and recently he and Nick Scarpino sat down and talked about the game while watching Greg's quite stealthy playthrough.
Lessons Learned:
1) Greg is opposed to throwing rocks under any circumstances
2) To Nick, infiltration gameplay means he's ready to kill anyone he sees.
Thanks guys! We aim to please all play styles...
And if you're just looking for a way to catch up with where The Church in the Darkness is at, this video's a funny way to do it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlSkkd-gfEw
And now, back to the jungle...
- Richard
Gameplay Footage from PAX East - And Now Construction of Freedom Town Resumes
We had a very frantic February leading up to the Game Developer's Conference and then PAX East. Our new demo came together late but played great at those events. It was exhausting but exhilarating.
Of course what you really want to see is some footage of our new demo in action. Here's some gameplay footage care of Polygon:
https://youtu.be/-f6DU20d8aA
My, what a giant convention center for PAX East. Thanks everyone who came and played our new demo and all the cool folks we met. Tremendous thanks to our 3D artist extraordinaire Devan Browne for coming to his first PAX ever to show the game, as well as those who helped us out in a variety of ways like Forrest, Ian and Nate. And thanks to the good organizers of the PAX Rising space for inviting us into the PAX Rising space where we met many cool neighbors. And I’m sure you’ll be happy to learn that after the show, our plants found good homes.
Here’s links to some press coverage you might enjoy:
Whew -- that's another PAX behind us. Now back to building this special place called Freedom Town...
- Richard
The Jungle Comes to Boston
Happy to say we are heading to PAX East in Boston in just a few weeks! There you'll be able to get your hands on a new demo of the game, presenting a different section of the map from what we showed last fall. This time we're showcasing more of the narrative and how the cult's beliefs change from game to game, along with more of the story of Alex, the player's nephew who you're trying to find inside Freedom Town. We've also added some new abilities that give you more options to infiltrate the Collective Justice Mission. Come find us in the PAX Rising space.
Also, if you're at PAX East, come to this great sounding panel, which feels like it was custom made for this game, though actually, we just agreed to be in the session. But lots of good/evil people on there, we think it'll be a great/evil time.
And if you're not able to make it to PAX East, no worries, we'll post some screenshots of the new build and maybe a little video snippet too. Watch This Space.
- Richard
The Church in the News
We’re proud to be on some very nice Most Anticipated Games of 2017 lists, along with some big and beautiful games and some friend developers too.
Time Magazine: http://time.com/4620695/most-anticipated-video-games-2017/
The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/04/video-games-2017-guide
And a few weeks back Mashable ran an interview with Richard: http://mashable.com/2016/12/26/church-in-the-darkness-richard-rouse-interview/#IWKfCZh39iqU
And now we need to get back to work to live up to all this hype.
Quick December Report From The Jungle
For the month of December we've moved to working on getting full playthroughs of the game working, and have made a bunch of progress on big picture items. And now right before Christmas our musicians have gotten all inspired. Songsmith Andre Maguire (you heard his music over our trailer) turned in a bunch of new tracks that will plug into our in-game music system. Also, our voice actors John & Ellen have been working on classic arrangements of some spirituals that someday you can hear echoing through Freedom Town.
If you want to hear a different take on the game, you might want to check out my recent appearance on the DevJam podcast. I had a fabulous time with hosts (and fellow game developers with background at Ubisoft Montreal) Aleissia Laidacker & Tyler Windecker. We got into one of the most wide ranging talks about the games I’ve worked on, going all the way back Odyssey, up through The Suffering, covering some State of Decay and finally The Church in the Darkness.
http://devjampodcast.libsyn.com/dev-jam-ep11
If you want to jump right to the parts about Church, skip to the 60 minute mark. But stay around to the end if you want to hear my top three favorite Twilight Zone episodes (at least at that particular moment). You see, I *was* wearing the shirt for that particular speed-round question.
Day of the Devs Wrap-Up
Earlier in the month we got to show off The Church in the Darkness at Day of the Devs, a showcase for unreleased indie games held by Double Fine and iam8bit in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco. It was an intense day of setup and then showing the game for hours and hours (the show closed at 10PM) while surrounded by many other inspiring titles. We were off in a room dedicated to more slow-paced, narrative-focused games, which was great in terms of volume though by the end of day I wished the carpet had a pad under it.
Here's a nice highlight reel from the show that gives you a sense of the positive vibe of the whole thing - catch a glimpse of us right at the end!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOJ77nk1rK0
Shout out to some of our neighbors, particularly talking corn game Maize from Finish Line Games (who are shipping later this week!), as well as the early in development time-looping game 12 Minutes, the thoughtful We Are Chicago, and Spy Party, who came armed with a huge team to introduce people gently to their complex multiplayer game.
And of course thanks to everyone who stopped by and played it and gave us feedback - trade shows are great for seeing how people react to the game, and leave us with a good to-do list of what to work on next. And if you didn't make it, we hope to catch you at another show in the future.
- Richard
Come Play The Church in the Darkness in SF This Saturday! (November 5th)
If you're in the SF Bay Area, come out and play The Church in the Darkness and a bunch of other independent spirited games at Double Fine's Day of the Devs event this Saturday, November 5th. Here's some info to get you informed: http://www.dayofthedevs.com/
We've heard great things about the event from past years, and if this year's lineup is any indication, much fun will be had. We are one of the few games on the more "serious" end of the spectrum, so we'd love people to come looking for us. If you already played the game at PAX, this is an updated version of that demo - come see what we've added!
And you know what the best of it is? Day of the Devs is free to the public! You just need to sign up for a ticket. Did we mention the "free" part?
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-annual-day-of-the-devs-presented-by-double-fine-iam8bit-tickets-28693598325
