The Lost Legends of Redwall: The Scout - Act 1
Quick Update about Updates...
It's fair to say that all the previous builds could be seen as tech demos or, if you're feeling generous, vertical slices. But we all know that so far it'd be a stretch to call it a "game."
What we're working on since GDC has been the first case where we expect to actually present a "game" in a meaningful way that includes a raft of new features from improved AI, tuned controls, LOTS of bug fixing and a working dialog system. However these present what we'd call "irreducible complexity" and so most of the lift has to be done all at once or none of it will work at all.
Bottom line, we're more hard at it than ever before and making lots of good progress, but without any "save points" in the last six or so weeks.
But again...we're getting close and we hope this next update will be the best and biggest yet. Stand by!
30 Mar 2018 : Steam Early Access Build : Combined Tech and Content Update V 0.70
30 Mar 2018 : Steam Early Access Build : Combined Tech and Content Update V 0.70
* What's New
* GDC Catacombs (Partial Level): Seen here is the very truncated experience we showed at GDC. It's designed around the rather constrained experience people have a trade show so it lacks much of what would be expected in a "normal" level but many people asked to see this...and your wishes are our commands.
* New Controls: Included in the catacombs update is the first release of an entirely new control scheme, including a whole new animation controller, that allows a lot more freedom of movement. If you play Old Moss Creek, which still has the old movement scheme, and compare the two we hope you'll see a significant improvement.
* NPC Direction Lab: Part of Redwall's essential ethos is a value for community and fellowship. With that in mind we've begun to make the NPC mice smarter and more capable. We want them to be a valuable part of your adventure and not just a lame escort mission. Seen here is a small testing ground where AI-Driven NPCs can be given directions and collect resources - their most critical role when traversing the cold wilderness.
* What's Next
* Complete Catacombs Level: With the constraints of a booth removed we'll be opening up a lot more of this level and letting the everyone roam around a lot more - that includes the rats.
* Hilltop Camp Graybox: We had hoped to get this ready to show by this release but getting ready for GDC just took up too much oxygen to squeeze it in. But we'll have this in the next content update for sure.
Headed to GDC!
That said, it'll also be a pretty big step in terms of technology, features, and look to include the first glimpse at the Catacombs stealth level, crank aggro rat AI, the all-new and reworked control scheme and a number of other tricks that we haven't showed off yet.
If you can get to GDC we'll be in the GDC Play area, booth PL4349 and we'd love to see you.
Otherwise, when we get back from San Francisco we'll post an update here that will include all that was shown at GDC AND even more...So stand by.
16 Feb 2018 : Steam Early Access Build : Tech Update V 0.61
* Updated Control Lab: We've been hard at work on a complete rebuild of the character control based partly on feedback from the initial launch. It's a big pivot but it's going well. Check out how that's coming along and give us your feedback on things like speed and jump strength. Still a lot more to do here, but we're probably over the hump.
* Water Update: Big changes to how we render water in Lilygrove and Old Moss Creek. We think new were able to find a great balance between realism and the stylized world we've been building.
* Updated Catacombs Graybox: Take a look at how the architecture on this level is coming along.
What's Next
* Hilltop Camp graybox. When we launched just before Christmas we striated with Old Moss Creek which is technically Act II, Scene I of the entire game. Since then we've been working backwards on level releases and finally we're getting to Act I, Scene I: Hilltop Camp...this is where it all begins.
* GDC March 21-23. Come visit us in the GDC Play section of GDC 21018. We'll be showing a demo of The Scout - probably the Lilygrove Catacombs and the first playable demo of Escape the Gloomer!
26 Jan 2018 : Steam Early Access Build : Content Release V 0.6
* Scent Lab: Redwall is about animals and animals use their noses a lot more than humans. So one of our biggest goals for this game is to have a robust and meaningful scent system. In this release we'll be showing the first iteration of that system including a few use cases for interesting game play. We've still got a ways to go before this is good an tight but we're pretty excited to start letting folks see what we've been working on.
* Updated Lilygrove Chase scene: Since our last release this scene has been fleshed out quite a bit and the main antagonist - Scumsnout is here and ready too ruin your day. This scene isn't finished yet but it's come a long way.
* Catacomb Graybox: Act I, Scene II is set in an ancient underground catacomb. The level will be the first to feature stealth gameplay as a major feature and will introduce rats as a base-level antagonist. Today we're giving an early glimpse of the basic architecture and layout .
What's Next:
* The feedback from the controls lab skewed about 60/40 in favor of a skill-based control scheme as opposed to a more cinematic approach. This means a significant pivot for us but it seems like the right thing to do all things considered. Expect us to rework basic controls in the next couple of builds which will also include updates to previously released levels like Old Moss Creek and the Lilygrove chase scene.
* Look for our next update, hopefully quite soon, to tackle our first pass at reworking the entire control schema...fingers crossed.
* After that, probably another 2-3 weeks, to focus on bugs and performance improvement.
Price Update : Back where it belongs...
Bottom line: we fixed it. :)
The price today is set at $9.99 which is about where we want it for this phase in Early Access. The general plan going forward is for the price to slowly creep up during development as we add new content, new features, and generally make the game more complete and polished. When it's done, we anticipate to be $14.99. Of course things could change, but that's the basic plan right now.
For now - we're happy to have this mix-up sorted and, in full disclosure, it was totally our fault. We misread some of Steam's documentation and just set the whole thing up improperly - mea culpa.
That's it for this announcement - we'll keep it brief - and look forward to a content update in the near future. :)
05 Jan 2018 : Steam Early Access Build : Bug Update V 0.51
* Controls Lab: Early players were pretty evenly split on what style of controls they wanted to see. Should they be more skill based or more cinematic? This build contains the first iteration of a Control Lab where you can experience two pretty different approaches…and vote on which one you prefer.
* Architect Points: The feedback we’ve been getting from early access players has been SO helpful and useful that we want to incentivize that kind of thing. So we’ll be adding in a system that rewards this kind of feedback with Architect Points. We still need to decide what these points get you…but it’ll be non-trivial so stand by.
* This is primarily a bug update to address some of the most pressing feedback we got from the first release. To that end expect more of a “fewer things wrong” update than a “bunch of new stuff” update and we plan to have minor bug updates a regular part of the cycle.
What’s Next
* Addition of the scent mechanic we’ve been working on, most likely in a controlled “Scent Lab” environment. Woodlanders experience the world through their noses as much as their eyes and ears and we’ve got a little something we think you’ll like coming up quickly.
* Playable alpha (or some progress thereto) for the Lighthouse scene including a three-part sequence and the villainous Scumsnout!
Early Access at Last!
It's right down to the wire - we know - and we were hustling as much as we could but here we are.
There's a lot to do and it's all sort of built up behind the dam but you can expect more stuff for us here and on the Facebook page at an accelerated rate now.
And while I'm here - Merry Christmas!