8 floors to go, two additional locations. (and some over-painting post process)
And all of them contain boxes. So many boxes! I hope you'll all hate the boxes as much as I hate the boxes. :)
Needless to say, the scope of this has expanded a bit, even though the progression is still quite linear like the first 2 acts.
Anyhoo, as before I will not be reading comments, but hope you like the look of the posted shot. You will be visiting three companies within the building, each taking up 5 floors with a unique look to each of them.
Happy 2019!
Here's a quick peek at some Act 3 stuff. Development is still at a glacial pace, but there's some good momentum going.
This location shows the style of the first 5 floors of the tower, albeit without the random clutter that is being added. Hope you like!
For my own sanity, I won't be reading the comments here. Can't suddenly be demotivated by one stinky comment. :) I'll just imagine it''s all rainbows down there. (Also, don't ask "when" - any answer I try to give will most likely be wrong)
Have a good rest of January, and take good care of your mental and physical health.
OVER 900!!!
Since we spoke last quite a lot has happened. TME has now been updated to Unity 5.4, which is quite a step up from the 4.6 version that's currently deployed. The update will roll out with Act 3. For you this will likely mean some perfomance improvements, especially for Linux users. I've also (down?)graded from Unity Pro to Unity Personal Edition. This decision was a cost-cutting one, more below.
I have now also dropped my day job. TME is not paying the bills, so money still has to come from other sources, but I do have a lot more time now to wrap up Act 3. Now, on to that...
(ACT 2 SPOILER?) Act 2 left off with us preparing to ascend the tower. The main thing that sets this one apart from acts 1 and 2 is that you will be able to go almost every place inside the tower. This equals over 900 locations.
When I say "location" I mean basically mean "node" - like every point where you can stand. To put this into perspective, acts 1 and 2 each had between 15 and 20 locations (apartment 1, balcony 1, balcony 2, balcony 3, apartment 2, rooftop, alley 1 etc)
900 sounds scary, and I have to keep reminding myself that it's not. It's all quite samey, with some basic procedural generation handling the variety and look of the floors, walls, offices and various gubbins around the place. The base workload for us on the tower is one floor's locations plus all its variables and the aforementioned gubbins (plants, fire extinguishers, signs, colours, etc). The generator then creates the variety using a fixed seed, and I add the hand-crafted content to that.
900 locations won't stretch out the length of the game a lot either. There will always be enough clues about where to go look for more clues as you work your way up floor by floor, like Bruce Lee in Game of Death. :) When all the required content is in, I will definitely add some extras for explorers to find though.
Anyhoo, have a good rest of August. We shall chat again!
The Maker's Eden Act 2 is here!
After a wait far too long, act 2 has been released!
Well, it was actually quietly released about a week ago. Even had one bugfix patch at some stupid hour this morning. If you encounter more, please post in the Bug Reports subforum here.
Next, on to act 3!
Act 3 development is already underway, but for now I am taking the rest of February off TME. :)
Enjoy!
Act2: Monday 8 Feb! - UPDATE 2
UPDATE 2: So uhhh, it's live, I think. Works for me anyway. :) Now to update the Steam page and do a proper announcement.
UPDATE: Slipping the release by 1 day to address some last-minute issues and some feedback items.
Tiny announcement and will certainly blow the trumpet louder later in the week.
Act 2 is a few bugfixes away from releasable. Got some gamebreakers to fix this evening, then will distribute beta builds for one last round of testing.
8 Feb is probably further away than needed, but since my ability to predict development times suck, methinks it's safer that way.
Very excited to hear what people make of act 2. It's a very in-between sort of episode, with some of it being info-dumpy and set-up for act 3. But there still are a few exciting moments in there and the production values have gone up a notch or two. Also, the addition of the world map and ability to choose destinations some will enjoy.
Anyway, watch this space for the release announcement!
A very creative studio needs help!
Not a Maker's Eden post. (plan is to aim to roll out act 2 on Sunday, incidentally)
It's about a studio called Arcen that's in some trouble. The reason I would post about this one in particular is that it's a studio that consistently tries new things and does interesting things. The medium as a whole NEEDS studios like them.
Their output might not always be for everyone, but their creativity and ambition is what has kept them one of my favourite game developers over the years.
Some of my favourites are: The Last Federation, Bionic Dues and the new one, Starward Rogue.
The lineup! Aren't they pretty?
Character art and one week crunch went very well! I'll have an actual release date soon. (It'll be in January). And I suppose we better make a trailer also!
Thanks for your patience thus far!
You see: A release plan!
Character art progressing nicely and looking rather swank! The plan is to have Act 2 in final testing by the end of next week, the 20th. Then, tweaks and bugfixes for a bit, aaand boom!
In the mean time, I present to you, Molly, admiring her taxi, and also a new character.
Her name is Zeelicht and she monitors the production of androids at a big facility nicknamed "Mother". Is she friend or foe? Guess we'll find out.
September Update: Hang in there!
Stop me if you've heard this one before: Hang in there just a bit longer!
Act 2 development going slowly, but moving forward. Development is nearly complete, but a butt-tonne of character art still needs to be done.
I guess this is one of the things about going episodic. It's not easy unless you are pulling in big studio money, or otherwise able to work full time on it. Also from a consumer perspective it can be frustrating. I too have a series or two I am waiting on for new episodes. :)
Another episodic title, The Journey Down, is heading back to Kickstarter to fund its episode 3. If you are a supporter of TJD and would like to support them, you can check that out here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/983397390/the-journey-down
Luckily we don't need to seek funding for our act 2. Just time. Or adopting some unhealthy work habits, but I've been there and definitely not doing that again!
Thanks for the support thus far!
July - Anatomy of a Scene
Happy July!
To those who picked up The Maker's Eden during the recent Steam sale, welcome aboard the "waiting for act 2" train! :) Consider yourselves lucky though as the wait won't be quite as long as for some other folks. We're coming up on the first year anniversary since the launch of Act 1, after all. Progress has been steady, with most of the work being done outside of the house in a cafe where there's less to distract. In fact, this is exactly where I am right now writing this.
So far in act 1 we've mostly just seen the parts of the city that is lived in, but there's another part of the city that's in less good shape. Below is a comparison of what a scene from that part looks like in-game, vs the layers that make it up. You'll notice that it's not flat panels, nor is it 100% accurate 3D. It's just enough 3D so that when the camera moves side to side, or when a light source moves over the floor, the illusion of a 3D environment is kept, while still looking hand-painted.
Story-wise, things are unfolding nicely too. Act 2 is very exposition-dumpy, which has the potential to be quite boring, so we've tried to combat that by keeping the character interactions and environment interactions fun and interesting. The overall idea is the same: Tell a serious story, but in a light tone. The heavy exposition comes from the fact that by the end of act 2 there should be no more surprises or secrets. Act 3 is all action. Well ok, so maybe there's one thing in act 3 you won't see coming. Maybe 2 things.
EDIT:
Ok, just because I am a tease, here's a list of the returning characters from act 1, and the new ones, with some placeholders. Who are these other people??
