Welcome once again to Nova's Diary, issue number... *check notes* 14 already?!?
Spring has arrived! No better time to jump on the myriad of things we've done this month!
[ DESIGN & STUFF ]
Given that it's springtime, this naturally means it's time for spring cleaning!
Now, before you comprehensibly come at me with torches and pitchforks for YET another month of "design updates", let me lull you by saying that it's not just bugsmashing that we've done this month: A whole plethora of design subjects have been discussed, changed and improved, and I'm going to show you the best bits!
Ta-Dah! A brand new image of the final Area, named Punta della Dogana. Unlike Santa Marta and Inner Dorsoduro, Punta della Dogana is much cleaner and well taken care of, considering it houses some of the more important administrative buildings of the city, as well as some of the few remaining monuments and landmarks.
It is introduced in the final arc of the game, and it features its own NPCs, quests and whatnot. (I would love to share more with you but as you know, this is pretty endgame and I wouldn't want to spoil the end for you)
Hey, doesn't that holo-sign look familiar? Yes it does!
One issue we noticed during playtests was that it was very difficult for new players to navigate Venice during the High Tide; most of the signs are submerged during this time, and with the pathing changes it makes for a difficult, albeit fresh experience for players that are still trying to memorize the level design. On top of that, we still believe we can add a little more "tech" into our future Venice, so we started thinking about an hybrid version of signage based on the traditional ones you'd find in Venice today (and hopefully in our 2089 too), but holo!
It's still our first iteration and it's probably going to get a lot of changes, but hopefully this new way of orientation (paired with some big-brain placement) will help players have an easier time exploring Venice!
This one isn't that big of a thing, but I very much like it and it deserves its own spot
Along with the new holo-signs, we also discussed on what other technological elements we could add into the level to better sell the "2089 but not that futuristic" vibe, and honestly WHAT BETTER CHOICE THAN A BUNCH OF ANTENNAE!
They are the perfect element of old-tech in a place that doesn't match the current year, almost like it's timelost, that is our brick-built, bright coloured Venice. Besides, they are so common throughout Italy (even to this day!) that if you've ever been to Venice, if you'd look up on the rooftops, they'd be filled with a mix of dishes and antennas.
They are easy to make, pose little to no problem from an optimization standpoint, and embellish the view during the High Tide!
Another thing I wanted to add to the design section is my intention of updating the game's Steam Page soon. Back when I made it, in December 2020, I basically speedrunned it, and so made it very similar to our Itch.io and Gamejolt counterparts (which at the time were booming, soo I thought "hey, this must be the way to go!")
But a year later and nearing release, it's kinda... Meh...
I feel there could be much more personality in our page, that can be shown for example by putting better gifs (the first ones do have a compression issue), or updating the texts (now everybody and their dogs know what's written in there) and generally changing the layout, in order to make it less...Google Docs-like?
Oh yeah, and change whatever outdated info is there. It may be correct for our demo, but for the full-fledge game I'd like to have solid information of the actual official build, rather than our 2020 demo release, you know?
I dunno, I have to consult my fellow designers and a couple of artists too, luckily it's not that urgent of an issue. But SOONâ„¢ there shall be a shiny new Venice 2089 Steam Page!
Oh, and if you have any feedback, idea or suggestion about how should I shape the new page, I'm all ears, let me know 🤗
[ 2D ART & STUFF ]
The spring cleaning saga continues! While most of March has been an updating month for our artists (yes, even artists do that), there is one piece of content that I really want to show you!
Made by our master artist (AKA Art Director) Federico, these terrific graffiti are very much different from the ones normally found, and pack a serious punch to the gut in terms of worldbuilding.
Back when planning the narrative ecosystem of Venice 2089, I always wanted Venice to feel like a "lived in" city, and with the countless events that happened before the start of the game, it'd be natural to have some sort of evidence of what happened and what meant for the people of Venice....
These works, made a very long time ago by an unnamed artist, show the cold reality of the times before Nova, and to this day stand as a memento of the discomfort and worry of the citizen of those times.
One might say it even encouraged a certain rebellious artist to start expressing his feelings with spray paint...
[ 3D ART & STUFF ]
Not much to be said about 3D this month, other than the madlads managed to do us a big favour by downscaling the textures of half the models of Venice (it means that Venice won't be a 40 gigs game lol)
Apart from that, they worked close with us designers in finalizing Punta della Dogana, and created a couple more variations of our loved altane for the High Tide, in order to bring some more variety both visually and mechanically!
[ PROGRAMMING & STUFF ]
...You really want me to comment the programming section of the now known "Month of Updates?"
Jokes aside, nothing terribly groundbreaking happened, lots of optimization has indeed happened and now the game runs smoother as ever!
Will update when the big news will arrive
[ SEND OFF ]
And that's about it. Holy moly what a long devlog, it's been ages since I had a design section that verbose!
Honestly though, we're just that close to finishing Venice, and let me tell you WE ALL FEEL IT, the hype is real!
Thanks for sticking with our devlogs, thanks for interacting with us here on Steam or on our social platforms, and I cannot wait to hear more of you guys!
See you next month!
Nova's Diary #13
Hey friends,
Welcome back to Nova's Diary! Time is sure flying, so let's just dive right into it!
[ DESIGN & STUFF ]
This month's design section is a little stuffier than usual, rejoice!
As always, one big chunk of our work has been in updating our level design with the latest from both 2D and 3D. As we're approaching release, we're finishing up one last area of Venice, one that is decisively cleaner than the previous ones, which will make a great transition from Dorsoduro.
Oh, and did I mention that it's going to include some well-known venetian landmarks? Here're the latest images!
Honestly, huge props if you recognize this particular monument!
Yeah we like our new metal barriers, how could you tell?
Another big breaktrough that is happening here in Design Central is fine tuning our night scene (that we teased like what, 3 devlogs ago?), specifically the lightning. Because it turns out that Unity can be a fickle master to please when it comes to lightning, and if we add in the mix all the optimization settings we've done...Let's say it's not done yet BUT because you guys are special, here's a couple of images from the latest testing cycle (honestly they aren't half-bad already, but we still feel that some work could be put into it)
BEHOLD, THE MIGHTY SANTA MARTA TOWER OF DOOM!
[ 2D & STUFF ]
Our proud 2D peeps keep delivering content like it's Christmas!
Unfrotunately though, I received advice to not show eeeeverything, otherwise you'll basically be spoiling the story and apparently that's bad for business, so I can only show stuff that isn't that much spoilery.
A shame indeed, but as I said before we're approaching the end of development, and jokes aside, I believe it's better for you to experience the story by yourselves :)
I wonder what's happening in Grandpa's lab...
[ 3D & STUFF ]
Nothing particularly new about 3D this month. Apart from some of the new models that we already showed you most of the work has gone into textures and updates of said textures. But maybe I can try to dig in some stuff, lemme check...
Funny story, these new curtains contain easter eggs from our GGJ 2022 entry...Maybe you played it without even noticing
[ PROGRAMMING & STUFF ]
And as always, nothing particularly interesting to share from the programming section But why always include it then? If there's nothing worth of share there, why wasting space writing an empty section every month?
First of all, my dear friends, it is a sign of inclusion on our part; we certainly do not want to make our programmer gods feel excluded (and get on their bad side). And second of all, because maybe, JUST MAYBE, there is going to be something veeery worth of share...
Hopefully in the near future... 👀
[ SEND-OFF ]
That concludes our issue for February.
Now, as much as I'd like to end this devlog with a sassy joke or a meme as I usually tend to, there's something that we need to address.
Our thoughts go to the people of Ukraine, currently suffering because of a war that none of them wanted...
Please, consider donating to humanitarian causes like The Red Cross or the International Rescue Committee.
Слава Україні!
Nova's Diary #11+12
Hello friends 💜
Welcome back, been a long while hasn't it? (I'll cut out with the jokes, dw)
Yesterday we reminisced the past of Venice 2089 and our accomplishments, today we are going to have a little more in depth look on what we've been working on these last two months.
Well now, let's jump straight into it.
[ DESIGN & STUFF ]
Prepare to be disappointed, 'cause there isn't much to show you.... BUT, do you happen to know how two months full of meddling with Unity look like? Trust me, they're especially exhausting. We spent two whole months mainly on optimization, trying out or tuning different methods to make the game run better on mid-end and low-end rigs, while also finishing up some world design stuff we left behind in the previous months.
For that we started developing internal builds more often, to better focus on our schedule and group together the stream of progress made by other departments.
Oh and in December, consider we were still running the Kickstarter campaign so a couple of us (me mainly) were still working more on that front rather than our other design duties.
Sooo yeah, boring stuff with next to nothing to share. I'll think of something for the next issues, I promise.
[ 2D & STUFF ]
And now, prepare to be overloaded with content, 'cause our artists have been working EXTRA good these times.
We are talking TWO BRAND NEW CHARACTERS (well, one's pretty known already).
The first one is Angelo, and if you couldn't tell already, he's a fan of Atlas and its products. His mindset focused on the betterment of the corp makes it somewhat unlikeable, but deep inside he's a total nerd.
the first one is literally me when I get a new notif on Steam
The second one is a legend that shines once again. The man. The myth. The Legend. THE ONE AND ONLY GIUSTINO!
Basically we just revamped his old puppet to accomodate expressions and animations, but oh boy were we hyped for his rework. This loveable italian boy is now ready to steal everyone's hearts with his magnetic looks and upbeat personality.
when they announce your visual update
But it's not characters only here, no sir! Remember Grandpa's Lab? It was pretty much done last we showed it, but now it's extra done! After that, our artists started working on a new interior design, one that I really cannot tell you more about right now (but it's pretty self explanatory anyway so no prob).
Oh and how could I forget these little guys! If you've been watching our BAE stream back in Monday, our Art Director Federico was working on these robo fellas. You can expect them to make quite the appearance once the full game is out, you bet!
WALL-E's seen better days man
[ 3D & STUFF ]
Our 3D department on the other hand have been busy animating and implementing the features of the two characters we talked about before, while also lending a hand with the textures that have been produced. And there are many, many, MANY textures, all for props and small models to add into the level design.
Now, I thought I could sneak something in here about a new model in the works, but it's still too early to show something this big (literally, it is a big building) sooo for now we'll have to make do :(
[ PROGRAMMING & STUFF ]
As they always do, our programmers passed two wonderful months diving deep into the game's code, primarily with our designers, solving big brain problems with smart and applicable solutions...
JK I love our programmers, we most likely wouldn't have nothing if it wasn't for those brave boys
[ SEND-OFF ]
And that concludes our catch up. Needless to say there is a whole lot more stuff going on behind the scenes, that I cannot share for one reason or another. But I hope these issues of Nova's Diary shed some light about what has been going on since November.
See you next month!
Before you go, enjoy this little work of mine :)
[previewyoutube="jqr4_rvgZ4o;full"]
Nova's Diary #?? - 1 YEAR SPECIAL
Hello friends 💜
Happy (super-late) New Year!!! Here's to a 2022 full of great things and good vibes!
[ 2021 RECAP ]
Now, this is not our usual devlog (it never is but anyway), because today it has been EXACTLY a year since our demo release here on Steam, and I think some celebreations are due :)
It's crazy to think that just about two years ago, Venice 2089 was already on route to become something bigger than just a school project; true, we had a fairly solid demo release on Itch.io and GameJolt and our spirits were high and we were eager to continue development, yet it took just a couple of months of work to substantially enhance that demo and release it on Steam, where the real journey started. And honestly, what a journey it has been so far...
We participated in wonderful events such as 2021's LudoNarraCon (something that we really hoped to do) and NowPlayThis and DreamHack Beyond, where we had the possibility to directly speak about our vision for the future of the game.
We had the privilege of being in the pre-show of both E3 and The Game Awards, thanks to Guerrilla Collective and Future of Play, where we announced our intention of running a Kickstarter campaign.
We started nurturing our online image, started growing a community on social media fueled by dev news and memes.
We had interviews, meetings and so on. We became a full-fledged studio.
We even got to participate in a in-person convention here in Italy, with our own little stand.
Even when things became a little bleak with our Kickstarter, we kept on going. (also thanks to your support)
All the while creating, improving and fine-tuning this not-so little work of ours for you to enjoy... And all of this in just a single year. If that doesn't scream progress, I dunno what does
So yeah, here's for an astounding 2021!
[ THE BIG ADVENTURE EVENT ]
Oh, and one veeery recent but worthy addition is our participation in "The Big Adventure Event" AKA BAE, made by those wonderful people at Hitcents. It was a really neat event and as always we had a blast (minus some technical difficulties lol).
We even did an art stream featuring our Art Director Federico, just like the first stream we ever did!
Events such as this are really helpful to us in terms of discoverability and word of mouth, and for a title like ours having like-minded players see our game and trying it out it's better than just showcasing a trailer in a bigger, broader event. So thank you to those of you who have participated in our stream, tried our game and gave us feedback.
Besides, we get to catch up and see what other fellow indie devs are working on, and let me tell you: there are some real bangers in the works 👀
[ SEND-OFF ]
And that's that, the conclusion of a great year and the start of a (hopefully) even greater one.
Seriously, I cannot stress this enough: THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING US, even if it's just having your wishlist on or retweeting our funny images (and for reading through these devlogs of mine if you are one of those people).
The real devlog will be out tomorrow, and it will cover both December and January.
See you tomorrow!
I wanted an image with all team members waving but this is the only one I found, sadge
