no worries
take all the time you need with those and thanks for the update ... and the writeup!
|OT| Grindwheel Games Titles
- Thread starter Grindwheel Games
- Start date
take all the time you need with those and thanks for the update ... and the writeup!
OP
- Thread Starter
- #252
Good evening! Kind of a quick one tonight, but I have some other announcements. First off, I am fine and have been essentially self-isolating for a while as I was working on my own stuff, then freelancing from home while working on things. I hope everyone out there is all right too and keeping safe! Everyone else at Quarter Circle has gone home as of last week too, so we're all safe and sorted as we work.
Secondly, I have had the new score through from Cryo Chamber and, aside from one minor point, it was perfect. I have had a few rounds of listening to it today to be sure, but it looks like it is done and sorted in pretty much one pass. I'm very happy with it, and I hope you all enjoy it too when you get a chance to hear it.
Thirdly, art is moving forward still. Muthur Brine is going through the line work and inking of the pages, and they all look pretty awesome so far. We should see some colour pictures in the near future.
On that note, I have been in contact with Shark Robot, looking to maybe get the existing artwork turned into prints, possible shirt designs, notebook covers, etc. They seem interested, and I have sent a few test pages over to make sure they are in the right format for them. When they get back to me I will start sending book 1 pages for approval and we'll see what happens. There was some confusion at first because they thought I wanted to slap the book covers right onto a t-shirt, which would look a bit odd, but we got it cleared up in the end. Fingers crossed!
With all that said, here is tonight's pipeline discussion.
External QA
All of the passes done to the game so far should have caught all of the bugs which could pop up. However, I do like to make sure other people play the game before I am satisfied that everything is fine. I have a drop-box into which I put the tablet build to let them test it. In theory, unless anything has gone seriously wrong, the two builds are identical, as they both use the same story triggers, items, etc. As such, the tablet build is the smaller of the two for them to download and play, so it makes sense to go with this one. In addition, I only got my Steam account last year, so getting them testing keys before that point was impossible.
The feedback I have received from these external testers has been very valuable. For instance, in the first version of the game there was only quick combat. It was suggested that, even if the combat wasn't interactive, some people might want to see the numbers as they were generated. So, I added the expanded combat system. The character sheet previously didn't have any boxes, only numbers and a small button to press to heal. This was changed as well. In fact, the layout was originally two pages in the book rather than a sheet of paper, but this was also changed based on feedback.
Passing the game around the office at Sperasoft also led to me adding things like the quit confirm and 'escape to quit' code, which I had not considered before. Obvious system issues like this can slip by if you don't consider them! Being essentially a one-man-band means you often don't consider things someone else might think is obvious, so having someone else look over your code or game is always useful.
In terms of bugs, the testing phase for Blissful Ignorance found that, for some reason, the loop which made sure to add all of your items back into your inventory had been messed up when I added the changes from the PC version, meaning that loading your game stripped your inventory! This was literally one line of code which had somehow gotten copied over, but if it hadn't been caught that would be a hell of a problem! It also identified some errors where screen resolution was not setting properly on the first time the game was run. Obviously I didn't pick the error up as I had run the game before, and so couldn't see the bug myself.
The testing phase also led to the Rose Run achievement, as Stephanie always plays the game from the very beginning without saving. This meant that every time she died or hit a dead end she would start from the beginning. I thought this was a fun little thing to add, which is why it became a core unlock for the games. Some of the others were suggested by running ideas past the group as well, although the idea to have one achievement per monster you can kill was, naturally, dropped for being too much work.
Secondly, I have had the new score through from Cryo Chamber and, aside from one minor point, it was perfect. I have had a few rounds of listening to it today to be sure, but it looks like it is done and sorted in pretty much one pass. I'm very happy with it, and I hope you all enjoy it too when you get a chance to hear it.
Thirdly, art is moving forward still. Muthur Brine is going through the line work and inking of the pages, and they all look pretty awesome so far. We should see some colour pictures in the near future.
On that note, I have been in contact with Shark Robot, looking to maybe get the existing artwork turned into prints, possible shirt designs, notebook covers, etc. They seem interested, and I have sent a few test pages over to make sure they are in the right format for them. When they get back to me I will start sending book 1 pages for approval and we'll see what happens. There was some confusion at first because they thought I wanted to slap the book covers right onto a t-shirt, which would look a bit odd, but we got it cleared up in the end. Fingers crossed!
With all that said, here is tonight's pipeline discussion.
External QA
All of the passes done to the game so far should have caught all of the bugs which could pop up. However, I do like to make sure other people play the game before I am satisfied that everything is fine. I have a drop-box into which I put the tablet build to let them test it. In theory, unless anything has gone seriously wrong, the two builds are identical, as they both use the same story triggers, items, etc. As such, the tablet build is the smaller of the two for them to download and play, so it makes sense to go with this one. In addition, I only got my Steam account last year, so getting them testing keys before that point was impossible.
The feedback I have received from these external testers has been very valuable. For instance, in the first version of the game there was only quick combat. It was suggested that, even if the combat wasn't interactive, some people might want to see the numbers as they were generated. So, I added the expanded combat system. The character sheet previously didn't have any boxes, only numbers and a small button to press to heal. This was changed as well. In fact, the layout was originally two pages in the book rather than a sheet of paper, but this was also changed based on feedback.
Passing the game around the office at Sperasoft also led to me adding things like the quit confirm and 'escape to quit' code, which I had not considered before. Obvious system issues like this can slip by if you don't consider them! Being essentially a one-man-band means you often don't consider things someone else might think is obvious, so having someone else look over your code or game is always useful.
In terms of bugs, the testing phase for Blissful Ignorance found that, for some reason, the loop which made sure to add all of your items back into your inventory had been messed up when I added the changes from the PC version, meaning that loading your game stripped your inventory! This was literally one line of code which had somehow gotten copied over, but if it hadn't been caught that would be a hell of a problem! It also identified some errors where screen resolution was not setting properly on the first time the game was run. Obviously I didn't pick the error up as I had run the game before, and so couldn't see the bug myself.
The testing phase also led to the Rose Run achievement, as Stephanie always plays the game from the very beginning without saving. This meant that every time she died or hit a dead end she would start from the beginning. I thought this was a fun little thing to add, which is why it became a core unlock for the games. Some of the others were suggested by running ideas past the group as well, although the idea to have one achievement per monster you can kill was, naturally, dropped for being too much work.
Deleted member 113
Guest
OP
- Thread Starter
- #254
You too! And everyone else out there!Stay safe, Grindwheel Games.
thanks ... and yeah - you stay safe as well!
OP
- Thread Starter
- #256
Well that went quicker than expected...
sharkrobot.com
Merchandise is now available on the Shark Robot store! There was some confusion over what we were going to use, and in what way. There was also a moment when it looked like the art files wouldn't scale correctly for them to be able to use. But, we're there, and way faster than I imagined the process would work. You can now buy the title-free cover art for Pale Harbour, Vile Philosophy and Blissful Ignorance to hang on your walls! Get hype!
Depending on demand, we'll press ahead with other images, and maybe use the unique book logos for things like shirts, mugs, hats and the like. It all depends on interest, but hopefully Muthur Brine's amazing artwork will help pull people towards both the items themselves and get word out about the games.
Grindwheel Games Store
Grindwheel Games Store - Our great t-shirts are guaranteed to make you awesome and tough! (Can't actually guarantee that)
sharkrobot.com
Merchandise is now available on the Shark Robot store!
There was some confusion over what we were going to use, and in what way. There was also a moment when it looked like the art files wouldn't scale correctly for them to be able to use. But, we're there, and way faster than I imagined the process would work. You can now buy the title-free cover art for Pale Harbour, Vile Philosophy and Blissful Ignorance to hang on your walls! Get hype!Depending on demand, we'll press ahead with other images, and maybe use the unique book logos for things like shirts, mugs, hats and the like. It all depends on interest, but hopefully Muthur Brine's amazing artwork will help pull people towards both the items themselves and get word out about the games.
awesome!Well that went quicker than expected...
Grindwheel Games Store
Grindwheel Games Store - Our great t-shirts are guaranteed to make you awesome and tough! (Can't actually guarantee that)
Merchandise is now available on the Shark Robot store!
Depending on demand, we'll press ahead with other images, and maybe use the unique book logos for things like shirts, mugs, hats and the like. It all depends on interest, but hopefully Muthur Brine's amazing artwork will help pull people towards both the items themselves and get word out about the games.
hope it goes well for you
OP
- Thread Starter
- #258
Just a quick art update.
As you can see, the pages are coming along nicely. Again, no context...for now.
As you can see, the pages are coming along nicely. Again, no context...for now.
wow, that's awesome! i love all the detail!
OP
- Thread Starter
- #260
Hey all! Sorry I missed the update over the weekend, but I should be back in line to finish the pipeline this week.
Just sending a quick update that I will be uploading a new version of Vile Philosophy shortly. It turns out there was quite a serious bug in the code. :S
Basically, if you go to the blacksmith in the market, leave, and then return, then the queue of npcs at his forge increases in length. Specifically the text notes that it has doubled in size from the first time you went there. Due to a variable not being checked correctly, each time you do this the game adds more npcs to the line, doubling it in length. After enough visits, EVERY npc in the game, including the final boss, will be standing in the queue. Interacting with them will then trigger the final battle sequence without having to get through the rest of the game.
I am really stunned this has not come up before, and totally embarrassed that this was not caught before now. I'll have the fix up in a bit! Thanks to the eagle-eyed player who reported this!
Just sending a quick update that I will be uploading a new version of Vile Philosophy shortly. It turns out there was quite a serious bug in the code. :S
Basically, if you go to the blacksmith in the market, leave, and then return, then the queue of npcs at his forge increases in length. Specifically the text notes that it has doubled in size from the first time you went there. Due to a variable not being checked correctly, each time you do this the game adds more npcs to the line, doubling it in length. After enough visits, EVERY npc in the game, including the final boss, will be standing in the queue. Interacting with them will then trigger the final battle sequence without having to get through the rest of the game.
I am really stunned this has not come up before, and totally embarrassed that this was not caught before now. I'll have the fix up in a bit! Thanks to the eagle-eyed player who reported this!
Hahahaha, madness. You should have left the bug in the game and worked it into the lore for April 1st... then patched it later
OP
- Thread Starter
- #262
Yes, I should totally have made this into an April Fools prank. I mean, what could be more funny than claiming that a queue, which exists purely as words on a page, was actually getting longer every time you went back to that page? Hillarious!Hahahaha, madness. You should have left the bug in the game and worked it into the lore for April 1st... then patched it later
OP
- Thread Starter
- #263
And here is the last part of the pipeline.
Final Tests and Polishing
Overall, by this point the game should be about ready to go in the formats I can (currently) release in. Since I don't have an Apple tablet or Mac to test on, I am not able to currently test those builds, and therefore don't try and release on them. I hope to pick up an Ipad at some point this year to see what I can do on that front, and depending on how things go could expand to a mac as well. But until then, or until I find someone to help test on those platforms, I am holding off. Much as I would like to go for them, if I can't be sure they will work I also can't be sure I will be able to fix any bugs I come across on them.
In terms of polish I tend to play through the games one last time, specifically the core path. If I can get to the end then I know that it is going to be at least functional, and all of the major bugs should have been caught by this stage. I should have plugged in all the artwork, so I will use Unity to create a save file and run the steam build to make sure all the images appear on the correct pages. Then I will upload to Steam and Google Play to do the store pages, along with trailers and other things.
I think it is probably a good idea to discuss the number and format of things like achievements. Some of the people who tested the game suggested adding one per creature and item, which would be nice. But since I am limited to the page art for everything, unless I buy a load more icons, then I have to be sensible with this. Keeping the achievements the same between books is also not just to help make them a little more interchangeable, so they can be played in any order, but also so that I do not have to go back to re-invent the wheel with every game.
This is, ultimately the core lesson that I hope anyone following this sort of pipeline can take away with them from all this. It is totally possible to make a fun, interesting, series of games, with yearly releases, flying solo or as part of a very small team. But you HAVE to be sane with your expectations. One of the early projects which I tried was going to effectively be all of these games tied together in a huge lump - a giant open-world text based adventure with additional content being added periodically. While that was a nice plan, it would have taken me until now to get it ready, and cost far more in terms of time and art resources. One of the other projects was a full Metroidvania. Thankfully sanity (and reality) stepped in and reminded myself and Carlos that neither of us had time to make that while also working full time in our other jobs.
So I hope people have enjoyed these insights, and if you have your own games then I hope following this sort of structured pipeline will help you get to release them. Thanks again and hope you are all staying safe out there!
Final Tests and Polishing
Overall, by this point the game should be about ready to go in the formats I can (currently) release in. Since I don't have an Apple tablet or Mac to test on, I am not able to currently test those builds, and therefore don't try and release on them. I hope to pick up an Ipad at some point this year to see what I can do on that front, and depending on how things go could expand to a mac as well. But until then, or until I find someone to help test on those platforms, I am holding off. Much as I would like to go for them, if I can't be sure they will work I also can't be sure I will be able to fix any bugs I come across on them.
In terms of polish I tend to play through the games one last time, specifically the core path. If I can get to the end then I know that it is going to be at least functional, and all of the major bugs should have been caught by this stage. I should have plugged in all the artwork, so I will use Unity to create a save file and run the steam build to make sure all the images appear on the correct pages. Then I will upload to Steam and Google Play to do the store pages, along with trailers and other things.
I think it is probably a good idea to discuss the number and format of things like achievements. Some of the people who tested the game suggested adding one per creature and item, which would be nice. But since I am limited to the page art for everything, unless I buy a load more icons, then I have to be sensible with this. Keeping the achievements the same between books is also not just to help make them a little more interchangeable, so they can be played in any order, but also so that I do not have to go back to re-invent the wheel with every game.
This is, ultimately the core lesson that I hope anyone following this sort of pipeline can take away with them from all this. It is totally possible to make a fun, interesting, series of games, with yearly releases, flying solo or as part of a very small team. But you HAVE to be sane with your expectations. One of the early projects which I tried was going to effectively be all of these games tied together in a huge lump - a giant open-world text based adventure with additional content being added periodically. While that was a nice plan, it would have taken me until now to get it ready, and cost far more in terms of time and art resources. One of the other projects was a full Metroidvania. Thankfully sanity (and reality) stepped in and reminded myself and Carlos that neither of us had time to make that while also working full time in our other jobs.
So I hope people have enjoyed these insights, and if you have your own games then I hope following this sort of structured pipeline will help you get to release them. Thanks again and hope you are all staying safe out there!
OP
- Thread Starter
- #264
And done.
Muthur Brine is on track to finish the pages by the end of this week, if not next week. I have already plugged in the general images to the PC build. The tablet one takes smaller images to fit the file size limit, and she delivers those when the whole set is done. So it is just cracking on with the voice over in the meantime.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #266
Well, all of the pages are now completed, including the front cover.
So here it is!
I am about 200 voice lines into editing, out of ~650. All of the critical path lines have been done, although some need to be given a polish pass and plugin at this stage. With my work for Quarter Circle games I am going to be working evenings and weekends on this, so I expect to be done by maybe June. In the meantime I will try and get the store pages set up and testing completed. With that finished I can move onto book 5 - Tattered Sails. As I mentioned before, this is almost finished, so I hope to have gone as far as the internal testing step by maybe September. This will leave me plenty of time to focus on the launch of Red Ripper, as well as side projects like the Harrow Run.
I will be speaking to Shark Robot about making this into a print too, although it will be released alongside the game. Maybe we'll do a pre-order, or maybe we'll just launch it on the same day. We'll see!
As one last note, I have been keeping to a system of having two games in 'coming soon' mode on my website. Once I have a front cover to put up, the next game in line gets its proper tagline, while I add the one I plan after that in a vague blurb. For those of you who were wondering, Tattered Sails will be followed by...Wight Chapel Dreams.
This is a two-part book I have had in my head ever since I started writing Pale Harbour. Over a fine brandy and the course of an evening, you and a fellow hunter with discuss the case, flashing back to the start of your career and the horrors which you managed to bring to light. The next book to follow it will see you...well, we can discuss that a little closer to the time.
Have a good weekend, and i will let you know when I hit the next milestone.
So here it is!
I am about 200 voice lines into editing, out of ~650. All of the critical path lines have been done, although some need to be given a polish pass and plugin at this stage. With my work for Quarter Circle games I am going to be working evenings and weekends on this, so I expect to be done by maybe June. In the meantime I will try and get the store pages set up and testing completed. With that finished I can move onto book 5 - Tattered Sails. As I mentioned before, this is almost finished, so I hope to have gone as far as the internal testing step by maybe September. This will leave me plenty of time to focus on the launch of Red Ripper, as well as side projects like the Harrow Run.
I will be speaking to Shark Robot about making this into a print too, although it will be released alongside the game. Maybe we'll do a pre-order, or maybe we'll just launch it on the same day. We'll see!
As one last note, I have been keeping to a system of having two games in 'coming soon' mode on my website. Once I have a front cover to put up, the next game in line gets its proper tagline, while I add the one I plan after that in a vague blurb. For those of you who were wondering, Tattered Sails will be followed by...Wight Chapel Dreams.
This is a two-part book I have had in my head ever since I started writing Pale Harbour. Over a fine brandy and the course of an evening, you and a fellow hunter with discuss the case, flashing back to the start of your career and the horrors which you managed to bring to light. The next book to follow it will see you...well, we can discuss that a little closer to the time.
Have a good weekend, and i will let you know when I hit the next milestone.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #268
Glad you like it! I am sure you'll have fun finding this character in game when it comes out too.daaaaaaayum ... that's awesome!
Deleted member 113
Guest
OP
- Thread Starter
- #271
Thanks! Muthur Brine knocked it out of the park again.Awesome artwork, Grindwheel Games.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #272
Hey all. So, since I have more time to try and build suspense for Red Ripper, i am reaching out to various people who have reviewed the past games to let them know it is on the way. The first on this list was Lovecraft Video Games, who - despite Pale Harbour being the most directly Lovecraftian of the games - have reviewed and enjoyed all three titles so far. They have highlighted the issues with the engine I know about and have been seeking to address. Obviously Carlos has not been in a fantastic position to get a job and so have spare time to work on the interface update, so some of them are still up in the air. But, Red Ripper has had improved text added, and the more in-depth Heirloom system should offset some of the difficulty of this particularly hard hunt.
Back to the point though. I reached out to them to see if they would be interested in hearing about the game and they ran the following preview news on their site.
www.lovecraftvideogames.com
Today I have been building the Steam store page with the assets I have, I am waiting on one last thing - the front cover being adjusted to fit the open menu - and then I can get the screenshots in, which means we should be ready to go with that soon enough. The only issue I have really hit is that the back end won't let me select Halloween as an official release date as it is on the weekend! I have asked Steam about this and hope to get a reply or some sort of hard-wired exception if possible. If not, then I will just release on that day through the back end myself...unless they somehow disable the launch buttons on a Saturday. :S
In any case I will find some way to sort this out. And there is still plenty of time to go! I passed 430 edited voice clips out of ~650, so I expect to have the core pass done in the next few weeks, followed by redoes and plugging them all in. Once that is done I should have the test results back and can deal with any bugs before putting the build up for Steam and Android to review and approve. So all on target so far!
Back to the point though. I reached out to them to see if they would be interested in hearing about the game and they ran the following preview news on their site.
The Hunter’s Journals – Red Ripper Announced for Halloween 2020 - Lovecraft Video Games
The fourth entry in the Hunter's Journals interactive fiction series is set to be released this Halloween for PC and Android devices. The Hunter's Journals - Red Ripper follows a diplomatic mission sent to the Sunlight Alliance, the birthplace of the Vile Philosophy. A killer known as the Red...
www.lovecraftvideogames.com
Today I have been building the Steam store page with the assets I have, I am waiting on one last thing - the front cover being adjusted to fit the open menu - and then I can get the screenshots in, which means we should be ready to go with that soon enough. The only issue I have really hit is that the back end won't let me select Halloween as an official release date as it is on the weekend! I have asked Steam about this and hope to get a reply or some sort of hard-wired exception if possible. If not, then I will just release on that day through the back end myself...unless they somehow disable the launch buttons on a Saturday. :S
In any case I will find some way to sort this out. And there is still plenty of time to go! I passed 430 edited voice clips out of ~650, so I expect to have the core pass done in the next few weeks, followed by redoes and plugging them all in. Once that is done I should have the test results back and can deal with any bugs before putting the build up for Steam and Android to review and approve. So all on target so far!
OP
- Thread Starter
- #274
And Steam has got back to me. I can't set the release date to Halloween because of how the system works, but I can release on Halloween without issue. Hopefully that is the case. I will just have to make it clear that the release date is on the weekend. So, just have to see how it goes!
I will just have to make it clear that the release date is on the weekend. So, just have to see how it goes!
awesome news!And Steam has got back to me. I can't set the release date to Halloween because of how the system works, but I can release on Halloween without issue. Hopefully that is the case.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #276
It's the final countdown! :O
So after a lot of grinding I have less than 100 voice clips left to do the primary editing pass on. Hopefully even with my main work that will take maybe a week or two to get through, followed by any corrections and polish/plugin. In the background I have also been working on the Steam page, and just need Carlos to deliver the edited front cover overlay so I can get that out. Likely we'll look into recording the trailer VO around the same time as the rest of it, and I'm going to see about putting this trailer together myself to save a little time.
As a side note, the game has gone to testing, and has uncovered a couple of issues. There was a bug when using a new system for duelling a character, where the winner is determined by the number of combat rounds they lose instead of death. In the PC version this was working fine, but failing to update a game object in the tablet build meant that it failed when not in quick combat. So catching that was pretty good! As I was recording I also noticed there was effectively a missing page. To solve a problem you could use item 1, item 2, or just skip it and press on. The default was for item 1, changing to item 2 if you used it...but there was nothing for skipping using an item at all! This has now been corrected.
I've also updated the places you can access the heirloom menu, and would like some feedback on this based on reports from our testers. Previously you could only access it through the option menu, but Juan asked that the player always have to go through the process of selecting an heirloom before you can play. As in, page 0 is always the heirloom menu. Now, I have it set up so that if you pick one then that is your default so you don't have to pick each time, and only need to go to the menu if you need to. But, I did add the bookmark to that page to the title menu, as well as at the end of the introduction. So now every part of the game where you can start a new game - barring the game over ribbons - has an option to open the menu and change your heirloom before starting.
Does that sound all right? My main concern, which I said to him, is that the Traits use the same system. So if we use this then Page -1 is heirlooms, Page 1 is traits, and then you can start the game. It seems a bit crazy, especially as people are likely to pick one combination and stick to it. But, if people have opinions let me know.
So yes, we're very much on track at this point. Hopefully everyone out there is keeping well, and I should have some more news for you when the store page is done.
So after a lot of grinding I have less than 100 voice clips left to do the primary editing pass on. Hopefully even with my main work that will take maybe a week or two to get through, followed by any corrections and polish/plugin. In the background I have also been working on the Steam page, and just need Carlos to deliver the edited front cover overlay so I can get that out. Likely we'll look into recording the trailer VO around the same time as the rest of it, and I'm going to see about putting this trailer together myself to save a little time.
As a side note, the game has gone to testing, and has uncovered a couple of issues. There was a bug when using a new system for duelling a character, where the winner is determined by the number of combat rounds they lose instead of death. In the PC version this was working fine, but failing to update a game object in the tablet build meant that it failed when not in quick combat. So catching that was pretty good! As I was recording I also noticed there was effectively a missing page. To solve a problem you could use item 1, item 2, or just skip it and press on. The default was for item 1, changing to item 2 if you used it...but there was nothing for skipping using an item at all! This has now been corrected.
I've also updated the places you can access the heirloom menu, and would like some feedback on this based on reports from our testers. Previously you could only access it through the option menu, but Juan asked that the player always have to go through the process of selecting an heirloom before you can play. As in, page 0 is always the heirloom menu. Now, I have it set up so that if you pick one then that is your default so you don't have to pick each time, and only need to go to the menu if you need to. But, I did add the bookmark to that page to the title menu, as well as at the end of the introduction. So now every part of the game where you can start a new game - barring the game over ribbons - has an option to open the menu and change your heirloom before starting.
Does that sound all right? My main concern, which I said to him, is that the Traits use the same system. So if we use this then Page -1 is heirlooms, Page 1 is traits, and then you can start the game. It seems a bit crazy, especially as people are likely to pick one combination and stick to it. But, if people have opinions let me know.
So yes, we're very much on track at this point. Hopefully everyone out there is keeping well, and I should have some more news for you when the store page is done.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #278
Well, Carlos finally had a moment to finish the covers. So after tonight's voice lines were done I did a quick dev build to start gathering screen shots for the steam page and trailer. While I was in there I thought you guys might like to see the new covers so here they are!
I did have to poke him about the back covers. As you might have seen from the previous games he had been adding little flourishes. This was all well and good, but they kept on creeping closer and closer to the middle of the page, squeezing the headline until it was starting to be a little silly. He hadn't actually noticed he was doing it too, which was funny. Still, the simplistic touch to the back of Red Ripper really makes it stand out without taking up too much screen space.
Anyway, just a quick one tonight. Have fun!
I did have to poke him about the back covers. As you might have seen from the previous games he had been adding little flourishes. This was all well and good, but they kept on creeping closer and closer to the middle of the page, squeezing the headline until it was starting to be a little silly. He hadn't actually noticed he was doing it too, which was funny.
Still, the simplistic touch to the back of Red Ripper really makes it stand out without taking up too much screen space.Anyway, just a quick one tonight. Have fun!
OP
- Thread Starter
- #280
Hi all! So with one thing and another, I have been a little behind on my planned schedule. The good news is I have finished the first pass of the voice clips and send the corrections list back for recording. The weather is currently a mixture of hail and wind at the moment, so since my father's recording studio is in his attic he is waiting for things to calm down before he gets on with those. In the meantime I am chewing through the polish pass, and should be done in a week or so depending on outside factors. I am down to less than 250 to go, so that's good!
I have also been waiting for Steam to get back to me with regards to the new store page. With only needing the static art to get it up and running I submitted it for approval nice and early this time...and it is now live.
Go and check it out if you want to see some of the screenshots of the shockingly opulent and horrifically grimy city of Roche Divine early. And please wishlist it while you are there.
With all of the pages checked, and the new formatted text working a lot better when it comes to resizing the windows, I just need to plug in the VO, make the build steam-ready, and it is good for them to approve. So we are well on track for the planned launch date. And with the store page up months in advance I am not left scrabbling to get it out for the planned dates like last year.
When Red Ripper is done I will also turn back to Tattered Sails. I am very confident I'll have that written and checked by the end of the year, leaving plenty of time to try and work on getting the games onto Apple, as well as work on the Harrow Run project. I have also, like the good little scavenger I am, been thinking of how to re-use the artwork by maybe making a jigsaw or sliding puzzle game from the pages, but this is definitely something for further down the line.
Hope everyone is keeping safe and having a good weekend!
I have also been waiting for Steam to get back to me with regards to the new store page. With only needing the static art to get it up and running I submitted it for approval nice and early this time...and it is now live.
Go and check it out if you want to see some of the screenshots of the shockingly opulent and horrifically grimy city of Roche Divine early. And please wishlist it while you are there.
With all of the pages checked, and the new formatted text working a lot better when it comes to resizing the windows, I just need to plug in the VO, make the build steam-ready, and it is good for them to approve. So we are well on track for the planned launch date. And with the store page up months in advance I am not left scrabbling to get it out for the planned dates like last year.
When Red Ripper is done I will also turn back to Tattered Sails. I am very confident I'll have that written and checked by the end of the year, leaving plenty of time to try and work on getting the games onto Apple, as well as work on the Harrow Run project. I have also, like the good little scavenger I am, been thinking of how to re-use the artwork by maybe making a jigsaw or sliding puzzle game from the pages, but this is definitely something for further down the line.
Hope everyone is keeping safe and having a good weekend!
OP
- Thread Starter
- #282
Will do! Thankfully working from home on this and working freelance for Quarter Circle means I have been self-isolated for nearly a year at this point.... aaaaaaaaaaand wishlisted!
thanks for the update ... and stay safe!
that's good then!Will do! Thankfully working from home on this and working freelance for Quarter Circle means I have been self-isolated for nearly a year at this point.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #284
Indeed! I have been getting a little stir crazy, as sitting here doing voice editing in this weather is reminding me of all the time I spent in Krakow for some reason. Possibly because of all the voice editing I did while I was there! In any case I am also going to be working on a teaser trailer in the near future to practice with the video software I downloaded for work. I'll let you know when that's ready too.that's good then!
By the way, how do you like the art? Muthur Brine really managed to capture the opulence of the saint-nobles court and the sheer, reeking grime of the Low City in the pictures I chose for the screenshots. I can promise that her pictures of the Ripper are amazing too, but can't be shown yet because of spoilers.
oooooh, exciting! can't wait
AMAZING!!! so moody ... i seriously love it
shit did a great job
OP
- Thread Starter
- #286
Hey all! I am just sorting out the last few things for the Red Ripper teaser trailer. I should hopefully have that up by the weekend. I am also waiting on 4 redone VO files before Red Ripper is ready for the Steam modifications and upload.
Also...all the games are in the summer sale on Steam! Pick them up for 50% off if you have not bought them already!
In other news, a player sent me some bugs with Blissful Ignorance over the weekend which I was able to fix. Basically one of the achievements wasn't working because the core only ran that if you got the the page alive. So when one of them involved you dying, that wasn't getting run! I have taken care of that as well as an issue with the hear unlocks which were pointing in the wrong direction.
Anyway, hopefully I should have a full post this weekend with the teaser trailer. Hope everyone is keeping cool in the heatwave!
Also...all the games are in the summer sale on Steam! Pick them up for 50% off if you have not bought them already!
In other news, a player sent me some bugs with Blissful Ignorance over the weekend which I was able to fix. Basically one of the achievements wasn't working because the core only ran that if you got the the page alive. So when one of them involved you dying, that wasn't getting run! I have taken care of that as well as an issue with the hear unlocks which were pointing in the wrong direction.
Anyway, hopefully I should have a full post this weekend with the teaser trailer. Hope everyone is keeping cool in the heatwave!
OP
- Thread Starter
- #287
The new teaser trailer for Red Ripper is here! You can check it out through the link below.
This takes audio from page 1 of the game, and the ambient track created by Dead Melodies. I added in a piece of artwork by Muthur Brine which I think captures the isolation and dark mood of the game perfectly.
Overall I found the new software I was using to be pretty damn nice to work with, and I'll hopefully be able to speed through the creation of the full trailer as a result. The Steam Sale has also seen some movement on the games, so I guess I finally found the level of discount I need to add before people will buy them!
Hope everyone is having a good weekend, and I'll let you all know when I have some more news!
This takes audio from page 1 of the game, and the ambient track created by Dead Melodies. I added in a piece of artwork by Muthur Brine which I think captures the isolation and dark mood of the game perfectly.
Overall I found the new software I was using to be pretty damn nice to work with, and I'll hopefully be able to speed through the creation of the full trailer as a result. The Steam Sale has also seen some movement on the games, so I guess I finally found the level of discount I need to add before people will buy them!
Hope everyone is having a good weekend, and I'll let you all know when I have some more news!
OP
- Thread Starter
- #289
Thanks! For some reason that wasn't working when i tried it earlier.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #291
Good afternoon! Just a quick heads up that I've got the final parts of the VO through for the Red Ripper, so I will be able to sort out and upload the build next week once the last few pieces are in place. I am just making sure all the clips are on the right pages and there are no gaps before saving everything. I have almost all of the VO for the trailer too, as apparently the last line was cut off when my dad was doing the read, and so I am waiting on that. With everything else ready to go though I will be able to put it together, and hopefully the teaser will allow me to submit everything for review in the meantime.
As for Tattered Sails, I went through and plugged in all the written pages to make sure I hadn't left any gaps or plot holes, and make sure I knew exactly where things stood in terms of development. We're looking at ~500 pages so far going into the final act, so this one might be quite large! As noted before, while Red Ripper is like Die Hard in terms of the damage the player will take as they crawl through the murk of the Low City, Tattered Sails is a lot more slow burn with a very Lovecraftian finale.
The Steam sale was also pretty good. I think that 50% off is going to be the price point I go to in order to encourage those wishlist conversions, and I also hope that the new players help to spread the word a little.
Anyway, that's everything from this side, and I will let you guys all know when we hit the next milestone, which should hopefully be the approval of Red Ripper, followed by the full trailer (if I have not had to build that to get approval from Steam), and then the completion of Tattered Sails!
As for Tattered Sails, I went through and plugged in all the written pages to make sure I hadn't left any gaps or plot holes, and make sure I knew exactly where things stood in terms of development. We're looking at ~500 pages so far going into the final act, so this one might be quite large! As noted before, while Red Ripper is like Die Hard in terms of the damage the player will take as they crawl through the murk of the Low City, Tattered Sails is a lot more slow burn with a very Lovecraftian finale.
The Steam sale was also pretty good. I think that 50% off is going to be the price point I go to in order to encourage those wishlist conversions, and I also hope that the new players help to spread the word a little.
Anyway, that's everything from this side, and I will let you guys all know when we hit the next milestone, which should hopefully be the approval of Red Ripper, followed by the full trailer (if I have not had to build that to get approval from Steam), and then the completion of Tattered Sails!
OP
- Thread Starter
- #293
Cheers! I mean, this is still not enough to make a go of it without other freelance work, but it was a good chunk of sales. I think this one summer promotion has sold more than the previous ones combined, so the price is clearly about right.great news all around!
oh, and congrats on the sale
still pretty good then
cool here's hoping you can eventually make it a full-time thing
OP
- Thread Starter
- #295
Man, I can't believe that last time I tried to post a video it all went wrong...
Let's try again.
The full trailer for Red Ripper is here! I put the build in for review, and it came back as I thought it might, with them rejecting the teaser trailer sort of. They will allow it on the site, but I have to have at least one showing actual gameplay and in-game screens. Which this one does in spades. We have several part pages on display, plus a teaser of the general images in the gallery view. You can also hear the dark, moody sounds of Cryo Chamber's theme for the game, which was so amazingly in tune (pun intended) with the content that I only asked for one tiny tweak before I felt it was perfect!
So, I hope everyone is ready for the Halloween launch! Just as a quick update I have decided to up the number of medical supplies in medium and hard modes because...god damn. This game will really mess with your day.
Let's try again.
The full trailer for Red Ripper is here! I put the build in for review, and it came back as I thought it might, with them rejecting the teaser trailer sort of. They will allow it on the site, but I have to have at least one showing actual gameplay and in-game screens. Which this one does in spades. We have several part pages on display, plus a teaser of the general images in the gallery view. You can also hear the dark, moody sounds of Cryo Chamber's theme for the game, which was so amazingly in tune (pun intended) with the content that I only asked for one tiny tweak before I felt it was perfect!
So, I hope everyone is ready for the Halloween launch! Just as a quick update I have decided to up the number of medical supplies in medium and hard modes because...god damn. This game will really mess with your day.
well it worked nowLet's try again.
yaaaaayand yeah - it's great ... congrats!
OP
- Thread Starter
- #297
Well, apparently the trailer is fine...but Red Ripper is blocked because of the credits page. Apparently having a link to Servicescape and my father's website, as well as saying 'look for Cryo Chamber on Bandcamp!' are all not allowed.
Which, naturally, is a bit confusing as the previous games all have those links and passed without issue. >_>
I have sent a message to the Steam employee who is reviewing the game, making note of this fact. Hopefully they will either work out they are being a bit zealous on the rules here, or will get back to me and let me know I have to remove the links and credits from the older games. Worst case scenario, all of the games will get taken down over this. Either way, should be an interesting time while I try and sort this out.
Which, naturally, is a bit confusing as the previous games all have those links and passed without issue. >_>
I have sent a message to the Steam employee who is reviewing the game, making note of this fact. Hopefully they will either work out they are being a bit zealous on the rules here, or will get back to me and let me know I have to remove the links and credits from the older games. Worst case scenario, all of the games will get taken down over this. Either way, should be an interesting time while I try and sort this out.
OP