Thursday, November 21, 2013

Whim Independent Studios - Development Log #22

Hey guys, back with the 22nd development log!

I want to start off by saying that I posted some footage of Selatria in the 21st development log last month, and there were some positive comments on the quality of the voice acting and some well-wishes for the project. Thank you guys for supporting us, even with the encouragement, you don't know how much motivation that gives to keep seeing the games we're working on to the end. It's much appreciated, drop us a thumbs up or comments on our game footage, positive comments, constructive criticism, we appreciate any and all support.

That being said... there's lots of special stuff to show in this post, so let's get right down to it.

ANTics:

The main focus of this development log will be on our mobile game ANTics, though we do have some updates on how Selatria is coming along as well, that will come a little later. Take a look at some development screenshots a new gameplay video, and a new SoundCloud theme of what you'll expect to see and hear!















Progress on the game is almost complete, and we're almost ready to demo the game for pre-release alpha testing, and we would like to get that sorted out before we allow players outside of the development team a chance to demo it out and give feedback. We're also working on finding someone with an iPhone to make sure the game functions on that as intended, it's very likely that we will have an Android version out ahead of the iPhone version. (Sorry, Apple fans...again!)

There's also a lot that we wish we could add to the game in terms of visuals, CG scenes, and extra bugs to the game. As I mentioned in the last post, we are expressing a desire to expand ANTics into something more, as funding will be necessary if we want to expand the game any further than the 15 levels we have planned for our first installment.

This game wouldn't have gotten anywhere without the input of fellow team members Gerren Willis, Paul Diggs, Jennifer Gilliland, Christopher Nuno, Matthew Estrada, Paul Vela, Jonathan Dishaw and Donald Brown 

A very talented team came together and we were able to see this all the way. Expect to see ANTics on Google Play for Android as well as a PC version very soon and an iPhone version to follow in the undetermined future.

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Selatria:

I'll start off by showing some new characters that have been in the works since last development log. Art by Jennifer Gilliland








Also check out one of the cut-scenes in Chapter 3 in development! (Music and surprise monster boss is coming in the future! They've been omitted for now.)





Progress is going very well on Selatria. However, with a team of only three at the studio on a constant basis, development is going slower than what we expected. We have kind of experienced burnout in a sense of our roles, so we've shifted roles around our team of three to keep things a little fresh while developing the game, and we'll probably rotate roles later when the time feels right. 

For Chapter 3 and on, I'm supervising development between the different teams (Art, Music, and Gameplay) making sure we have a cohesive game going. I've also contributed lines here and there for scripts and working on scenario design (Taking the script we've written and implementing it into the game.) I'm also working on designing the cutscenes and planning out the events in each area. The movie above shows an example of a cutscene I've been working on for the past couple of weeks or so.

Jon Dishaw is now handling programming new scripts into the game and fixing a lot of long-standing bugs from the previous builds. He's also taken the reigns of the battle system and came up with some interesting tweaks to abilities of the characters. He's also working on a Journal Log for the game that the player will be able to fill by learning about the world of Selatria and filling in the pages themselves.

Matt Estrada is now working on the scripting of the lines for the characters from Chapter 4 and on, while Jon and I offer lines and suggestions here and there. He's also working on making the boss challenges in the game interesting and fresh to complement the Team Attack system we've designed. (Though, we've had to ask him to tone down the difficulty. Some of the encounters he's designed are a bit harsh! Though, we might keep the original difficulty in as bonus content available later in the game.)

We will have an announcement for the date of Selatria's Kickstarter in the next development log. More info to come then. 

That about does it for now. Until next post!








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Grover Eyeveen - Hyperion Server




Tuesday, November 19, 2013

No reason for jealousy

I don't get jealous of anyone. If someone I like/adore and appreciate is happy, then I would like them to remain happy as they are. It makes me happy to see them happy, and that's all I'll ever need.

Why ruin a good thing? There's no reason to.

Some things are better left unsaid.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Bringing you a better Viva Eorzea tank


Valor Surcoat obtained today! Lots helped me out with this, too many to name. Bringing you a better cartoon show Viva Eorzea tank.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Remember remember the 5th of November

Heading to GDC Next today! Going to take notes on how to improve the studio and networking. Lots of networking!

Speaking of our studio, we'll be launching two Kickstarters later this month for our debut games Selatria and ANTics.

Oh! And we'll be sending out the preorder items from those who participated in the Selatria Indiegogo a few months back. Those will be sent out before the launch of said Kickstarter campaigns.

More info to come later