📰 The PixelCount Post - Issue #6
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ISSUE #6 THE VALE, QUILL 10 NOV 2017 ONE BRASS
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This week I have been extending lead outs to cover the 720p resolution we are defaulting to. This meant with a wider view, you could now see 'things not meant for thine eyes' such as outside the play area. I also did a replacement of every house with the new house tiles, added in the sparkling new Apothecary, fixed up the tavern a bit and did lots of bits and bobs all over the Vale.
Towards the end of the week I dived into design docs. These included Prologue Flow, Cat Buying, Friendships, The Darklight, Fast Travel, and Henges. Also made a nice big list for our environment artist, Mr Weekes. He should change his name to Mr Hours, as he is that quick. And yes. Yes we got some new toilets. |
This week has been a continuation of last week's in getting the build playthrough-able. We had a successful build setup last Saturday and a mini-playthrough during the week and so now it's a case of building on that and sorting feedback as quickly as possible. The prologue flow is coming along but a bit slower due to various extra bits popping up along the way (a total of 78 bits were done this week, extra or not! My current bits list stands at around 750, though those vary in size and might not all be needed right now).
A few bits that I was quite happy with was setting up message boxes based on the new UI, setup of initial dialogue for NPCs, and adding some shadows to some of the smaller objects (to help the illusion of a topdown perspective). Today I've been looking at the NPCs and their habit of hanging around toilets... I think I've figured out the issue there (a change in their size meant they weren't properly in range to use them) so it'll be interesting to see the NPCs start going about their daily routines. |
Early Access is fast approaching! With not much time to go, planning ahead is more important than ever - such as what music must absolutely make it in time for EA release, where many will get their first impression of the game? What music can be moved down to after the EA launch? Choices, choices...
Meanwhile, I'm thousands of miles away from my usual work environment, working on a laptop that can't handle as much audio-abuse as my main computer can and, while this surely affects the way I compose, I cannot let it affect the quality of the soundtrack! I do, however, get to work with the most extraordinary view of Los Angeles right now, which is a great way to keep the creative juices flowing! Just today we had another discussion on what to work on next, and thus starts anew the process of figuring out what we associate with the area of the game being worked on, looking for reference material, disussing moods, taking notes, making drafts, and so forth. With every track, the proverbial wheel must be reinvented. It's daunting, yet thrilling, and I wouldn't ever want to give it up.
In the meantime, because I'm working with a less powerful computer now than I normally would, I've also taken the opportunity to go back to basics musically to return to its very essence of what makes this soundtrack 'tick'. Can I make a track that's still typically Kynseed if I only use 1 instrument? Can I reduce the Kynseed vibe to its absolute core? Doing so can really help you determine exactly what makes a soundtrack work.
Hopefully some of the more barebones tracks that resulted from this exercise will make it into the final game. Who knows... |
This is the part of the project when each facet of the game starts to require some form of input, discussion, and approval. This can often include things like making team decisions on how to handle sprite shadows, logistics like drafting our next big Kickstarter update, sorting out how to handle exchange rates for the upcoming Slacker Backer, a dash of web dev, a dash of music supervision, and everything in between. It's easy to start feeling a bit manic in all the hussle, but it's helpful that the work is enjoyable and that the team is fun to work with. (Except for that Charlie fellow. No fun at all, him.)
We've also just hit the 2,000 followers mark on our Twitter account! To celebrate it we released another little peek at the upcoming character art for the game made by the talented Gary. This time, the character in question is none other than Herbert Lemon, pictured below. Keep an eye out for a Kickstarter post coming soon where we'll do a more formal development update on what all we've been up to lately. Cheers!
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I get hundreds of emails every week asking about the lore of the land. And by hundreds, I do mean none at all.
I thought, however, why not write a tiny bit about it here. We all know Quill's story from our forum posts on it...but did you know that in one misty, dangerous part of The Vale, there is a place that holds fountains of knowledge? Not only that, it has fountains.
These have long dried up.
The books of the ancients lay awaiting your greedy eyes. Yet, how will you get there? Folk tell of green mists and Will O' Wisps...of watchers and woodfolk who would rather that knowledge be forever buried.
Of course, there are other places to piece together the past and learn about the ancients of this land, and folk still celebrate historic events and sing songs about things like the End of the World, Englande winning the World Cup, Matt going to bed before midnight and other laughable tall tales to scare the children to sleep.
Scratch at the surface of Quill, and you reveal peeks at the past. Dig deeper, and your eyes might want to unsee what they just uncovered. Yes. The October 2023 Edition of Playgirl magazine with me on the cover wearing a fig leaf and a smile, surrounded by goats. |
