Archive for December, 2013

The way we have been working is not sustainable, especially the crunches just before release. Several days on my work log peaked over 15 hours and that is not really sane. …And that log doesn’t count lunch or any other breaks as work time (unless lunch is eaten with the other hand on the keyboard)

There has been a lot of this crunching because there have been many releases.
Going back to June, we finally pushed through to get Rooks Keep released which was met with a pretty depressing reception. That was not really surprising. We realised as development dragged on that it was a mistake to make such a big game with no clearly communicable hook, but we wanted it done.

Very shortly afterwards, born from a thread of otherwise rather cynical contemplation, inspiration struck and we dove into Viscera Cleanup Detail.
After that we had the deal to do VCD:Shadow Warrior and that took longer than expected. Following that a major update for VCD and the insane idea of VCD: Santa’s Rampage came up. We could either cram it in before Christmas with a very tight deadline or wait a year (yeah, that’d work…)

We crunched to get VCD v0.2 on the date we’d set for the end of November and went straight into VCD:SR for 2 more weeks. Arn started working on Santa after regular VCD work and I gradually started as VCD v0.2 neared its target. It wasn’t all *gruelling, but it was not healthy and the team needs a break.

All in all, it has been a pretty punishing schedule and it was all compounded by my eye surgery and subsequently complicated recovery which devoured lots of time before and around VCD:SW.

However, time management has been steadily improving – we somehow got 5 significant releases out on schedule in the last 6 months – but it’s not nearly good enough.
Getting this right is a major focus of mine for the coming year. Properly spacing out milestones and being disciplined about feature creep is going to be challenging, especially since ‘feature creep’ introduced some of the most interesting elements of VCD. Allowing space for unexpected changes and time to experiment will need to be done. This is challenging because it is planning around the unknown, combined with the perpetual certainty that there is not enough time to do everything already on the list.

It is also vital to make sure there is time to continue experimenting with new prototypes. Game jams and experimental projects are not just a way for studios to possibly scoop a new hit, for indies, I feel they are essential to long term survival, because the ability to produce crazy, unique and unconventional games is one of our best edges compared to big studios with massive production capacity. Making one new crazy game that stands out is great, but once that becomes old and done, we need to have something new up our sleeve and it better be damn good and it better not be the same as everything else. In order to reach that, many prototypes must be produced and discarded in the process. Somehow, those have to be produced while still developing the main, proven games.

That will be an interesting challenge and it won’t happen at once. It will be a continuation of the process that has (I think) been evolving and improving. I will just put more concious effort into it and try to push myself to better understand where the limits of the game development process are for us.

TL:DR – Less burnt-out devs, more crazy stuff, time will kill us all – don’t say I didn’t warn you!

*some of it really was; fucking physics, yeah you!

Yule Tide greetings, staff, we bring glorious tidings, though it may forever change your view of Christmas, Viscera Cleanup Detail: Santa’s Rampage is here for all to enjoy on Steam!
 

Buy now on Steam for $1.99!

Watch this Trailer of utter perfection to convince you of Santa’s dark fallout.

 
“Tragedy! Santa; the toy giving folk-hero, and purveyor of fine Christmas goods, has had enough. Endless requests from greedy children wanting more and more every year, tax increases, pressure from elf unions, bills, reindeer!

So don your cap, grab your mop, and get this place sorted out so the company can get a replacement in here ASAP, and restore Christmas for another generation!”
 

Some of the key elements in this glorious creation are(beyond normal VCD levels):
-Explore Santa’s Famous(now infamous) Workshop, many secrets it holds.
-Discover the sad yet ludicrous tale of what went down and led to the Workshop’s current state.
-Pick up poor dead physics simulated elves with smiling faces, yes, smiling faces!!
-Hidden Steam-Keys to some truly awesome Devolver Digital games!
-Many interesting interactive items that will surprise and horrify.
-Steam Achievements!
-Ludicrous oddities, and RuneStorm paraphernalia.
 

You can buy this glorious yet maniacal artifact for just $1.99 right now! Or if you Pre-Order the full Viscera Cleanup Detail game, you get it free!
Pre-Order now!
 

Otherwise, if you have already Pre-Ordered VCD, be sure to check your Humble Store account for the download!

Here are all the glorious images you must feast your eyes upon.

In a truly grand turn of events, Rooks Keep has found its way out of the sea of Steam Greenlight admissions and been Greenlit!

 
Huge news, very huge!

 
Once we’re no longer overwhelmed and this year is over, we shall work on getting Rooks Keep onto Steam, and with that we should be able to cure RK’s troublesome connection issues once and for all!

 
So hold fast loyal rogues and squires alike, interesting times lie ahead, very interesting. ]:)

 
And lastly, a huge thanks to everyone who voted for Rooks Keep!

Greetings Staff, well it has been a long long time in the making, but finally it’s here, Viscera Cleanup Detail’s Medical-Bay!
 

This level represents a significant step forward from the previously seen levels, which were more examples than focused environments.
 

With the Med-Bay, you’ll get to cleanup after some really sinister stuff went down, a crazed doctor has strayed from normality and birthed some abominations upon the facility!
 

The Med-Bay is only available to those who have purchased VCD, so if you haven’t done so already, then you really should now, for a small $7.00!
Pre-Order now!
 

Otherwise, if you have already purchased it, be sure to check your Humble Store account for the download!

 
And, in case you were feeling a sense of doubt, perhaps this list of main features will sway your foolish mind!

-Near-Fully realized evil medical facility
-Mutant Viscera and limbs!
-New Blood decals, and a more vivid placement
-Notes\PDAs: Readable notes you can pick up to tell the story
-Alternate water sources (Toilets, Toilets, TOILETS!!!)
-The Vending machine to ‘import’ items into the level
-Interactive 3D control panels
-A new and delicious and 3D Front-End(Main Menu) level
-50 Gajumbazillion possible character colors for use in MP!
-Inner voices of MS-Sam forever silenced
-Many more cool stuff you’ll have to find on your own
 

And why not a few tasty images to correct your mind.