Author Topic: November: Updates from the Forge  (Read 3635 times)

Jubal

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November: Updates from the Forge
« on: December 04, 2016, 11:34:20 PM »
November Issue

Well, it was inevitable we'd miss an issue deadline sometime, so here's the November issue, a few days into December! This month we're back to your regular writing team of Jubal as editor, Jubal as article writer, and additional special reporting from Jubal. Nonetheless, we've got an excellent issue, some great gamedev stories this time with plenty of content for you to nose through.

I'm also thinking about the format of Updates and how we can improve this for the future. Would you guys like to see better navigation with a contents page and each "article" in a separate thread reply that can be URL-linked? Or spoilers on the articles themselves for easier navigation? What would make you want to read this and comment on it more? Do leave comments below, and we'll of course be back next month!



LIFE Returns!
Jubal's game LIFE is forging ahead, with major progress updates over the last month that have seen it nudging ever closer to a fully working beta. Set in the Whoniverse, this fan-made adventure game uses a classic text parser and pixel graphics to let you explore planets, dodge asteroids, buy and sell goods, and work towards fighting back against the power of the Dalek Empire. A massive range of new features, including additional minigames, locations, and plot threads, have been added, and there's not far to go until a full version is available. Explore from the ice wastes of Phrynoris to the bars of deep-space Way Stations, and discover all the galaxy has to offer - life returns, life prevails! Resistance! Is! Futile!

As a taster, here's a gameplay/testing video of the newly-built asteroids minigame:


There are regular updates coming along on the LIFE forum, and lots of polls and opportunities to make your voice heard and help shape the game as it comes together. LIFE has also launched onto IndieDB recently, so do head over there and give it a follow if you have a ModDB or IndieDB account!



Utherwald Press - Frozen Skies continue!

As the year heads towards its actual period of frozen skies, there's some great stuff coming out of Utherwald Press as usual! A regular and steady stream of dieselpunk excellence is being churned out with several great new blogposts appearing, and in the monthly update this lovely new image of an airship from Utherwald's artist:


Recent posts include a look into the lives of Aleyska's land-based traders, a discussion the crucial cargo aircraft that are so vital to the Frozen Skies setting, and some more insight into the semi-vampiric "Lurkers" who might once have been the dominant species on Terra in millenia gone by...



Blinxed
Exilian's ndnninja has been keeping up some fun gamedev updates over the last month, spreading out and giving us a window in on the art process, with pixel work and drawing all under discussion.

Updates also included a few of the headaches along the way of every game that gets developed - this shot both shows the rapid improvement in the graphics since we last reported on the game, and also a minor mishap leading to the game suddenly becoming the Clone Wars edition...



Blinxed is looking better and better over time and there are some great discussions to jump into about it - head over and be part of the fun!



Dogged determination - Balthasar's Dream comes to Kickstarter
The team from Balthasar's Dream recently shared their Kickstarter with us, and it's looking great. Their puzzle platformer features a dog whose owner is fighting for his life - and needs the help of his faithful companion. With the love and determination only a dog can muster, Balthasar must defeat cats, postmen, and other horrendous creatures of his dreams to reach and defeat the ghostly presence that seeks to take his master away. But there's a twist, and a great one - Balthasar's canine nature is baked into the game's mechanics, with a dog's low attention span, fears, and desires that can be a great hindrance - or, if used right, a perfect help to complete puzzles as the dog's instincts can give just the boost to speed or strength needed to solve a puzzle.

For more, check out the beautifully crafted trailer:



The game is now on Kickstarter, and the team needs YOUR help to make Balthasar's Dream a reality! Head over, say hi to the team, and do consider giving them a helping hand.



Not just a whole world to discover, but more in Massive Galaxy!


In "Massive Galaxy", a pixel universe of huge proportions is shaping up in what may turn out to be one of the classics of the space adventure genre. With classic pixel graphics and a feel very like the Space Quest or Beneath a Steel Sky games, the game will offer the player a fantastic range of things to do and places to explore, with a focus on trading across planets and star systems. Taking your ship through vast warp gates, becoming a smuggler or pirate, tactical turn-based combat, and a great retro feel will all be part of the experience of what's shaping up to be a fantastic game.



Big news from the RTR Project!
Just giving a short mention here as there'll be a separate main newspost coming up soon, but RTR 8 has just released its 3.0 Beta, which has a vast range of new features, units, map changes, and other excitements to explore. New features include movement tweaks, unit status info bars for easier real-time battlefield tactics, and the return of reworked historical battles. We'll bring you more on this soon!




Once again, thanks to everyone who's contributed to the massive load of creative work we've reported on here - artists, programmers, writers, and fans all come together as part of these projects, and we're privileged to be seeing and reporting on so much great work.

See you all at the end of the month for the next set of Updates from the Forge!
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Phoenixguard09

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Re: November: Updates from the Forge
« Reply #1 on: December 07, 2016, 04:48:43 AM »
Good work as usual Jubs. :)

Balthasar's Dream actually looks really cool. I'm not usually one for puzzles and platformers, but this looks very interesting. If I had money I'd pledge.

I actually like the current format of UFtF, makes it look meaty and substantial. Maybe if we covered some of the forum's activities as well at the bottom? Check out and sign up for BearKnight's Deeper and Darker for instance? Other things like that?
The Norbayne Campaign Instagram page. Give us a cheeky follow if you like. :)
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Jubal

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Re: November: Updates from the Forge
« Reply #2 on: December 09, 2016, 11:56:29 PM »
Yes, I think we covered some forum stuff like that earlier this year, we just need more of it going on. We could even have a featured forum area each time or something?

I think we should probably have a contents list in future issues... I guess what worries me with the current one-post format is that people will just tl;dr the whole thing because they won't want to sift through to find what they're after.
The duke, the wanderer, the philosopher, the mariner, the warrior, the strategist, the storyteller, the wizard, the wayfarer...