Thursday, November 5, 2015

Project Gemini Update, New Game, and IGMC2015 Results

So, here we are in early November. It's been a long while since I last updated. The Indie Game Making Contest has obviously ended, and the winners announced last week. Project Gemini was awarded the GG Maker Engine Prize. I am thankful for this, and part of the funds have already been claimed by future payments toward Project Gemini.

Another thing of note is that, upon completion of the rework, Project Gemini will be placed for sale through itch.io for the price of a dollar or so. While this may not seem like a lot of money, one has to remember the length of this game. The base game was roughly an hour long (one reviewer noted it as being about forty minutes of playtime. The rework will feature maybe another forty minutes or so of playtime, possibly up to an hour if the player checks everything for all the new lines that will be thrown into the game. At most, this will be a two-hour game with only three endings, one of which is simply a "GAME OVER" remake of the original ending. The game will release late December, with a tentative release date of December 31 for nostalgia reasons.

So what will come next? Work on A World of His Own has been sporadic at best. The current idea is to add enemies, which really just brings it down to one main point: I need a team. Project Gemini proved to me that I cannot fully make a game on my own, due mainly to my lack of artistic ability. As screenshots of Project Gemini's current IGMC2015 submission build shows, the game uses almost entirely vanilla tilesets. There were a few that I deemed workable from the batch I tried, but almost all of them were discarded. While the rework will feature more original tilesets, a lot of the art will be modified vanilla graphics, edited and changed to make them for my liking.

What comes next, however, is this: Project Hope. While work on A World of His Own will continue, Project Hope comes from the main element of Project Gemini's gameplay. In Project Hope, the player is living the life of an independent game designer. He spends the day working with his team, and the evenings with his girlfriend Nina. At night, however, he has recurring dreams. He's alone, living in an almost falling apart apartment building where the only way of being able to escape the worthless life and existence is with a bullet to the head. Actions committed in both worlds can vastly affect the world around you, with reality and the dream changing places. Through everything, though, the question remains. Pull the trigger, or put the gun down. A proof of concept should be released Q1 2016.

Also of note is that a website is now online for Arseo Productions. A link will be at the bottom of the page. While the page is still under construction, some information is on there, including a page where I mention positions I'm looking to fill. Feel free to take a look and, if you believe you can do one of the listed jobs, please feel free to apply.

As a recap, here are the games currently being worked on:
-Project Gemini IGMC2015 Edition (December 2015)
-Project Hope (proof of concept Q1 2016)
-A World of His Own (TBD)
-ProjectVN (TBD)
A few more projects are currently in various stages of pre-production, and will be mentioned at some point in the future when a workable (and playable) proof of concept is closer to completion.


Wednesday, July 15, 2015

IGMC 2015 Day Eight Recap


So, another day, and more work is finished. Currently, the bulk of the maps for the game are complete. There are a few that have not been completed yet, which are areas that unlock later in the game (mainly the second floor and attic). Day One has been completed, and Day Two started. Most of the basic sounds (doors and stairs) have been placed inside the game. A few more still need to be procured. So far, everything is still on schedule, with the first pre-release build going online sometime tomorrow.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

IGMC 2015 Day Seven Recap


So, it's now the end of Day Seven, and we are one week into the competition. So far, things are going well. The actual in-game maps are being made, with scripting take place at the same time. Hopefully, recording of voice-overs will start soon. The soundtrack is also being worked on, and will probably be the last thing implemented into the final build prior to the test uploading. I know this may be a short update, but it does bring with it word of progress. To end, here is a look at how Week Two will hopefully play out:

Tomorrow's Goals:
-Day One A and B complete
-Day Two A complete

Thursday's Goals:
-Day Two B complete
-Day Three A and B complete
-WIP uploaded to Engine001 website

Friday's Goals:
-Day Four A and B complete
-Day Five A and B complete

Saturday's Goals:
-Day Six A and B complete
-Day Seven A and B complete

Sunday's Goals:
-Day Eight A and B complete
-Start recording voice-overs
-WIP uploaded to Engine001 website

Monday's Goals:
-Continue recording voice-overs
-Start editing voice-overs

Tuesday's Goals:
-Continue recording voice-overs
-Continue editing voice-overs
-Insert voice-overs in Day One A and B

Sunday, July 12, 2015

IGMC 2015 Day Five Recap


So, here we are another day closer to the August deadline. I'll be keeping this entry short, so as to get back to work on what I hope to have finished for tomorrow's entry.

Today, the file structure, opening menu, and ending have been completed. The purpose of the ending being completed before anything else is really made in the game is in order to test the possibility of using custom scripts in the game engine to have voice acting. Since this game is far more linear than my main WIP with this engine (take a rail shooter like Call of Duty compared to an open-world game like Skyrim to get an idea of just how linear this will be compared to A World of His Own), my hope is to be able to make them all as I go along, plug them in, and there they go.

Tomorrow's Goals:
-Bulk of the script completed
-Tilesets completed
-Maps outlined on graph paper

Current Timeline:
-July 14 = Start work on game maps in Map001
-July 21 = Start recording voice-overs
-July 28 = Test and time game
-August 4 = Upload game to IGMC website
-August 7 = DEADLINE

From past experiences in dealing with the Proof of Concept for Project Silence, the longest and hardest part about this will be the recording. That will remain up in the air as to how long it will be, and recording may start earlier (even as earlier as July 15) depending on how things seem to be going.

Saturday, July 11, 2015

IGMC 2015 Day Four Recap


So, it's been a few days. Some things are new. The largest of which, the game plot and engine changed. Originally, it was going to be a sci-fi game set a century in the future. However, after looking through what is possible with RPG Maker VX Ace, I've determined that the current project would not be possible without having someone do artwork for me. While this may be acceptable for Project Silence, which isn't due to release until late next year, this isn't really possible for a game that needs to be finished in less than a month.

Instead, the game will be made in the same engine that Project Silence is being made in, Engine001. For the time limit I have, this will be easiest for me. The subject and story has also changed, this time being a game revolving around the aspects of dreams and reality.

Currently, I'm working on getting the tilesets put together. For a project as rather simple as this, it shouldn't be that hard. The fact that the game will feature areas that will more or less repeat (again, going for simple) will also help. That's not to say, however, that everything will look the same.

The game's genre will be psychological horror.

Next update will come either tomorrow or Monday, depending on what gets done.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

IGMC 2015 Day One Recap


So, for the first actual post on this blog, I will be going over and detailing the works being done for the Indie Game Maker Contest 2015, which started yesterday. Each day, I will post about what work has gone into the game, and any pitfalls that may come about in the month I have to do so.

For those who are curious, this WILL NOT negatively affect progress on A World of His Own. Plans on the Kickstarter will continue as noted over on the Project Silence blog.

So, the contest has been going on for around thirty-three and a half hours now. There is a little under twenty-eight days left of the competition. Already, I have several things planned out.
-The story is written
-The script is written
-The engine is chosen
-Most of the assets has been acquired

For this project, I will be going with a space setting, set just shy of one hundred years in the future. While this is a setting I hope to one day visit again with a grander scale, I do have hopes for this first entrance into the science-fiction setting.

As for which engine I will be using, it will be the RPG Maker VX Ace. The upside for this is the simple design, with commercial assets. This may change (...maybe), but I doubt it.

More info will be released tomorrow!

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Arseo Productions Offical Blog

This is the official blog for Arseo Productions. The post here will deal more along the lines of the new game company in general, and feature information on game projects that have yet to have a development blog created. Currently, this is main Project VN. Other ideas will be discussed on here as well. New on Project Silence will still be posted on the official blog for that game.