Where's the beef?

Right here!



I'd like to introduce you to Mace Faust. Mace Faust is Khana's courier chief and all time favorite uncle. Although he's too old for the running and panting related to courier life, he's let Khana and Nolan handle all the dirty work while he's usually getting himself drunk at the local pub, in West EDOC. However, Mace is a walking Bhacrio idol full of experience, charm, strength, and valor. His great body size and easy to spot bald head have made him the center of Khana’s immature jokes since she was 5 years old. Okay, so I copy and pasted that from the ModDB site....

Oh where oh where has my little 12 gone?

As always, 12 has been super duper busy. He barely has time to chat with me, and i'm like...his bestie. But in his absence he has created that big hunk of man up there, so we can't complain, can we? He is currently looking into new technology. What does that mean? I have no idea, but it sounds awesome, right? He is also trying to pick up some more help. He is only one man and to try and finish this game alone...I fear it would break him. Other things being worked on are the gameplay build and the eagerly awaited gameplay demonstration video! There has also been some music already written up and composed. I hope I get a sneak preview of that!

On another note completely unrelated to VHEL, 12 has kindly offered his help working on another game. He sure has a lot on his plate! Will he get it all done before the timed bomb explodes? Find out next time on...

LOL. KABOOOOM!

D:< DAMN YOU MR. TWELVE! YOU LIED TO US AGAIN!!!! TT______TT

Lol at your writing team. I just can't help it. ^^

Who's that weird schoolgirl thinger? :O

VHEL Updates every Friday from now on!

Last week, you all had the pleasure in seeing one of my rare update fails -- HAZAA! Admittedly, that was my own fault because I was busy with matters and promised an update weeks prior. I'm getting used to this new game development schedule in place, too, so I need to adjust to this new way of getting out information and staying on track internally. I've had a lot of conversations regarding what I should put up in updates and so on, and most of that information regards obvious details I'm just being a prick about and keeping to myself. I will, however, have to regulate information and updates in a more precise manner for now on. All this means is that you'll probably get regular weekly updates every Friday, from now on. I'll consider this thread as my own personal blog for the game since the Mod DB is more so focused on milestone updates like screenshots and gameplay info. =P

How's development internally?

Do you folks want to see what a design book looks like? By this, I literally mean a notebook with hundreds of pages filled with algorithms, flow charts, notes on human behavior (sociology and psychology more specifically), system mechanics, blah-blah-blah -- you get the idea. It's kind of neat having over 3 dedicated years worth of material stored up along with an additional 4-5 years of conceptional notes from youth, that you can review. That's all excluding the numerous amount of art collected over the years. Seriously, I'm getting a damn artbook made after this game is finished. >=)



Beyond this, things on my end have been hectic. You'll occasionally see me in TF2 for, like, 1-2 hours, dominating, picking on people, acting like I have no house training, and spammin' them stickies on Turbine. However, the rest of my time has been spent on brand new character models, script writing, level design (dear Lord is this tough to nail), environmental art, finalized design stuff, and intense research on Balinese mythology. I'm not worried about animations as much since our in-house animation system covers most of the dirty work for me (and I'm not talking about Flash; this is something we hard coded for our engine). Anywho, here's what's been up:

- I made kick ass grass for the environments! I don't care what people say! Good looking grass makes a great game, period!

- Lost 2 of my 3 writers. One had family issues going on, and the other wasn't able to keep up with the workload. I'm pretty laid back about how my teammates go about doing their jobs, but when I have to put my foot down about certain things like being on time and keeping up with the development quota, either I get better working comrades who push as hard as me to get work done after we "talk" (i.e. my composer), or someone gets the boot out the door (i.e. those writers I mentioned). I've been making games since I was 16 (I'm 21 now), people. I don't have time to mess around with drifting talent who are not even in a position to help out, but make an offer to help full-time anyways. T_T

- A lot of demo reviewing has been going on for VHEL's voice over cast. I've heard A LOT of awesome voices. Some of those voices almost made me want to scream like a little school girl, just because they nailed "the feel". You know what I mean. That sense you get from a person's voice that just clicks with a type of personality you hand crafted from scratch. It's an amazing feeling, no question about it.

- The Master Story Script (Beta ver.) went through a lot of changes last month, so it's just barely over the 60% completion mark due to gameplay junk (mainly the pacing of the whole game when you play things out). It's frustrating, even now, to know how my story begins and ends, yet having to cut, and cut, and cut, every time something pops up. It just goes to show you that games like this that focus on heavy storytelling just aren't feasible under wavering design work.

- VHEL is going to go through a review by Valve next year once we have our Beta build of the game up, and we're basically going to distribute it over Steam "IF" it's supported enough by you people and the other hundred folks who support it on Mod DB. Yes...I said Steam. No, I'm not even joking. It's a simple process, according to the other indie devs I've talked to. I can't complain here.

- I met my old boss a month ago who I used to make designs for (it was for a clothing line). If, and only if, I get back into a rhythm with her -- I'm a freelance artist, so I can do whatever, basically -- I plan on working for her again. Once I do, I'll have affordable connections to finally pump out -- yes, I can finally do this for realz -- a VHEL clothing/swag line. To you people, once this happens, YOU BETTER BUY MY SWAG! IF YOU DON'T, I WILL PERMA-BAN YOU! D=<

- I have gameplay footage of VHEL I refuse to show. Give me a reason to show the [old] footage, and you'll get it.


Did I tell you about that other game?

Let's get something straight: I don't usually make games "just for the hell of it", so to speak -- so when I have something I feel I can run with and make into a cult classic, I tend to do intensive research, software testing, concept art, and a number of interviews with people to get insight for a proper direction. I'm putting in a lot of work on the next game that comes after VHEL (because I couldn't wait), called *blank*, or Project Killjoy as it's code named. Public details are scarce outside of the fact that it's entire design was created in less than 24 hours, from all the ideas left over from VHEL, along with gameplay I always wanted to pursue with a Western focus and story elements yielding "heavy responsibilities" (not saving the world) that force the player to resolve conflicts with diplomacy...at times.

VHEL has a lot of cross referencing going on with it's religious/mythological themes even though it's straight up sci-fi, but Killjoy basically pushes this to...strikingly deep levels, I suppose you could say. I like creating games with a lot of emotional investment the player can put forth -- not like WoW -- where you feel like you're connected to the worlds you're in, with gameplay feeling like an extension of said worlds. Project Killjoy will be no different, but with a smaller scale than VHEL. It's kind of like a Strategy RPG, even though the pacing isn't like a RPG and the strategy elements feel like something out of Dissidia or Persona. Progress with this game is going at a breakneck pace since I know what I'm doing unlike where I was some 3 years ago with VHEL. =P

What's the future going to be like?

Well, we're basically looking at the development of one giant indie game barely 15% done overall, and another somewhat big, but not huge, indie game, that's not going to be released for many, many moons. The next 2 weeks are going to be focused on getting things done with my main programmer since he's had school to deal with. He's good at what he does, no doubt. He can pump out very complicated code almost flawlessly in one go. Talent like that is rare, so I try no pressuring him when he does have school and clubs in the way.

As far as the next updates are concerned, every Friday you'll get something new and fresh. I won't hold back as much, I'll definitely showcase more about the storyline and gameplay since those aspects are complete. As far as the alpha build is concerned, I wouldn't think that would be ready until late spring, saying if that's going to be a locked build or not (maybe, but I doubt it). Around that time, we "might" be able to do a closed alpha test for observational purposes to refine the gameplay. More info on Project Killjoy will come next year. Needless to say, like VHEL, it'll be worth the anticipation.

Ciao! =D

Hopefully this update helped answer some questions regarding what I've been doing along with part of the team. I really want to get some more art up on the next update, but that all depends on rather or not I have the time to spare (editing and such takes a good minute). Till next time, ya'll!

How are you managing the voice talent? Do you require in-person auditions / recording?

Keep us updated on VO auditions posted - I'd love to audition for a minor character

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