NEWS
Hello fellow weavers.
I've been thinking a lot in the days preceding this update, puzzled about what words I could use to provide an effective mixture of explanations, news and apologies.
Well, despite all the thinking, I haven't come up with anything satisfying, so I'll simply rely on my guts and put my mind to rest. Improvisation, that's the word.
So, first of all, it's really been about a year since the last update. In the "New Year 2014" post there were hopes, expectations, plans and generally all seemed quite promising. Then reality stepped in.
To be as brief as I can, the worsening of the financial crysis that has stroke Italy and the conclusion of some previous job experiences made it necessary for me to actively look for other occupations. With only some occasional freelance translations and computer repairs, that search took most of my free time. The worst thing about this cyle is how it drains your energy, so that the little free time left didn't go into Forge development, but mostly into cheap relaxation passively watching movies, series or playing games. I didn't even had the time to go out much for fun, and this is neither healthy nor ideal.
I'm sure a lot of you can relate to that, though I'm not saying all this because I want your pity (or your money). Truth be told I didn't want to share all that in the first place, but then I decided it was worth it. At least you'll see that I'm truly passioned, to the point I try to struggle to carry on and still save Forge a little spot in my life.
So, has there been any progress at all in Forge? Yes! Has it been much? Sadly nope.
Managing other people's work was not an option, due to time required and the fact I already had a (now finished) job as a project manager for another game. It's sad, because I definitely loosened the existing bonds with our faithful cooperators, especially Jamison Alderson and Master Pixelmold. I hope they will still be interested to help out as soon as the development will regain a steady pace.
Anyway, what I did was concentrating on coding Ch.2, preparing the game for translations, fixing Ch.1 bugs and adding extra features. Some of them might look like a waste of time to you, but they were actually either quite easy to accomplish or useful in terms of learning experience for other projects and occupations.
And so, despite having called "v1.0" the last demo before the final release, I felt the need to present you an update, something tangible and full of requested features and fixes.
Thus I bring you "Forge - Chapter One v1.1". Here's a brief list of what you should expect:
This should sum it all up.
For what concerns other translations, the ones currently supported are: Italian, Spanish, French, German, Swedish, Russian, Hebrew. This only means those translations will / should work immediately on this version of the game, as soon as they are carried out by the translators. Other languages, including Brazilian Portuguese, will be certainly supported in a future version of the game.
The big difference is people will need to download a whole next version again, while for the languages listed before they will only need to download a tiny file and place it in "v1.1" game's folder.
Beware that this release is still to be considered unofficial and unsupported, cause it didn't pass any testing phase. There might be new bugs, even awful ones that break the game completely. Use it at your own risk. Bug-report is welcome, but not necessary.
Same thing goes with translations (with the exception of the Italian one). Though I'll do my best to provide clear and complete guidelines, I lack the means to ensure the quality of the translations I won't carry out personally. I won't have time to perform a proofreading, but I put my utmost trust in all of the kind guys that offered as translators.
To all translators: you'll receive the necessary files and info in 1-2 days.
Well, I think it's time to give you a link. This time I opted for a simple archive and no-installer. Just uncompress it in a place where you have writing privileges, and launch it from either launcher.exe or winsetup.exe.
You can find in the usual place, the DOWNLOADS PAGE!
For what regards the future of Forge, it's hard to say. Things are going a little bit better from a financial standpoint now, but it's still early to cheer up and until I'm "stable" enough to actually have time to reorganize the team, development will be sluggish. For the moment I still need to use most of my time for my current commitments and for actively searching other ones.
Good thing is I've already set up an organized environment, mainly using Redbooth, in order to make management slightly less time-tolling; and there's a couple of people which might lend me a hand with the game, as well.
Last but not least, I'm organizing a giveaway as a compensation for all the hardcore Forge fans in the next few days. Yes, you heard that well: it's gonna be something really sober, but still a giveaway.
If there's something I've learned long ago, and that I still base my life on, is that sharing and giving are the best ways to express our humanity. Don't let this wicked and twisted society teach you anything different. Be helpful to others, hug, love, give support. And don't expect anything back.
I truly love you all,
- Gabriele "Abisso" Nannetti
I've been thinking a lot in the days preceding this update, puzzled about what words I could use to provide an effective mixture of explanations, news and apologies.
Well, despite all the thinking, I haven't come up with anything satisfying, so I'll simply rely on my guts and put my mind to rest. Improvisation, that's the word.
So, first of all, it's really been about a year since the last update. In the "New Year 2014" post there were hopes, expectations, plans and generally all seemed quite promising. Then reality stepped in.
To be as brief as I can, the worsening of the financial crysis that has stroke Italy and the conclusion of some previous job experiences made it necessary for me to actively look for other occupations. With only some occasional freelance translations and computer repairs, that search took most of my free time. The worst thing about this cyle is how it drains your energy, so that the little free time left didn't go into Forge development, but mostly into cheap relaxation passively watching movies, series or playing games. I didn't even had the time to go out much for fun, and this is neither healthy nor ideal.
I'm sure a lot of you can relate to that, though I'm not saying all this because I want your pity (or your money). Truth be told I didn't want to share all that in the first place, but then I decided it was worth it. At least you'll see that I'm truly passioned, to the point I try to struggle to carry on and still save Forge a little spot in my life.
So, has there been any progress at all in Forge? Yes! Has it been much? Sadly nope.
Managing other people's work was not an option, due to time required and the fact I already had a (now finished) job as a project manager for another game. It's sad, because I definitely loosened the existing bonds with our faithful cooperators, especially Jamison Alderson and Master Pixelmold. I hope they will still be interested to help out as soon as the development will regain a steady pace.
Anyway, what I did was concentrating on coding Ch.2, preparing the game for translations, fixing Ch.1 bugs and adding extra features. Some of them might look like a waste of time to you, but they were actually either quite easy to accomplish or useful in terms of learning experience for other projects and occupations.
And so, despite having called "v1.0" the last demo before the final release, I felt the need to present you an update, something tangible and full of requested features and fixes.
Thus I bring you "Forge - Chapter One v1.1". Here's a brief list of what you should expect:
- Bug-fixing. The (few) issues found after the release of v1.0 have now been corrected.
- Translations readiness. The complexity of the game required a lot of work and changes to prepare it for future translations. It should be done now!
- Italian translation. Since it was imperative to do some testing about the effective translation-readiness, I took a couple of days and carried that out myself. This is the only translation included in the package.
- Puzzle-fixing. I was bothered by how improvable the infamous Tomb's Puzzle was. I gathered all the critiques received and hopefully made the puzzle more interesting and fair.
- Extra-gameplay. Some cutscenes were really really long, without the chance for the player to have a break. Now interactions / cutscenes have a slightly better balance. Don't expect anything huge, though.
- Extra and improved commands. Middle and right mouse-clicks did nothing, now they clear the bottom right frame from the selected hotspot / object / character. Scrollwheel now can be used to select Y / N options from the confirmation GUIs. Double-click now launches Rusty's interaction immediately, without the need to wait for him to reach the spot. F12 saves a screenshot in the Screenshots folder inside the game's main one.
- Changes in the schematics' drawing system. In the end I realized there should be at least a Proficiency Level that is very easy, to encounter the favor of the adventure purists. Practice is like that now, with no boundaries at all: just connect all the dots in the right order, and it will be fine. Standard is a bit easier as well, and Expert is almost the same as before. Also, all levels are now a bit more forgiving: if you trace back just one dot, nothing happens and you can still complete the schematic; and going out of boundaries is a bit more unlikely.
- New launcher. This is one of the things I did mainly to learn a new scripting language and obtain a know-how useful in other contexts. But I was also very unhappy with the default winsetup.exe, both in terms of functionality and looks. Unfortunately the new launcher fully supports only Windows so far, but there will be Linux and probably also Mac support in the future, as Lua-LOVE is a cross-platform framework. I just didn't see the point in spending time for that until the game itself supports those OSes.
- Loom Recap. Much more people than I expected were bothered because they needed to play (or re-play) Loom in order to fully understand Forge. Having already some sort of Loom Recap from the Tech Demo era, I decided to tweak it a little bit and make it more complete and informative. The Loom Recap can be accessed from the corresponding folder in the main game folder, but also from the new launcher.
This should sum it all up.
For what concerns other translations, the ones currently supported are: Italian, Spanish, French, German, Swedish, Russian, Hebrew. This only means those translations will / should work immediately on this version of the game, as soon as they are carried out by the translators. Other languages, including Brazilian Portuguese, will be certainly supported in a future version of the game.
The big difference is people will need to download a whole next version again, while for the languages listed before they will only need to download a tiny file and place it in "v1.1" game's folder.
Beware that this release is still to be considered unofficial and unsupported, cause it didn't pass any testing phase. There might be new bugs, even awful ones that break the game completely. Use it at your own risk. Bug-report is welcome, but not necessary.
Same thing goes with translations (with the exception of the Italian one). Though I'll do my best to provide clear and complete guidelines, I lack the means to ensure the quality of the translations I won't carry out personally. I won't have time to perform a proofreading, but I put my utmost trust in all of the kind guys that offered as translators.
To all translators: you'll receive the necessary files and info in 1-2 days.
Well, I think it's time to give you a link. This time I opted for a simple archive and no-installer. Just uncompress it in a place where you have writing privileges, and launch it from either launcher.exe or winsetup.exe.
You can find in the usual place, the DOWNLOADS PAGE!
For what regards the future of Forge, it's hard to say. Things are going a little bit better from a financial standpoint now, but it's still early to cheer up and until I'm "stable" enough to actually have time to reorganize the team, development will be sluggish. For the moment I still need to use most of my time for my current commitments and for actively searching other ones.
Good thing is I've already set up an organized environment, mainly using Redbooth, in order to make management slightly less time-tolling; and there's a couple of people which might lend me a hand with the game, as well.
Last but not least, I'm organizing a giveaway as a compensation for all the hardcore Forge fans in the next few days. Yes, you heard that well: it's gonna be something really sober, but still a giveaway.
If there's something I've learned long ago, and that I still base my life on, is that sharing and giving are the best ways to express our humanity. Don't let this wicked and twisted society teach you anything different. Be helpful to others, hug, love, give support. And don't expect anything back.
I truly love you all,
- Gabriele "Abisso" Nannetti
Hey everybody.
How has this new year begun? Let me guess... exactly like the last one had ended?
I still find it surprising, and a bit scary, how conditioned we are when it comes to this kind of celebrations. Everyone knows a day it's just a day, no matter if it's a birthday or the New Year's Eve. We're not suddenly one year older when our birthday arrives, and there's no sudden change when the new year does, as well.
And still, it's inevitable to have some expectations, cause we've been educated that way or maybe cause we feel the need to hope in a better future.
What's the future of Forge, anyway? First of all, the download rate has been quite good, but not as much as I expected. We reached 400 downloads in the first 4 days, at an almost steady pace, but after that it started getting slower and slower, and we reached 1.000 downloads only recently. I will never stress this point enough: numbers don't matter that much per se; but the more people try Chapter One, the more likely it is that some of them will contribute to the game's development.
So please help out with that! Tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell your pets about Forge!
It's worth repeating that we're still looking for someone to take care of Public Relations, contact Press, forums, blogs, write short articles maybe. Even create (and manage) future social networks' pages.
Anyway, some help offers arrived indeed. Someone offered his services as a translator; someone as a programmer; one guy offered to do some basic graphics tasks. And there's been a few donations, too.
Good news is our main composer Jamison Alderson confirmed his intention to cooperate with us on the rest of the game, with an enthusiasm that pleased me a lot. On a side note, if you have liked his music on Chapter One and you have a job for him, his schedule is open enough at the moment. You can contact him through his website ubertubamusic.com.
But please let him save some time to work on Forge, also!
Another confirmation has come from one of the concept artists, Estme. She only worked on characters' concept art for the following chapters, so far, but there's still a lot to be done.
And now, to the main good news: in the Summer update, I introduced you to a new background artist, the one responsible for the Mine-cart tunnel background and the portraits. He still has a tight schedule, but he also confirmed his will to help us out, and it's eager to begin. I might be partial, but I truly believe he's done a great job so far. Except from what you can see with your own eyes, Master Pixelmold (this is his Forge nick) is also a very nice guy, which goes far beyond the simple artist. He provided constructive criticism, suggestions, inputs of all sorts.
I truly believe the game can be completed with its help.
But it's going to take a lot, unless the main artist is supported by one or two cooperators. Someone working on smaller sprites, maybe characters and an animator would be ideal to progress more quickly.
Let's hope the one I'll be "testing" in the next few days proves to be fit for such a role.
Don't be shy, weavers! Isn't there really any of you who could provide some help in the graphics compartment as well? Don't you know anyone who'd like to join the family? If you do, you know what "to do".
As per the plan for the current month, it's still the same as I announced in the last update: do some more promotion, re-organize stuff and resources, do auditions, fix some Forum issues, and begin working on the translations.
That's all, folks!
-Gabriele
How has this new year begun? Let me guess... exactly like the last one had ended?
I still find it surprising, and a bit scary, how conditioned we are when it comes to this kind of celebrations. Everyone knows a day it's just a day, no matter if it's a birthday or the New Year's Eve. We're not suddenly one year older when our birthday arrives, and there's no sudden change when the new year does, as well.
And still, it's inevitable to have some expectations, cause we've been educated that way or maybe cause we feel the need to hope in a better future.
What's the future of Forge, anyway? First of all, the download rate has been quite good, but not as much as I expected. We reached 400 downloads in the first 4 days, at an almost steady pace, but after that it started getting slower and slower, and we reached 1.000 downloads only recently. I will never stress this point enough: numbers don't matter that much per se; but the more people try Chapter One, the more likely it is that some of them will contribute to the game's development.
So please help out with that! Tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell your pets about Forge!
It's worth repeating that we're still looking for someone to take care of Public Relations, contact Press, forums, blogs, write short articles maybe. Even create (and manage) future social networks' pages.
Anyway, some help offers arrived indeed. Someone offered his services as a translator; someone as a programmer; one guy offered to do some basic graphics tasks. And there's been a few donations, too.
Good news is our main composer Jamison Alderson confirmed his intention to cooperate with us on the rest of the game, with an enthusiasm that pleased me a lot. On a side note, if you have liked his music on Chapter One and you have a job for him, his schedule is open enough at the moment. You can contact him through his website ubertubamusic.com.
But please let him save some time to work on Forge, also!
Another confirmation has come from one of the concept artists, Estme. She only worked on characters' concept art for the following chapters, so far, but there's still a lot to be done.
And now, to the main good news: in the Summer update, I introduced you to a new background artist, the one responsible for the Mine-cart tunnel background and the portraits. He still has a tight schedule, but he also confirmed his will to help us out, and it's eager to begin. I might be partial, but I truly believe he's done a great job so far. Except from what you can see with your own eyes, Master Pixelmold (this is his Forge nick) is also a very nice guy, which goes far beyond the simple artist. He provided constructive criticism, suggestions, inputs of all sorts.
I truly believe the game can be completed with its help.
But it's going to take a lot, unless the main artist is supported by one or two cooperators. Someone working on smaller sprites, maybe characters and an animator would be ideal to progress more quickly.
Let's hope the one I'll be "testing" in the next few days proves to be fit for such a role.
Don't be shy, weavers! Isn't there really any of you who could provide some help in the graphics compartment as well? Don't you know anyone who'd like to join the family? If you do, you know what "to do".
As per the plan for the current month, it's still the same as I announced in the last update: do some more promotion, re-organize stuff and resources, do auditions, fix some Forum issues, and begin working on the translations.
That's all, folks!
-Gabriele
I said I'd release the demo "in the first half of December" and, for once, I've been able to stay true to my words. Thankfully, December has 31 days, so we're still in the first half!
Anyway, it took about 18 hours non-stop to achieve this result. Plus the hundreds and hundreds before, of course!
There are also other very interesting news, but I'll update this thread tomorrow, after a loooong sleep.
So, for the moment, move yourasses distaffs and voyage to the DOWNLOADS PAGE!
P.S. Since I didn't have a single free minute, I completely skipped the promotion: please help spreading the word!
Anyway, it took about 18 hours non-stop to achieve this result. Plus the hundreds and hundreds before, of course!
There are also other very interesting news, but I'll update this thread tomorrow, after a loooong sleep.
So, for the moment, move your
P.S. Since I didn't have a single free minute, I completely skipped the promotion: please help spreading the word!
Hello there!
The Summer is finally over, and it's definitely time for an update. Just a small elucidation: Autumn here begins the 21st of September, so for as much as my idea of time is messed up, the introduction makes perfectly sense in my country.
Now, to some news.
First of all, in the last update I announced some potential good news. If I learnt something about being a project-manager and working on freeware games, it's certainly cautiousness with news. Forge is like a boat during a perfect storm, when the only stability comes from being in the eye of the storm. It's temporary, and it doesn't last long; for the rest of the time, it's a constant, chaotic roll.
To cut it short: a really talented artist offered his help with the game's backgrounds. He's closer to what I'd like to have as a team-member than any of the previous ones. He's really talented, has consistent past experiences, serious but not boring, and he's humble enough to work just to experiment on his own style, and not for money.
What else could you ask from a team-mate? Well, I could ask more free time. Like most of us, even this guy has a family, other interests, and bills that need to be paid. And to make things worse, his free time became even less recently, due to several happenings which are independent from both of our wills.
Good news is that he completely reworked one of the backgrounds for Chapter One, which only served the purpose of a short cutscene before. I had to paint it by myself previously, and the result was only decent. Now it's gorgeous, and the new design called for some extra features. Now there are really interesting elements of gameplay and some cool features which make that room different from the rest of the game and yet coherent with it.
Of course, all of this required time: not just for the extra design, coding and sfx creation, but also because when you start working with someone on such an important part of the game, you need to instruct him about the game's back story, the atmosphere, and the technicalities.
In the end it was worth it, I believe, but I can't say if the guy will be available to work on Chapter 3-5 backgrounds.
Another potentially interesting news is I'm working with a lively amateur film director, who's also interested in doing some PR work for the game. A position far more crucial than it might seem, as spreading the word seems to be our best chance to find more and more people to help us developing Forge. Art is still a huge issue, and what slows up development the most.
Still on the topic of news, I've been recently interviewed about Forge, but I'll tell you more about that on the next update.
Voice-acting: several unexpected issues and some of the suggestions of the beta-testers required some dialogues to be added, and some to be reworked from scratch. Some people didn't do what they were supposed to, and so I had to do some scouting for new voices. That meant a lot of selective work, with extra bad surprises from some of the contacted people. Not many choices are left now, but some good ones with professional equipment, and the lines that have to be recorded are not that many, so I think everything will work out fine, in the end.
Bugs: I think I've fixed all the ones spotted during the 2nd beta-stage, but I definitely need another beta-stage because of all the extras and to check the fixes. I'm totally positive that this is going to be faster and smoother than the previous tests, to the point that I'm finally going to make the long awaited announcement:
Forge's release date has been set to the first half of December!
And I'm talking about 2013, so this should be great news for all of you weavers. Or so I hope.
I'm not sure I'll manage this beta-stage as the previous ones, with open subscriptions. Somehow that didn't turn out that well, so I'll probably come up with a different approach. I'll let you know in the next few days, and anyway I intend to begin the testing in the third week of October.
I really hope this will be considered a positive update. Personally, I'm quite satisfied.
May the Forge be with you,
-Gabriele "Abisso" Nannetti
The Summer is finally over, and it's definitely time for an update. Just a small elucidation: Autumn here begins the 21st of September, so for as much as my idea of time is messed up, the introduction makes perfectly sense in my country.
Now, to some news.
First of all, in the last update I announced some potential good news. If I learnt something about being a project-manager and working on freeware games, it's certainly cautiousness with news. Forge is like a boat during a perfect storm, when the only stability comes from being in the eye of the storm. It's temporary, and it doesn't last long; for the rest of the time, it's a constant, chaotic roll.
To cut it short: a really talented artist offered his help with the game's backgrounds. He's closer to what I'd like to have as a team-member than any of the previous ones. He's really talented, has consistent past experiences, serious but not boring, and he's humble enough to work just to experiment on his own style, and not for money.
What else could you ask from a team-mate? Well, I could ask more free time. Like most of us, even this guy has a family, other interests, and bills that need to be paid. And to make things worse, his free time became even less recently, due to several happenings which are independent from both of our wills.
Good news is that he completely reworked one of the backgrounds for Chapter One, which only served the purpose of a short cutscene before. I had to paint it by myself previously, and the result was only decent. Now it's gorgeous, and the new design called for some extra features. Now there are really interesting elements of gameplay and some cool features which make that room different from the rest of the game and yet coherent with it.
Of course, all of this required time: not just for the extra design, coding and sfx creation, but also because when you start working with someone on such an important part of the game, you need to instruct him about the game's back story, the atmosphere, and the technicalities.
In the end it was worth it, I believe, but I can't say if the guy will be available to work on Chapter 3-5 backgrounds.
Another potentially interesting news is I'm working with a lively amateur film director, who's also interested in doing some PR work for the game. A position far more crucial than it might seem, as spreading the word seems to be our best chance to find more and more people to help us developing Forge. Art is still a huge issue, and what slows up development the most.
Still on the topic of news, I've been recently interviewed about Forge, but I'll tell you more about that on the next update.
Voice-acting: several unexpected issues and some of the suggestions of the beta-testers required some dialogues to be added, and some to be reworked from scratch. Some people didn't do what they were supposed to, and so I had to do some scouting for new voices. That meant a lot of selective work, with extra bad surprises from some of the contacted people. Not many choices are left now, but some good ones with professional equipment, and the lines that have to be recorded are not that many, so I think everything will work out fine, in the end.
Bugs: I think I've fixed all the ones spotted during the 2nd beta-stage, but I definitely need another beta-stage because of all the extras and to check the fixes. I'm totally positive that this is going to be faster and smoother than the previous tests, to the point that I'm finally going to make the long awaited announcement:
Forge's release date has been set to the first half of December!
And I'm talking about 2013, so this should be great news for all of you weavers. Or so I hope.
I'm not sure I'll manage this beta-stage as the previous ones, with open subscriptions. Somehow that didn't turn out that well, so I'll probably come up with a different approach. I'll let you know in the next few days, and anyway I intend to begin the testing in the third week of October.
I really hope this will be considered a positive update. Personally, I'm quite satisfied.
May the Forge be with you,
-Gabriele "Abisso" Nannetti
Hello Weavers.
I've missed some of the monthly updates, and I apologize, but this one won't be longer because of that. As a matter of fact, there isn't much to say: we're still into the 2nd stage of betatesting, and though most of the reports made by testers in this stage are improvements instead of bugs, they're still worth looking into. Some of the testers are doing a great job, and of that we all have to be grateful.
Other than that, there are two news:
1. It's a secret, but very good news. All I want to say until the fact becomes more certain, is that it's about a person that's helping me out on certain aspects of the game.
2. The bad news: as most of you probably know already, Disney acquired Lucas (not George himself, but almost). As some of you probably know, Lucasarts has been shut down, including all the employees. I'm not sure how and if these two facts will influence Forge, but they might.
Anyway the game is improving day after day, and especially if news n.1 becomes reality, not only Chapter One but the whole Forge will see the light of day sooner or later.
Thanks for reading.
-Gabriele "Abisso"
I've missed some of the monthly updates, and I apologize, but this one won't be longer because of that. As a matter of fact, there isn't much to say: we're still into the 2nd stage of betatesting, and though most of the reports made by testers in this stage are improvements instead of bugs, they're still worth looking into. Some of the testers are doing a great job, and of that we all have to be grateful.
Other than that, there are two news:
1. It's a secret, but very good news. All I want to say until the fact becomes more certain, is that it's about a person that's helping me out on certain aspects of the game.
2. The bad news: as most of you probably know already, Disney acquired Lucas (not George himself, but almost). As some of you probably know, Lucasarts has been shut down, including all the employees. I'm not sure how and if these two facts will influence Forge, but they might.
Anyway the game is improving day after day, and especially if news n.1 becomes reality, not only Chapter One but the whole Forge will see the light of day sooner or later.
Thanks for reading.
-Gabriele "Abisso"
Hello everyone!
Time for yet another update. February has been a short and slow month. Bug-fixing, sfx-engineering and website migration. Oh, did I mention that we'll soon be hosted at a (hopefully) better host? I think this is great news, and I would have loved to announce this update after the migration had taken place, but it's almost mid-March already so I couldn't wait anymore.
Moving a website is not that simple and we're still working on it, but it should be a matter of days.
I'm also considering an internationalization of the website and other small changes which, I believe, will improve the users' experience.
On the bug-fixing front, there are a couple of nasty bugs that are stealing a lot of my time, but I'm confident they will be fixed. Most of the other fixes have been done already and will be tested in the next phase.
On the sfx-engineering front, sadly I have to announce that for the third time a sfx-engineer has offered to help and changed its mind shortly after. I'm puzzled and a bit angry for this kind of behaviour (which is common, and not just for the sfx field).
Is it so difficult to understand that if you offer to help you have to be sure you will at least give a little contribution before receding?
Every time this happens I have to write emails and wrap up recruitment requests. Then I have to wait for replies. And all this time is stolen from other areas of the development, and, to put it bluntly, wasted.
So please, as I clearly wrote in the Guidelines for Contributors, think twice before you offer your help. If you're not 100% sure about this, don't do it: you will only slow down progress, otherwise.
I plan to begin the 2nd testing stage before the end of March, anyway, so in case you're interested in beta-testing, SIGN UP HERE before it's too late.
I apologize for the tone of this update, but I'm a bit stressed by lack of free time and frustrated by the fact I had to abandon some interesting activities and dedicate more time to profitable ones. In this situation, wasting time is something I can't afford.
Don't worry though, I have no intention of abandoning Forge. Even if it's not profitable, it's way more than just an "interesting activity" for me. It's more like a part of me.
Thanks to all of you for your patience and support.
Time for yet another update. February has been a short and slow month. Bug-fixing, sfx-engineering and website migration. Oh, did I mention that we'll soon be hosted at a (hopefully) better host? I think this is great news, and I would have loved to announce this update after the migration had taken place, but it's almost mid-March already so I couldn't wait anymore.
Moving a website is not that simple and we're still working on it, but it should be a matter of days.
I'm also considering an internationalization of the website and other small changes which, I believe, will improve the users' experience.
On the bug-fixing front, there are a couple of nasty bugs that are stealing a lot of my time, but I'm confident they will be fixed. Most of the other fixes have been done already and will be tested in the next phase.
On the sfx-engineering front, sadly I have to announce that for the third time a sfx-engineer has offered to help and changed its mind shortly after. I'm puzzled and a bit angry for this kind of behaviour (which is common, and not just for the sfx field).
Is it so difficult to understand that if you offer to help you have to be sure you will at least give a little contribution before receding?
Every time this happens I have to write emails and wrap up recruitment requests. Then I have to wait for replies. And all this time is stolen from other areas of the development, and, to put it bluntly, wasted.
So please, as I clearly wrote in the Guidelines for Contributors, think twice before you offer your help. If you're not 100% sure about this, don't do it: you will only slow down progress, otherwise.
I plan to begin the 2nd testing stage before the end of March, anyway, so in case you're interested in beta-testing, SIGN UP HERE before it's too late.
I apologize for the tone of this update, but I'm a bit stressed by lack of free time and frustrated by the fact I had to abandon some interesting activities and dedicate more time to profitable ones. In this situation, wasting time is something I can't afford.
Don't worry though, I have no intention of abandoning Forge. Even if it's not profitable, it's way more than just an "interesting activity" for me. It's more like a part of me.
Thanks to all of you for your patience and support.
Hello weavers!
Another month has passed, and it's been a fervent one, full of hard work and both good and bad surprises! Beta-testing has been a rewarding experience so far, with lots of positive feedbacks and a consistent share of bugs spotted too. Which is good, as bugs spotted in the beta-phase can be accurately removed so they don't taint the final release.
Voice-acting is now 99% complete. I'm leaving that 1% out just because the testing sometimes shows the need for a couple extra lines or some redos. Same goes for scripting, as bug fixing requires scripting more than anything else.
Still, I totally believe a 2nd beta phase is a wise and prudent choice, and thus I'm not going to reveal the official release date yet.
On a side note, since I believe sudden inspiration should always be exploited to its maximum, I'm proud to announce I used some of my free time to put down in words an outline of the last 2 Chapters of the game. 1st Ch. is fully complete, 2nd Ch.'s plot is ready and 3rd Ch. only needs minor adjustments. Now that even Ch. 4 and Ch. 5 have been planned the game is fully "outlined" and I like where it's heading to.
The last news is our beloved webmaster Selmiak is working on some improvements of our website, including a "news" reminder in home page, an enhanced Donation page (which makes it clear when, where and why the money gets spent) and some other minor fixes.
Enjoy the Sunday, and let's meet again in the Land of the Great Guilds next month!
-Gabriele "Abisso"
Another month has passed, and it's been a fervent one, full of hard work and both good and bad surprises! Beta-testing has been a rewarding experience so far, with lots of positive feedbacks and a consistent share of bugs spotted too. Which is good, as bugs spotted in the beta-phase can be accurately removed so they don't taint the final release.
Voice-acting is now 99% complete. I'm leaving that 1% out just because the testing sometimes shows the need for a couple extra lines or some redos. Same goes for scripting, as bug fixing requires scripting more than anything else.
Still, I totally believe a 2nd beta phase is a wise and prudent choice, and thus I'm not going to reveal the official release date yet.
On a side note, since I believe sudden inspiration should always be exploited to its maximum, I'm proud to announce I used some of my free time to put down in words an outline of the last 2 Chapters of the game. 1st Ch. is fully complete, 2nd Ch.'s plot is ready and 3rd Ch. only needs minor adjustments. Now that even Ch. 4 and Ch. 5 have been planned the game is fully "outlined" and I like where it's heading to.
The last news is our beloved webmaster Selmiak is working on some improvements of our website, including a "news" reminder in home page, an enhanced Donation page (which makes it clear when, where and why the money gets spent) and some other minor fixes.
Enjoy the Sunday, and let's meet again in the Land of the Great Guilds next month!
-Gabriele "Abisso"
We're already in the middle of January, but I think it's still worth making a report on last months' progress.
Most of the time has been dedicated to a private testing of the upcoming Chapter One, with some fine-tuning and bug-fixing in order to begin the private beta-testing with a cleaner product. The rest of the time has been mostly occupied by some extras though: as you should know by now, the game features easter eggs and rewards and I'm confident at least some of them will be a pleasant surprise for those of you who will be so clever and attentive to discover them.
Even if this topic will be considered more thoroughly in the next month's report, the most important news is that beta-testing will begin in no more than a couple of days. We're already entered the beta-stage but we're still waiting for some of the candidates to fulfil some requirements.
In any case we already have a soccer team of betatesters (eleven courageous guys) at the moment and 17th of January is closing in.
Although the testing will be private, I'll keep you informed on the results and something tells me the next month's update post will include an official release date for the fully playable, long awaited, Forge Chapter One.
Till then, keep care,
-G
Most of the time has been dedicated to a private testing of the upcoming Chapter One, with some fine-tuning and bug-fixing in order to begin the private beta-testing with a cleaner product. The rest of the time has been mostly occupied by some extras though: as you should know by now, the game features easter eggs and rewards and I'm confident at least some of them will be a pleasant surprise for those of you who will be so clever and attentive to discover them.
Even if this topic will be considered more thoroughly in the next month's report, the most important news is that beta-testing will begin in no more than a couple of days. We're already entered the beta-stage but we're still waiting for some of the candidates to fulfil some requirements.
In any case we already have a soccer team of betatesters (eleven courageous guys) at the moment and 17th of January is closing in.
Although the testing will be private, I'll keep you informed on the results and something tells me the next month's update post will include an official release date for the fully playable, long awaited, Forge Chapter One.
Till then, keep care,
-G
Aaaahr, fellow crewmates! Ehrm, I mean... fellow swans.
As many of you may have noticed as of now, I'm not the kind of guy who fully understands the meaning of the word "deadline".
I have this weird tendency to miss each one I set, yet you have to believe me when I say that those still help me being more productive than I'd be otherwise. You couldn't imagine how much I've worked in the last two weeks compared to the slow pace of the previous ones. Because guilt makes miracles when it comes to do what you're supposed to.
That said I perfectly understand that missing deadlines systematically is not something a trustworthy person should do often. The least I can do is apologize, the best I can do is continuing to keep this pace until the day of the release actually comes.
I know that I'm not very good in "marketing strategies", there is, keeping the interest high, feeding the fans constantly with news and treats, etc. Sorry guys, it's just not my nature. Maybe I should employ someone for that. We'll see.
And now, to the core of the matter: Forge, even in his demo incarnation, is a truly complex game, with lots of scripted cutscenes, dialogues and such. Extra required stuff and little bugs sprout out constantly, thus increasing the time needed to fix them. It would be pointless to betatest something which is still in an earlier stage. It's almost there, but still not completely.
Speaking of code, there has been a lot of progress, as 17 rooms out of 20 are completely ready (except what the betatesters surely will find during their tests). The remaining 3 are in an advanced stage.
Voice acting is almost complete as well, as only one of the actors still has to send some of his files. And he's justified, since he had about 40% of the entire speech in the game to record. About 800 lines of speech, lol. He's Rusty, of course.
While coding, as I've told you, I often find that a required sprite or animation is amiss (usually small things). I've taken care of those by myself as well, as outsourcing pixel-jobs often requires more time than it saves. Don't be scared though, I'm decent enough to take care of easy pixel tasks.
It's obvious that having an official artist would be the best thing and it will be mandatory nonetheless to bring Forge from the demo status to the full game one.
Well, well, well. I believe this is enough news for now.
Take care,
-Abisso Deadlinebender
As many of you may have noticed as of now, I'm not the kind of guy who fully understands the meaning of the word "deadline".
I have this weird tendency to miss each one I set, yet you have to believe me when I say that those still help me being more productive than I'd be otherwise. You couldn't imagine how much I've worked in the last two weeks compared to the slow pace of the previous ones. Because guilt makes miracles when it comes to do what you're supposed to.
That said I perfectly understand that missing deadlines systematically is not something a trustworthy person should do often. The least I can do is apologize, the best I can do is continuing to keep this pace until the day of the release actually comes.
I know that I'm not very good in "marketing strategies", there is, keeping the interest high, feeding the fans constantly with news and treats, etc. Sorry guys, it's just not my nature. Maybe I should employ someone for that. We'll see.
And now, to the core of the matter: Forge, even in his demo incarnation, is a truly complex game, with lots of scripted cutscenes, dialogues and such. Extra required stuff and little bugs sprout out constantly, thus increasing the time needed to fix them. It would be pointless to betatest something which is still in an earlier stage. It's almost there, but still not completely.
Speaking of code, there has been a lot of progress, as 17 rooms out of 20 are completely ready (except what the betatesters surely will find during their tests). The remaining 3 are in an advanced stage.
Voice acting is almost complete as well, as only one of the actors still has to send some of his files. And he's justified, since he had about 40% of the entire speech in the game to record. About 800 lines of speech, lol. He's Rusty, of course.
While coding, as I've told you, I often find that a required sprite or animation is amiss (usually small things). I've taken care of those by myself as well, as outsourcing pixel-jobs often requires more time than it saves. Don't be scared though, I'm decent enough to take care of easy pixel tasks.
It's obvious that having an official artist would be the best thing and it will be mandatory nonetheless to bring Forge from the demo status to the full game one.
Well, well, well. I believe this is enough news for now.
Take care,
-Abisso Deadlinebender
I've already missed the July Update and so, even if there is not much to say and time is not on my side, I thought I should make a post all the same.
To make a long story short: last three weeks have been very hard for my family. My sister has a very serious health problem, one that could have brought deadly consequences. Fortunately it didn't and she's better now, but full recovery will take at least months. I won't go into details and I'm not even used to sharing this sort of things, as I prefer to keep everything inside me, or inside my home's walls. But you fans deserved an explanation for the lack of progress and info, especially after the betatesting topic I opened some time ago.
Still, there HAS been a bit of progress, as voice-actors did their job during August. There's not much missing on that side, at least.
What else can I say? Be patient, the demo will be ready sooner or later.
At least I'm glad to see other people enrolled for the betatesting, so I'll risk setting up a date when the betatesting will begin:
1st of October. I really I hope I will manage to honour this deadline.
Thanks for all the support and patience shown. Sincerely,
-Gabriele "Abisso"
To make a long story short: last three weeks have been very hard for my family. My sister has a very serious health problem, one that could have brought deadly consequences. Fortunately it didn't and she's better now, but full recovery will take at least months. I won't go into details and I'm not even used to sharing this sort of things, as I prefer to keep everything inside me, or inside my home's walls. But you fans deserved an explanation for the lack of progress and info, especially after the betatesting topic I opened some time ago.
Still, there HAS been a bit of progress, as voice-actors did their job during August. There's not much missing on that side, at least.
What else can I say? Be patient, the demo will be ready sooner or later.
At least I'm glad to see other people enrolled for the betatesting, so I'll risk setting up a date when the betatesting will begin:
1st of October. I really I hope I will manage to honour this deadline.
Thanks for all the support and patience shown. Sincerely,
-Gabriele "Abisso"
Hello swans and cygnets!
How's it going? Things are fine here: summer is hot, but still bearable, and I feel motivated and relaxed at the same time.
Ok, that's totally uninteresting for you avid fans, isn't it? So, what about Forge?
Voice-recordings have started some days ago: the actors chosen made awesome auditions and I expect the actual recordings to be of the same quality level.
Also, as you may have noticed, I've created a temporary new section in the Project Assistance Sub-board, called "Betatesting". I suppose the title is pretty self-explanatory, and if it isn't, just go there and take a peek.
Demo is still not ready to be sent for betatesting though as I'm still completing some parts of it. But it's getting more and more solid with each passing day, and unless Zeno's paradox is reality, that should guarantee that it will be ready sooner or later.
On the music front, our dedicated composer, Jamison Alderson, has recently sent me the last of the originally planned in-game tracks. However, I have left the Music percentage to 95% in the Progress page, because I've decided to commission an extra track for the last in-game cutscene, right before the ending credits.
As a last piece of info, don't be puzzled by the fact you'll find references to "Forge: Loom Sequel" (instead of just "Forge") throughout the website. It's just an attempt to raise our position in google researches, perfectly legal, but not necessarily functioning. Only time will tell, I guess. And of course you fans can help by talking and writing about our game and our website in every physical and virtual place, spamming like crazy! And please do!
Wish you all a pleasant beginning of summer,
-Abisso
EDIT: I forgot two extra news.
How's it going? Things are fine here: summer is hot, but still bearable, and I feel motivated and relaxed at the same time.
Ok, that's totally uninteresting for you avid fans, isn't it? So, what about Forge?
Voice-recordings have started some days ago: the actors chosen made awesome auditions and I expect the actual recordings to be of the same quality level.
Also, as you may have noticed, I've created a temporary new section in the Project Assistance Sub-board, called "Betatesting". I suppose the title is pretty self-explanatory, and if it isn't, just go there and take a peek.
Demo is still not ready to be sent for betatesting though as I'm still completing some parts of it. But it's getting more and more solid with each passing day, and unless Zeno's paradox is reality, that should guarantee that it will be ready sooner or later.
On the music front, our dedicated composer, Jamison Alderson, has recently sent me the last of the originally planned in-game tracks. However, I have left the Music percentage to 95% in the Progress page, because I've decided to commission an extra track for the last in-game cutscene, right before the ending credits.
As a last piece of info, don't be puzzled by the fact you'll find references to "Forge: Loom Sequel" (instead of just "Forge") throughout the website. It's just an attempt to raise our position in google researches, perfectly legal, but not necessarily functioning. Only time will tell, I guess. And of course you fans can help by talking and writing about our game and our website in every physical and virtual place, spamming like crazy! And please do!
Wish you all a pleasant beginning of summer,
-Abisso
EDIT: I forgot two extra news.
- Valecene, our concept artist and website's proofreader is no longer part of the team. Unfortunately she doesn't seem to have time to help any more.
- I've decided to create a Loom section on our website. Actually this is an old idea, and Valecene herself was supposed to work on it after the completion of other tasks. So, basically I'm asking if anyone is interested in taking care of that section. I know a lot of you are huge Loom fanatics, and I wouldn't mind putting together a small sub-team of people to work on that. Please send me an email if you're interested.
Hi weavers, how's it going?
Here in the age of the Great Guilds, time flows slower than on Earth, you know? Either that, or I'm lazy.
No, seriously, there definitely HAS been progress in these 3.5 months. Demo is still in the process of being fully assembled, but the needed stuff is almost all there. I've even started auditioning voice-actors and found three very skilled ones (in addition to those who I'm already in contact with, of course).
I plan on beginning betatesting in less than a month. Beta will probably lack sfx, as those are still being made, but everything else will be there.
Don't forget this release will only contain Chapter One, but it will look more or less like the finished game except for that.
Other news? The musician that has composed about 70% of the game tracks told he would be interested to continue working on the game after the demo, and that is nice, since I like to have stable cooperations.
Two of the concept-artists that I've scouted during the beginning of the year proved to be capable and dedicated, and I hope they will stay as well.
Code is getting better and better, and I even found a way to save a lot of resources and the need for dozens of time-tolling animations. I hope you'll like it, but I won't reveal anything more until the demo is out.
Bad news: still no background artist and no official spriter and animator. In these months I had to outsource small pixel-jobs to about 6-7 different people, sometimes losing more time in explanations and email writing than the time actually gained. For this reason I've began spriting and animating myself, but since I'm not a pro I'm only working on small things. With the exception of a background... but don't panic! It's a "special" background and so it didn't require as much effort as the others.
But I don't plan on doing graphics in the future, and even if I wanted, I would not be able to work on the most complex ones: so I still hope to find a team member for that.
Thanks for reading, and sorry for the delay. May the Pattern be with you.
Here in the age of the Great Guilds, time flows slower than on Earth, you know? Either that, or I'm lazy.
No, seriously, there definitely HAS been progress in these 3.5 months. Demo is still in the process of being fully assembled, but the needed stuff is almost all there. I've even started auditioning voice-actors and found three very skilled ones (in addition to those who I'm already in contact with, of course).
I plan on beginning betatesting in less than a month. Beta will probably lack sfx, as those are still being made, but everything else will be there.
Don't forget this release will only contain Chapter One, but it will look more or less like the finished game except for that.
Other news? The musician that has composed about 70% of the game tracks told he would be interested to continue working on the game after the demo, and that is nice, since I like to have stable cooperations.
Two of the concept-artists that I've scouted during the beginning of the year proved to be capable and dedicated, and I hope they will stay as well.
Code is getting better and better, and I even found a way to save a lot of resources and the need for dozens of time-tolling animations. I hope you'll like it, but I won't reveal anything more until the demo is out.
Bad news: still no background artist and no official spriter and animator. In these months I had to outsource small pixel-jobs to about 6-7 different people, sometimes losing more time in explanations and email writing than the time actually gained. For this reason I've began spriting and animating myself, but since I'm not a pro I'm only working on small things. With the exception of a background... but don't panic! It's a "special" background and so it didn't require as much effort as the others.
But I don't plan on doing graphics in the future, and even if I wanted, I would not be able to work on the most complex ones: so I still hope to find a team member for that.
Thanks for reading, and sorry for the delay. May the Pattern be with you.
Well, it's a damn cold February here, so I hope you're all warm under the blankets, possibly using your beloved ones as a pillow (these are the days I wish I had a living stove as well).
But let's talk about the update: there's been some significant improvements to our website, both technical and visual. The first category mostly includes changes you won't be able to see, but those are going to help me and Selmiak manage things from now on. You may have noticed some changes in text formatting though. In addition, most of the text has been corrected and improved with more links and info. Which takes us to the greatest news: another friend has decided (with my complete approval) to become part of the team.
Please everyone welcome Valecene, the girl who will cover the position of proofreader and most likely concept artist as well. She's also a creative writer, so - who knows?- she could also lend a hand in story-writing. The rearrangement of the website is fruit of her labour, and she's already working on some sketches with really good results.
I didn't have much time to code, but something has been done, and I've also re-organized part of the plot in order to transform a long cut-scene into a fully playable section.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more.
7th February EDIT: I bought the domains forgegame.com and quillothewisp.com. At the moment they simply redirect (without cloacking) to forgegame.com, but in the future they'll probably become separate website of their own: one for the team and one for Forge. Currently there isn't a dedicated website for Quill o' the wisp, and both team and project info are merged together; but I plan on changing things in the future as I'd like to develop other games as well, as soon as Forge will be completed.
We also have a lot of email accounts with forwarding now, so that now each team member may have a dedicated one.
-your humble Gabriele "Abisso"
But let's talk about the update: there's been some significant improvements to our website, both technical and visual. The first category mostly includes changes you won't be able to see, but those are going to help me and Selmiak manage things from now on. You may have noticed some changes in text formatting though. In addition, most of the text has been corrected and improved with more links and info. Which takes us to the greatest news: another friend has decided (with my complete approval) to become part of the team.
Please everyone welcome Valecene, the girl who will cover the position of proofreader and most likely concept artist as well. She's also a creative writer, so - who knows?- she could also lend a hand in story-writing. The rearrangement of the website is fruit of her labour, and she's already working on some sketches with really good results.
I didn't have much time to code, but something has been done, and I've also re-organized part of the plot in order to transform a long cut-scene into a fully playable section.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more.
7th February EDIT: I bought the domains forgegame.com and quillothewisp.com. At the moment they simply redirect (without cloacking) to forgegame.com, but in the future they'll probably become separate website of their own: one for the team and one for Forge. Currently there isn't a dedicated website for Quill o' the wisp, and both team and project info are merged together; but I plan on changing things in the future as I'd like to develop other games as well, as soon as Forge will be completed.
We also have a lot of email accounts with forwarding now, so that now each team member may have a dedicated one.
-your humble Gabriele "Abisso"
Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Ashura, and any other festivity you may be into. And happy new year, in case you use the Gregorian Calendar.
And since Winter is quite cold, let's warm a bit by speaking about Forge.
December has been a slow month, and a short one as well, but there has been progress and some good news. The most important is that a lot of people have offered their help, in form of donations and project assistance. Some of them are voice actors, some others are graphic designers and concept artists, there's a (bullet)proofreader and a musician.
Now it's time for some holidays though, so I declare the project suspended until the 7th of January.
I wish all of you fans and contributors a great time which I hope you'll spend with your beloved ones. And if you're all alone, come to Italy so that we can share a bottle of wine together and make a toast to the Age of the Great Guilds!
I love you all.
And since Winter is quite cold, let's warm a bit by speaking about Forge.
December has been a slow month, and a short one as well, but there has been progress and some good news. The most important is that a lot of people have offered their help, in form of donations and project assistance. Some of them are voice actors, some others are graphic designers and concept artists, there's a (bullet)proofreader and a musician.
Now it's time for some holidays though, so I declare the project suspended until the 7th of January.
I wish all of you fans and contributors a great time which I hope you'll spend with your beloved ones. And if you're all alone, come to Italy so that we can share a bottle of wine together and make a toast to the Age of the Great Guilds!
I love you all.
Time flies... and very quickly too. Progress still is constant. As you may have noticed the site's been revamped thanks to our webmaster Selmiak. We have a new font, an animated logo, and Team, Progress and Links page have been updated.
We've received 3 voice acting offers too.
Scripting has been slow but another room is done. And I worked on an easter egg as well, which had been planned a long time ago, and probably will inaugurate a friendship with an Italian game-making team that's working on a Monkey Island fan-game.
Thanks for the support.
We've received 3 voice acting offers too.
Scripting has been slow but another room is done. And I worked on an easter egg as well, which had been planned a long time ago, and probably will inaugurate a friendship with an Italian game-making team that's working on a Monkey Island fan-game.
Thanks for the support.
Stay angry, stay cool.
October has been a good month, definitely. Both for me and the game. I've tried to clean things up mostly, contacting people and organizing the work. I've posted updates in all the major adventure-gaming boards and received warmth and even some help offers. There's been a donation too of which I'm grateful.
I've also worked on the game of course, making sprites game-ready (it's one hell of a work, trust me) and loading them into AGS, fixing some bugs, and coding one game room.
As a side note, Forge fans which are also Linux users might be happy to know I've recently deleted my Windows partition and installed AGS on a virtual machine running WinXP inside Kubuntu. This way I can do everything from the same operating system without the need to reboot and I hope this will help speeding things up.
Thanks for reading, my little weavers.
I've also worked on the game of course, making sprites game-ready (it's one hell of a work, trust me) and loading them into AGS, fixing some bugs, and coding one game room.
As a side note, Forge fans which are also Linux users might be happy to know I've recently deleted my Windows partition and installed AGS on a virtual machine running WinXP inside Kubuntu. This way I can do everything from the same operating system without the need to reboot and I hope this will help speeding things up.
Thanks for reading, my little weavers.
Since the Project Assistance sub-board is crucial, and considering the boards are starting to become a bit messy, I've decided to tidy them up a bit. As you can see, now there's a specific place to post your help offers. Please open a new topic in the correct sub-board every time you want to offer your help, talking about your skills and possibly linking to your portfolios or websites or such. If you're skilled in more than one compartment, please open a different topic for each sub-board.
This way, it's easier for me to keep track of things, and for you to find the right place to post.
Please re-post in the correct sub-board if you previously posted elsewhere.
Thanks for your time mates
This way, it's easier for me to keep track of things, and for you to find the right place to post.
Please re-post in the correct sub-board if you previously posted elsewhere.
Thanks for your time mates
Ok guys, it's been a while since the last update, and, sadly, most of the news are bad ones. Progress has been really slow during the Summer, with few to none significant achievements, but we warned you that it was gonna be a lazy summer, after all!
The really sad news is Duke, Quill o'the Wisp co-founder, and more importantly, the one "who started it all", has taken the hard decision to abandon the project. Both school and family require most of his time, and he felt the few hours a month he could use for Forge wouldn't be enough. So, he bravely resigned, in order to allow for a re-organization of the project and team.
So, basically, I'm the only stable and official member right now, and I took some days to think about what was the best thing to do. I've decided I'll try my best to carry the project on by myself until the relase of the next (and last) demo, which will include a fully playable Chapter 1. Most of the stuff needed is ready, and I just need to wrap it up, fill up some holes and release it.
After that, and accordingly to the success of the demo, I'll see if it's worth to go on or not. In any case, I'll do my best to let the project live by finding an "heir" to continue the effort, and providing all the help and resources. Duke agreed with this plan, and I want to thank him publicly for his decision to let me use all the resources we've gathered in the years, including the ones he worked on, and the ones he had to pay for (backgrounds mostly).
On the Italian (mine) front, I had a truly tough time too, caused by health issues in my family and some personal delusions, but things are better now and I feel creative once again. But mind that time to dedicate to Forge has significantly shortened, so expect slow progress. If I absolutely must announce a plausible date for the release of the demo, April 2012 seems reasonable enough.
Well, that's all... Duke told me he'll leave a personal message on the boards in these days, to explain things better, and say goodbye (at least a temporary one, or so I hope)
Thank you all for the warmth, support, and patience. Forge was, and still remains, HOT.
The really sad news is Duke, Quill o'the Wisp co-founder, and more importantly, the one "who started it all", has taken the hard decision to abandon the project. Both school and family require most of his time, and he felt the few hours a month he could use for Forge wouldn't be enough. So, he bravely resigned, in order to allow for a re-organization of the project and team.
So, basically, I'm the only stable and official member right now, and I took some days to think about what was the best thing to do. I've decided I'll try my best to carry the project on by myself until the relase of the next (and last) demo, which will include a fully playable Chapter 1. Most of the stuff needed is ready, and I just need to wrap it up, fill up some holes and release it.
After that, and accordingly to the success of the demo, I'll see if it's worth to go on or not. In any case, I'll do my best to let the project live by finding an "heir" to continue the effort, and providing all the help and resources. Duke agreed with this plan, and I want to thank him publicly for his decision to let me use all the resources we've gathered in the years, including the ones he worked on, and the ones he had to pay for (backgrounds mostly).
On the Italian (mine) front, I had a truly tough time too, caused by health issues in my family and some personal delusions, but things are better now and I feel creative once again. But mind that time to dedicate to Forge has significantly shortened, so expect slow progress. If I absolutely must announce a plausible date for the release of the demo, April 2012 seems reasonable enough.
Well, that's all... Duke told me he'll leave a personal message on the boards in these days, to explain things better, and say goodbye (at least a temporary one, or so I hope)
Thank you all for the warmth, support, and patience. Forge was, and still remains, HOT.
Well, Abisso and I have discussed, that for the most part Forge will be on hold for the duration of the summer months. We've both been struggling with finding time to connect to compare notes with each other, what with personal responsibilities in our day to day lives taking priority.
Be advised though that donations have still been coming in, one every few weeks, and there's still every intention to complete the first Chapter and release it as close to complete as we can .
Thank you all for your enduring support.
Be advised though
that donations have still been coming in, one every few weeks, and there's still every intention to complete the first Chapter and release it as close to complete as we can .Thank you all for your enduring support.
April, 2011 Update - One year on the new forum!
posted by Da_Duke2000 on April 05, 2011, 05:42:13 PM
Well, this last year has been fantastic!
First off, I would like to say thank you to all of you who have taken the time to register on the forum and suggest ideas and express your thoughts to the game. Your input has been invaluable and we have taken many of the criticisms and comments seriously. This includes all who have donated to the game, to help fund our beautiful backgrounds, and to the people who have lent their skills to offer the project music and art without any compensation.
Secondly, thank you to anyone who has even visited this page or the Forum. The more people that know that Forge exists, the better our chances at a remarkable game will be. We have recently been linked-to from a Reddit topic yesterday ( http://redd.it/gi64r ) so that goes to show that people talk!
Lastly, I would like everyone to know that we are still actively seeking a LEAD SPRITER for FORGE. We have got some amazing work done by Argyle in the months leading up to February, but other priorities have kept him from pursuing FORGE at this time. We would love to hear from anyone with experience, there are animations left to do that could fit all skill types.
I cannot express how excited we see Chapter 1 coming together so well, and for Chapter 2's backgrounds to be completed. I want to assure everyone who is following the game, that progress is made every single week, and we're still havin' fun!
~Duke Davidson
First off, I would like to say thank you to all of you who have taken the time to register on the forum and suggest ideas and express your thoughts to the game. Your input has been invaluable and we have taken many of the criticisms and comments seriously. This includes all who have donated to the game, to help fund our beautiful backgrounds, and to the people who have lent their skills to offer the project music and art without any compensation.
Secondly, thank you to anyone who has even visited this page or the Forum. The more people that know that Forge exists, the better our chances at a remarkable game will be. We have recently been linked-to from a Reddit topic yesterday ( http://redd.it/gi64r ) so that goes to show that people talk!
Lastly, I would like everyone to know that we are still actively seeking a LEAD SPRITER for FORGE. We have got some amazing work done by Argyle in the months leading up to February, but other priorities have kept him from pursuing FORGE at this time. We would love to hear from anyone with experience, there are animations left to do that could fit all skill types.
I cannot express how excited we see Chapter 1 coming together so well, and for Chapter 2's backgrounds to be completed. I want to assure everyone who is following the game, that progress is made every single week, and we're still havin' fun!
~Duke Davidson
Well, we're at the end of finalizing Chapter 2's plot and storyline. Soon, Dialogue will be next. We've also got the third last background for Chapter 2 completed. Only two more and the second Guild is complete. Exciting!
We're still in need of sprite work, progress on that has been slow this last month, otherwise we're having a lot of fun pursuing the game. I'm glad to see this board has a little more life in it that it has in the last while.
Our plan is still to release a full polished Chapter 1, without voice acting for the moment, probably with a mini-game if we can get to it. After that, I doubt we'll do another proper release until the full game itself is ready. Seems easier that way.
We're still in need of sprite work, progress on that has been slow this last month, otherwise we're having a lot of fun pursuing the game. I'm glad to see this board has a little more life in it that it has in the last while.
Our plan is still to release a full polished Chapter 1, without voice acting for the moment, probably with a mini-game if we can get to it. After that, I doubt we'll do another proper release until the full game itself is ready. Seems easier that way.
Well, Happy New Year to everyone here on the forums, registered or not. Its been a while since we've had a formal Update here on the board, so I thought it was time to do so. (That, and one of our members was scared we've stopped working!).
True, progress has been slow in this last 8 weeks. Our lead scripter is busy with his studies, and I recently began new work in mid-November which has dedicated a lot of my focus. Not to mention, Christmas!
But, lets talk FORGE for a bit.
In the last two weeks we've had remarkable outreach from the public, and from old contributors. We've got 5 wonderful new audio tracks, and contacted our artist for THREE more lovely backgrounds for Chapter 2. We've had offers for plot and puzzle help, (You know who you are), and even an offer for sound effects! Offers for translations are coming in, and while that's a long time away its wonderful to see the support from the public.
On the topic of Donations, the Donations we've received from those on the list have been so tremendously appreciated i truly have no words. The first two Chapter 2 backgrounds were all but entirely paid for by those donations ($160 is what was charged, for the two) and the next three will be in the area of $240. We still have $87 in Donation funds available, it will be insufficient to cover the costs of all three, but I have faith that between now and the completion of the backgrounds, we will see more donations come in.
In the spirit of not sounding preachy, I want to remind everyone here that all of Chapter 1 (And its 13 backgrounds, AND portraits, AND sprites) were all paid for without the help of donations. So be assured, as much as your donations are a cherished gesture to the success of FORGE, the team will ensure its completion one way or another.
Here is to a great 2011!
True, progress has been slow in this last 8 weeks. Our lead scripter is busy with his studies, and I recently began new work in mid-November which has dedicated a lot of my focus. Not to mention, Christmas!
But, lets talk FORGE for a bit.
In the last two weeks we've had remarkable outreach from the public, and from old contributors. We've got 5 wonderful new audio tracks, and contacted our artist for THREE more lovely backgrounds for Chapter 2. We've had offers for plot and puzzle help, (You know who you are
), and even an offer for sound effects! Offers for translations are coming in, and while that's a long time away its wonderful to see the support from the public. On the topic of Donations, the Donations we've received from those on the list have been so tremendously appreciated i truly have no words. The first two Chapter 2 backgrounds were all but entirely paid for by those donations ($160 is what was charged, for the two) and the next three will be in the area of $240. We still have $87 in Donation funds available, it will be insufficient to cover the costs of all three, but I have faith that between now and the completion of the backgrounds, we will see more donations come in.
In the spirit of not sounding preachy, I want to remind everyone here that all of Chapter 1 (And its 13 backgrounds, AND portraits, AND sprites) were all paid for without the help of donations. So be assured, as much as your donations are a cherished gesture to the success of FORGE, the team will ensure its completion one way or another.
Here is to a great 2011!
First off, a big thank you to all the current names on the Donations listing. It is through the efforts of those people, that the second Guild is coming to life, and Chapter 2 is well under way and our first panorama sized background is simply gorgeous...really it is sexy! A BIG hats off to Matt Walkden our background artist.
Chapter 1 has been completely finalized in terms of Background Art, Plot and Puzzle points, and Dialogue. We're currently in active scripting with the final 10-20 animations to be completed. I send out one final call to Pixel artists who may frequent the boards to send me off an email if you feel your talents could in any way benefit the project.
FORGE is still going strong, and I'm gratified to share this good news with everyone.
Until next update! Thanks again!
Chapter 1 has been completely finalized in terms of Background Art, Plot and Puzzle points, and Dialogue. We're currently in active scripting with the final 10-20 animations to be completed. I send out one final call to Pixel artists who may frequent the boards to send me off an email if you feel your talents could in any way benefit the project.
FORGE is still going strong, and I'm gratified to share this good news with everyone.
Until next update! Thanks again!
Donations: Become part of the adventure (Update: September 15, 2010)
posted by Da_Duke2000 on September 16, 2010, 02:05:22 PM
Welcome to our Donation Topic!
Firstly, thank you all very much for even visiting this specific page. The magic of Forge wouldn't be possible without the support of the fans.
We at Quill o' the Wisp will always ensure that the quality of the content we deliver will be what you would expect from the Sierra and Lucasarts games of the era. I would like to think that so far, we have succeeded. As you all know, the backgrounds we have are of an amazing quality. and to help keep production going on these, and not reach a stand still, it was suggested to make a section here on our main page for all Adventure Game fans.
So here we are, the Donation Page.
Currently, each background is costing between $90-$120 USD, depending on width and complexity. If you would like to contribute even a partial donation (even as little as $1) we can guarantee you the following...
.....WIIFM? (What's In It For Me?):
- CREDIT! Yes, you'll absolutely be given a Special Commendation both on our website/forum as well as in-game.
- Ever wanted to see something in Forge? You'll have the chance to ask our team to include a special custom animation that you'll be able to see in-game (which means a sneak peak into the story line).
- Bragging rights. Who doesn't want that.
- The chance to be part of something that means a lot to a small group of Loom fanatics.
We are not asking anyone to extend beyond their means, but any assistance will help alleviate some of the burden from the Team. And I cannot stress, that even a few dollars, the one cup of coffee's worth, can go a long way to help bring the Forge here quicker. I wish that everyone could know how much time (money) has been invested in Forge so far, and I hope that our Demo shows our seriousness for a finished product.
Thank you all, so much for reading.
Thanks again to the first Guild Heroes (alphabetical):
Adam Lipski - $10 - 2010-09-30
Bounce - $15 - 2010-09-17
Bradley Allen - $5 - 2010-09-17
Christian Kupper - $10 - 2010-09-26
Grizzly - $20 - 2010-09-25
Robert Ruchhöft - $20 - 2010-09-25
Tyson Valcalda - $30 - 2010-09-30
The Paypal Donate button is below.
Firstly, thank you all very much for even visiting this specific page. The magic of Forge wouldn't be possible without the support of the fans.
We at Quill o' the Wisp will always ensure that the quality of the content we deliver will be what you would expect from the Sierra and Lucasarts games of the era. I would like to think that so far, we have succeeded. As you all know, the backgrounds we have are of an amazing quality. and to help keep production going on these, and not reach a stand still, it was suggested to make a section here on our main page for all Adventure Game fans.
So here we are, the Donation Page.
Currently, each background is costing between $90-$120 USD, depending on width and complexity. If you would like to contribute even a partial donation (even as little as $1) we can guarantee you the following...
.....WIIFM? (What's In It For Me?):
- CREDIT! Yes, you'll absolutely be given a Special Commendation both on our website/forum as well as in-game.
- Ever wanted to see something in Forge? You'll have the chance to ask our team to include a special custom animation that you'll be able to see in-game (which means a sneak peak into the story line).
- Bragging rights. Who doesn't want that
.- The chance to be part of something that means a lot to a small group of Loom fanatics.
We are not asking anyone to extend beyond their means, but any assistance will help alleviate some of the burden from the Team. And I cannot stress, that even a few dollars, the one cup of coffee's worth, can go a long way to help bring the Forge here quicker. I wish that everyone could know how much time (money) has been invested in Forge so far, and I hope that our Demo shows our seriousness for a finished product.
Thank you all, so much for reading.
Thanks again to the first Guild Heroes (alphabetical):
Adam Lipski - $10 - 2010-09-30
Bounce - $15 - 2010-09-17
Bradley Allen - $5 - 2010-09-17
Christian Kupper - $10 - 2010-09-26
Grizzly - $20 - 2010-09-25
Robert Ruchhöft - $20 - 2010-09-25
Tyson Valcalda - $30 - 2010-09-30
The Paypal Donate button is below.
Updated the Progress tab on the site. This is in reference to Chapter 1 only.
Our final two backgrounds for Chapter one are being commissioned. Ouch! My Wallet!
These two will oddly be the first and last new screens that the player will have the chance to see. Our familiar BG artist Matt has come to the rescue after his personal hiatus to finish the chapter for us in his usual glory.
Argyle continues his absolutely amazing Spriting skill and has begun to breath life into Matts backgrounds. Our dialogue is als done with the exception of minor edits as go forward and become inspired for additions.
Let's all wish Abisso a safe time while he's on his trip to Munich and wish him a safe return. Also, keep your eyes open for a topic for Voice Assistance.
Our final two backgrounds for Chapter one are being commissioned. Ouch! My Wallet!
These two will oddly be the first and last new screens that the player will have the chance to see. Our familiar BG artist Matt has come to the rescue after his personal hiatus to finish the chapter for us in his usual glory.
Argyle continues his absolutely amazing Spriting skill and has begun to breath life into Matts backgrounds. Our dialogue is als done with the exception of minor edits as go forward and become inspired for additions.
Let's all wish Abisso a safe time while he's on his trip to Munich and wish him a safe return. Also, keep your eyes open for a topic for Voice Assistance.
We're not sure who has offered to help with what, so we're asking here.
We currently would like a volunteer with Dialogue or Characterization experience to help us review the script for Chapter 1.
Please email inquiries to da_duke2000@hotmail.com.
Thanks all!
We currently would like a volunteer with Dialogue or Characterization experience to help us review the script for Chapter 1.
Please email inquiries to da_duke2000@hotmail.com.
Thanks all!
Well! I'm all moved into my new place and things are coming together nicely.
On the Forge topic, we have a new Spriter! An artist named Argyle who has already made some absolutely tremendous animations. We're plucking along nicely with getting the Chapter 1 resource list in place and checking the interactions off one at a time. Also, I've been working dilligently on establishing a full script for the first Chapter. What an undertaking that is!
Lastly, I hope to release a Gift for the Community in the next two to three weeks, so stay tuned for the update!
On the Forge topic, we have a new Spriter! An artist named Argyle who has already made some absolutely tremendous animations. We're plucking along nicely with getting the Chapter 1 resource list in place and checking the interactions off one at a time. Also, I've been working dilligently on establishing a full script for the first Chapter. What an undertaking that is!
Lastly, I hope to release a Gift for the Community in the next two to three weeks, so stay tuned for the update!
May 04, 2010 - Been a great month! Assistance offers.
posted by Da_Duke2000 on May 03, 2010, 01:22:30 AM
Well, its been a great month. The launch has been a fantastic success and we have so much on the fly that I'm sure you're all very excited.
Backgrounds are coming along, and Chapter 1 spriting will be Mays big focus. Side progress is being made by a few other very talented individuals and I cannot wait to show off a big (really, the file is going to be huge) surprise.
We could still really benefit from the time and skill of some Spriters who feel they could donate a few hours for some piece work. The process is quite simple. We provide you with the required background, the necessary layers, and the description of the needed artistic elements. The current needs are 5-15 frame gifs to reflect object and environment interactions.
As always, don't be (5 days) a stranger, we love your feedback.
Backgrounds are coming along, and Chapter 1 spriting will be Mays big focus. Side progress is being made by a few other very talented individuals and I cannot wait to show off a big (really, the file is going to be huge) surprise.
We could still really benefit from the time and skill of some Spriters who feel they could donate a few hours for some piece work. The process is quite simple. We provide you with the required background, the necessary layers, and the description of the needed artistic elements. The current needs are 5-15 frame gifs to reflect object and environment interactions.
As always, don't be (5 days) a stranger, we love your feedback.
Here it is! Thanks to everyone for their efforts in the release of this Tech Demo.
The Demo will Start with a Loom recap and then move into some Forge Screen shots. To replay the preview, you can do so from the Tapestry Selection. To learn about the new GUI, use the Tutorial. And to play with the GUI freehand, enter the Mini Game section.
Download link is here:
http://oeo.la/_mkzOC
Please, discuss here.
Discussion Topic.
The Demo will Start with a Loom recap and then move into some Forge Screen shots. To replay the preview, you can do so from the Tapestry Selection. To learn about the new GUI, use the Tutorial. And to play with the GUI freehand, enter the Mini Game section.
Download link is here:
http://oeo.la/_mkzOC
Please, discuss here.
Discussion Topic.
Well its time folks!
Here are the links you've been waiting for.
Demo 1.00 - Download here.
To discuss the Demo, click here.
Here are the links you've been waiting for.
Demo 1.00 - Download here.
To discuss the Demo, click here.
Just an update to our staff and visitors on our progress.
We've been doing extremely well with our progress recently, and a whole bunch of people have been instrumental with lending a hand. Our lead background artist has just cranked out his 5th Completed background, and he has one more is currently in the works. Two additional backgrounds might also be on the way from two other artists excited to try their hand on the style. Lets wish them the best.
Abisso will be trying to find time in mid-February to tackle the Menu system for the start of the game. This will include a Protection screen, interactive Option selection, and place holders for Extras and potentially MiniGames.
Bosa has provided us with a few wonderful tracks for our Demo, which we cannot wait to implement and see them on a working exe.
We are still in need of a few simple sprite animations, simple things like walk cycles and other basic animations. I would love to hear from someone if they wanted to try and help. I can easily setup some piece work. Our demo is effectively hinging on such things.
One last detail. Thank you to everyone who has made their contribution to this project, both past and present. I would like to quickly list off those who have my thanks.
Thank you to:
Abisso
Kaio
lexip3d
matt0
sag - Art
TakayoArt
selmiak
Bosa
JoshAstorian
hannah200
nvision
klav
schrumpfkopf
direchimpanzee
peach
Corby
We've been doing extremely well with our progress recently, and a whole bunch of people have been instrumental with lending a hand. Our lead background artist has just cranked out his 5th Completed background, and he has one more is currently in the works. Two additional backgrounds might also be on the way from two other artists excited to try their hand on the style. Lets wish them the best.
Abisso will be trying to find time in mid-February to tackle the Menu system for the start of the game. This will include a Protection screen, interactive Option selection, and place holders for Extras and potentially MiniGames.
Bosa has provided us with a few wonderful tracks for our Demo, which we cannot wait to implement and see them on a working exe.
We are still in need of a few simple sprite animations, simple things like walk cycles and other basic animations. I would love to hear from someone if they wanted to try and help. I can easily setup some piece work. Our demo is effectively hinging on such things.
One last detail. Thank you to everyone who has made their contribution to this project, both past and present. I would like to quickly list off those who have my thanks.
Thank you to:
Abisso
Kaio
lexip3d
matt0
sag - Art
TakayoArt
selmiak
Bosa
JoshAstorian
hannah200
nvision
klav
schrumpfkopf
direchimpanzee
peach
Corby
Well, its been a fun month for most of us. Between vacations, and time for school, personal obligations as such. Still, lets recap!
1) We've got a great board!
2) We've got great Staff!
3) We've got a great story!
4) We've got some great art, a Gui, and character designs.
So far, we're on a very good path.
Our next goals will be the following:
1) Character design and sprite set for Rusty.
2) The first 2-3 backgrounds, or at least templates of them to assist with scripting.
3) Scripting of a few characters, and the Gui.
4) More character development so character dialogue can be scripted.
If there is anything that people feel should take priority here, please let me know! I'll be in touch with each of you separately so we can get going!
Thanks to all of you for your contributions so far.
1) We've got a great board!
2) We've got great Staff!
3) We've got a great story!
4) We've got some great art, a Gui, and character designs.
So far, we're on a very good path.
Our next goals will be the following:
1) Character design and sprite set for Rusty.
2) The first 2-3 backgrounds, or at least templates of them to assist with scripting.
3) Scripting of a few characters, and the Gui.
4) More character development so character dialogue can be scripted.
If there is anything that people feel should take priority here, please let me know! I'll be in touch with each of you separately so we can get going!
Thanks to all of you for your contributions so far.
Weekly Update: August 2nd, 2009 - Miners Designs
posted by Da_Duke2000 on August 02, 2009, 04:07:00 AM
In the staff only section we have posted a few Character designs for members of the Guild of Miners. More will come in the next while, but they will all be linked here for everyone. So check often.
All pictures are from kaio from the board here.
Miner and a wild Mole:
Labor Workers and their Guard Animals. Rottweilers, eat your heart out.
Professor Penumbra:
Some Miners must be extremely intelligent for surveying and plotting. Meet Professor Penumbra. Don't let the bowler hat throw you off though, it never hurts though to line your headgear with a metal plate, just in case.
Next update will include:
Character Portraits of many new characters, and some sprites, for that VGA feel.
All pictures are from kaio from the board here.
Miner and a wild Mole:
Labor Workers and their Guard Animals. Rottweilers, eat your heart out.
Professor Penumbra:
Some Miners must be extremely intelligent for surveying and plotting. Meet Professor Penumbra. Don't let the bowler hat throw you off though, it never hurts though to line your headgear with a metal plate, just in case.
Next update will include:
Character Portraits of many new characters, and some sprites, for that VGA feel.
Well here we are, the user interface for FORGE. We're simply referring to these as Gauntlets for now.
Tremendous appreciation goes out to TayokoArt for the Gauntlet design. I would love to hear thoughts regarding them, questions and curiosities welcome too.
Thank you all.
Thank you all.