Well gang, we're sad to report that today's update will be brief. Brief like the torrid love affairs in early 40s french cinema. The good news is that our collective game design might has come to together to form MelonTron (like Voltron only... juicier... and not part of early french cinema). That being said are just too busy for a normal update.
Fear not, for the blog is merely bowing to progress itself and Pier Solar's pieces are merging together to form... Pier Solar...tron...
*Cough*
Anyway, our programming lead is currently being hurled across continents to Brazil, where more work on the game will commence and, for those of you itching for some release date action you'll be pleased to know that internal deadlines have been set and we should be ready to announce an official date in the coming weeks. Maybe.
Keep in mind, the final deadline for our WP contest is January 30th, so now is your last chance to send in a Pier Solar themed wall paper. The best one will win a free copy of the game. Check out our forums for more info.
And here are some spiffied up comparison shots of the forest you guys played in the demo.
See you guys next week for a bigger, badder update and the winner of our Pier Solar WP Contest!
Whilst I would normally start our weekly news updates with pseudo-witty ruminations on Pier Solar's development process, I think now is the time to pause and deliver some much needed thanks.
Danger abounds in any development project. From the little guys in the indie-scene all the way up to the grandmasters at Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Capcom, SquareEnix, et cetera, the process of putting a game together always comes with the knowledge that catastrophic failure will be constantly nipping at your heels.
When you're a relatively new group with plans to release a JRPG on a long dead console and then sell it for real money... well, lets just say risk is as prevalent as skepticism.
Or at least, it should be.
But that's the thing. Instead of leaving Pier Solar to rot away in the dank caverns of internet obscurity Sega fans, indie fans, RPG fans, and just general all around gamers have championed our little project. From raving about the game in message boards to covering it on websites you guys have guaranteed this project's success. Even after receiving a pretty devastating blow last year - one that would have killed most indie projects - you guys stuck by us. We received countless letters of encouragement after announcing the delay and some outright threats to our person that let us know that Pier Solar had to be completed and released. Either that, or we may not live to see the light of another day.
And here we stand. One area of the game's development is completely finished and another is set to finalize at the end of the month. All the pieces are coming together and before long you'll be placing that brand spanking new game in your long neglected Genesis - which will gasp to life and you'll feel the same way you did when you were ten years old and just finished unwrapping that much hyped game you blew your paper route money on (much to the chagrin of your parents).
When will that day be?
Ha-Ha! Soonish...
The purpose of this post is really to thank you guys for your support, your patience and your sheer bat-shit insane excitement for Pier Solar. And no matter how much coverage we get we're still shocked when people go out of their way to spotlight our game. People like PeteDorr, a YouTuber who did an entire five minute preview of our game (which lead directly to an increase in sales), are the kind people who keep us motivated. Check out his video below:
Now that's just awesome. You all should subscribe to his YouTube channel as well, because his videos are pretty entertaining.
Alas, it's time to cut this short and return to the salt mines. But before we do one more thank you is in order: for all your support, patience, and hard earned money. We aim to please.
Greetings boys and girls. Come, sit 'round the fire, pin your ears back and partake in our previous week's adventures.
The last seven days has seen a steady stream of work being done on all fronts: Monsters being molded from our collective creative power (and in defiance of God's will!), new cities emerging, and changes a-plenty being implemented to the script. Story wise we're on the third of five planned drafts, the entirety of which will be completed by the end of the month. After that our translators will emerge from their cages and begin their dark work - allowing us to not only wreak havoc in one language, but several.
We've begun the polishing process on some of our older areas, including the ones you've played in the demo. Check it out below.
Here's the starting town from the demo:
And here's what it looks like now:
Subtle changes to be sure, but an increase in quality nevertheless.
Finally, here's an early sketch of one of our monsters. Until next week!
A'hoy me mateys! Welcome back to another week of exciting, scrumptious and tantalizing Pier Solar previews. While we're sure you all spent the holidays consumed by drunken merriment we've continued to toil away. For you! Then again, most of our days are spent in an inebriated stupor anyway so we didn't miss anything.
The last couple of days have been exciting on the publicity side as interest from the press has begun to grow. We've got new mentions in CVG and Develop and further upcoming coverage in a magazine that will remain nameless until the details are finalized.
Needless to say, we feel watched. All the time. It's kind of creepy.
Heebie-jeebies aside we've got some new shots for you, but in order to prevent spoilers they're going to be displayed completely without context. Mysterious!
That's it for now and remember, our contest is still ongoing. The final deadline is January 31st so get those WPs in ASAP. Dismissed!
