A Little Bit O' Spit and Polish

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!



-WM

Our Influence Spreads...

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!

-WM

New Screens and "The Fonz" Battles a Chinese Factory Boss

Perhaps "battles" is too strong a word, but there were indeed fisticuffs - complete with wire teams and slow motion drop kicks. In the end, our fabled graphics designer emerged victorious and The Boss (think Hattori Honzo with cardboard... and... Chinese) agreed to emerge from retirement and do this one final task: Assemble the boxes for Pier Solar.

Okay, so martial arts drama wasn't exactly part of our man's plane trip but he did make the arduous journey to see the boxes being birthed in their native land. Thankfully he was well pleased and no blood had to spilled. Again.

While Fonzie was busy ensuring our packaging was of the utmost quality (and desperately trying to resist the seductive power of Communism) back at the salt mines we were busy injecting Pier Solar with pure liquid excellence. At the moment our script is being worked over and a second draft will soon be delivered to our translators. Of course little changes will be added right up until the very final stages of development, but this version will represent the official and completed plot.

That is until we tire of it and decide to replace the whole cast with mimes. You know, so we can get that whole "art-game" label.

For you, our loyal Solarites (can we call you that or is it too cultish?), we have a few new work in progress screens for you to enjoy. Below are a few locations both in and out of battle and an early example of one of our cutscenes.







In the spirit of the holidays we have a special contest coming up where you, yes you, could win a free copy of Pier Solar. Check back in next week for all the details.

- WM

New Look, More Updates, and a Teenie Tiny Gift

Welcome one and all to the brand new, ultra improved, won't-beat-your-computer-to-death-with-a-nine-iron, HTML only Pier Solar website!

[Pause for polite clapping]

Needless to say it's been a rocky few months for those eagerly awaiting the first new Genesis game in centuries - but fear not! Despite the coal we gingerly placed in your stocking upon announcing the delay, progress on the development side has been steady and things are shaping up to be well worth the wait.

So what have we been up to? As you read in the last update a significant number of assets had to redeveloped when we lost one of our art guys to an unfortunate smelting accident (there was a midget involved - don't ask). Opportunity however can be found in the strangest places and the sudden changes we had to make forced us to re-evaluate the game's script. In an effort to lessen the impact of having to develop so much new art we made a couple of significant changes to the narrative. Far from being a reduction, the alterations allowed for a much tighter and more personal story and for what we hope to be one of the coolest (and weirdest) moments in the game.

Meanwhile, on the more tangible side, we've finalized our packaging and sent it off to the magical land of printing where it will return - no longer an idea, but a BOX. And a BOOKLET. And some other fun stuff. We know this glorious unveiling has been kept from you but let me assure you, and I say this as a registered cynic, it looks "wicked cool". At least, I think that's what the kids today would call it.

This post also marks the first of many more weekly website updates where we'll bring forth new screenshots, development details and compromising photographs of the development team freebasing in their bathrooms. Some people have called this development "exciting" and "a way for WaterMelon Development to assure people that they have not run off with their money and purchased a small island nation." We would agree with both assessments.

So what else do we have for you? A little preview of some of the unholy creations our art guys have cooked up. Creations that you will soon be able to kill yourselves you burgeoning little psychotics you. Feast your eyes!





That's all for now folks. See you next week!

- WM