PRESS:
I always lead off with art (pretty pictures) but I have to lead with press this month. Basically it's because we've never had any till now. But with the help of Jeremiah (who's helping out in PR), and other friends in the media, we've started spreading the word. We've gotten over 10,000 views on our two trailers (below: made the new "Teamwork Tips" video for PAX), and ranked 9.1 and 8.5, for the alpha trailer and teamwork video respectively, on Game Trailers. In addition we've and had several articles written about us (check out our new Press page), and both writers and commenters have been really really positive on the game. Validation, soooo motivating!
ART:
First off we have some new billboard art. Below (top) is Trav's first take on the "Sidewalk of Tomorrow" and then Von (bottom) integrated it into a concept billboard and background.
Von (top) and Brian (bottom) have been working on some ideas for backgrounds for puzzle/story mode since in our trailer every level looks eerily similar.
And finally, I told Holly that having a baby is no excuse so in addition to art directing she's worked with Brian on concept for the "Roles" results screen. The idea is that at the end of a level (if playing co-op) you're awarded the role you played. We're hoping this encourages people to play different roles, and adds some fun. The player colored medals are placeholders for iconic images we still need to create.
ANIM:
Ryan joined us this month and has been working on some in-game effects, but I'd like to show off his test anim for the transition from billboard to billboard (area to area). First Von (above) did a concept of how the city might be laid out as a backdrop, then Ryan took that file and did a quick vis dev anim (below).
DEV:
Thanks to Jeremy we can save the game now! We also have 6 placeholder billboards which I need to fill with levels. Sophy added a "NOOB" difficulty to Territory/Battle mode. It allows players like your mom to not have to connect to a source to infect their tiles. We'll have to play with that. He's also been making sure that we keep track of high scores and medals to add replayability and good 'ol competition to the game.
AUDIO:
Ian and Lance have been working on the "Audio spreadsheet of destiny" (yes I actually named it that, much love to Steve Bell ) to make sure there's a sound for everything that needs a sound, and the music actually all follows a theme of some sort.
REST:
Of course we can't forget Mike, who's been making all the scheduling possible, and keeping us all in sync. Finally I (Tim) have spent the last month composing this update. Well worth it me thinks.
In summary, thanks for all the hard work. We're getting lots of love for all the amazing work we've done so far, and it's really awesome to see all the progress we're making!
