Alpha Release 3.1 and first playable Demo
by Richard Elswick · 12/27/2007 (6:11 pm) · 10 comments
Well we have finished our Demo and so far it is looking good!
We have a complete level for the player to work through, get introduced to the story, make it through a complete day. The player finds out that there is a pretty big world out there to be explored. There are about 3 minigames as part of the demo. There is quite a bit of tweaking still needed to be at a point I would feel confortable in releasing as a general downloadable demo, but overall things are looking good.
Basically our initial cut at the game is done and now we just need to expand on the fun side of the game as well as improving the serious aspect in several ways. We also need to flesh out the rest of the art assets and the world, so that it feels fuller and a bit more real. This will be the hardest aspect as we don't have a bunch of artists and animators on the team.
Some items I am looking to add...
- a cut scene at the begining to help set the storty.
- possibly some video play backs, whereby each homeless person that tells their story could actually be an interview with someone that is homeless and maybe even someone that once was homeless (other npcs).
- some additional minigame type stuff to introduce more fun aspects. Right now everything is done in 3D, but something like searching for bottles in trash shouldn't necessarily be shown in 3D. Think of how fishing works in most MMOs.
- improved level design and AI actions.
- a linux executable for testing
- we also need to expand upon the story and full game aspect, so that it becomes more fleshed out.
enough for now, if your interested in testing the Alpha stages, send me an email and let me know.
Rich
We have a complete level for the player to work through, get introduced to the story, make it through a complete day. The player finds out that there is a pretty big world out there to be explored. There are about 3 minigames as part of the demo. There is quite a bit of tweaking still needed to be at a point I would feel confortable in releasing as a general downloadable demo, but overall things are looking good.
Basically our initial cut at the game is done and now we just need to expand on the fun side of the game as well as improving the serious aspect in several ways. We also need to flesh out the rest of the art assets and the world, so that it feels fuller and a bit more real. This will be the hardest aspect as we don't have a bunch of artists and animators on the team.
Some items I am looking to add...
- a cut scene at the begining to help set the storty.
- possibly some video play backs, whereby each homeless person that tells their story could actually be an interview with someone that is homeless and maybe even someone that once was homeless (other npcs).
- some additional minigame type stuff to introduce more fun aspects. Right now everything is done in 3D, but something like searching for bottles in trash shouldn't necessarily be shown in 3D. Think of how fishing works in most MMOs.
- improved level design and AI actions.
- a linux executable for testing
- we also need to expand upon the story and full game aspect, so that it becomes more fleshed out.
enough for now, if your interested in testing the Alpha stages, send me an email and let me know.
Rich
#2
12/28/2007 (1:18 am)
Where can we demo?
#3
12/28/2007 (3:52 am)
Another question why is it version 3.1 and still in alpha?
#4
@Donald: well 0.31 would sound better, but why not Alpha 3.1?
Keep up the good work on this game Richard.
12/28/2007 (8:25 am)
@Kevin:Quote:There is quite a bit of tweaking still needed to be at a point I would feel confortable in releasing as a general downloadable demo, but overall things are looking good.
@Donald: well 0.31 would sound better, but why not Alpha 3.1?
Keep up the good work on this game Richard.
#5
12/28/2007 (4:28 pm)
From a version number stand point it makes one think its the 3rd release.
#6
12/29/2007 (3:12 am)
Also, alphas are supposed to just be developer tests, public tests would be Beta realeases..... 
#7
But yeah the number is wrong - the release candidate should build to 1.0 for it's first iteration into public / developer space. Version 1.0 is the one people pay for.
12/29/2007 (3:34 am)
From an Indie point of view aren't we all colleagues of any developer? So we could be viewed as in-house developers for anyone with a release candidate - I only think it's public when it's released on the Interweb.But yeah the number is wrong - the release candidate should build to 1.0 for it's first iteration into public / developer space. Version 1.0 is the one people pay for.
#8
12/30/2007 (7:40 pm)
Perhaps he has already given it to *other* developers to Alpha test and this is release 3 of that set? Does it really matter anyway?
#9
12/30/2007 (10:56 pm)
Yes it does matter. If it's released as the first time the public get their hands on it, it becomes 1.0 When you patch it, it may be a minor patch so it would be 1.0.1, otherwise a major patch is 1.1 - Making a sequel, it's version 2.0 and so on. "What the world needs is more standards" :)
#10
I am sorry about that, I would prefer to keep it with the version naming convention you all mention and as we go to Beta and other versions we will keep it as such, but for now, I am going to leave it and call it good. Only one person shot me an email about running the demo.
I will get it up for a general test for you all that are providing feedback to me, after all it is only a tech (in the gameplay style of how the rest of the game might be) demo right now. Stay tuned to the .plan.
I also took a look at what it might take to get the game to run in Linux and I am not sure it is even worth the trouble.
Also a bit of good news, 3 of the students working on the game have said they will continue to assist us! yah!
01/07/2008 (7:27 pm)
Thanks all. Numbers are just numbers after all. Yes, it will be 1.0 when officially released, but unfortunately I let the developers get carried away and they called it release 3 (1 and 2 already came before) on their own, so I just stayed with it. Hence the Alpha. :( I am sorry about that, I would prefer to keep it with the version naming convention you all mention and as we go to Beta and other versions we will keep it as such, but for now, I am going to leave it and call it good. Only one person shot me an email about running the demo.
I will get it up for a general test for you all that are providing feedback to me, after all it is only a tech (in the gameplay style of how the rest of the game might be) demo right now. Stay tuned to the .plan.
I also took a look at what it might take to get the game to run in Linux and I am not sure it is even worth the trouble.
Also a bit of good news, 3 of the students working on the game have said they will continue to assist us! yah!
Torque Owner Andy Hawkins