Spring has almost sprung, and so has the scramble to begin integrating all of the art Kent has generated over the preceding months and to begin fleshing out the initial character personalities.
One thing developers and players share as a game progresses is the experience of personality evolution, It's a constant calibration effort that goes much more smoothly if you get them mostly right out the gate.
We're at the phase where we're matching up the imagery with the dialogue and with a keen eye to what works and what doesn't. After all, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
And first impressions are what Chapter 1 is really all about. The player learns a little bit about each of the primary characters and the challenge he's up against, and then takes his first steps toward overcoming that challenge.
We've certainly got our work cut out for us. As others have pointed out, we have a lot more characters to herd here, and the real trick is making each feel unique, interesting, relatable...But also like they won't wilt in the shadows of others. Each addition to the cast complicates that challenge, but in exchange we're given a lot more latitude in exploring something with one character that wouldn't feel right with another.
One way we will work to ensure characters are given their due is to ensure at least one "episode" centers on them. It's not that the others won't be present, they'll just be less central to the plot of another character's spotlight chapter.
Similar to Chasing Sunsets, there will be early "game overs" for particularly ill-advised choices, and while those might not always be thoroughly telegraphed, we'll do our best to make sure slicing into the game over sand trap is at least feels less like a "gotcha" and sheds more light on the story than one might have had if they lived to fight another day.
We are trying for a late spring or early summer launch, and given where we are in the art pipeline, that feels achievable today. As always, I'll update all of you if something changes.
In the meantime, as primary production starts heading toward a wrap and we enter the post-production phase, I can say that Kent and are are starting to see the big picture coalesce, and we are excited to be on the cusp of embarking on our particular brand of world building with our fans again.
Oh yeah, it's all coming together!
Stoya