Week #026: By Popular Demand

(05-12-12) Update: We've been getting so many great suggestions that I decided to keep this open for another week before we start narrowing them down for a poll. Keep 'em coming!

It sure has been a while. On Thursday, Dan filled you in on the graphical overhaul and why things have been so slow for us lately. It's certainly been a busy, chaotic time.

But I'm happy to say that I feel more positive about this project now than I ever have. You shouldn't let this speed bump worry you, because things are looking up! I should also be sure to mention that there are absolutely no hard feelings from me in regards to this change of direction; I do not feel that my job with the company is in jeopardy, and I do believe that this change is the best for everyone.

Just what does it mean to you, the player, though? It is sad to say that very few of my graphics will be appearing in the final game now, but you should expect the same overall style regardless of this new direction. Dan and Evan seem devoted to sticking to that style, and you can be sure that I'm devoted to making sure everything maintains the same (or improved) charm.

This brings us to the purpose of this blog. I have no plans to discontinue it, but the amount of final assets you see may wind up being limited. What you can look forward to seeing is more concept art and test animations for characters and creatures alike. I'm planning to make a post highlighting just what myself and the rest of the art team (we're a team now!) are working on, but I didn't want to clutter this homecoming post and distract away from what everyone's really interested in...

Community Impact Opportunity #002:

Pets! That's Right... Pets!!!

Images represent a game currently in development.

OMG is it finally time!? It is. As you can see above, this little fellow is what I have in the works as HTD's first out-of-combat pet. The fun, of course, won't stop here, and we felt it only proper to let you, the players, decide on what kind of pets you want to have with you in HTD. Leave your demands in the comments and we'll sort through them, decide on what will work and what won't, and I'll create a poll in the coming weeks to narrow the choices down!

Please be sure that you're logged in to Blogger when you leave your suggestion, so that you can be properly credited if it comes down to your idea winning.

Until next time!

Week #017: Multiple Maximus

Due to some personal problems (I can't catch a break, can I?), we unfortunately had to delay the development of a few things, as you may have noticed in last thursday's update. While I'm not comfortable stating an ETA on anything, I can assure you that I'm prioritizing the completion of human males and shadow abilities (surprise?) for their addition to the game as soon as possible.

Many of you wanted to see Maximus geared up in various ways other than full plate armor, so I wanted to be sure to bring that to the blog this week. I've been pleased with the overall reception regarding the new Max so far, and I continue to assure you that if you had something different in mind, that we'll have you covered with the design of future races.

I also wanted to include some development shots of how Maximus' animations are coming along, but thanks to a major speed bump involving the side view, that stuff is a total mess right now and I don't think anyone could make any sense of it. I'll try to get something like that out next week. Unfortunately (I know, I know, this post is kind of a real drag...), that same speed bump will cause the completion of males to be pushed back by at least a week, and that isn't even including the equipment yet. Sorry! I'm doing what I can.

Enough of these downers, let's move on to some fun community impact activities. First of all, I'm sure some of you noticed that I extended the length of CIP#003 to determine the order of the remaining three elements (with shadow obviously being the second). Since I can't edit a poll once it's active, I couldn't modify it to reflect this extension. Just try not to let the title confuse you. Since shadow has already been decided on, feel free to change your votes to help decide on the next three if you wish.

As for our first Community Impact Opportunity (CIO), as I teased last week...

Community Impact Opportunity #001:

Choose Your Own Arsenal #001

What else can we expect to see by the end of the month, you ask? How about some new weapons? What I want to do is get your feedback on what kind of weapons you'd like to see included in HTD. Axes? Maces? Can't get enough of swords? Maybe you have some really wild and unique ideas in mind? As long as it fits the theme of the game, we want to hear it. Here are a few additional guidelines to follow:

• Melee weapons are ideal for this opportunity. Since animations for ranged and casting weapons aren't yet complete, such weapons couldn't be added until a later date. I'll most likely hold a separate CIO when that time comes.
• You do not need to have a visual of your idea. A detailed description is fine (and I cannot stress enough that more detail will increase your chances). Lack of a visual will not hurt your chances, unless your description is just too vague to make sense of.
• While we can't include exact copies of a popular weapon (example: a Buster Sword, the Master Sword, etc.), we can create a reasonable facsimile. Feel free to include such suggestions and we'll see what we can do, but being imaginative and unique could go a long way.
• A poll will not be opened to choose between these weapons. Any weapon that I choose to design will be included in the game!

As always, we're looking forward to seeing what you come up with. While I won't promise to include every idea, I will try to add as many as I can by the time the option of changing your weapons in-game becomes available (no public ETA, you know the drill).

In closing, the last thing I want to mention is I will be moving my weekly blog updates to sunday night. Getting them together for monday nights is just proving to be too difficult for me. This may change again if I find that sundays don't work any better for me, so stay tuned.