After creating and tweaking the first two chapters of the Wytches Brew Quest by
hand, we decided that if we were ever going to complete the next 50 or so
chapters, we'd better have some sort of tool to work with. So we made one!
Wytches Yarn is a WYSIWYG (WhatYouSeeIsWhatYouGet) Editor for the Quest's
graphic-novel pages and game level configuration. It is currently functional
and awaiting the final art content. Wytches Yarn is only for internal use and
will not be available to the public (unlike Shlongg
in which the full version includes a built-in level creator!).
Sorry if that's a bit of a tease - we just thought it was cool and wanted to
offer some insight into the inner workings of NotSoft and what it takes to
produce an independent software title.
Getting back to art content - the Wytches Brew art direction combines CGI and
digitially manipulated photographs. These elements are brought together and
composited at run time by the game engine according to script files. Just
the sort of script files produced by Wytches Yarn. Fancy that!
Even with this technique to reduce graphic file size, we're having a heck of a
time paring down source material. We currently have nearly one gigabyte (and
growing!) worth of digitial imagery to work with...
Uh, wait...
Just how big is the average downloadable casual game these days...!?
It has come to our attention that some dirty spammer out there has been
spoofing their Viagra spam to make it look like it is being sent from a
notsoftgames.com email address (you can
read about email spoofing here if you'd like more information about
it). Unfortunately there is nothing we can do to stop them from doing this, but
we can at least give you this warning.
We don't send spam emails. You will only ever receive an email from us under
the following conditions:
A single confirmation email after you've purchased our software
As reply to a message sent through our Contact page
If you receive an email that appears to come from us that is about any other
subject, it's not from us so please don't click any of the links it may
contain.
The first Wytches Brew Beta release is set to expire on May 1st. So,
here's the second Wytches Brew beta! If you have the first beta
installed, please un-install it before installing the new version.
This version features:
In-game tutorial
Chapters 1 and 2 of "The Quest"
"Ghost" candles to give an indication of how much wax power a move will cost
Many bug fixes
Some art clean-up
The game is near functionally complete, but we still have a lot of content to
create. In the meantime, we'd love to know what you think about it so far -
why not tell us?
We estimate the code
for Wytches Brew to be about 85% complete. However, the graphics and content
are closer to the 50% range... Still much to do.
Pictured here is a test render of the first non-Wytch character - after all,
the Wytches need someone to brew their potions for!
The current Wytches Brew demo expires at the beginning of May, so we plan on
releasing an updated version shortly before then.
The next version will contain the in-game tutorial, some bug fixes, as well as
a first look at "Quest Mode"!
Stay tuned!
Gosh, that peasant is tall. Clearly not undernourished.
Rather than leave this space empty, we shall use it to implore you to
buy a copy of Shlongg! Still a great deal at only $9.99 for the best 3D
breakout-tunnel racer hybrid game around!
We had a lovely time, but now it's time to get back to work! We hope to have
Wytches Brew completed by mid-spring, so if you have any feedback on
the beta version, please send it to us soon!
We are taking off on a short vacation! And a well deserved one at that!
Unfortunately that means if you need tech support help with
Shlongg (still an amazing bargain at only $9.99!) we will not be able
to offer any until February 10th. Not that anyone has ever asked for tech
support with it before, but hey, there's always a first time...
What's that? Where's the Wytches Brew demo we've been going on about for months
now? Well, we won't be able to offer any tech support with that until February
10th either...
Also, be aware that while it is quite playable, it is still a work in progress.
We'd love to hear what you think about it, though! Please let us know by using
our handy contact page!
Still no Wytches Brew demo. We'd like to at least get some of the preliminary
Wytch animations in first. And even then, the first demo release will be a
semi-private one where you'll need to contact us to get it (basically the same
drill as the first Shlongg beta
release was).
But here's a little teaser in the meantime:
This is still a work in progress - it is not representitive of the final
quality, yadda yadda yadda...
Ok, it doesn't officially end for about another month, but still where did the
time go? We'd hoped to have a beta of Wytches
Brew by mid summer, but clearly that didn't happen!
That's not to say we've been taking it easy! Quite the opposite in fact. The
biggest cause of the delay has been feature creep (which is industry jargon for
when software starts to evolve beyond it's original design). Feature creep is
usually suppressed in the industry due to tight budgets and schedules.
Luckily for us, we make due with no budget and a schedule of "when it's done"
so if a project starts evolving in good directions, we are free to let it go
there. It's great to be indie! We'll get the beta version out as soon as we
can.
Speaking of no budget, why not help us out and
buy a copy of Shlongg. Still only $9.99 for the best 3D breakout-tunnel
racer hybrid game around!
We promised to reveal a little more information about our next commercial title
in May, and since May ends in a couple of hours we'd better get on with it!
Wytches Brew is the name, and creating
magical potions is the game! We're taking a little detour on this one from our
usual arcade style games to have a crack at the casual puzzle genre. And if
you're upset by that, don't worry - the one after it (currently in
pre-production) is a 3D Beat-'Em-Up. Variety is the spice of life, right?
Of course, the Wytches Brew website is
just a teaser page right now, but it will be updated with more detail as we get
closer to release. We are doing a private alpha release this weekend, invite
only. We are currently aiming for a public beta release mid-summer. Stay tuned!
We got a fancy new widescreen monitor and felt it would be truly awesome to
play Shlongg in widescreen resolution. If only that were possible... Like with
the latest version! Shlongg now supports resolutions larger than 1024 x 768,
including Widescreen formats up to 1440 x 900!
Did we mention Widescreen yet?
If you already have the previous version installed, you can download just the
update
here.
Did we mention it's still only $9.99? Good, then our work here is done.
We are proud to present our entry for the Gibbage
"Make Something By April 30th" challenge - S.H.U.M.M.!
There were a few features we didn't have time to implement (like weapons
upgrades, enemies that shoot back at you and some variety in the look of the
rooms), but overall we are pretty happy with the results. It's probably still a
little buggy, but that shouldn't stop you from having fun. After you're done
playing, why not head over to the Gibbage
forums and see how some of the other entries turned out?
The big game studios who produce those AAA titles we all know and love are not
generally known for taking risks. That's where independent developers come in.
We're not in it for the money as much as for the love of games. And we don't
generally have shareholders who are going to get upset with us for some of our
more wacky ideas that are probably not going to be commercially successful. God
bless those indies.
On that note, we would like to applaud the new Gibbage Initiative:
If you buy games or merchandise through gibbage.co.uk, all profits will fund
exciting new indie games that the big studios wouldn't touch with a 39 1/2 foot
pole.
Finally, we'd also like to say it's great to see some of the big players giving
some focus to indie developers. Fileplanet.com
has recently begun the Indie
Spotlight, in which indie titles get featured on the front page! Good
on ya guys!
Wow! Despite the recent cold snap here in the Greater Toronto Area, spring has
sprung! Our still yet unveiled next commercial title is coming along
nicely. We plan on revealing more in May!
Now, as for the Make Something By April 30th challenge over at
the Gibbage Forums, here's a teaser:
More info soon. Stay tuned!
Finally, special thanks to Retro 247 for
running the shiny new Shlongg banner ad, for free!
It's GameDuJour.com! One Day, One
Game, One Incredible Deal!
Every day they are able to offer one game at a deeply discounted price. How can
they do this? We're not sure. They must have robot sales-people, or a cabal of
ancient marketing wizards or something.
But why are we telling you this? Well for one thing, if you love games it's a
great site to check regularly. For another, Shlongg
will be the Game Du Jour on Wednesday,
March 14th 2007! That's tomorrow!
That's right! If you act in that 24 hour period, you can Buy the Retail version
of Shlongg at a large discount off it's already low price! Don't miss it!
...but after two months without updates, we can see why you might worry.
But no, we pulled out of our drunken stupors early and got on with business.
The About section has been updated to be a little more
"formal". Wow! We have values and stuff!
Don't worry, we did more than just update a single HTML page over the last two
months: Our next Still-Underwraps commercial title is coming along
nicely - We're on target for a late spring beta test.
But that's not all! We've also picked up the gauntlet in the "Make Something By
April 30th" challenge over at the Gibbage Forums.
This means a new free game will be joining the others in the game section at
the end of April! Stay tuned, we'll most likely have some beta tests of that
one soon!
Finally, preproduction work continues on what will likely be our masterpiece,
which will begin production in Q4 of this year. Yessir, this year is shaping up
to be a good one! Oink Oink!
We estimate the code
for Wytches Brew to be about 85% complete. However, the graphics and content
are closer to the 50% range... Still much to do.
