As Connor mentioned in the previous blog post, a wave of productivity hit us across the face a few weeks ago. Now we are cooking through important work faster than I think we ever have. Sure we're still busy with school but just in the last two days of this weekend we've:
created a video
reorganized our kickstarter efforts
finalized a networking library interface
got the band back together
and started a lua testing minigame
A few other things have happened, but they don't count as the last two days, so they were left out. Now as I mentioned we created a video:
The Cat Traps Are Working
Progress has to be made on the minigame while the Networking library is developed by Ben, but hopefully we will be able to post a very entertaining minigame soon.
As mentioned in the video we are also going to have another indie(Function) interview coming up this February. We are looking forward to it and if you heard the last interview you probably are too. (Just sayin' those guys are really good at what they do). To follow indie function look for them on twitter and go to their site:
indie();
There's a lot more coming down the pipe, hats on and don't look up... some of the things coming down are going to be big!
-Allen
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
One Year Later, One Year Left?
Hello and happy end of days!
As we all begin the last year of humanity, A Shapian's Tale has reached it's first full year of development! What does this mean for you guys? Well you might see AST out of beta and into release just in time for the apocalypse! I know that doesn't sound all too great, but maybe I can soften the blow with some good news eh?
Well for starters, the ball is finally rolling, and boy is it rolling fast! We are finally geting things setup in Lua, and finishing up the bulk of the C++. So within the coming months you will be playing AST on a frequently updated client. This will not be the Alpha however, we will keep adding features until we are almost ready for Alpha, and then do some closed testing for a little while. Once the closed testing is up, we will release Public Alpha, and you will all start the official story of A Shapian's Tale! In addition to this we are expecting the avatars to be done by the next month according to our Graphic Designer Ed Kulb. Hopefully this meets its deadline and we have the Kickstarter project ready for launch early this year.
Digging a little deeper into the depths of the OverReact game making cave, there has been some recent prototyping for features in AST, one being scroll crafting. Scroll crafting is a type of crafting in which the player places a series of attributes onto a scroll and connects them correctly to make magical scrolls. Below you can see some screenshots of the prototype of the very promising feature in AST.
Many more prototypes will be made as we move on in development (each - including scroll crafting - will have a vlog for an in depth overview), by the time we are ready to actually implement these features we will have a complete understanding of how the mechanics should work. Some of these upcoming prototypes will include mercantile, blacksmithing, carpentry, and also food and recipe crafting. Each of these will be shown in a vlog like what you see above for scroll crafting.
Well I hope this all shined some light on the dreadful fate of humanity, until next time this is your neighborhood friendly game designer,
-Connor Hart
As we all begin the last year of humanity, A Shapian's Tale has reached it's first full year of development! What does this mean for you guys? Well you might see AST out of beta and into release just in time for the apocalypse! I know that doesn't sound all too great, but maybe I can soften the blow with some good news eh?
Well for starters, the ball is finally rolling, and boy is it rolling fast! We are finally geting things setup in Lua, and finishing up the bulk of the C++. So within the coming months you will be playing AST on a frequently updated client. This will not be the Alpha however, we will keep adding features until we are almost ready for Alpha, and then do some closed testing for a little while. Once the closed testing is up, we will release Public Alpha, and you will all start the official story of A Shapian's Tale! In addition to this we are expecting the avatars to be done by the next month according to our Graphic Designer Ed Kulb. Hopefully this meets its deadline and we have the Kickstarter project ready for launch early this year.
Digging a little deeper into the depths of the OverReact game making cave, there has been some recent prototyping for features in AST, one being scroll crafting. Scroll crafting is a type of crafting in which the player places a series of attributes onto a scroll and connects them correctly to make magical scrolls. Below you can see some screenshots of the prototype of the very promising feature in AST.
Many more prototypes will be made as we move on in development (each - including scroll crafting - will have a vlog for an in depth overview), by the time we are ready to actually implement these features we will have a complete understanding of how the mechanics should work. Some of these upcoming prototypes will include mercantile, blacksmithing, carpentry, and also food and recipe crafting. Each of these will be shown in a vlog like what you see above for scroll crafting.
Well I hope this all shined some light on the dreadful fate of humanity, until next time this is your neighborhood friendly game designer,
-Connor Hart
Thursday, November 24, 2011
On Thanksgiving Day
Hello our faithful fans!
Today is the American holiday Thanksgiving. Although I try to be well cultured, I do not really know anything about other countries on this matter. Do they have their own version of the holiday at some time of year? Do any celebrate thanksgiving on this same day? I am just unaware.
But the reason I brought up the holiday at all is because it got me thinking about... you guessed it A Shapian's Tale.
You see, on this kick starter project we are going to run, we are looking to raise thousands of dollars. It occurred to me that with that money, in some parts of the world, one hundred people could be fed for nearly a month. So, for me anyway, I have to have a pretty good reason to ask for money that I am going to spend a game.
Not that I don't love games, but at the end of the day they do fall in the luxury category. As in, completely unnecessary for survival, no matter how awesome they are.
So I have decided personally (I have not talked to anyone on the team for about a week because I have been busy with school work) that I will donate 80% of my income from the game to fighting starvation throughout the world. For this reason I will also be taking the job more seriously and scraping every bit of time I can get to focus on it.
Anyway, happy thanksgiving to anyone who's into that.
Allen Webster
Today is the American holiday Thanksgiving. Although I try to be well cultured, I do not really know anything about other countries on this matter. Do they have their own version of the holiday at some time of year? Do any celebrate thanksgiving on this same day? I am just unaware.
But the reason I brought up the holiday at all is because it got me thinking about... you guessed it A Shapian's Tale.
You see, on this kick starter project we are going to run, we are looking to raise thousands of dollars. It occurred to me that with that money, in some parts of the world, one hundred people could be fed for nearly a month. So, for me anyway, I have to have a pretty good reason to ask for money that I am going to spend a game.
Not that I don't love games, but at the end of the day they do fall in the luxury category. As in, completely unnecessary for survival, no matter how awesome they are.
So I have decided personally (I have not talked to anyone on the team for about a week because I have been busy with school work) that I will donate 80% of my income from the game to fighting starvation throughout the world. For this reason I will also be taking the job more seriously and scraping every bit of time I can get to focus on it.
Anyway, happy thanksgiving to anyone who's into that.
Allen Webster
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Humble News For AST.
Like times and times before, things have sort of died out for the team and the project. School has become a priority, and the programmers have become busy with school work. But now with thanksgiving break closing in, the team has had more time for development! Lua is working correctly, and we are working on interfacing it with what we have currently working.
Things are a bit behind schedule, like the kickstarter launch for instance. But we are still very close to getting those squared away. Right now our Graphic Designer Ed Kulb is looking to have all 13 avatars done before December. We hope to have the video finished with a soundtrack from Composer Patrick Moriarty by the first week of December. What does this mean for you guys? This means you will be able to follow are kickstarter project and possibly see an Alpha Demo just in time for the holidays! Now this all seems great, but we are still running a tight schedule, and look at this as merely a possibility.
Some other news, there is word of a possible "Humble AST Bundle", which will include a copy if the game, and various items exclusive to the "Humble Bundle". If this falls through, you guys will have a chance to buy the game just by "Naming it's Price". We are currently figuring all of this out, and will have a final decision once the Alpha releases. Some very exciting news for the game, but what about us? What about OverReact?
Well, there is currently some business going on with Founder Connor Hart and Law Firm Merritt & Merritt & Moulton. This means there is a very large chance OverReact will officially be known as OverReact inc. We hope that once this all happens OverReact will have a studio sometime next year or the year after. So OverReact is doing really good, and is only getting better! :D
Lastly I want to mention the last poll we put up, and its results. We are very pleased to only see 1 "No" result out of 20. We can't wait to have the project launch, and see the results! Also, I wanted to say that if you have any questions you can leave a comment below, or shoot me and email at: ronnoc614@gmail.com
Thanks guys, and stay tuned, more news very soon!
-Connor
Monday, September 5, 2011
Hiring! No Joke!
Hey guys, this is Allen. (programming team leader for any new readers who should check out the About page.)
Recently we have made the final decision to work with an embedded Lua interpreter. What does this mean? For players this means:
+Easier to make, and safer to use mods
+More frequent and less disruptive updates
What this means for us:
+More rapid game component development
-New work to maintain the interface between C++ and Lua
-A brand new language which the team is less strong in
I have already begun experimenting and working on how interfacing between C++ code and Lua code works, and I intend for it to be my primary job to keep the connection between the two working.
I have a small amount of Lua experience, and Mike another member also has a good deal of experience BUT with a brand new language in the mix we'd like a dedicated Lua programmer.
SO THE JOB IS:
We are looking for someone proficient in Lua 5.1, who has experience in embedded interpreters and game design. We need someone who is dedicated to making the game, even with no pay guaranteed. The Lua programming won't start at least until October, but we also need help with some basic design details. We are only hiring one person for now and we aren't sure how many interested people there will be but if you are interested, email me at:
yoyo4thdimention@gmail.com
'Till next time!
watch your language.
Recently we have made the final decision to work with an embedded Lua interpreter. What does this mean? For players this means:
+Easier to make, and safer to use mods
+More frequent and less disruptive updates
What this means for us:
+More rapid game component development
-New work to maintain the interface between C++ and Lua
-A brand new language which the team is less strong in
I have already begun experimenting and working on how interfacing between C++ code and Lua code works, and I intend for it to be my primary job to keep the connection between the two working.
I have a small amount of Lua experience, and Mike another member also has a good deal of experience BUT with a brand new language in the mix we'd like a dedicated Lua programmer.
SO THE JOB IS:
We are looking for someone proficient in Lua 5.1, who has experience in embedded interpreters and game design. We need someone who is dedicated to making the game, even with no pay guaranteed. The Lua programming won't start at least until October, but we also need help with some basic design details. We are only hiring one person for now and we aren't sure how many interested people there will be but if you are interested, email me at:
yoyo4thdimention@gmail.com
'Till next time!
watch your language.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Back and kicking!
Hello to the greatest fans/people who stumbled upon our blog and are deciding whether to leave or not!
So let me start by saying: I have officially moved to Burlington, Vermont! Yep that's right, I am now a full time student at Chaplain College for Game Design! So far the experience is remarkable, from the scenery to my professors, everything here is amazing. And I have even more great news! Thanks to the fact that I only have class for 2 1/2 hours a day, I have more time for A Shapian's Tale! Ahhhh so many exclamation marks right? very exciting stuff guys, very exciting. Now lets move on to some more.....say serious matters, shall we?
Recently we have been discussing a better way for the team to document progress, and stay on te same page rather than trying to find out the scoop on skype. So we have decided that we need a website of some sort which will allow all of us to make notes of what we are doing, what we need to do, and what we have done. But here is where you come in! We want our fans(you odd bunch of people) to view milestones of progress so that you all can see that we are indeed working, and not sitting here preparing for the next world disaster....even though that isn't a bad idea. these milestones will basically be a compilation of all the notes, strenuous, concept etc. which we produce. We will indeed keep making posts on here, but we figure some of you would like to see the chefs make your food right before you eyes :D
As well as that main entree there will be some more appetizers for you all to test and taste! Right now from the looks of our situation, the next payable content could arrive between September and December. And we are hoping that it isn't the latter, but that may be the case. For this next release we are aiming to include some more key features, and slowly move away from the sandbox style you have experienced. Also, this next release should also hold the title of "Alpha" I would like to give you a list of what will be in this release, but then I would not have anything to talk about in my next Vlog entry now would I?
'Till next time this was your neighborhood friendly game designer,
-Connor
So let me start by saying: I have officially moved to Burlington, Vermont! Yep that's right, I am now a full time student at Chaplain College for Game Design! So far the experience is remarkable, from the scenery to my professors, everything here is amazing. And I have even more great news! Thanks to the fact that I only have class for 2 1/2 hours a day, I have more time for A Shapian's Tale! Ahhhh so many exclamation marks right? very exciting stuff guys, very exciting. Now lets move on to some more.....say serious matters, shall we?
Recently we have been discussing a better way for the team to document progress, and stay on te same page rather than trying to find out the scoop on skype. So we have decided that we need a website of some sort which will allow all of us to make notes of what we are doing, what we need to do, and what we have done. But here is where you come in! We want our fans(you odd bunch of people) to view milestones of progress so that you all can see that we are indeed working, and not sitting here preparing for the next world disaster....even though that isn't a bad idea. these milestones will basically be a compilation of all the notes, strenuous, concept etc. which we produce. We will indeed keep making posts on here, but we figure some of you would like to see the chefs make your food right before you eyes :D
As well as that main entree there will be some more appetizers for you all to test and taste! Right now from the looks of our situation, the next payable content could arrive between September and December. And we are hoping that it isn't the latter, but that may be the case. For this next release we are aiming to include some more key features, and slowly move away from the sandbox style you have experienced. Also, this next release should also hold the title of "Alpha" I would like to give you a list of what will be in this release, but then I would not have anything to talk about in my next Vlog entry now would I?
'Till next time this was your neighborhood friendly game designer,
-Connor
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Multiplayer for multiple players
Hello dearest of fans and other people who are reading this!
Today I am here to tell you 3 great things that OverReact has accomplished. To start things off, I will present you with the latest concept art made by Connor Hart(me), it shows a very epic boss battle of some shapians and a powerful fire mage. This image took about 8 hours to develop and it turned out great. It looks great as your desktop background too, so hurry up and save it as so :D
This concept is going to be a poster, and be set as a reward when we launch our kickstarter project. So to anyone who wants this hanging in their room, help us out on kickstarter(after we launch of course).
Now for the next great news! Me and Allen are having an interview with Indie(Function); for A Shapian's Tale! you can listen through their site, or just listen right below, we hope many of you listen in and hear the inside scoop of what we are up to with the game! :D
Lastly, we would like to present you with the greatest news we have, the news you have been waiting for for too long.....Today, A Shapian's Tale goes online! Yep i know what your thinking(i think), and we aren't joking this time! You can find this demo on the A Shapian's Tale page at the very bottom. The demo includes the following features:
You can come chat with us on our IRC channel(since we don't have chatting yet) which is: #AST on the SlashNET sever
AST Tech Demo - Online
That about does it for today's post! make sure you vote in the new poll, and tell us what you think about the demo! With that i advise you not to overreact although it may be difficult not to
-Connor
Today I am here to tell you 3 great things that OverReact has accomplished. To start things off, I will present you with the latest concept art made by Connor Hart(me), it shows a very epic boss battle of some shapians and a powerful fire mage. This image took about 8 hours to develop and it turned out great. It looks great as your desktop background too, so hurry up and save it as so :D
Now for the next great news! Me and Allen are having an interview with Indie(Function); for A Shapian's Tale! you can listen through their site, or just listen right below, we hope many of you listen in and hear the inside scoop of what we are up to with the game! :D
Lastly, we would like to present you with the greatest news we have, the news you have been waiting for for too long.....Today, A Shapian's Tale goes online! Yep i know what your thinking(i think), and we aren't joking this time! You can find this demo on the A Shapian's Tale page at the very bottom. The demo includes the following features:
- Block physics - three different blocks to choose from
- Drawing terrain - using the mouse with key combinations
- Drawing trampolines - same as drawing terrain(uses alt)
- Multiplayer! - yeah pretty obvious but its the best feature!
You can come chat with us on our IRC channel(since we don't have chatting yet) which is: #AST on the SlashNET sever
AST Tech Demo - Online
That about does it for today's post! make sure you vote in the new poll, and tell us what you think about the demo! With that i advise you not to overreact although it may be difficult not to
-Connor
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