2012-04-14T20:03:55-11:00 lifetype-1.2.10_r6971 http://www.ilathid.com/blog/rss.php?blogId=1&profile=atom Copyright (c) ilathid tag:www.ilathid.com,2012-04-14:36 2012-04-14T20:03:55-11:00

So now that our first alpha test in way too many years is over--at least, for now--I think a post mortem review of the process would be helpful for anyone undertaking a similar project for ...

ilathid Jennifer So now that our first alpha test in way too many years is over--at least, for now--I think a post mortem review of the process would be helpful for anyone undertaking a similar project for their own Age/game level.  First off, a huge thank you to everyone who joined in the test and provided feedback.  I was often impressed by the depth of your analyses, even if, yes, you couldn't solve the puzzle.  Fyi, only one person managed to solve the puzzle, and this was through luck.  (Okay, so there were those of you who hacked the game files to get the answer.    )  At any rate, we'll be fixing things to guide players towards the right answer in the next version.   Also--if you applied as a tester but got stuck at some point in the process--i.e. you sent us an e-mail, but we never responded--then please send another e-mail to ilathid@gmail.com and we'll guide you through the rest of the steps.  We made a number of mistakes along the way, and though we tried to make sure that we got everyone, I don't feel 100% sure.  Finally, if you played the game and haven't yet responded to the questionnaire (you can find the link in the same e-mail as the game download links), what are you waiting for?  The game isn't going to improve itself.  ;) Okay, on to the post mortem review.   When we started off the alpha testing process, we simply had a bunch of loose testing documents set up on Google docs with spreadsheets and letters.  Basically we just planned to e-mail links to whoever signed up.  But the number of people who joined the test (several dozens) combined with me moving house and losing internet connection for awhile made the manual approach fall flat on its face.  I tried sending mass e-mails, but it was difficult because everyone was at a different stage in the sign up process and I wasn't sure who had been taken care of yet; the done-by-hand lists took too much effort to maintain.  Paulo finally solved the problem by creating a bot that automatically flagged e-mails with the appropriate "Sign me up for alpha testing" title, then created links between the documents which shunted people through the sign up process automagically.  Muuuch better.  He can explain this process better than I can, so I'll let him go over it in another post.  :) Another pitfall included the language barrier (I don't speak French, though fortunately several other Ilathidians do), which prevented several unfortunate people from getting prompt replies to their requests for help.  If anyone is interested, we are looking for a French translator; excellent spelling and grammar are a must.  Then too, the download site we used for the game was not particularly "clean," leading at least one person to believe that they had to pay to get the game.  I recommend choosing a very simple, user friendly download site without any unnecessary content on the download page.   Finally, this may seem obvious, but note in the alpha testing announcement what platform the game is currently running on.  Mac, Linux, Windows--it's kind of important, y'know?  ;)   Okay, that's it for now.  On to the next bunch of fixes! tag:www.ilathid.com,2012-02-05:35 2012-02-05T17:22:03-12:00

NOTE: ALPHA TESTING IS CURRENTLY CLOSED!   IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE INCLUDED IN OUR NEXT TEST, SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER OR WATCH THIS SPACE FOR NEW TESTING OPPORTUNITIES.  :) ...

ilathid Jennifer NOTE: ALPHA TESTING IS CURRENTLY CLOSED!   IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE INCLUDED IN OUR NEXT TEST, SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER OR WATCH THIS SPACE FOR NEW TESTING OPPORTUNITIES.  :) ALPHA TESTING CLOSED     tag:www.ilathid.com,2012-02-03:32 2012-02-03T23:15:21-12:00

Great News: for a limited (but unknown) Time, DAZ offers it's Graphix Suite for free : http://www.daz3d.com/i/3d-models/free-3d-software?cat=1486 For the Atronomical Price of $ 0.00, ...

ilathid Joel Resources Great News: for a limited (but unknown) Time, DAZ offers it's Graphix Suite for free : http://www.daz3d.com/i/3d-models/free-3d-software?cat=1486 For the Atronomical Price of $ 0.00, you'll get Daz Studio 4 Pro, Bryce 7 Pro, Hexagon 2.5 and lotsa other goodies (DAZ Bridge, DAZ Goz, Bryce additionnal content, an so on...). Run and get your copy right now ! tag:www.ilathid.com,2011-12-24:30 2011-12-24T23:50:38-12:00

Ok, I'm aware (and me guess you too are...) that I pop here only for various greetings... Although, I wish you the very best for these Winter Holidays for ya, your family and friends. So, merry ...

ilathid General Joel Ok, I'm aware (and me guess you too are...) that I pop here only for various greetings... Although, I wish you the very best for these Winter Holidays for ya, your family and friends. So, merry Christmas and happy New Year ! tag:www.ilathid.com,2011-12-24:31 2011-12-24T13:56:25-12:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!    

ilathid General MERRY CHRISTMAS!     tag:www.ilathid.com,2011-12-17:29 2011-12-17T19:58:32-12:00

Happy to announce that we've finished the demo for part of an Age.  :)  Still got a lot of work left to do on it, but it's pretty darned thrilling to walk around in. We'll ...

ilathid Jennifer Happy to announce that we've finished the demo for part of an Age.  :)  Still got a lot of work left to do on it, but it's pretty darned thrilling to walk around in. We'll start setting things in motion to release it for testing once we've gotten our project management system straightened back out.  Redmine?  It finally bit the big one.  Too many errors, too hard to fix when it breaks.  Also, some of the official "upgrades" were actually Vista-style upgrades, if you get the drift.  So right now we're looking at OpenAtrium, which seems like it will be an improvement in any case.   "Then the game designers grew proud of Redmine, and forgot their humble origins in the darkness of the ancient Ilathid forum.  And so a great catastrophe struck their project management system.  The survivors fled to a new home, OpenAtrium, where they could begin anew."  Story of our project! tag:www.ilathid.com,2011-11-03:28 2011-11-03T19:44:52-11:00

We're currently in the final stage of assembly for the new area--the slides are done, the animations are done, and the programming is estimated at 25% complete.  :)   ...

ilathid General We're currently in the final stage of assembly for the new area--the slides are done, the animations are done, and the programming is estimated at 25% complete.  :)   Plans for the future are to focus on smaller bites at a time.   tag:www.ilathid.com,2011-08-20:26 2011-08-20T07:23:02-11:00

Hello, it's Paulo again!     Now to talk about general design principles. One thing every aspiring game designer should have in mind is that ...

ilathid General Paulo Hello, it's Paulo again!     Now to talk about general design principles. One thing every aspiring game designer should have in mind is that everything MUST BE DONE ON PURPOSE. You just do not throw game elements around because they're cool. Dissonant elements do the charming trick of not only taking the player out of the game, but of making them stop playing the game, and, in some extreme cases, making them return the game to the shop claiming a defect and making them trade your game for the first thing they see on the shelf. In short, not good.     That does not mean you don't add new elements because they're cool ---- you make sure they have a purpose within the game. Even for old elements - if your team points out one element does not fit, you have to swallow your pride and seriously consider taking it off - but make sure they can point out WHY it doesn't fit. This is valid for all sorts of games, even shooters, racing games, sports games - the more solid and purposeful the initial framework is, the less likely it will have to be completely torn down and rebuilt from scratch several times, and the more likely any proposed changes will purely refine it further, and even that eventual correction and retifications (known as RetCon for short) of the plot in later games will blend in more smoothly. For instance, the whole question of Trap Books in Myst is a massive RetCon. Why? Because the Miller brothers simply didn't think Myst would be enough of a success to warrant a sequel, let alone a complete fictional universe. When it did go well, they had to do quite a few RetCons... however, the original Myst was well-built enough to withstand the necessary RetCons, which further demonstrate the point. If the millers weren't skilled, Myst wouldn't be such a success, nor be so easily inserted into a larger universe. The point is: If you say to yourself or your teammates "well, put whatever we have in there" or "ah, just insert in some filler", or "pick it randomly", or "I saw a cool thing in another game, put it in whenever you like" too often, and, worse, don't check the result or test it..... well, your game is probably done for, unless your team is very skilled. Bad producers kill good games. Bad designers, animators or musicians can wound a game. But bad producers are always the ones who deliver the final blow.   tag:www.ilathid.com,2011-08-19:25 2011-08-19T21:34:18-11:00

Back in April I mentioned we were trying to finish a new demo in a scorching 30 day blitz. The operational part of the post was the following: Not that we finished it all on ...

ilathid Jennifer Back in April I mentioned we were trying to finish a new demo in a scorching 30 day blitz. The operational part of the post was the following: Not that we finished it all on schedule (let's just throw back our heads and laugh at that silly idea) At any rate, it's time for a progress update. We're done with the modeling, sounds, voice recordings, landscaping and a bit of the rendering. Which leaves the animations, the rest of the renderings, the coding for the navigation, some voice alteration, and the puzzle logic. But--due to some problems one of our team members is having, we'll have to put this on hold for awhile (a month or so, I guess). I thought I'd share some of the work done for the demo here. This animal is called the stinger snail. (Due to the import process from Blender to Bryce, the snail won't look this good in the demo, but in the final version it should look right.) Stinger Snail tag:www.ilathid.com,2011-08-02:24 2011-08-02T14:41:16-11:00

And now, a post about our game. First, we must talk about our background. I'll try not to be too spoilerific here, but be warned. To start, as I believe you ...

ilathid General Paulo And now, a post about our game. First, we must talk about our background. I'll try not to be too spoilerific here, but be warned. To start, as I believe you know if you're reading this. The Ages of Ilathid (TAOI, to its friends), is set on the D'ni universe. If you do not know about the D'ni universe, I'll recommend you to get the original Myst games and the Myst books. The books are important too. But you may also read reference sites, like this one: http://dnidesk.rivenwolf.net/refindex.html Now that you know a little or a lot about the D'niverse, read on...     TAOI takes place before Myst III: Exile and after Riven (Myst II). Atrus has gathered some survivors and is sending teams throughout the lost D'ni City to search for Books as well as survivors, missed out by its destruction and by his father, Gehn. He has had some success, yet he insists on caution, and not without reason... "You are one of the survivors, assigned to a search team; but your teammate was reassigned to a construction project. Instead of waiting for a new teammate, you set off on your own to your next scheduled area - no one will notice you, you think. After completing it, you stray off into a high-class district, guessing it might hold more hidden Linking Books. The district has been heavily hit by the tremors - and you see from the facades of the buildings that this area was already falling from grace before D'ni fell. The upper class was already moving out to other districts. This evaluation is, in your view, confirmed by the fact that there are no Books in the preliminary search. Instead of doing a detailed search, which would take many hours and likely deprive you of seeing camp for a few days, you decide to merely do a preliminary search on the last few places left. One of those is a crumbling manor sitting atop two great faults in the flooring, with a gaping hole in a level below the main door. You enter and find yourself in a darkened cellar full of bookshelves... a few firemarbles weakly illuminate the environment. You take a few steps forward and the room starts to tremble. Before you can turn around, the ceiling starts dropping behind you. As the last rocks tumble down and the dust blinds your eyes, you start praying for the rest of the ceiling not dropping. As the trembling stops, you pray to Yahvo there to be another way out. And when you get to check out the old cellar and find it is devoid of exits... you start praying that this time your Book search will go well. It is your only hope of escape." Will it go well? It might... but it sure won't be easy. Try our demo here .