If there's anything I've learned about writing monthly video game updates, it's that there always ends up being a lede at risk of being buried. So, as usual, let there be no mistake as to what the big news of the day is:
DELEVELED WILL BE FEATURED IN THIS YEAR'S PAX 10 LINEUP.
As you might guess from the uppercase letters, we're REALLY excited about this. PAX 10 is a showcase of ten hand-picked indie games at PAX West. We applied on a lark a couple of months ago and were absolutely over the moon to learn that we'd been selected by the judges. It certainly doesn't hurt that, for us, PAX West is local. So, if you'll be there this year, we'll be demoing all day, all four days. Come by, say hi, and move some squares around!
Less exciting but just as meaningful, a few weeks ago, we released an alpha version of Deleveled to a handful of our friends so we could get some broad feedback on gameplay mechanics and feel. The notes we've been able to take have been incredibly helpful and will play a big part in making sure Deleveled is the best it can be upon release. Generally speaking, people seem to like the game, which, you know, is a very good thing. They're a little more mixed about some mechanics we're experimenting with, which is also a good thing because it gives us some data points to work with when we make final decisions on what to include in the game.
As of this past Monday, we officially have a full set of game levels in the books (which is really exciting for me because it means I can take a little break from level design and work on something else). There's still a ton of playtesting and polish that needs to happen on them but we're on track to meet our clearly stated and well defined goal of "tons" of levels. That is, depending on how much you think a level weighs. In any case, we're shooting for a lot.
In the coming weeks, I'll be focusing much more closely on audio, filling in some missing sound effects as well as composing the soundtrack. Kyle has been working hard on the various menus and flow that the game will need when it releases and he'll be tightening up the gameplay and iterating on our visuals very soon.
If you want the latest breaking Deleveled news, go give @DeleveledGame a follow. If you're more interested in Kyle, he's at @ToasterFuel; if I'm more your style, I'm at @jpnance. Also, drop by one of Kyle's gamedev streams on Twitch and scrutinize his code. (That's probably the meanest thing that I could say to a fellow programmer. I already regret it.)
Patrick