Hey guys. It's been, frankly, far too long.
Developing (the) Gnorp Apologue continues to be a privilege, and today I'm going to share my current plans for the future.
During the development of (the) Gnorp Apologue, game design solidified itself as my passion. I have too many ideas that I want to execute, but I want to get to as many as possible. My dream is to create gameplay-focused games with satisfying gameplay and a strong visual identity.
Here's what I've been working on, divided into three parts:
PART I: (the) Epilogue Update
I've talked in previous news updates about the development of a hard mode, and this is the evolution of that hard mode. I realized that I would not be happy with myself if I didn't take the opportunity to add some form of new content to the game with the addition of a new mode, and thus a new path presented itself: (the) Epilogue — a more challenging, hopefully not frustrating, version of the game that works as a continuation of the base-game, with the following highlights:
- Two new gameplay features: Shard-spilling and the slightly unhinged Weaponized Housing
- A new building
- A new, perhaps alternate, ending
- Updates to talents, replacing some, renewing others
- Altered scenery and some music to fit the tone of the (the) Epilogue
Think of it as a tiny expansion in the form of a new mode, that will allow you to revisit (the) Gnorp Apologue with a fresh new perspective.
The new, perhaps alternate ending will lead us to two places: PART II & PART III.
Part II: [Untitled Project]
A project that I am very excited about, [Untitled Project] will be a new game that will deal with the aftermath of the ending of (the) Epilogue. The goal is to talk more, including a title reveal, about this project with the release of (the) Epilogue Update, provided I reach a point where I have something representative to show you. For now, here's a little teaser.
PART III: Gnorps in Space
The project that will take the gameplay and the gnorps to the stars, it is planned as an expansion to (the) Gnorp Apologue with entirely new gameplay, but may end up as a standalone game. It *also* deals with the aftermath of the ending of (the) Epilogue, but in a different way.
Space is vast, and so is the design-space for this project. I've worked on several gameplay ideas & prototypes, and I believe I am approaching something that fully encapsulates my goal for the project. The plan is still for Gnorps in Space to be a physics-based incremental game, but I am drawing influences beyond that as well. There are several considerations to make, but chief amongst them are 1. Executability and 2. Satisfying gameplay
I'd love to tell you more, but I'll leave it at this for now: I tend to think of the gnorps as a force of nature, and I want Gnorps in Space to adequately portray that force of nature.
Timeline & Ongoings
So this is my vision and plan. All three parts are playable, with Gnorps in Space the most in flux. Right now, the focus is on completing (the) Epilogue Update.
In terms of timeline, I don't want to overpromise. I know when I *want* to complete all of these projects, but development can be unpredictable. Additionally, I've been hamstrung, as some of you may already know, by the release of an app on the Play Store that bore striking visual & gameplay similarities to (the) Gnorp Apologue. If it had been a benign fan-game with differing gameplay, I probably wouldn't care — but it was monetized with ads and microtransactions. I've received a truckload of emails and messages about it, and it's currently a work in progress to resolve the situation. It's honestly been an tough time, and not to mention a huge distraction from what I actually want to be doing — working on the game(s).
So, I want to apologize for the past months of silence, and I want to thank everyone who has notified me about the game on the Play Store. I'm working on it. But more importantly I'm working on all these projects that I am so looking forward to seeing through, and I hope you are excited about them.
HATS!
I haven't forgotten about hats! I would love to have hats ready for (the) Epilogue Update, but there is one outstanding issue: Originally, I intended to add new achievements to the game that would allow you to unlock hats, but I am not certain if this approach is correct. The approach I am currently considering is to have hats be unlocked through a currency that you earn passively while playing the game. Once I arrive upon a solution, I'll be able to move forward with the full implementation. If you have any feedback on this, I would love to hear it.
Thank you again for all the wonderful hat submissions, and I am so looking forward to seeing the winners be represented in-game.
Outro
Summing up, I'm super excited to see all of these projects through. First off is the release of (the) Epilogue Update. Following that, [Untitled Project] production will proceed, along with smaller-scale updates to (the) Gnorp Apologue. Then, we set course for Gnorps in Space.
Finally, I'd love to give you more frequent updates (both news and updates to (the) Gnorp Apologue), so I am going to make that a priority.
My wife and I also got two cats: Beast Gnorp Bosemeow (right) and Jean-Claude Luc-Pierre I (left). They're high-quality cats, except on days when they jump onto the kitchen counter, which is every day.
Thanks for coming to my Gnorp-talk.