Hey folks!
First thing's first, we know you've all been incredibly patient with us as we've tackled the MOUNTAIN of work that is Episode 5. We don't have any firm updates for you at the moment, other than it currently being our primary focus as a studio. For those of you who might have missed updates on its development earlier this year, it's currently shaping up to be about the size of Episodes 2, 3, and 4 combined, and a hell of a lot more complicated than any of our prior work, so we're taking our time and making sure that we do it right while also shifting into a more sustainable development cycle for us as human beings.
We founded Black Tabby Games in March of 2021, and since then, I don't think a week's gone by where we haven't worked at least 60 hours a piece. While we love our work, that ferocity has taken a toll on our overall health, so we're working to scale that back to a healthier 50.
That said, as we get deeper into the year, you can expect more regular updates in terms of sharing new art and spoiler-free/spoiler-lite progress.
Anyways, LudoNarraCon is finally upon us, and boy do we have a MOUNTAIN of things for y'all.
First thing's first, Scarlet Hollow and Slay the Princess are each going to be 20% off, starting at 1pm EST on May 9th. So if you've been itching to pick one of them up, now's the time, and you can also pick up both game's bundled together for an extra discount here: https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/33452/The_Black_Tabby_Games_Collection/ If you already own one of either Scarlet Hollow or Slay the Princess, I'd suggest buying the other through the bundle, since you'll still be able to apply the extra discount there.
At 7pm Eastern on Thursday May 9th, we'll be doing a retrospective Twitch stream where we'll play through the ORIGINAL demo cut of Slay the Princess as well as the first episode of Scarlet Hollow. This'll be broadcast on http://twitch.tv/black_tabby_games/
On Friday May 10th, we've got 2 panels that will be broadcast on the LudoNarraCon Steam page.
At 4pm Eastern, I'll be doing a fireside chat with Meredith Gran where we talk about narrative design.
At 8pm Eastern on the 10th, Abby and I are on a panel moderated by Patrick Klepek (formerly Vice, now Remap Radio) alongside Ben Gelinas (Times * Galaxy, formerly Bioware + Remedy) and Gareth Damian Martin (Citizen Sleeper.) The topic of this panel is balancing storytelling with player choice.
On Sunday, May 12th, at 1pm Eastern, we'll be doing an art stream, specifically going through some of the process of how Abby makes assets for our games! This one'll be simulcast on both Twitch and our Steam page!
All the best, and can't wait to share more updates with you all!
Tony and Abby