UPDATE
Crazy as it sounds, we've crossed over 1 YEAR since Zenith was originally slated to release...
Nikki has been running monthly updates over on the Kickstarter page. As those are limited to backers of the main game, we thought it was high time we ran a new update on the Steam page.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2393290/They_Speak_From_The_Abyss_Zenith/
WHAT HAPPENED?
There isn't really any one single thing that slowed down the production of Zenith. This projected was begun as a trial to iron out any kinks ahead of tackling the FULL release.
Piece by piece, as Zenith was added to and improved upon, it would shine a spotlight on other areas that were no longer up to par. Often this sort of revisionist approach would be the death of a game. But this was done by design here! Even if our estimates on the timeline were significantly off...
Through private playtests, attending events, and any other feedback that could be gathered - it became much more clear where work was needed, all while laying the groundwork for the final title!
WHAT'S CHANGED?
As a breakdown since you last heard from us:
- Nikki spent some time honing her 3D modeling, and was able to give the game a MAJOR update on visuals
- The choice was made to drop the 4:3 ratio (which also meant redoing a bunch of UI and other art) as can be seen in the all new screenshots!
- The combat was overhauled to be more interesting
- The UI was completely redone
- Cutscene revisions
- Dialogue rewrites
- Endless bug fixes and improvements to how the game renders and runs!
RELEASE?
While we're still not quite ready to set a new launch date, the game is well underway, with a brand new demo nearing completion!
We also officially moved the main THEY SPEAK game back to "2025".
While a lot of the foundations will already be laid through Zenith, it is a MUCH larger title. So development will be notably faster, but is still anticipated to be a lengthy process!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2075460/They_Speak_From_The_Abyss/
There is art on that page that is already over 2 years old!!
When we're ready to launch Zenith, we'll be sure that page receives a revision to reflect the changes in style and gameplay.
Thank you all for your patience!
I'm confident it will be well worth the wait - especially for all you lovely Kickstarter backers who are now getting TWO games for the price of one ;)
-Graeme
(2 Left Thumbs)