It's already been a year since Drop Pockets released in early access, which doesn't feel real to be honest. And while I would have loved to release 1.0 today, it's unfortunately not ready yet.
That said, I can give a little showcase of what I've been working on!
Firstly, every new Pool Shark is complete! Here's a preview:
Average Referee!
He adds a slew of foosmen to the table! (yes, that's actually what they're called)
Ana!
She obscures every ball with static, hope you can remember which one's which!
Then, here are three silhouettes of other upcoming sharks. Got any guesses?
New felts are also finished!
1.0 will feature a total of 16 felts! Doubling the current amount.
I'm not gonna tell you what they do, however. That'll come later. For now I'll just say, expect the new rulesets to be a little more unusual.
Next, an introduction to the challenge runs!
Themed after a karaoke machine, Drop Pockets 1.0 will include 16 special challenge runs, each with unique rules and restrictions.
And, just cause I think it's fun, this menu will also have little 30 second music tracks for each challenge. There will be small tracks by both ItsEvbo and myself! In an effort to further hone my craft, I have been slowly learning about music composition. (which has also increased dev time, sorry) There won't be a ton of music from yours truly, but there will be some!
Finally, it'd be a little strange if all those karaoke albums didn't have proper artwork. So, in an effort to further grow my guest star list, I've commissioned art pieces from several real, human artists to use as both album covers here, and Steam trading cards! Here's a couple of em!
Marketable Plushie's card, by @Makrustic!
John Souls' card, by @DePietro_Draws!
and Juliet's card, by @R_Neophyte!
with more on the way!
It may seem silly to have art like this for a wacky billiards game, but you guys have shown me a lot of generosity and I really wanted to pay that forward.
Now, I want to thank everyone again for your patience. I'm sorry this update has taken so long, Life has a habit of never stopping happening. I won't be going into details here but there have been family health issues that require my help. That combined with steps taken to avoid burnout has increased dev time.
There's still no plan, deadline, or estimate for 1.0's release date, and I know you don't want to hear that. Steady progress is being made and I'm still having a lot of fun with this, but I'm just one man, I can only do so much. I want to make sure I give you guys the best billiards game I can make and I'm not going to rush it just to say it's "finished."