I just wanted to take a moment to share some updates about me, my health, as well as address what that will mean for future updates and development of Bigfoot Life.
My name is Wes and besides creating solo games for Planet 47 Games, I also create games with my brothers under Abrams Studios LLC. We have created games like Morels: The Hunt 1 and 2 as well as Morels: Homestead for the Quest VR headset.
Health Updates
After battling a disease called VEXAS that also has led to me having MDS (Blood Cancer), I have to get a bone marrow transplant. I have been at the NIH (National Institutes of Health) in Maryland for the last two weeks for testing and get admitted on January 22nd. The actual transplant date is January 29th. My family and I have temporarily moved out here to Maryland and will have to stay here until around the middle of May. If the transplant is successful, it could cure both the VEXAS and the blood cancer. This journey has been a rollercoaster of emotions. I am so thankful for my donor who has blessed me with a second chance at life. Even through these difficult times God has blessed us in so many ways. We are very thankful.
What does this mean for future updates and game development?
I had been in talks with a publisher for a few months and it looked promising. I was just informed they are not going to purse the game after all. This means I am back to no funding and developing the game on my own.
Thankfully I have a couple of developers who I have been working with during this time. They will continue to do some development on the game while I am recovering from the transplant. I will try to do my best to work on the game when I am able to during this whole process and recovery.
I think the next step in development is to get a small demo ready. I don't want to over promise what the game will be so I think having players be able to play at least a small portion of the game will be really helpful. The scope of the game may have to be reduced but the game will be finished and released. The demo will most likely be a small map that will allow you to experience a lot of the features and offer you some tasks to complete. The full game will still offer three modes. Normal mode, Survival mode, and Free Roam mode.
Normal Mode
This is the standard mode in which you will take on tasks, go up in Bigfoot levels, and eventually find and attract a Bigfoot mate. I would love to have some epic story involved in this but due to health and lack of resources this will most likely be a simplified version of what I had originally in visioned. I think it is important to be realistic about what can be achieved and done in a reasonable amount of time and really focus on trying to deliver a polished product.
Survival Mode
In this mode your only goal is to see how long you can survive in days and years without being
photographed by a human or having any of your energy, hunger, or thirst meters being depleted to zero.
Free Roam Mode
This mode gives the player an option to just have fun with Bigfoot without having to worry about tasks or surviving. Energy, hunger, and thirst are never depleted. Humans can’t photograph you. You have all Bigfoot skills enabled from the beginning of the game. You will also be able to control and change the
weather in this mode. Have fun by picking up humans, messing with their camps, or just live life as Bigfoot without any worries.
Thank you to everyone for your support!
-Wes