Investigation Log: 0094
"If one were to claim an understanding of this place, they should be considered a liar or a madman. The twisting hallways, the ever expanding floorplan, all of it has defied logic and reason from the very moment I stepped across its threshold. And yet... over time I had believed that I'd developed a tacit symbiosis with this place. A serenity in embracing the unknown and illogical. Perhaps it was that very complacency that compelled The Mansion to undergo its most recent and terrifying transformation..."
Developers Update
Yes, it is true. Despite our silence, work has been ongoing behind the scenes. While the updates and attempts to replace the temporary art assets in the game are ongoing, we have also been consistently been playtesting the early builds of the game.
Hundreds of hours spent inside The Mansion have revealed to us some weak points in the gameplay, and that simply will not stand.
Much of the work done lately has been intellectual in nature. A rethinking of the metagame and gameplay loop for Infinite Mansion that we hope will be a compelling improvement for everyone.
Some major changes we have been working on include...
Investigator Persistence: Investigators who enter The Mansion and survive will now stick around for another go, allowing you as the player to build up and maintain investigators over multiple runs... so long as they are willing of course.
Investigator Stress: As alluded above, Investigators will gain stress with every encounter they have within The Mansion. Let it get too high, and investigators will refuse to re-enter The Mansion, forcing you to recruit someone new.
Open ended runs: In a moment of clarity we've come to realize that our previous metagame (forcing players to enter The Mansion and solve an entire mystery before they would be allowed to exit) is much more compelling in the physical tabletop RPGs and board games that inspired Infinite Mansion than in a single player video game. As such, we are adjusting the gameplay loop so that runs are much more open ended and exploratory, and every opportunity to exit instead becomes a "push your luck" decision to explore further and compound your gains, or abscond with the treasures you've found.
Non-linear Mysteries and Missions: This is one of the biggest planned overhauls implied by the item above. Mysteries and Missions will be moved to a non-linear system, and can be solved over multiple runs.
Thank you for your patience
As you might imagine, a gameplay overhaul of this magnitude will take time. This will, of course, mean that we will likely have to push back our initially planned Early Access release of the game. For that I would like to not only apologize to those who have shown interest in our game, but thank everyone who has continued to support us with your kind words and constructive feedback.
Infinite Mansion is a true labor of love for us, and we are driven to deliver the best possible experience to everyone.
Thanks SO much,
-Jeff Short