I’m back with another update.
We are in the final phase of polish for Manifold Garden, and things have been quite busy. Near the end of last year, we took a step back and looked at the design of the game as a whole. Up until then, we had a lot of different ideas, but the game lacked focus. There wasn’t a clear sense of direction, and players were constantly getting lost and frustrated.
It took some time and a lot of trial and error, but we were able to restructure the game in a way that made it a much more focused experience. It had an arc that carried the player through the journey.
Currently, we’re going through the same process, but this time for the ending. In a lot of ways, the ending is like a microcosm of the entire game. It needs to tie together all the different threads, and contain within it its own narrative arc. We’ve gone through a few different versions, and have thrown out a lot of ideas, but we’re finally getting close.
Optimization and QA
They say the last 10% of a project is 90% of the work, and that couldn’t be more true for Manifold Garden. We’ve been making a lot of optimization improvements, and the game is running better than ever. However, these improvements often require fundamental changes in the way the game is organized. This often introduces new bugs - even in systems that were previously working fine. It can feel a bit like playing whack-a-mole when it comes to bug fixing.
QA is getting really important now - we’re developing test suites and following a rigorous schedule. We make daily builds and try to catch any new bugs while in their early phases. We’re also going to be working with third-party experts to make sure the game runs well on various configurations.
Visual Improvements
We are still continuing to refine the art style. A few years ago, someone described the game as having “too much manifold, not enough garden”. Early on, I placed a lot of emphasis on mechanics and puzzles, and not much on the aesthetics.
Now that the game is in place, we’ve been able to return to previous areas to make improvements. A lot of the new changes really help make the world of Manifold Garden feel alive.
We recently captured some 4K footage of the game that I thought looked pretty cool. You can check them out here:
https://youtu.be/65hXBsCdQkQ
https://youtu.be/y6gI_BLlevs
Team Changes
’ve been more quiet in recent months - I haven’t been streaming regularly nor have I been posting much on twitter. It has also been a while since the last youtube video. Rest assured it’s not because we don't have much to report, but quite the opposite - there’s been so much going on that we haven’t really had a chance to slow down and reflect.
The team has grown significantly. We recently brought on Kevin Wong as a producer to help us get through this final stage. Kevin worked on the local multiplayer game Chambara and was a producer on Lucah: Born of a Dream. Geert Nellen, who helped us find the game’s focus and streamline the experience last year, has returned to help us with the ending. Joining him this time is our friend Droqen. They worked on Metrico and Starseed Pilgrim, respectively, so lots of design experience between them.
It’s a chaotic but exciting time for Manifold Garden’s development.
As always, you can find more info here:
Until next time,
William