Greetings Comrades!
It's the end of the year, and everybody is looking for reasons to celebrate.
Here at Kuboom, we don't need to look far. We've come a long way, and we know we owe it all to you, the players.
So in celebration of the year's success and the exciting upgrades to come, we'd like to take you through a visual timeline of how it all began...
Humble Beginnings
Feburary 5th, the day it all started. the original Kuboom artwork is unveiled!
We decided to go with characters similar to a game we'd developed earlier, Kubizume 2 (a.k.a. Madness Cubed). They were initially intended to have oversized heads, but a need for balance (the fatal headshot!) and aesthetic evened out the proportions.
Development: The Early Days
Making Kuboom was an incredible learning experience; the team consisted of only 3 people (2 of whom were still in highschool!), and that lack of experience in C++, Modelling/Animation and troubleshooting resulted in countless bugs, errors, and sleepless nights.
But the team rose to the challenge, repeatedly ironed out issues, and never lost hope.
And out of that chaos, the Developer Diaries were born...
It's Alpha Time!
After 2 months of delirious development, Kuboom had its alpha launch.
Our baby was not the most beautiful; ugly graphics, awful interface, tons of bugs and general glitches. We don't need to tell you, you were there!
But hey, that's alpha for ya. We're proud of how much we've improved, and are glad you stuck with us!
Old Silenced Pistol Effect!
The original preview effect. It got the axe in the steam release, but made a comeback in the global update!
The old unreleased map, "City". Made for a great testing ground!
More testing areas.
Shader testing for the map "Bridge" (and a bug that was also posted!)!
Very Old Prototyped Menu!
Old "Weapons" menu!
As you can see, pretty much everything's been completely rehauled, from the HUD to the weapons.
We also made new maps and improved the graphics, but that but that was in closed beta; the open beta is the steam release!
Steam Release
On May 11th, 2016, Kuboom was given the greenlight, and a few hours later, appeared in the Steam Catalog!
We could barely believe it! An indie game, created by less than a handfull of people, created by us, was now on the steam store as a free to play title.
And months passed, and the team grew (they "hired" me =D), and every day, Kuboom got better.
The much awaited first major update, the Global update, was released (and well received! (phew)) by the community. The main focus there was graphics and interface.
The second Global update looked at balance and smoother animation. Out with stick hands, in with real hands!
Aftermath
The results, after almost 12 months, speak for themselves:
200k installations on Steam
300k players on VKontakte
Ported to Android
And who's to thank?
We said it at the start:
YOU GUYS!!
Without you, Kuboom wouldn't even exist!
Kuboom has a great community of FPS fans who love chaos as much as we do. Thank you to those who've stuck with us from the beginning, and through all the tribulations. And to those who are just joining us, welcome aboard!
It's a very happy new year indeed, because there are tons of things in store for the future...
Whats Next?
Whats next for Kuboom?
Well. More bug fixes, of course. We have huge plans for Kuboom in the future, and troubleshooting is always an ongoing process. We're really going to need your help here, so keep reporting!
But of course, that's not all. We're also looking at:
More maps!
More guns!
More game modes!
And... *drumroll*... did someone say clans?
That's just what we have planned for 2017 (most in Jan!). With steady improvement and your continued support, we plan to make Kuboom the best FPS on Steam!
So stick around and stay tuned, comrades...
It's going to be a great ride.