Hey Netherholics!
We’re back from the hot season almost melt but with tons of great news too, so less BLAH BLAH and more LET’S GO!!
1) IndieDevDay 2023
As you may remember from last year, IDD is one of the most important indie game development events in Spain, and last weekend we had the honor to repeat our attendance… physical stand included!
We're dead, but also super happy about all the positive feedback about the game. Thanks so much to everyone who visited our stand, organization, publishers and all the wonderful devs we met!
For those who couldn't come, here's a quick IDD23's recap!
[video]https://i.imgur.com/APYCd6E.mp4[/video]
We were selling exclusive “drunk Medoo” keychains too! Want one? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
2) Demoing (is that even a thing?)
Having a stand at such big event meant preaching how good was being puked by a giant Worm God while watching visitors being kicked by bosses, but also meeting cool publishers that could be interested in the game.
That’s why during the last month we’ve been working on two demos: a stand-visitor one (with bosses and Tick Joe's minigame), and a publisher one (with story content too).
You guys seemed to enjoy (and suffer) the public demo!
Besides discovering new minor bugs in the bosses, we also noted down all your feedback. Inputs like increasing Medoo's visibility in dark scenarios and improving the "You need to reload, dude" visual feedback will be fixed for the final game for sure. Thank you!
3) Scenarios
There’s a lot to tell but unfortunately less to show (because spoilers). However, here’s everything Alex has been working on these months!
- Pinksburg building interiors: Two-level club, crappy bar.
- Pinksburg Church final assets, including: >> A medium scenario with 5 rooms to explore. A tiny part of Pinksburg Church main hall! (WIP) >> +20 NPC designs, and even a new secondary character! (more info soon)
- Final scenario: First designs and basic assets placement.
- New characters HD portrait designs.
4) OST / SFX
As mentioned in the last update, our favorite music duo Rogue Sonics recently sent us brand new sfx for one of the fights people had the chance to try playing the demo at the event, and also a couple of tracks related to NetherWorld’s capital: Pinksburg and Boss #9. Aaargh can’t wait for you to listen to them!!
5) Story
5.1) Script
First draft of the whole script is at 96% now! Luckily, our script integration system allows us to keep creating cinematics regardless the scene has final dialogues or not, so it’s great for avoiding bottlenecks.
5.2) 2nd half progress
With the 60% of the game fully playable and with no critical bugs, our awesome programmer Dan is going at full throttle with the cinematics of the remaining 40%. Our main goal is to have them ready + a fully playable beta version of NetherWorld for Christmas aprox.
6) Other improvements:
- Bosses: Xavi polished #6 & #9 for the demos, as well as making progresses with the Final Boss.
- General performance optimization (triggers, AudioPlayer), especially for Nintendo Switch. And yes: we've been running the game in both dock and portable modes! [video]https://i.imgur.com/gXymf5a.mp4[/video] NetherWorld looks great on portable... ...and on Switch dock too!
- Polishing minor bugs on implemented systems, like: >> Interactable objects >> Combat cinematics (No shooting while talking, Medoo!) >> Inventory UI Now you can read item names without going blind!
- Cute new detail: Every time Medoo dies, the weapon he’s holding will fall off (yes, we love highlighting drama). [video]https://i.imgur.com/ao8USox.mp4[/video]
- We also programmed Fisherman’s fishing rod! So he can fish… anything we want! (probably everything but fish) [video]https://i.imgur.com/P7TNFyI.mp4[/video]
- Made some internal tweaks to sex minigame too. Now it better adapts to Medoo’s plot situation (not gonna elaborate on that).
7) Crowdfunding awaited reward
In case you didn't know, one of our Kickstarter rewards for "Dark Soul" tier backers and above was called “You as NPC”.
Well, the time has come: In the following weeks, we'll send them a form so they can help us creating their own NPCs for the game!
Not a "Dark Soul" backer? Don't worry, we know you have a dark soul anyway, so you can help us too...
...adding NetherWorld to your Wishlist and joining this crazy journey!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/672420
Aaaaand that's it for now! How was it?
If you have any questions or insults, please comment below or send us a mail to [email protected].
Thanks so much for your support and see you in the next devblog... Or event! ;)
Hungry Pixel team