Today the year 2018 is ending. Can't wait for 2019! It'll bring us the Uncertain: Light at the End! Before we proceed to the wishing part, let's take some time to reminisce the past year.
We spent the first half of the year in silence, but it was a busy time. We were developing the game and preparing the Kickstarter campaign. We recorded a trailer, built the demo version, interviewed the team, developed the advertising campaign—and the game development never stopped!
Before starting the Kickstarter campaign we run the alternate reality game. Emily's adventures lasted for more than a month. As one of the players pointed out, she "lost our world". It was our first experience, which didn't go entirely smoothly, but we enjoyed it anyway. The new year might bring the fans of online puzzles a new game from us! Stay tuned.
Finally, we launched the Kickstarter campaign. Even though we didn't raise enough, it was a very important lesson. We rehearsed the release, optimized our team's resources, told you our story, and learned yours. You may find all Kickstarter updates regarding the development process here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1321269974/the-uncertain-episode-2-light-at-the-end/updates.
The New Year's eve is the perfect time to thank all of you, who supported us through this amazing experience.
Our relatively small team faced some staff turnover this year. The 3D head was replaced three times, and this affected the deadlines. Despite all hardships, we entirely finalized the 3D objects. We still need to record or embed most animations, but the Uncertain world, still and motionless, is almost finalized.
We keep showing you the game. First, you saw the demo version during the Kickstarter campaign, today you can check out the closed beta-test version. We deeply appreciate your feedback, comments, and opinions—and use it to improve the game.
By the end of the year, the vector of the development process is as user-oriented as it can be. We did a stream and recorded two podcasts. It's not too much, but it's an important first step. Not only some team members started the conversation with our gaming community, the whole company did! After all, the development process is very complex. One specialist alone can never give players a good idea of it. We're planning to go on. The new year will bring you more podcasts, news, streams, and lotteries! We also have a personal message from one of our studio's founding fathers Artem Smirnov:
Dear friends! 2018 was the year of our firsts. We organized our first Kickstarter campaign, developed and run the ARG, shot our first trailer with real actors, held our first (very hearty and warm) stream with the developers, and recorded our first podcast. If there's a trial, there's an error. We couldn't avoid mistakes, and that's natural. We had some faulty planning and staff turnover (three 3D leads in four months!). The desire to fix ALL glitches of episode one led to delays in the development process. Then the Kickstarter campaign failed and the ARG saw a bad start. Despite all that, we shall remember 2018 as a crucial year. We bonded with the gaming community, and this was the best gift for me! We're planning to keep it up in the year 2019. More streams, more podcasts, two more testing stages — all of it to make the development process as transparent for you as we can. We want to get more feedback and use it to improve the game even further. I wish all of you great love in the coming year. May you feel love in your everyday life, and love the most important people in your life. May feeling overwhelm us all and make life fuller and brighter! We'll continue to develop the Uncertain with love, and you will play it with love in 2019! Thank you for being with us the whole time. Happy New Year!
Our team wishes you a happy New Year, too! Our game is futuristic, and the real world reminds the one in the game more and more each day. May the year 2019 bring you joy and happiness. May no apocalyptic visions overshadow your life! After all, the humanity creates technology for triumph over the world, not vice versa.
Happy holiday — and stay tuned!