Hey Steam,
August was a crazy busy month when it came to Omno. Not only was Omno demoed at Gamescom (Omno’s first-ever conference), but it was super well received! If you speak German you can read impressions on the websites Giga (secret Gamescom tips), Spieletipps (games you might have missed at Gamescom) and 4Players (Preview with verdict “potential hit”) that feature Omno with positive impressions (thanks so much!) and French speakers can check out video impressions from Gameblog with hopefully even more articles to follow soon.
September was all about knuckling down and really focusing 100% on the development of Omno after the excitement of Gamescom. All the positive energy received was funnelled right back into the development cycle and hopefully, you’ll agree, things are really coming along. Here is a small handful of work in progress screenshots of areas being worked on this month:
Firstly, a bunch of work has gone into the desert area in the game, adding some sequences, overhauling the overall layout to help the area’s flow, introducing new critters and much more.
And then there is the snowy biome, trying out some design ideas for that little downhill area that really makes the most of the “surfing” mechanic - kinda feels a bit like 1080 Snowboarding at times (if anyone else is old enough to remember that game :D). Still not 100% sure if this is something that will make the cut for the final game, but trying out these smaller set-pieces is really helping to form the overall idea of the journey through all of the different worlds and how they’ll all tie together, which is obviously super important to the game as a whole!
Lastly, a quick look at a new “updraft” mechanic being adding to the cloud biome. A really important thing for Omno is making sure all of the different biomes FEEL as different as they look, so focusing on unique game mechanics in each area is a really big part of that. This one’s a lot of fun - navigating the different flows of air to get to those hard to reach places, at a slower, calmer pace than many of the other things you do in Omno, which really changes the feel of things and gives you time to appreciate all the pretty things around you.
Anyway, hopefully, this gives you a little insight into a few of the things being worked on - development really is marching on, so more progress should be ready to share with you next month. As mentioned back in the May Kickstarter update, things are taking a little longer than initially anticipated the deeper into development we go, especially with the changes in scope made earlier this year after the surprisingly successful campaign. There is no still no exact date to tell you with any accuracy, but expect early Summer next year to be a realistic aim for Omno’s release, and that’s what is being worked towards. Of course, there will be more updates on this as things develop. More than anything else, Omno deserves not to be rushed and disappoint anyone, so hopefully, you understand and will be patient as work continues to deliver the best game possible to you all.
We’ll leave you with this, a new look at the canyon area of Omno. Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYZwrqZoQMo
PS: Don’t forget to follow OMNO on Twitter and join the community on Discord. You can also read all previous Kickstarter updates right here.