Hey Steam,
I still can’t believe it’s the end of October already - where is this year going?!
Anyway, with autumn in full swing here in Germany, and the days getting colder and darker, it’s the perfect time to be getting my head down and making real progress with Omno, which you hopefully like to hear!
Pondering over puzzles...
Puzzles are going to be a fairly big part of the core gameplay for Omno, and this month I’ve been working on a few of these elements (among a thousand other things), trying to make sure there’s plenty of variety in the types of puzzles that will appear in the game. The one you see above is an all-new mechanic (planned for ages, but finally done) I think looks pretty cool and feels quite satisfying - hopefully you’ll like it too! You want the puzzles to feel meaningful and satisfying to solve, but not so hard that they’ll take you out of the overall immersion of the wider Omno world - so achieving that balance is something I’m really working hard on right now.
Swamp Things
These visual changes are something I’ve been continuously iterating and evolving through development, since they contribute hugely to the overall atmosphere and moods of the different areas in the game. As time goes by, I feel like some early artistic decisions are worth rethinking since my creative skillset and gamedev abilities grow a tiny bit each day. It's my first game after all! What do you think of the new swamp visuals? Do let me know in the comments, this solo dev thing can lead to a little bit of tunnel vision at times, so it’s always great to get as much feedback as I can!
My Kickstarter experience
Since I first launched the Kickstarter for Omno last year, I’ve been getting questions on an almost daily basis about how I ran the Kickstarter campaign. For months I’ve been thinking it would be really helpful to other people who are interested in Kickstarter, whether as a backer or as a game maker, for me to write down all of my thoughts on my experience with Kickstarter, and answering all of the most-asked questions that I get about it - it’s a time saver for me too, I can hardly say ‘no’ if someone asks for advice! So...I finally managed to do that, and if you’re interested you can read it here! If even one person finds it helpful in some way, then I’ll consider that a good result :)
Omno is heading to San Francisco
Finally, a few weeks ago the guys from Double Fine got in touch with me asking if I’d be interested in showcasing Omno at Day of the Devs in San Francisco in November! I’ve never been to the show (or to SF), but I’ve heard really great things about it from fellow devs, so I jumped at the opportunity. And about a week ago I found out Omno got selected as one of the games to feature at the show! It’s a real honour to have my little game selected at such a prestigious show for indie games - especially along with so many great titles. Unfortunately, I’m so busy making the game (plus a last-minute trip from Germany to San Fran doesn’t come cheap!) so I can’t make the show myself, but just knowing Omno will be there being played by gamers, press, YouTubers and games industry bigwigs is so exciting for me.
I still forget sometimes that this thing I’m making alone in my house all day, every day, seems to matter to other people out there in the world, and I’m always humbled and just so grateful that people care about Omno, so a massive thank you to Double Fine, and to all you people reading this right now, who supported me through the Kickstarter, and continue to support me as I work towards making the best game I possibly can.
Stay warm out there, folks, and hopefully I’ll have some exciting things to share in November!
-Jonas
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.