90%
Originally published December 1st, 2019
10% remaining.
War Ender Store Links:
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/884070/War_Ender/
Itch.io: https://prof-smash.itch.io/war-ender
GameJolt: https://gamejolt.com/games/war-ender/355809
Impressions is super close to being finished. Over the month of November I worked diligently to get the game where I wanted it to be in terms of dialogue and gameplay. Were the game just text and the occasional mouse click it would actually be done. But this is a video game which means there are visuals to be made and sounds to create. So we’re not quite finished here yet, but as the title says I would say the game is 90% complete. In fact, I’d even say Impressions is effectively in beta. Though admittedly that’s using the term a little loosely given that beta usually means art and sound is in there as well. Typically, beta is the stage where minor tweaks and bug fixes are made.
But for my money, I’d argue we’re in the beta stages. Just before Thanksgiving I had gotten the game’s content locked down, so I haven’t gotten far at all into the “tweaks and fixes” work, but that’s what we’ll see done during December. On top of that I’ll try to see where art and music can go, but that could take some time. As some character (forget his name) says in Toy Story 2 - “you can’t rush art.” That said, I might try some things to help my artist out and keep things moving at a nice pace. We’ll have to wait and see what can be done though. December is also the month of finals, and while I’m feeling pretty good about those there’s no denying that they take a lot of time and energy out of an individual. At least, that’s what I hear.
Let me show off something that I’m personally pretty happy with. I believe I showed off very early on a time limit to making decisions. It was a simple, light blue bar that would steadily deplete. If you ran out of time, the game would make a decision for you. This is done to not only keep the game moving, but to also send a message. In life, sometimes people will try to speak for you. But you may not always like what they say in your place, so you will most likely want to say what’s on your mind yourself. Not at all an unusual concept, even in video games. But I always liked the message of the mechanic. It ties very nicely into the themes of Impressions…
Ah, but back to the timer. I’ve made it a circular shape and showed the number of seconds remaining inside. The timer now depletes in a circular motion, and in case that wasn’t anxiety inducing enough there’s text explicitly counting down the time you have left to make a choice. Every choice allows twenty seconds of time to think then act. My hope is that players will encounter difficult decisions that will make them think for a moment. But in their thoughts, the timer shows that the player’s time is running out, meaning they have to finish their thoughts and decide. Much like a real conversation, in fact. Though I’m being a little nicer and allowing much more time than the average conversation allows.
Sadly, that’s about all there is to say bout Impressions development. Like I said before, I can’t go revealing everything. But the trouble with a game like this is that there’s not a whole lot to discuss. As for “Future,” I think it’d be best to save talk of that for a dev blog dedicated to it. Hopefully nobody minds a shorter dev blog packed with good news. But before we depart I thought it’d be good to talk about what happens after Impressions is out in the world. Don’t worry, we won’t get too serious. It primarily has to do with this website. I’m sure this place being “warendergame dot com” is starting to make less and less sense with all this talk of completely different titles. I’ve brought it up before, but the plan is to make a new website which houses all of Infinite Level’s games. This includes War Ender, Impressions, and “Future.”
I intend for this website to be created a little after the release of Impressions. In fact, I figure it will be roughly 2-3 months after. So how long before this website releases is dependent on the release of Impressions. We’ll commemorate the occasion with a dev blog celebrating the brief history we’ve had, and perhaps even reveal some…interesting things. What kind of things? You’ll have to wait and find out. Of course, this will mean that this website will be no more but I’ll see what can be done to carry over as much as possible into the new website.
So, what’s the plan for December? Well, the same as always in a sense - finish Impressions. Naturally there’s still plenty to be done so this might not happen. Plus, I have no interest in destroying myself to make the game release sooner, so I don’t mind delaying the game if it means we ultimately have a better piece of art out there for people to enjoy. I look forward to reporting on whatever comes next. And hey, who knows? A new year is coming, meaning 2020 might be starting off with quite a bang for all we know.
Until next time!
-Lance T.
War Ender Store Links:
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/884070/War_Ender/
Itch.io: https://prof-smash.itch.io/war-ender
GameJolt: https://gamejolt.com/games/war-ender/355809