The Last Week

Originally published July 20th, 2018

I'm already feeling all sappy, how will I feel on release day?

It has certainly been a journey for myself and War Ender. As I write this, we are only one week away from War Ender being released to the world. To say that I am excited would be the biggest understatement ever uttered by a human being. I am hyped. Incredibly nervous as well, but hyped nonetheless. I think it's safe to say that this game's release will be a defining moment in not just my career, but in my entire life.

Of course, "defining moment" could mean a few different things. For starters, War Ender could totally flop. I acknowledge that in this current gaming climate, with Steam getting hundreds of games in a given month and it being incredibly difficult to get noticed, that the act of flopping could be a reality. But then there's the other side of the coin, where the game does well and everything is great! Maybe there's a third side (somehow), where the game exceeds expectations? Perhaps so. But I know I should keep my expectations reasonable.

Speaking of reasonable expectations, looking at how things are going right now I feel confident saying that War Ender is going to be alright. Since launching the game's Steam page the website has been doing well. The Steam page in question, according to the info I have, has gotten a pretty decent amount of attention. In fact, I was a little surprised by how much it had gotten in just the first day alone. With so many games coming out on Steam, I thought it was incredible that the game was being seen as much as it was!

But I can hear the realist in me. "That doesn't mean that many people will buy it, or even think it looks cool." You're right, realistic side of me. But I'm willing to bet many people saw the game and thought it looked great. And I feel this way because the game has already been wishlisted by people, and I've even had a handful of people on Twitter tell me, publicly and privately, that they're looking forward to the release. I know I should keep expectations in check but I really feel good about all this right now.

I think it helps that the game has undergone a vast number of improvements in a short amount of time. Since announcing the release date some new particle effects have been added to the game to give more feedback to the player. In addition, I've added an effect where the edges of the screen will darken as the player gets low on health, and other little things. For instance, the VS text that shows before bosses has gotten flashier. It could just be me but I feel like screenshots are now more interesting thanks to the additional effects that have been added to the game. Robots being shattered and electrical sparks flying everywhere makes for a more exciting image. And of course, I also have some new art in place, improving the game's visuals even further, thanks to the artist who came on board.

I suppose I should take a moment to address said art, as for a while I made it sound like there was going to be a visual overhaul. This was the plan, but some things happened in the background that has prevented a complete overhaul as expected. However, we've done what we can to improve the look of the game for the time being. A lovely looking sky complete with a background accompanies city levels. Factory levels have been given more atmosphere thanks to some lighting and new objects, among other things. As of right now there are still plans to get everything else upgraded, but I'll address this further in a later dev blog.

Looking back, I think this became a dev blog talking almost endlessly about how great this game is going to be rather than talking what's new. But simultaneously, considering that the game is just a few short days away from being released, I feel a blog like this was needed. And in my humble opinion, perhaps even earned. I'm very proud of what this project has become. What started off as a small, non-important side project has turned into the most important, and indeed most fun, game I've ever made.

I've heard tales of developers totally losing their minds in the final days of a game's development. I've heard of all kinds of crazy things happening during the final moments. I'm totally expecting something along those lines to happen, but I also think I'm pretty well prepared for whatever happens. But of course, only time will tell what will happen. We'll just have to wait and see...

Before I sign off, I feel I should once again mention War Ender on Steam, which you can view here. I highly encourage you to wishlist the game. Doing so will let you know the moment the game is released and available for purchase. In addition, I recently overhauled the media page for this here website and would encourage you to give it a look. There's lots of updated screenshots and a new trailer to view. Finally, on July 27th, the day after War Ender is released, I'll be doing an bonus dev blog celebrating War Ender's release. During this dev blog I'll be taking a moment to personally give shout outs to people who contributed to the project, whether in the form of feedback or in actual assets. I'll also be taking a look back at the overall journey of War Ender, and maybe even give you a sneak peek at what's coming beyond War Ender's release day.

So yeah, a bonus dev blog just for you. I do it because I love you, you know. And then you'll probably get another dev blog the week after that, though I confess that I currently have no idea what I'll be writing about. And provided nothing has happened or will happen, I may be showing up at a gaming convention soon. More on that later though. Until then...

Wishlist this game!

-Lance T.