Hey there. Its been a minute. So, whats been going on in the world of Ira?

Let's start off with the teaser of the main menu. The orange glow of the sun cascading around Mount Azimuth as it looms over the town of pilgrimage. This is it! This is the menu you will see when you startup Ira for the first time! Many of you have probably seen a version of this at some point. Well, now you know it's part of the intro and main menu. Listen to the music, the dust blowing in the wind! Pretty soon you will get to see where the road to Pilgrimage leads. [previewyoutube=RtUuHRmY_Fk;full][/previewyoutube] This is how the journey begins, on a dusty road right outside of Pilgrimage.

Completion date?

What? A completion date? This cant be real right? Well it is! We will be doing final playtests in July! 3 months out! That's right. That's the hard deadline! No more delays. Playtesting begins

Technical Stuff

The last six months have been slower than I would have liked. In full candor I have had freelance clients off and on and it's the primary way I make my income and survive. That being said, I have been splitting my time between Ira and clients; hence the slow down. Most of my weeks are about 75 hours, but Im not complaining as I love what I do. Things may have been slower than I would have liked but dont take that the wrong way. I have been doing a lot.

• The entire project has been gutted of years of old unused content and systems, in order to be ready for the final builds. Anything that was created by members from years past have been rebuilt or cut, etc. The game has been rebuilt from the ground up by me. The entire stylization system has been overhauled to be as performative as possible with the help of a wonderful plugin called Extended Shading Pro by a gentleman named Nikolay Prudnikov. Nikolay has been instrumental in transferring Iras style over to the new shading system. Now, things run flawlessly and will run that way on any platform including mobile. I know this is more on the techy side of things but its made a world of difference. Thank you Nikolay Prudnikov!
• I unified all Ira actions into something called Iras action system V3. It makes it so any action Id want to use in my development work can be called from a localized place. Im systematically replacing the old logic. This way, play testing and modifying character actions and future acts will be easy.
• Updated a few tools that I use in my process as well.
• I upgraded the character locomotion system to an advanced locomotion system that makes character movements natural and now characters can be controlled by A.I. This might not sound like much but it's huge, as I can have characters climb ladders and perform all sorts of actions with ease. That makes handling gameplay much easier on my end. No more one-off scenes that take days or weeks to make as you just have to tell the character what to do and they will do it! Im in this for the long run and I plan to continue making new content with this system! Also, the new locomotion system makes them feel alive! So much better than what it used to be.
• Youll notice that the old press kit has been retired. The overall quality has gone up so much that, once again, the press kit isn't representational anymore. So its out with the old and in with the new. I will be adding a new one closer to release, all with final gameplay.
• Someone asked about how the number acts that Ira will have on release. The plan largely remains the same. Act 1: Pilgrimage comes out first, and is self contained, but leaves things open for Act 2. Theres a very good chance that Acts 2 and 3 will be combined into a single act. Im going to have to feel that out as I go. That being said there is a lot of fuel for the creative fire, and Im excited for future prospects. The better Act 1 does, the more I will be able to produce subsequent content. And just to be clear. Act 2 will be a quick turnaround due the games framework already being complete.

Story

• A lot of character development outside of the game itself. The further I got into writing character dialogue, the more it became apparent that many of the characters weren't ready to speak on their own. What I mean by that is that each character has a history, a story, a personality with wants, needs, and a unique way of engaging with the world around them. I find that when I really get to know a character writing on their behalf is an easy thing to do. So, this is something Ive been taking the time to flesh out more, and Its a been a great experience feeling them out.
• Lets take Patrick for instance. What was he before he started prospecting Lith ore? Well, I looked back into my grandfather's life (who Patrick is based on) and I found a connection to his past that fit beautifully. Patrick used to be a projectionist at the local theater, and used to love to watch the stories unfold on the silver screen. He used to be an idealist like his son Ira. Patrick represents the past. Already experiencing the best and worst of what Intele Cos technology could offer the world. Patrick is stuck looking at his life before the collapse of the economy, and obsessed with restoration of what once was, but he is losing that battle. He still pines for the past and wants things to be like they were, once before. Back to the days where he would sit in a booth above a crowded room, and watch life unfold upon the silver screen. Back to the one room theater in the middle of woods.

Sorry for not updating sooner, Im doing my best to make sure everything is the best it can be, but Ive come to realize that Im a flawed person, making a game about a flawed world, full of beautifully flawed people, and in turn Ira will never be a perfect game. My hope is that it will be a meaningful journey to go on, and that it will speak to you, in your own personal way. Anyway, 3 months left until completion/playtesting! Looking forward to finally being able to have you all play Ira Act 1: Pilgrimage. A game thats taken waaay longer than it should have to be completed. I hope all of you will be able to enjoy it very soon!

[ 2021-04-28 17:39:40 CET ] [ Original post ]