From here, into the unknown!

As folks will no doubt be aware, in 2010 I made a few games called "Technobabylon". Well, the three that were made then were intended to be part of an eight-part episodic string of games. Unfortunately, I'm lazy, and I kept improving. As a result, I never got past making three episodes, and remade the first part several times over.

HOWEVER, thanks to my current working arrangement, I've been powering through the complete Technobabylon, a full-length game based upon the plans for the original series. As a result, it's going to be a long game!

Up until this stage, in the last month and a half of producing, I've effectively been remaking what was originally parts 1, 2 and 3 of Technobabylon. With a bit of rejigging here and there, some polish, and art support from Ben304 and Ilyich, they're looking a whole lot nicer. Even better, this evening I've finally finished off the remake of what was Part 3. The implication, therefore, is that everything being made after this is wholly new. You might have an idea of what happens in the first parts based on the old versions, they may even help you play through again if you've done them before (though there's a bit of alteration in terms of how the adventures play out), but from here on out everything's brand new!

Though, just to make things more complicated, what was part 2 has been split into 2 and 3, making the old 3 into 4, from which you see the screen above. The current plan is for the game to be made of 12 of these chapters, and we're getting through them at a rate of about one every two weeks. So, how long is it going to take? Well, you do the maths, dingus. What am I, a mathemologist?

Bear in mind, that's just the programmy stuff. After that there's cleaning up, testing, voices, testing, proofreading, quality control and testing, but be encouraged - this game's being made, and everything!

I'll be sure to keep everyone updated as to how far along the whole project is, don't you fret. Which reminds me, I'd better amend the website...it's a weeee smidge out of date these days.

Virtual Worlds

I told you I'd update a lot more.

Anyway, a big part of Technobabylon is the characters' interaction with the net through virtual reality. Through a couple of weird coincidences, I stumbled across and was e-mailed by Codafrost, who is in the process of making their own version of the first part of Technobabylon. Where does the VR come in to that? Well, it's been done for Oculus Rift, the Kickstarted virtual reality systems.

It's an early alpha version, and was initially built by Codafrost as a means of testing an adventure-game verb-coin interface in Oculus Rift. I haven't personally got any VR hardware, but it still works - as long as you don't mind crossing your eyes a little.

It certainly seems like Coda's got a thing for cyberpunk, and apparently has an IP of their own that they're working on. Still, this is an interesting idea, isn't it? Who's to say that if I hadn't started in Unity rather than AGS, that this is how Technobabylon would have looked like to begin with?

Even more exciting, we now get to see the other side of Latha's apartment!

If you want to give it a go, it's downloadable from the link at the top.

The Train Now Standing at Platforms 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 has Come in Sideways

Blimey, I'm really, really bad at this update thing, aren't I?

Well, very recently, I decided to say "nuts to you" to my employers. So, no more banks, woo party party. I've decided, in a very bohemian way, to make a go at this game-making lark.

What does that entail? Well, aside from never being allowed near that office again, it means that rather than spending half an hour in the evenings tinkering and tweaking with games, I'm now able to put 6-9 hours a day in, if not more! Previous attempts at finishing projects like Technobabylon have always been hindered by not getting far enough in the kind of timeframe I'd have liked. Sometimes, I get about half-way through a project, and realise I've improved so much since I started that the art doesn't look the same anymore.

Without things like "paid labour" getting in the way, Technobabylon's going to go a lot more quickly. In fact, at the rate it's currently going, it's a matter of months. With a lot more going on, there's a lot more to keep people appraised of, so I intend to keep on updating this information a lot more frequently. Which reminds me, I need to update the website a bit...now, what was the password for that?

Ah well. Have a laboratory. If you've played through Technobabylon before, you might recognise what this is a redo of, courtesy of the ever-talented Ben304