Category «Videos»

Making-of episode 4 and new screens

Two years ago we had a fully playable version that still neglected story completely, but the triangles worked together with the level design, finally. At this time we heard of other developers trying out "early access", which had the more precise name "alpha funding", back then (or in our case even pre-alpha funding ...). I loved playing these games and seeing diamonds-in-a-rough developing into more playable and polished games with every update.

I analysed everything I found out about these alphas and wrote down The pros and cons of making a game alpha. At the same time we decided to jump into the cold water to try this infamous new method to get early feedback and funding with TRI. The funding didn't work out, but the feedback was pretty motivating. For the first time we had feedback from players and we realized what Early Access really meant: whatever you plan your game to be, players might have their own visions or show you issues that you wouldn't have recognized without somebody playing the game that isn't you.

This version isn't available (anymore), although I wonder if this is fair, since people paid for it. And the current version doesn't look anything like the current one. So, for those of you who missed out this experience, Friedrich and I played it for you again.


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Of course we also push TRI forward, instead of just looking in its past. At the moment we try to fix little nasty bugs, polish finished levels with physicalized or animated objects and smooth out puzzles or paths that people got stuck in. Have a look at some of the examples:

At the moment we also work on cutscenes, finishing monologue and story text and mentally prepare for attending the Gamescom in Cologne in August. And finishing the whole project ... somehow ... soon.

The Golden Sparrow – Der Goldene Spatz 2014

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Last week we received the 'Goldener Spatz' (means 'Golden Sparrow') for TRI. The award is not only a very beautiful pipe-blown glass sparrow, but important for us for mainly one reason: the jury consisted of children only!

The children that applied and were selected for the jury position were all boys, so they were aptly called GameBoys. They were not just asked to play games and choose one among them for the award; the children also needed to be able to articulate what they like, what not, and why. Therefore we received their statement printed on the certificate together with the cute little Golden Sparrow.

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We like the idea that the Children's Media Festival does not only award movies, games and websites for children, but also let them form their own opinion. A jury so young has an interesting advantage as well: the opinions were mostly created without tactical or political decisions. They presumably didn't consider trends nor fame, but followed purely personal taste.

Maybe I interpret too much into this, but it was highly enjoyable for Friedrich to talk to them after the award ceremony in Erfurt, Germany, and hear their thoughts concerning our game TRI. We like how much they engaged with the game, developed their own ideas for what could be added and also were not too shy to criticize it.

We realized, by receiving an award made for and by children, that we should totally aim for children as an audience. Especially because TRI is challenging but non-violent, imaginative, and it triggers what most children love most: curiosity and exploration.

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Photos by Florian Hohmann @hohse

EGX Rezzed, Amaze and Making-of part 3

Birmingham - EGX Rezzed 2014

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The REZZED, including 2 days of visiting Birmingham, were a blast! The convention is full of interesting games, diverse genres, from AAA to smaller and very experimental indie titles. It was really fun and rewarding to be chosen for the nicely arranged Leftfield Collection. And to have TRI presented to young kids, families, a whole bunch of YouTubers, and curious players for the first time after two years of work was a really good feeling! Of course, meeting other devs and talking about their games was pretty cool, as well.


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I really feel that I should have written more about the Rezzed, since our days in Birmingham were absolutely enjoyable and also important for us, to show the game around. But unfortunately, we take the final sprint to the release of TRI, which makes writing up all the events nearly impossible.

A Maze Berlin 2014

At least I have to mention that we visited the third edition of Germany's very international Indie Festival A Maze in April, again. Being there is always a big highlight of our year! It feels almost like coming home to the place where you belong. The A Maze is a crazy colorful exhibition with all sorts of games you might or might not imagine. From weird stuff you never fully understand, to multiplayer games you can play for hours, to pieces of art and artistic expression, students' works and polished diamonds smash hits. Not to forget workshops and talks. This festival is always so fully packed with interesting people, enlightening talks and fun games that I just get crazy, not knowing where to jump first.

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Making-of TRI episode 3

For the lack of written blog posts we made this third episode of our making-of story. This time we talk about our first prototype and why it was scrapped, again.


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We soon have some fresh news for you at the end of the month, as we're working on the Steam integration! Until then we need to give this guy here more interaction, voice and animation.

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Update for TRI, Making-Of 2, Game Jams, Presskit

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We finally could release a new version of TRI - after "ObliviousFox" comes "OptimusFox" (or in numbers: the game has now version 0.4.1)! Here are the most important changes:

  • Fixed missing collision geometry in level "Tower of Nowhere"
  • Hidden stone parts now save and load their position correctly
  • Kami part of Level "Prisons" is now beatable
  • Changed level info in the pause screen
  • Loading screen can't appear anymore when loading right after death

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If you got the game via any platform (Desura, our own website, IndieGameStand, GamersGate) we recommend you download the new version as soon as possible, as you can't complete the game otherwise. (Sorry for that!) While we're at it, we'd also like to mention that TRI is now also on itch.io.

      Making-Of, Part 2!

We filmed the second installment of our TRI Making-of series! Have a look:


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You can find the first part on YouTube.

      Game Jams!

Two weeks ago, the 7-Day-Roguelike Challenge 2014 started. Tradition demanded that we should participate, and so we did. Unfortunately our ideas didn't trigger the right motivation, and in the end I (Friedrich) started on Friday alone, with only 2.5 days left, to make a small game named Variablo that already got a bit of nice press coverage. In Variablo you have to not only walk through a dungeon and kill monsters, but also move parts of the dungeon around like in a sliding puzzle. It's inspired by the board game Master Mind. It's fairly short.

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But wait, there's more - this Saturday, Mini Ludum Dare 50 starts - and I am the host! I had several ideas in mind for the theme, but ultimately decided to please the fans and announced that participants need to make a Demake.

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Demakes are remakes of already existing games that use a "less advanced" technology - like going from 3D graphics to 2D - or they only present a subset of the original gameplay. Officially the MiniLD starts Saturday and ends Monday, but you can create and upload the game until end of March.

      EGX Rezzed

We changed our plans and decided to fly to Birmingham, UK, the next week, to visit the EGX Rezzed. So if you're around from Friday to Saturday (28th - 30th), and want to have a chat, we will be near the Leftfield Collection (where they exhibit TRI) from time to time! Hope to see you there!

Of course, we will still visit the A MAZE. / Berlin in April. Phew, a lot of traveling around in such a short time frame!

      Presskit

Last but not least Jana took the time to create a new presskit for not only TRI but also about us and our company. She used the excellent presskit() by Rami Ismail. We also have subpages for Pitman, Tumblox and our game jam games now, complete with descriptions, screenshots and videos.

That's it for today! Thanks for reading!

TRI – Beta, Greenlit and a making-of

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1. Beta

The last months really were a blast. I think for the first time of the development of TRI we managed to stick to our schedules.

After a lot of work and headaches to create the final levels, we now have 16 of them - each more beauti-weird than the other. Ready to keep you busy for around eight hours in our spaces of gravity-madness and color.

  • We also added some gameplay elements like solid light rays - tubes you can reflect like light rays, but are able to walk on.
  • And there is a new effect which greyes out the region where you won't be able to set the other two points and make a full triangle. So creating them will be quicker and more fun!
  • The last levels are not fully tested, but you will be able to play through the complete game from now on.

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If you want to have a look at the new content check your favourite platforms to get the latest version!

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GamersGate2. Greenlit

Since September we were climbing the steep mountain of Greenlight. After swiftly getting the first 65% ("To the Top 100") we somehow camped in the stormy regions of 70%, took some steps upwards whenever a new batch got greenlit and fell back when we didn't manage to loudly beat the drums for people to recognize us there. But in February we finally reached more than 90%, also through the help of HOCGaming, who did a bunch of Twitch.tv sessions with TRI.

At February the 19th we completely skipped the Top 100 and got greenlit by Steam! We are so very happy and want to thank everybody who supported us on this way!

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3. Making-of

Because the release date is crawling nearer and nearer (and won't slip through our fingers that easily like it did before), we decided to filma little series of stories that led to the creation of TRI. Have a look at the first episode, in which we talk about the beginning with the Ludum Dare #20 version.


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The upcoming month are going to be very stressful AND exciting. TRI will be presented in the Leftfield Collection of the EGX Rezzed in Birmingham from March, 28th-30th and we are going to attend the A Maze in Berlin from April, 9th-11th. It would be cool to see you there, as it is an truly amazing event for indie game developers and gamers alike.

In the meantime we will be working on the characters, animations, cut scenes, sounds, voice overs and polish, polish, polish. So, stay tuned and if you played the beta, we would love to hear your feedback, of course.

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