Team lineup changes

Hello everyone,

I’m writing this to provide you with an update on recent changes to the team. It has always been important for me to provide maximum transparency on our development process, and this is no exception. All of you are a vital part of our journey and we wouldn’t be where we are today without everyone’s help, engagement, and support.

THE CHANGES

To jump right into things - after more than 5 years of work on the project, the lead artist - Lornlover - has decided that the time has come to move on to new endeavors. The primary reasons for this are fatigue and burnout (unfortunately common in the industry), as well as a desire to explore new creative directions.

I am forever thankful to Lorn for being a part of this journey and creating Transylvania’s memorable art style and atmosphere. Being available constantly for such a long time has always been a big ask, and I’m sure everyone appreciates where the project has come as a result of his work, and also understands the reasons for his departure.

You can continue keeping in touch with his work at https://twitter.com/lornlover. You will also see a few more of his scenes pop up in the game in the future, as they were drawn in preparation for branches of the story that are not yet implemented.  

MOVING FORWARD

I would like to begin by reassuring everyone that I have taken every step necessary to keep development on track and without any (major) interruptions as we reorganize the pipeline. 

Currently Addictivities continues her work as background artist and Dax, who has done work on the project in the past (most notably on the Elise and Ionut updates with new character art and scenes), will be stepping up to handle more scenes.

In addition to these familiar faces, I’m happy to welcome a new member on board - CrimsonMel. She is a classical artist and a very big fan of Transylvania, coming in with lots of excitement and enthusiasm to contribute to the project. I am fully confident in her abilities both to fit with the existing style, and to expand with new artistic angles.

Rightow Mel has started work on new scenes with Ishtar, as well as pre-production on a few new ideas of how we can use the existing tech. You can expect to see the first additions drop in-game around June.

A FEW FINAL WORDS

As you can see above, one of the changes that we plan to make is how the pipeline works - having two people can allow for parallel work on upcoming scenes for the monthly update, as well as slow-cooking more complex/ambitious ideas over a longer cycle. It also allows for the artists to take time off as needed.

I’ve already given a lot of thought to things, but I’d like to finish this post by giving YOU the final word on art direction - you can fill in this short survey to help us understand what is most valuable to you and how we can best use our available resources:

ART SURRVEY

Of course, if anyone has any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to comment either here directly, or reach out on the Discord.

See you soon,

Vincent & XFiction Team