Initial Lockdown, a Return to AI, and An Upcoming Non-Disastrous Livestream

It's been HOT up here in Maine over the past week, and despite what you might think, we're not exactly blessed with constant ocean breezes here in Portland.  On the back bay particularly, things tend to get still and stagnant - and the humidity certainly doesn't help.  

This bears on the development of Peace Island, because for a couple of days, it was just too hot to work.  In fact - for the first time since I got our main development machine, it shut down due to overheating during a heavy render.

Nonetheless, we're now past the point where we have stopped adding any new content, and are making sure that everything works as well as possible.  

The one new interior you will find in the "Final Final Alpha" (I'm just gonna call it "FFA" for now) will be Garrison's Market.  This was a natural choice, as it will contain ways to fill all three of your stats in one place, in a natural manner (rather than walking into bizarre spheres.)  We are stocking the shelves with TONS of items that can be knocked down, played with, or eaten.

We're also close to finally integrating the Pause/Cat Switch menu that was featured in our trailer. I wanted to stick with the ironic "postcard" look for the UI, but really - it was inefficient, and the visual style really was at contrast (and a bit amateurish & jarring) when compared to the game itself.

Now, in-between the dozens of other things, Laura and I spent a few hours creating concept images of the erstwhile humans of Peace Island.  Yes- this was an effort that was not directly related to getting the alpha done, but it was a temporary evening distraction. (I should also point out that we have always planned to get accurate portraits of these individuals for use in-game - such as on driver's license pictures, wall photos, wanted posters, etc.)

Like the prop movie posters that were featured in a previous update, these images were all created with an AI.

As I stated in that previous update, I had a number of reservations in outsourcing work to an AI.  However, we found ourselves in the position of not being able to afford to hire human artists/photographers to create such imagery.  

While the images the AI created are superficially impressive, closer examination reveals thousands of imperfections that would never escape a human artist's attention.

We have absolutely no intention of  cutting loose the human artists we have worked with on Peace Island.  We might hand occasional concept work to an AI, but we'll always end up going to a real artist, for the final version.  

To show off all of the other progress we're making, I have decided to schedule, once again, another live cast.  This time, we'll take care not to acidentally show spoilers.  Further, in this one, I'm actually going to write an outline, and stick to it - so I spend less time doddering on like Grandpa Simpson.  

I have scheduled it for 8PM EST this coming Sunday - I hope you can take time to tune in!

Limited premium shipments being tomorrow, dependent upon quantity.  We have ordered more, but it will take a week to get them.  Thanks again for your support - it means the WORLD to us!