On The Road(s) Again, And an Homage to Lost Art.

Finally got some time today to start working on cleaning up the terrain painting- particularly around & in the roads.  This was something I really wanted to address before the previous release, but we all know about the best plans of mice & men...

Unfortunately, a few paths, lawns & parking lots were missing their proper textures, and the ruts in the roads were only about halfway where they needed to be.  Fixing all of these and many more details will be my personal project, over the next two weeks.

Other stuff we've been working on, since the 0.935 Alpha release:

1 - Loading screens: We have 'em, now!

2 - New music:  Richard's been creating the first drafts of music that will overlay the existing soundtrack, whenever a particular animal NPC is nearby - Check it out! 

3 - New rocks:  I know that doesn't sound too spectacular, but as players of the alpha have noticed, cat movement sometimes gets unpredictable, when the cat is walking along the shores.  We will be introducing new rocks, which are far more amenable to walking - and will require fewer draw calls (which means an extra tiny boost to performance, across the board!)

4 - New animations: We're bringing in Meows, And your cat will soon be able to flush the toilet, among other new interactivity!

5 - A universal NPC system:  Currently, we have three different systems handling the movement of the animal NPCs in the game.  We will soon have a single engine that will run them all - from the deer, to the seagulls, to the lowly snails.

6 - And so much more:  Every week, we're making progress on a dozen facets of the game's development - Level/UI design, Story/Lore, Mechanics - we're even tackling that persistent "jumping" problem on two different fronts, and ain't gonna give up until a solution is found.

It's pretty amazing what we're able to get done, considering we have so few hands on the project!

THE STORY OF AN ANONYMOUS PIECE OF INTIMATE ART THAT INSPIRED PEACE ISLAND.

As I have oft said, many of the locations and stories that you will come across in Peace Island were inspired by real things I have learned of & encountered during my trips to the islands of Casco Bay.  I have been meaning to relate this particular story for a while, but wanted to wait until a time such as this, when we've finished an Alpha, and I have a bit of time to spare...

I believe it was 2012, when I first saw it.  

Footpaths through the island woods of Casco Bay are easy to find.  Forged & maintained by humans & deer alike,  it is easy to find a winding path where you can lose yourself for a short while.  Even in the smallest copses, it's easy to forget that there might be people having a family dinner just a few hundred feet away.

During one such excursion, I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, a smattering of white dots seemingly floating amongst the uniformly brown tree trunks.  As I approached, I saw that someone had placed hundreds of snail shells on the smaller twigs sprouting from the trees.

Other trees nearby had had dozens of pennies nailed shallowly into the bark, resulting in unique patterns of verdigris.  Other objects, created from natural materials, were mounted here and there...

As I continued, something very small, yet very impressive came into view...

It was a tiny "shrine" of sorts, created wholly out of found natural items, and unique, quizzical handmade objects.

When I returned with a friend a few days later, I noticed that there had been a few small items added - nothing big - just a small conch shell, and a piece of sea glass.  From this, we deduced that this was an ongoing project - which indeed it was.

Stopping by this quiet spot in the woods quickly became one of my favorite things to do, whenever I hiked this particular island.  I probably visited the spot almost 100 times over the years - and each spring, the moss patches that this unknown artist had placed over the meticulously-chosen stones, bones & artifacts would find root, and grow.  It was if this person was collaborating with nature...

During all of those visits- all of those hours - I NEVER encountered the artist, nor another hiker - the latter being quite unusual, for this island.  To tell the truth, I never felt as if I had to meet whomever had created this amazing little place.

However, we did communicate, in a way.  Sometimes, Laura would leave a piece of her origami - a tiny crimson seagull perched among the seashells.  Other times, I would place a single pinecone, to round out a particular curvilinear pattern.

On our next visit,  our small contributions would still be there.

Another time,  I placed five of those diminutive pinecones in the shape of the "Yggdrasil" rune.  Two days later, when I next visited, they were all gone.  The message was clear:

"You can take part, but don't take over."

And so it remained for years: a quiet place where an artist, nature, and the few people who wandered by collaborated in a project seemingly without end.

But I think you know what is coming...

In 2018, Laura & I visited this location, and were surprised to find that a "Fairy Village" had sprouted up.  If you are not aware, it is common in some locales to create such structures in forests - little houses made completely out of natural materials found at hand.  In some cases, if care and creativity is applied with a good dose of patience, these can be downright awesome:

Unfortunately, in 99.999% of the cases, they are shoddy, crude lean-to's made by children.

Apparently, a few weeks previous, someone had gotten the idea to build one of these things, which had given subsequent visitors the idea to do the same.  Within a few days, this place, once so natural and secluded, had become a miniature copy of post-riot Los Angeles, rendered in sticks & bark.

The shrine was still there- but this was the last time we ever saw it....

When I visited a week later, the shoddy bark constructions were still there, although now collapsing back into the dirt - but the shrine was gone.  

While it was tempting to believe it had been cruelly vandalized by some oaf who had wandered by, it was clear that it had been destroyed by this unknown artist that I, and so many other had collaborated with, over so many years: Each stone - each piece of glass, bone, and each colorful pebble had been meticulously removed.  The delicate structures of driftwood, feathers and moss had been taken down and their parts scattered.  The pennies had been pulled from the tree bark, and the bright white shells no longer adorned the now-bare branches.

As much as it hurt to see all of this happen - and I DO mean HURT - I could not blame this unknown artist for bringing it all to an end.  This was a private place- a place of ongoing unspoken creative communion.  It could have continued as such, had these new visitors respected what was going on - but they couldn't be bothered - they never took the time to COMMUNICATE...

And thus, it ended.

Once I finish the terrain painting, Laura & I will start the work of re-creating this private, special place within Peace Island.  It's been something we've been meaning to address for quite some time - I think the one thing I was waiting for, was the opportunity to tell someone about this special place, and what it meant to those who knew it.

Thanks for listening, and thanks for your continued support, patience, and confidence!

SEE YA'LL IN 2 WEEKS!