New Release on December 16!

More about that below- first, let's talk about progress & news of the past week:

Essentially, we're all engaged in finalizing the tasks we started, two weeks ago, when I last updated...

As you can see above, the new roads have pretty much been carved out & painted - although I hope I can add a bit more subtlety to the textures.  We're adding a few puddles (in case your cat needs a quick refreshment,) and I'm currently tackling the Vegetation biomes...

This is something I've been putting off for about 7 months - and looking at the image above, you can see why:  each and every one of those points needs hand-adjustment.  Sometimes, the work is so methodical and time-consuming, I live-stream it on YouTube, just to keep my focus... 

I finished the first pass today, and while things are looking better, the next step is to tweak the contents of the biomes themselves, to make sure we don't have any more "Flying Foliage."

On the back-end, work continues on integration of the dynamic, responsive soundtrack, and we're adding objects to the game world to boost your food/fun/comfort levels.  Our animator is re-vamping the geese, so that they will move with a bit more grace.

My co-lead dev, Laura, has pretty much aced our conversation/quest engine, and is set to start integrating her work into the project, in the last half of December.  We're also planning our first meetings with external story writers, to remove the rougher edges from the game's narrative.

SO- ABOUT THE DECEMBER RELEASE - I say this each time we release an alpha, but it's never been more true:

This will be the most robust update to the game, since its inception.  Until now, you've been able to run around the island, knock down a few toilet tissue towers, and watch time go by.

I've already listed a lot of the stuff that we'll be featuring - the new responsive soundtrack, the stat system, and more interaction overall, along with a completely re-designed road/trail system, and revised vegetation.  

Of course, there will also be improved performance across both Mac & PC, new interiors, an improved cat switch mechanic, and quicker loading!

OH - ONE LAST PIECE OF NEWS:

I was asked to make a remote guest appearance at the ServerDNA5 game dev conference.  I said "Yeah", but as the conference is literally on the other side of the planet, I'll be presenting at their "morning session" as the clock heads towards midnight here in Maine.

See ya'll on the 9th on December - oh, the wonders we'll have to show!

Thanks again for your support, confidence, and patience!