Time relentless takes no sides...

While it's been an incredible week of progress, it looks more and more certain that the release of the 0.9 alpha will have be put off until the 10th of July.  

I could go into the more technical details of why, but the bottom line is:  We are still a relatively small team (a core of 5, with approximately 15 people working freelance.)   Everyone contributing to this project is accomplishing amazing stuff on a daily basis, but there are only so many hours in a day, and we just need a few more of those days.

This is because we're working to put SO MANY substantial improvements into this last Alpha:

New Controller.
New Animations.
New IK system.
VASTLY improved performance.
New, more efficient AI.
New interactions with objects.
The first conversations, and quests/objectives.
New landmarks.
New interiors.
A few instances of our new procedural soundtrack engine.
Improved textures.

IF YOU ARE A PATRON, AND DON'T WISH TO WAIT, MSG ME, AND I'LL PROVIDE LINKS TO THE MOST RECENT MAC/PC ALPHAS, TO TIDE YOU OVER IN THE MEANTIME!

This release date of July 10th is pretty much set in stone, as Laura and I are going to have to take a nine-day break from game development to deal with taxes, and an impending move...

Ya see, because of the damage done to Portland's tourist industry by COVID-19, a lot of landlords who were hoping on renting their places out on AirBnB for $1,000 per week are suddenly DESPERATE to rent at ANY price.  As a result, for pretty much the same rent we're paying now, we can now get a larger place where Laura and I are not working out of our bedrooms, and the cats can get more sunlight.

PREMIUMS ARE GOING OUT FASTER THAN EVER.

In the past two weeks, we've sent out 100 prints, and 150 postcard sets.  We continue to send these out as fast as our schedule will allow, but we hit a snag on the prints:  They turned out to be far more popular as premiums than I anticipated, and as a result, we've had to order a second printing.  We plan on being to be able to ship more by mid-July, LATEST.  In the meantime, postcard sets will continue to go out!

And as always, we guarantee the safety of our premiums

SO - THE MUSIC OF VNV NATION WILL NOT BE IN THE BETA.

One of the things that gave a great boost in confidence in the early days of Peace Island development was when Ronan Harris responded positively to my request to license his music for the game. It has been to an equal measure frustrating that he never responded to any of my follow up communication.

As you might know, the music of VNV Nation has had a great influence on the project - especially their track "Perpetual."

So much so, that I consider the song's lyrics to be the beginner's manual for the game:

 Now,  I can understand that to people who are not fans of European techno, this level of devotion to a particular artist might seem rather odd.  When I first heard them 20 years ago, I just liked the futurist themes they used - essentially, they were doing what post-cold-war Laibach WANTED to do, but could not.

It wasn't until around 2011 that I actually started listening to their lyrics, and found that these songs that I had been listening to for years were actually far deeper than I thought.  

The best way to sum up what VNV Nation means to its fans is from an interview with Ronan Harris from a few years back.  I tried to find the video, but could not, so PLEASE forgive me if I am butchering what he actually said - so here goes:

     "During one of our shows in (american city) I noticed  that at the very edge of the crowd, there were a group of american soldiers in full uniform - they didn't dance, they didn't mix with the crowd, they just stood.

     "After the show, they approached me, and said they were there because they had all just returned from a tour in Iraq.  You see, one of their squad members had been killed in action just days before their rotation was over.  They told me that as they were packing up his personal effects to return to his family, they had found a few of our albums.  

     "They said that had listened to them, and wanted to come to the show and thank me, because they had found the words they needed to mourn their friend in our music."

I personally do not doubt this account for a second, because there are works by VNV Nation that are every bit as personally important to me....

And I COULD NOT IMAGINE the disappointment I would feel if some video game developer bought the rights to one of them, and made it a combat anthem in some trite videogame.

Ronan Harris, as a result of experiences such as the one I related above, is acutely aware of what his works mean to his fans, and for now, is just not ready to commit.

I can only respect that.

See ya'll in two weeks, with a new Alpha.