On Icebergs & Alphas

It's been somewhat of a busy week- our revised  website went up, The AI for the "Invasive species" continues to be developed (video here,) and more buildings have gotten realistic, roughened exteriors:

Integration into our RPG engine continues apace, and over the next couple of weeks, I hope to be adding our third (and hopefully final) road network.  You might have noticed that Peace Island's roads tend to be a tad "regular" in spots, and I wasn't gonna be satisfied, until we had proper, rutted roads...

Once that is done, we can do some final touches on the terrain - we have a specialized tool that will allow us to create a more natural-looking, "eroded" topography (which in turn, will allow our foliage spawner to more accurately place thousands of trees, bushes, rocks, and grass patches.  Thankfully, this process is automated!)  

As usual, we also had the standard meetings, conferences, and consultations with our creative staff - which brings me to the first of our main topics:

THE OTHER DAY, I CAME TO A REALIZATION:

What we have been presenting to you all in these updates has been mostly eye candy and news on how the creation of the external world is going - and that is just a very SMALL PART of the development that has been going on.

Just as one can only see the 10% of a  given iceberg that has risen above the ocean's surface, we have only shown you a SMALL PART of the ENTIRETY of the project.

Just this week, we brought on new voice actors and musicians to round out the WISL playlist - we even have a guy in France who is composing both the chorus and orchestral arrangements of a full anthem for the short-lived Free Island Republic (more about that, below):

In the heart of waters blue
Pure from slav'ry's stain
Our Island refuge rises true
And forever shall remain-

An Isle of Peace and Liberty
Where light and freedom shines!
Far from mainland's wretchedness
Among our Peaceful Pines!

Peace Island - our humble home - where we shall take our stand!
Peace Island - our treasured home - may prov'dence save this land!

Our Fathers dream, Our Mother's pride
To liberty, hold dear!
A promise kept to those unborn
A new world, without fear!

In times to come, though tides may rise
We lift our voices high!
We stand for peace and brotherhood
Beneath our clear blue skies!

Peace Island - our legacy - where we shall take our stand!
Peace Island - our destiny - may prov'dence save this land! 

A new 2d artist has been brought on to assist with the creation of in-game assets such as posters, letters, and other paper artifacts - and the STORY behind the game has grown sufficiently vast that I'd compare it to ANY Triple-A release from ANY of the major studios - except that ours is FAR better, and FAR deeper.

Each of the erstwhile human residents of the island has their own story to unravel, from the Mayor, to the Dockman's daughter, to the two reclusive descendants of the Laflamme family.  We have even started using a crowdsourced taxonomy of the entirety of human knowledge to refine the gameplay loop:

Your progress in the game, to a great deal, is based upon how much you learn - we want to make sure that these goals are based in reality, as much as possible.

Now- the problem is:  It's kinda hard to relate a heck of a lot of this background story work, without dropping a few spoilers - and we REALLY don't want THAT happening, right?

However, considering the true depth of the stories that lie within Peace Island, there are a few details I can dole out to ya'll, without giving away TOO much.  So, over the next few updates, I will be covering (Superficially) one of the stories you will encounter, as you explore the Island.

FIRST UP, WE HAVE THE ELLISON FAMILY:

If you happen to be listening to WISL's local radio broadcasts on certain days - or wander too far along certain roads or trails on Peace Island, you'll encounter the Ellisons.

Although not as powerful as they once were, they remain one of the Island's most influential families, with a legacy dating back to the earliest days of the Island's settlement by Europeans.  

By far, the most influential and famous was Aloysius Ellison - who at one time, was the owner of 1/3 of Peace Island's territory- including the best farmlands and largest orchard.

During short period in 1820, Peace Island briefly enjoyed independence as the "Free Island Republic," as the island was left off of certain maps used in drafting the Missouri Compromise.  In light of this, it was reasoned by some that Peace Island could not be considered territory of the new U.S. state of Maine.  

Aloysius became the first (and only) president in an election that was the first in North America to allow universal suffrage:  Women, non-land-owning men, and even the few remaining Indigenous inhabitants were encouraged to participate.

Unfortunately, this ambitious, small nation only existed for two short weeks, before representatives from the mainland arrived with enough soldiers in tow to ensure that the islanders would quickly abandon any thought of independence.

The Ellison family never did.

The Free Island Republic's flag continued to fly above the Ellison family's farm - even in 1942 after 80% of their land was seized by the U.S Government under eminent domain and blasted away, so that Battery Hamlin could be built to intercept possible German submarine activity in Prentiss Bay.

This left the Ellison family with little more than their homes, a small blueberry patch, and memories of what once was - but they have plans...

YES- THE FINAL ALPHA WILL BE RELEASED, SOON!

We're shooting for the end of February, but that MIGHT get pushed back one or two weeks.

This will be the LAST public Alpha, before we start focusing in on the short list of what goes into the public Beta.  That's when the REALLY intense work starts...

ONE LAST THING:

As always: if you have contributed $25 or more to our campaign, and not received your postcard set(s), please contact us directly at peaceislandllc@gmail.com.

On Friday, I will be picking up the print premiums- they'll be going out, next week!

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!!!