Progress, a bit more backstory, and cards galore!

First off, lemme tell ya'll about a wacky thing I did, this past weekend:

I took TWO WHOLE DAYS OFF, in a ROW!!!

Talk about walkin' the WILD SIDE - I've not done that in about six months!

I hadn't gone on a decent island walkabout in a while - and couldn't have chosen a better time:  The leaves were at the point of JUST turning, where most foliage tended toward pastel colors.  It reminded me why I had chosen such a location and time for the game's setting...

Progress made this week:

Just today, we got the new animations for the mice within the game.  These are among the last NPCs that still require basic animations.  

The only ones remaining are the beavers and snails- and we're already on those...

The Artificial Intelligence routines for the geese and chickens continue to be integrated.  

Video here. 

Postcard premiums are still being shipped as we get your addresses- we're almost at 50% sent!  If you have contributed $25 or more to the project, and have yet to send in your address, PLEASE DO SO NOW!!!  

Write to me at blumrich1970@gmail.com

On the subject of cards, we've made progress on the "Leveling cards" as well!  Artists have now been found whose styles are compatible with the personalities of all nine cats, with the exception of Ronan (he's a special guy, demanding special art - news on that as it develops.)

We also secured a VO talent for the island radio station that is so absolutely amazing, we can't even disclose the deets, just yet.  Perhaps in an exclusive update, sometime soon!

NOW- SOME BACKSTORY THAT LEAKS INTO THE REAL WORLD...

Among the more modest storefonts along Island avenue is a museum of a most curious nature...

The "Umbrella Cover Museum" has long been a quirky fixture of Peace Island's waterfront.  Rather than luring the island's visitors with cheap souvenirs or local seafood, this venerable institution "celebrates the mundane" by hosting the world's largest collection of umbrella covers.

And yes - it exists. 

I first visited the museum eight years ago, and found it singularly unique among any tourist attraction I have visited, in that it provided EXACTLY what it promised.

It was, of course, a given that we wanted to include this museum in the game, from day one.  Securing the curator's permission was unfortunately not so easy.  It required about a  dozen trips back and forth to discuss and clear things in the most cursory of ways, and there remain a few legal details to be worked out.

That having been said, out of all of Peace Island's locations, the Umbrella Cover Museum is one that some might accuse us of just making up out of whole cloth- perhaps as a "MacGuffin" to drive some half-baked narrative within the game's plot.

Rest assured- it is not.

See ya'll next week!