Back-end shenanigans, cards, and a bit more backstory...

But before I get to all of that, I wanted to again thank everyone who has contributed $25 or more up to this point, and who also sent along their mailing addresses.  We've mailed out all your postcard premiums, and you should be receiving them as fast as you respective post offices can get them to you!

The bad news, is that this only means that 40% of all premiums have been sent out - you see,  60% of those eligible for postcard sets have yet to respond with their mailing addresses.  We will be sending another round of individual requests for addresses, over the next few days - we appreciate your response!

(Above- an article about Peace Island from a Gaming magazine in Mexico City.)

So- there's been a lot going on, but there's little that we can show off, this week...

We spent a lot of time over the last seven days interviewing bands/VO artists and writing advertisements - all to populate the playlist of WISL, the island radio station.  In addition, we've been all working on getting the source on the versioning server accessible to everyone who is working on the project.  

Work on the character controller continues, and it looks very much like it will be integrated into the game world, over the next week.  The AIs for the chickens and geese are almost done- we're just waiting on a new palette of chicken animations.

We're also getting reports that our first attempt at sectorizing the terrain is resulting in the improved framerates we were anticipating- which is a BIG load offa my shoulders.

We're also finally making progress on getting the "Leveling" cards done.  The above rough drafts are from Scotty Arsenault.  There will be eight for each of the cats, in the end - and MANY more about the world they explore.

Each card set will be done by a different artist - we hope each style will reflect the nature of the character- playful or serious, friendly or taciturn.  Here is another rough by Shelby Miller:

I confess that this is now one of my current favorite facets of development!

We also did a lot of BORING financial/legal stuff- if ya REALLY wanna hear about it, leave a message below, and I'll go into sweet, sweet detail...

NOW- A BIT MORE ON THE BACKSTORY OF PEACE ISLAND:

On the southern end of the Island, you will find the abandoned and overgrown ruins of the Laflamme Fishworks.  During its short heyday, this plant was the largest employer on the island, with the products produced therein shipped from coast to coast.

Unfortunately, this once thriving business fell upon hard times within a mere decade as the sea cucumber it depended upon was rapidly harvested to extinction.

The doors were shuttered within a week of the last sea cuke being plucked from the northeastern shoals in late 1877.  The small company town nearby was deserted soon after.  

The two remaining scions of the LaFlamme family still reside in their mansion, yet little has been heard from them in recent years.  Most of the outlying buildings have fallen into disrepair and ruin, of little interest to anyone but graffiti artists and the occasional cheap tourist who is more interested in economy than quality.

Coincidentally: the extinction of the Sea Cucumber had dire consequences for another family on the island- but that's another story for another day...

See Ya'll next week!