Kittens, Hardening, and Steam

So, we were not actually PLANNING to feature Ronan the kitten in the upcoming "Final Alpha," and he was not included in our plans for "Minimum Viable Product."  All the same, we felt it would be beneficial to begin the rigging/skinning of our kitten model, so we could see how well existing animations would carry over from adult to kitten.

You see, we have a new "follow" AI, and since all of the cats are of different sizes & ages, they will all be moving at different paces.  This means we have to set up a "rubber band" situation - in which, if a cat falls too far behind the one they are following, they will default to a "run" to catch up.  A kitten would be a good "test case" in one extreme of such a situation - so, we went ahead and set our animator to work!  More on this, as it Develops!

Above: The famed Umbrella Cover Museum might be closed for the season, but someone stands guard to preserve the collection.

As we close in on the final alpha, we enter the phase where we stop adding new stuff, and make sure what we have works as best as it can.  Just about ALL of the issues that have plagued previous releases have been addressed at one level or another - all that remains is to ensure those fixes all work with each other.  

This essentially boils down to a "bug hunt."  On my own end, I was pleased to finally be able to fix an issue with our rocks that has plagued the past few alphas: all rocks were spawning at lowest "Level of Detail", resulting in the landscape being littered with lumpen, grey potatoes.  They now display at a proper level of detail.  

Also:  When Laura & I took a recent trip out to the Islands, we noticed a recurring geological phenomena that will allow us to better replicate the jumbled, rocky nature of Maine's coasts.  

If you are not aware, Maine is known for it's famously rocky coasts.  Beaches are few and far between, and the vast majority of our coastline resembles a Klingon soccer field:

Figuring out how to replicate this vexed me for quite some time, but on that recent ferry trip out to the more distant islands of Casco Bay, we noticed that it was actually just another example of fractal dispersion.  By supplementing our single "rocky beach" biome with two more refined ones, I believe we can finally more accurately depict these unusual coasts.

Below:  I've been seeing these crop up on an island's bulletin board for years, and it always struck me as exceptionally charming.

In the wake of my mention of an upcoming Peace Island Steam page, I have gotten a fair amount of feedback.  Here is our bottom line:

We are not only funded by gamers - we ARE gamers.  Consequently, we know gamers want only one thing: 

A quality game, delivered - It's THAT simple.

We owe it to the gamers who have stood by us through these years of development to follow the path that offers the greatest opportunities for success in delivering that quality game.

While we will certainly be releasing Peace Island on other digital distribution services in the future, Steam offers certain tools and advantages that are of particular use to mid-stage independent projects such as Peace Island.  

If you want to get Peace Island, but don't like Steam, remember: If you are a patron of this project, and have given $25.00 or more, you will get a Steam key from us upon "Early Access" release - and Valve won't get a dime - so if you haven't signed up yet as  a patron, now's the time!

Above: the new, more refined grasses we're using allow for tighter landscaping!

See Ya'll in a week!