Caption: the devlog we've all been waiting for: number 69.
Hello, dear reader! It’s finally here.
People come to game development from every imaginable direction, and with all kinds of genres, platforms, and stories as their vision. But what unites us all is the dream that one day, we’ll be able to publish a silly blog based on a 69 joke. After all these years, after a facelift for our protagonist, after changes to the dialogue system and several in-person events, the special day has come for us too!
It's a special occasion! Mark has even swapped out his trademark Protagonist jacket for a more appropriate tux!
Caption: Our hero Mark, head lovingly photoshopped onto a tuxedo model.
What we've been up to.
For the most part, we’ve been working to welcome others onboard the Freeborn train. You may have noticed our Twitter being more active in the last couple months than it has been for a while. I know it’s been a big focus on my side.
Caption: In a recent, internal demo update, the boat buoyancy settings came out... a bit overtuned.
What’s going on behind the scenes is Jesse delivering a purpose-built demo version that allows me to toggle the UI on and off, and my dedicating time to recording gameplay, and clipping things out for sharing on social media.
Between the technical details and delegating roles within the team, we’ve gotten pretty efficient recently. We can now bang out clips of dialogue, Ekosi, and Arithian exploration easily. Which is freeing up time for us to be more social, and active. It will also allow us to move into more advanced content creation, showing off the world we – and hopefully you – have come to love.
If you don’t believe us, have a look at this handsome GIF!
Caption: Mark meets Wanda, a striking competitor in Neropolis.
What's next? UI and Next Fest Demo soon.
We talked in a previous post about a pending UI update. We’ve been a bit bottlenecked with some of the marketing/content engine work. But the UI overhaul IS coming. And to prove it, we’ve constructed the numeral of 69 by cobbling together some work-in-progress UI elements.
Can you guess which UI system is first?
Caption: WIP UI elements come together to form the numeral 69. (Nice.)
We’re excited to share more of the UI progress as it comes. And we’re hoping to push out some of those changes ahead of Steam’s “Next Fest,” coming in October. We’re excited about the opportunity to put Freeborn in front of more players, and let them dive into the Mind Lounge, and Patrida, and Neropolis.
And we want your help in growing the Freeborn following!
Caption: Mark approaches a bikini-clad Neropolis NPC with a certain energy.
Giving and receiving.
We want to celebrate the spirit of 69 with you.
We want to deliver you daily views of the game in progress, interaction with the team, and even just a friendly place to say howdy! So, whether you’ve been with us for a while or we’re new friends:
Join the mailing list for updates right to your inbox.
It’s all of us together, us against the algorithm, with tons to gain (“I was into Freeborn before it was cool”) and everything to lose. Give us some love, and we'll give you some back!
Caption: Mark stands outside the Ekosi card shop in Neropolis at dusk. I love this town.
Thanks, and see you at the 169th devlog! 😉
Tyler