SpaceVenture Project Update #91: Mar. 1st Update: Sneak Peek Pipes Puzzle Madness

Hello ladies and gents! It’s time for another look at how things have been going in the last couple of weeks on SpaceVenture. The SpaceVenture team has been moving forward quite nicely as of late. We had quite a few bug fixes that got taken care of, and we also made a lot of progress on a major scene in the game. This particular scene has taken almost a month just to get all the artwork and animations in order. Starting Monday, we’ll be breaking ground on the puzzle part of it! You know, the part that makes it tricky and fun to figure out! 🙂

AN UPDATE ON THE PIPES PUZZLE

So I told you all in a previous update and a rewards diary entry (if you can’t view that diary entry and you are a $30 and up backer please email pcj@andromedanpost.com) that I had the pleasure of working on a puzzle we have dubbed, “The Pipes Puzzle”. (I personally want to add “OF DOOM” to the end of that, but that didn’t fly) It has been in the works for about a month now, and I’m happy to report that it’s almost complete. We’re gonna give you a sneak peak in a video below. But before watching the video, here’s some info on how it came about.

My part in the puzzle was to handle all the events that happened in the background in order to make the puzzle function correctly. After that was all working, Mark Crowe gave it a beautiful face lift that made it have a darker more Sci-Fi convincing feel. Ken Allen has been hard at work rigging up sounds effects. Although most of his recent sound effects aren’t in the video, and there isn’t any music at this time. But you will get to hear a few sounds in the video. Soon, Scott Murphy will be jumping in to add his hilarious dialog to all the objects in the scene.

Originally this scene had ladders that Ace would climb to go up and down, but during one of our weekly team meetings, Scott Murphy brought up the great idea to add a Jetsons style tube system. The next day Mark had the assets put in and we got it rigged up and working. Please note that the scene you’ll see in the below video is a work in progress and we have taken out a few things that are a bit too spoilery, but I think you guys will like what you’ll see.

As a side note, the player UI (the icons) are also not what you’ll be seeing in the actual game, so please hold off on any feedback on those. We’re planning something very intuitive for our UI system that I think you’ll all love. More input on that in a future update.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bKqU21oqyE&feature=youtu.beIf you’re wondering when the game will be available, we don’t have an estimated date yet, but please see this update for more details on why that is.

THE SPACE QUEST HISTORIAN PODCAST 

The Space Quest Historian took a couple of weeks off due to some unforeseen circumstance this time around, but below is the most recent episode if you haven’t already listened to it.

EPISODE 9 – Something happened last week that put this week’s planned podcast topic on hold. Well, that, and some unforeseen complications. So this podcast is all about the freeware game Serena and what a very special collaborative experience it was making for and by the adventure gaming community. We’ve also got some startling news from Pete Toleman, who was last seen fleeing from some rather unsavory types and who had a Kickstarter out to save his company; the amazing Chris Pope regales us with some more news about the SpaceVenture; and, to cap everything off, we’ve got the fine gentlemen of rock, Brandon Blume and Ken Allen, with part 2 of their New Year’s chat. It’s a very special episode, unlike all the other episodes which weren’t special at all.

NOW IN ITUNES or RSS FEED HERE

 OTHER SIERRA ALUMNI PROJECTS

The amazing Josh Mandel / Al Lowe’s Leisure Suit Larry Reloaded

Jane Jensen’s Moebius and Pinkerton Road Studio / GABRIEL KNIGHT: SINS OF THE FATHERS 20TH ANNIVERSARY  

Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption by the Quest for Glory designers – Corey Cole and Lori Cole  

Under The Half Dome: An Album by Sierra Composer, Ken Allen

Thanks for all of your support everyone!

Chris Pope a.k.a your humble local intergalactic SpacePope