Coming up this Saturday, 3-5 pm PDT, we’ll talk a little about how we look at we test, and fix bugs, in our games. We’ll have a contest for a fabulous game key prize. Lori will read Chapter 19: Spellbound, from By the Book, the Quest for Glory inspired novel she wrote with Mishell Baker. The stream will go live at https://www.twitch.tv/transolargames at 3 pm PDT on Aug. 1.
Check out our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/coreyloricole. Since we do not take any salary from Transolar Games, this is currently our only income. Sign up for $2 or $10 a month to get exclusive content and early access to our public posts. Or just keep us linked to see the latter.
Join our Discord (Transolar Games) via this link: https://discord.gg/AaT8UbM. It’s a great place to meet other fans, talk about games, and ask me questions.
New Summer Daze at Hero-U game play trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3BpyWfPIhU
First look at the Wizbang and La Boomba mini-games and introduction to a few of the characters. Whether or not you backed Summer Daze on Kickstarter, we’d like you to check out our next game. We think it’s going to be really fun.
Yearbook and Autograph Status
We delayed the Yearbook for a few more weeks to add entries for Shawn and his classmates at Hero-U. It wouldn’t be a “real” Yearbook without them. Sorry to keep you waiting, but after all this time, we want to get it right.
We’ve just received 1000 or so “bookplate” stickers (3” x 4”) that we’ll be autographing and sending with the printed Yearbooks to premium-tier backers. Most backers who got the premium version of the boxed game are also getting the Yearbook, so you’ll each get two stickers for the Yearbook and your box or manual. Anyone who just got the premium game, but not the Yearbook, will get a sticker in the mail.
Upcoming (Tentative) Project
Hero-U: Wizard’s Way is on indefinite hold for now. We can’t afford to produce it on our own, and we don’t currently see a path to find a publisher or outside backer for the game. We could put it on Kickstarter, but our last few campaigns have not come close to raising a full game budget.
But we do have something else in the pipeline. Did you enjoy the mini-games on the way to Dr. Cranium in Quest for Glory IV? Or the game that inspired them, Castle of Dr. Brain? What if we could make a new game with puzzles like those, but with more story? We could set it in a dark and moody atmosphere reminiscent of Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness?
Castle of Dr. Brain was a fascinating project. My team and I built it under SCI, the same game engine used for Quest for Glory and other Sierra adventure games, but it was a completely different type of game. It was much more condensed, with the emphasis on puzzles rather than exploration. I’ve thought about making another game like that many times, but want to build a real story into the game as well.
We’re working on a prototype and a few puzzles as proof of concept. If they turn out well, Consulting Magicians (working title) might become our next game after Summer Daze at Hero-U. We’ll keep you posted here.