Hey everyone! It’s been a long hard road to get to this point. This past month and especially these last few days have been a real pant load of fun activities in getting this stuff rolling. So as we start this process, we wanted to use this update to provide some general details on how the Beta testing process will work.
Beta testing will be available to $30 and up backers as that was one of the rewards for backing at that level and higher
VERY IMPORTANT: If you are hoping to play SpaceVenture in the state it is meant to be played in, that will be spoiler and bug free, you may not want to take part in this process. Regardless, you are welcomed to download the Beta version anytime you want if you are a qualified backer.
We are currently only Beta testing the Windows version of the game, but we will release the others when we are ready.
You will receive an email that will have information on getting access to the Beta test of SpaceVenture.
The email will provide information on how the Beta testing process works and how you will communicate with the developers and report bugs
We ABSOLUTELY will not be monitoring Kickstarter messages for bugs and Beta testing issues, so you MUST use the beta testing method we provide if you want to be heard during this process.
The Beta test will be released as a .zip file that can be extracted to your Windows based operating system in order to test.
We will be updating the game after fixing bugs and will release another .zip file with the next revision.You will be able to simply delete the existing version of the Beta and extract the new one in order to start the process of testing over again.
Please be on the lookout for the email and also be patient as we are sending them in batches. If you haven’t received download information within 48 hours please private message us here on Kickstarter.
We are really excited about finally getting the game in your hands to test and we hope you all know how hard we’ve worked to get to this point.Here is a quick glimpse of the beginning of SpaceVenture in Beta testing mode:
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.
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.
Autographed Bookplate Design
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.
Head on over to their website and find out just what Al Lowe shared about his family history, his involvement with King’s Quest IV and Police Quest, and of course Leisure Suit Larry and Torin’s Passage.
Hey everyone! Time for a quick update. Though we didn’t reach the absolute finish line there is some good news. We are about to move into beta testing with all you qualified backers, and then hopefully a release of the game not too long after that depending on how well Beta testing goes. We are actually ready to start Beta testing now, but we are putting some infrastructure together on how to organize such a large amount of Beta testing with you all.
So here are some facts about our plans:
Beta testing will begin sometime in July
The next update will hit in July and explain how to take part in Beta testing
We will provide a convenient way for you to report bugs
If you are wanting to experience the game the way it is meant to be played, you may not want to take part in Beta testing
Stay tuned for the next update in July to have info about how to get access to Beta testing!
Neal Hallford – writer on Betrayal at Krondor, Dungeon Siege, Champions of Norrath, and more – is hosting LockDownCon this weekend. It’s a “Virtual Fan Convention,” free admission, with some amazing guests and speakers. Scroll way down in the linked page to get to the schedule.
We’re last-minute replacements for Ray Muzyka of Bioware fame on “The Golden Age of Computer Gaming” panel Saturday at noon PDT. Matt Barton of Matt Chat is hosting, and we’ll be on the panel with Trip Hawkins (Electronic Arts), Warren Spector (Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Deus Ex, etc.), and John Cutter and Neal Hallford from Dynamix (Betrayal at Krondor, etc.) It’s a star-studded panel and promises to be amazing!
Today (as I write this), Friday, at 7 pm PDT is a panel on “Narrative Design for Computer Games” that might be of interest to many of you. I’m looking forward to the 3 pm Saturday panel on “Restoring Scientific Thought in America.” There are also a number of panels on acting and filmmaking, lots of interesting content.
Best of all, you don’t have to get in line outside Hall H for four hours before each panel! And, as I mentioned, it’s FREE! Come join us online for LockDownCon this weekend.
Summer Daze at Hero-U Preview this Saturday at 2 pm PDT
We’re proud to have Summer Daze at Hero-U as a featured title on the Steam Game Festival. You should check out the festival not just for Summer Daze coverage, but for over 500 mostly-indie games coming out in the next year. Yes, we have some serious competition!
In conjunction with the festival, we will be live-streaming Summer Daze at Hero-U this Saturday starting at 2 pm PDT. (That’s Sunday at an unreasonably early hour if you live Down Under.) We’ll also talk about the game and the development process.
Come to https://www.twitch.tv/transolargames to watch and participate in the stream. If you haven’t been to one of our streams before, this is a great time to start! We have games, contests, and giveaways for viewers, a chance to ask us about our games and work, and much more.
The second hour will be devoted to playing a bit of Quest for Infamy, the Infamous Quests (Steven Alexander) game that was inspired by Quest for Glory for those who want a little more of a “dark side” anti-hero. Steven has had an especially rough year and can use more support.
We’ll close out the stream at 5 pm PDT, but not before Lori reads chapter 17 of her Hero’s Quest inspired novel, By the Book. The first 11 chapters are on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-pxvRIKKQsXNnkDvqPgWLRLxc-RuMwwE. We’ll gradually post more chapters, but will have a decision to make after we post chapter 13. That’s the last one we reached in a stretch goal during the Summer Daze campaign on Kickstarter. In any case, you can catch all of the chapters live on our Twitch channel, and I think Twitch keeps those videos up for two weeks afterwards. Our previous livestream – featuring Heroine’s Quest: The Herald of Ragnarok – is still available there if you hurry!
Corey and Lori play Quest for Infamy live this Saturday at 3 pm PDT
Yearbook Status
Yes, we have not forgotten about the Yearbook for premium backers. Steve is working on it currently, and says he’ll have news for me to announce during the stream on Saturday. Once he’s finished with it, I’ll upload it to BackerKit in digital form. Then we’ll start work on the autographed physical edition, which will likely take a few months to print and ship to everyone.
Think of it as a flashback to when we were all a few years younger!
In the meantime, stay safe in these challenging times.
Over the past month I got into LEGO for the first time in my life and decided to try and recreate scenes from Sierra games. Quite proud of my first creation!
We have a newly-updated version of Rogue to Redemption on Steam, and will be uploading it to GOG.com and Humble Bundle soon. If you’re on Steam or use GOG Galaxy, you’ll get the update automatically.
The game is now playable in both English and French. We’re working with translator William Bertin to get the technical manual and student handbook translated to French.
We upgraded to the 2018 version of Unity for version 2.1, and we’ve had a few “growing pains” with that transition. We’ve now fixed several reported bugs involving particles, lighting, and charcoal collection in version 2.1.2. Thanks to everyone who reported these issues to us.
The Sea Caves quest line no longer breaks if you find a quest item before talking to Katie about her quest.
The Long-Awaited Yearbook (cover image selected by backer vote)
What’s going on with the Yearbook
The one unfilled pledge from our 2012 Kickstarter campaign is the Hero-U Yearbook. This contains text and pictures of many of our distinguished Hero-U alumni. The book was substantially completed by Eric Varnes in 2014-2015, but we ran into a snag as a result of running the second crowdfunding campaign in July 2015.
We merged all of the backers from both campaigns into a BackerKit account, and sent out new surveys. This resulted in getting entries from over 200 backers who belong in the Yearbook, but that had been left out of Eric’s version. Unfortunately, the data I gave Eric didn’t include any “key” information such as backer ID’s or email addresses, which made it very difficult to combine the old and new lists, or to spot which backers changed their entry in the later survey.
Last Summer I started working with Steve Coupe to finish the Yearbook. Steve managed to improve the graphics resolution of the original book, but that’s when I discovered that I had never merged the missing entries. By this point, I had multiple spreadsheets, each with a piece of the necessary information to complete the book.
Many delays ensued – preparing for and attending PAX, preparing and running the Summer Daze at Hero-U campaign, family illnesses and caregiving, and this big distraction called COVID-19. Corey planned on hand-merging the data, but that is a daunting task. Then he had the idea of bringing everything into SQL and using database queries to combine the tables, but his last SQL project was 15 years ago.
At this point, our lead Summer Daze developer, Cidney Hamilton, stepped in and offered to take over the data merge. Once she has that done, Corey will work on the exception reports to assign “classes” to the new alumni, resolve conflicts in the Yearbook text, and get the new entry data to Steve for layout.
As you can imagine, all of this will take a while, and we can’t promise a new Yearbook date yet. Our plan is to release the digital version first so that backers will have the opportunity to fix problems with it, then to do the print version. The digital version will be more complete, with only backers who signed up for the print version being listed in that version.
Autographed Bookplates for Game Boxes and Yearbooks
Autographs
A related missing piece is that the physical Yearbooks need to be autographed by the Coles, and we’re also supposed to have autographed premium copies of the game box. Our plan all along was to handle both sets of autographs as “Ex Libris” style stickers that backers may put on the outside of the box, or in the game manual or student handbook. We recommend one of the latter to avoid covering the box art.
Fortunately, most of the backers getting premium boxes are also getting the Yearbook. As shipping is one of our major costs, we’re going to try to enclose the autograph stickers with the Yearbooks, or at least mail out both stickers at once to appropriate backers.
Lori designed the stickers (see above). We’ll get them printed and sign each one individually before sending them out.
Corey Plays Castle of Dr. Brain on Twitch this Saturday
Castle of Dr. Brain Live Stream
We’re doing another Twitch stream this Saturday, 3-5 pm PDT. (That will be Sunday morning in Oceanic time zones.) In previous streams, besides the book reading, we’ve chatted and run games and contests. This one will be a little different as Corey will play through his game, Castle of Dr. Brain, during the stream. You’ll get to see Corey struggle with his own “easy” game. If we have time, Lori will read chapter 14 of By the Book.
