Hey guys!
As 2017 fast approaches, I thought it would be good to take a moment to reflect upon the current year and some of it’s high points in regards to the progress of the making of LEGACY (and to a new degree, it’s “prequel” of sorts…FutureTech Flight Academy, or “FFA” for short).
I would have to say that, without a doubt, our major high point was attending PAX EAST in Boston, MA this past spring. We had an amazing time there…from finally showcasing a playable demo for the public, to taking in all the sights, sounds, and energy from the event itself. There were so many great games showcased there that certainly fueled our drive and ambitions to become a name in this fabulous industry! We also met a lot of interesting and genuinely helpful people during our three days on the convention floor. The people who sat down and actually played the demo had tons of great feedback for us. Subsequently, from this feedback, our newest game idea was formed. Also, we were surrounded by other teams in the booths adjacent to us who had a lot of helpful and useful ideas and advice. It really was a great feeling to see just how supportive the indie gaming community can be from the inside. Plus, PAX EAST 2016 would not have been such a fantastic success if it weren’t for the truly awe-inspiring effort put in by the team who volunteered to man the booth. To Camille, Genevieve, Latisha, and Tori…I want to thank each of you for making the event run smoothly, efficiently, successfully, and most importantly…fun! Although we will not be making an appearance at PAX in 2017, be prepared to see us in 2018 with some new, amazing content!
The major event that spawned from our visit to PAX was the decision to create a smaller, one-off game which could be considered a “prequel” of sorts to the main project. It seemed that the majority of the people who played our demo…a small space combat portion of the game…thought that this was an example of the full game itself. Not only that, but they were all for it being a project that they would be willing to follow and support. This realization was in fact a bit of a relief, seeing that the main game would not be close to completed until sometime mid-to-late 2018. By splintering off and working on a standalone space combat sim, we had the possibility of releasing a completed game much sooner. We have also placed FFA on Steam’s Greenlight “early concepts” page for additional feedback and exposure. As of now, production of FFA is well underway, with a projected release sometime this coming Spring/Summer.
Another first for us in 2016 was the release of our very first teaser trailer! It’s fairly short and purposely ambiguous, but definitely sets the tone and mood for the game as a whole. The haunting voice-over work from on of our voice actors Tulip (whose voice can be heard on her web page http://www.tulipflanagan.com) sounds just so perfect! I still can’t get over how good it is. Thank you Tulip for the wonderful improvisation. The teaser video can be found here…https://youtu.be/OG3d8P2k9y0.
One of the technical milestones in the project early in the year was the completion of the “AI Ship Director”…an intuitive in-engine visual scripted program…used to control all of the various AI ships in a given level. By implementing this “Director”…I was able to greatly increase the efficiency and speed at which the game engine could control enemy AI assets in a level. Other technical achievements of last year were the creation of a functioning main menu, weapon selection script, and a order priority selection menu. The latter gives the player the ability to designate targets of priority for their support AI wingmen during the space combat scenarios.
In the writing department, we covered a lot of ground this past year. Our writers, Genevieve and Summer, both created some very intriguing dialogue and back-story for the game. Genevieve has been focused on creating a new main character for FFA, a young rookie pilot in training named Gary. Newly recruited, he is eager to get into the fight against the alien menace that is currently controlling the planet. However, he soon finds out that joining the cause comes with it’s own heavy price to pay. Moving to the lore of the game, Summer has been writing a narrative that will delve deep into the history of the world of LEGACY. Several hundreds of years before the events of LEGACY, circumstances are unfolding on Earth and beyond that will forever change the fate of humanity.
In the art department, we had a very talented batch of concept artists, 3D modelers, and level designers working to get a ton of assets and art sheets thru the pipeline. Latisha and Jacob…the core of our 3D modeling team…have been working on creating our weapons, level assets, and textures. Sergio, who has moved on from our team to work with a AAA gaming studio, was integral to creating the 3D models for our fighter and bomber assets…with design help from concept artist Kevin. Kevin, who has been busy with both ship and environmental concept art design, created a fantastic array of alien and human weapon designs, as well as environmental art for the interior of the large space cruiser being developed for our next main game demo level. Tori, our level designer, has been putting together that demo level inside of Unreal Engine 4 for most of the latter half of 2016. Our newest concept artist addition to the team, Danielle, has been creating character a-pose modeling sheets and illustrations featuring design updates to the main characters of the game. Her unique ability to blend both the established design aesthetics of the characters while being able to seamlessly integrate her own unique spin has been amazing to watch! The characters are fabulous to look at…and are coming to life with their own unique personalities. I cannot wait to get them modeled and rigged for animation in 2017! Our UI designer Camille has been working on creating some really great designs for both the menu screens and HUD iconography for both the main game and FFA. Some of those menu screens were showcased in our demo at PAX back in April. Since then she has create a ton of new work that will be front and center in FFA’s gaming interface.
Of course there were a few setbacks…which seem to mirror a lot of what transpired in 2016 as a whole. One of the major ones was not reaching a point that we felt comfortable launching a crowd funding campaign. Initially slated for fall of this year, there just didn’t seem (at least in my eyes) enough solid ground to initiate that sort of funding campaign. It’s my true belief that people should have the ability to see a comprehensive, fully grounded and functioning demo product before being asked for their financial support. Although we had a playable demo, there just seems to be a little bit more needed in place before that happens. Rest assured, that will be coming very soon though. Another was the inability to cast all of the main voice acting roles for the game. With a large portion of the characters cast with amazingly talented voice actors, the bar has been set pretty high for the remaining parts. The search for the voice of the main protagonist, alien scientist, and for the newest character…Gary…along with several other NPC’s…continues on into the new year.
In conclusion, I believe that overall 2016 was a monumentally positive year for production. Like our aforementioned voice actors, it has set the bar high for 2017. It is a bar that, although high, I believe we will surpass and even eclipse in 2017. We have the team, the vision, and the drive to make it happen. Keep an eye out for what is next. Trust me…it’s gonna be cool!
Happy New Year from the LEGACY team…and thank you for your continued support and interest!
~SF
LEGACY video game blog 