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[The_Observer]

Hi guys!
I wanted to present our upcoming game 42 Stories to you all.

The Short Story:
42 Stories is a game where you and and your opponent build to reach heaven. You can build using different blocks and advance to new ages while you're doing so.
We're looking to release on mobile platforms and web browsers.

The Long Story:
In the Ludum Dare jam last year we created 42 Stories.
That version you can still play here: http://thepegbar.com/LD24/build2545/WebPlayer.html
It's a simple, but decent game where you can choose from 3 blocks to build a tower to heaven. The first player to reach heaven wins and you can advance your blocks into new technological ages.

We had several ideas that we wanted in the game, but didn't manage in those 72 hours like multiplayer for example.
As we were looking for a simple game to develop and publish we choose this one.
We planned to add features like multiplayer, redo the art style to a more consisted and polished style and greatly improve the balancing of the game.

Progress was slower than expected because we all still work jobs or study, but recently things have been moving faster again and I thought of making this devlog to get some comments on our work.

At the moment we have most of our art done and the multiplayer is in a working state. We're now working on getting the art in the game and creating a decent interface.

A comparison of our original and the new artwork for the prehistoric age.

Comments, critique and tips are hugely welcome!
Also if people have any tips on marketing a mobile game or know any mobile gaming news-sites, please let me know!

[Games Inquirer]

Ι was hoping for an inventive adventure game with that name and title art but this could still be pretty awesome!

[liambower]

Interesting idea, and i love the artwork on that title image.

It would be interesting to see more animation or some animated character's within the towers, based on the version i just played the towers appear a little lifeless.

[The_Observer]

Thanks guys!

@Games Inquirer: Not an adventure now I'm afraid. But who knows what could be next.

@liambower: The artwork from the title image is what you'll be getting in the game. At this moment we're working on getting all this in Unity, which we are using for 42 Stories.
The lifelessness is also something that we're working on. For now I'm adding all kinds of little animations like the ones beneath. There are still things to be added like puffs of smoke and when blocks get damaged fires will start. We're also thinking about adding characters, but our main priority at the moment is getting a working game. Adding characters will be part of the polishing at the end probably.

[poe]

I really love the idea of this!

[The_Observer]

Thanks poe!
We also started a little blog/site where people can follow us if they want too.

We're a bit busy now because we're working to get a decent alpha build done. Why and what you'll hear soon enough! These are exciting times for us.

[The_Observer]

Yay! Now we can give blocks their own color!
When players start their game they'll be able to choose their color.

We'll have to add more colorable parts though...

[eigenbom]

The graphics are very charming, good luck with the project!

[The_Observer]

Thanks eigenbom!
How did you get your nickname btw? I'm asking because here in Dutch, it means 'your own bomb'. Strange to read that here. :p

We also started adding some environment stuff, starting with the ground layer!
More(like trees, mountains,...) and a better implementation of the tower on it to come.

[eigenbom]

How did you get your nickname btw? I'm asking because here in Dutch, it means 'your own bomb'. Strange to read that here. :p

Hey I'm Aussie and I only speak English. I made the name up, but I think a lot of people think I'm german or dutch because of it. I made it up about 10 years ago when I was studying engineering, where I saw lots of "eigenvalues", "eigenmodes", "eigenvectors", etc.

There's also an Eigen around here somewhere..

[rundown]

How did you get your nickname btw? I'm asking because here in Dutch, it means 'your own bomb'. Strange to read that here. :p

Hey I'm Aussie and I only speak English. I made the name up, but I think a lot of people think I'm german or dutch because of it. I made it up about 10 years ago when I was studying engineering, where I saw lots of "eigenvalues", "eigenmodes", "eigenvectors", etc.

There's also an Eigen around here somewhere..

Yea I actually thought you were dutch in the beginning aswell.
Well Euler was Swiss. Hence the german probably.

[JaJitsu]

The art is beautiful for this. i'd love to see more.

[Tondo]

This game looks super cool, and I'm really digging the art style!

I haven't been able to play your ludum dare version yet (my internet connection is sadly very slow), but I'll certainly give it a whirl once it loads up.

[The_Observer]

We'll be standing at a fair soon so we started making some stuff:

[rundown]

We'll be standing at a fair soon so we started making some stuff:

DUDE, i just found out you will be standing at FACTS in Ghent Belgium. I attend every year!
Will there be a playable build?

[The_Observer]

Hey Rundown!
Yes we'll be at Facts with a playable version, but it's only an alpha build. Our main goal is to playtest the game.

We're looking forward to meet you!

[rundown]

Hey Rundown!
Yes we'll be at Facts with a playable version, but it's only an alpha build. Our main goal is to playtest the game.

We're looking forward to meet you!

Shame I couldn't play it. It had lots of attention at the con. But it certainly looked great!

[The_Observer]

Thanks Rundown!

I'll post our experiences about FACTS later, but for now you can find our first thoughts and photos on our blog.
In short, it was a great experience which showed us that we're going in the right direction and which adjustments we need to make.

I'm exhausted now, but so happy. Expect more soon!

[The_Observer]

Meanwhile some wild screenshots appear...

[Nuprahtor]

This sounds and looks very interesting. Any updates?