Nice! I just might have to buy Remastered ASA, then. And Catyph later.
Thanks a lot for considering the purchase of ASA:Remastered and Catyph! But please wait for the first reviews and make your decisions depending on your personal tastes
I think Catyph will be much easier to access than ASA (ASA is very difficult for people not familiar with these games! there's no easy mode, no video transitions, it's a very classical slideshow game like the oldest Myst games).
Also, do you use any software like Bryce to make the images? I think they would help you quite a bit...
No, I'm doing all with 3dsmax and after effects, as described in the previous pages. It's a good combination for me because I work fast with them.
Bryce is probably very good and easy to start with, or just to make nice pictures, and it can allow anyone to create beautiful landscapes (probably more beautiful than the ones you can see in my games). However, according to me it's not very easy to use in the development process when you're on your own. You have to deal with several problems in Bryce that can be easily solved in 3dsmax (or Maya, or other). And I'm not very fond of scene exports between different softwares. Exporting scenes often creates new problems... imo!
Comfort at work is important to succeed in making a game (until the end) and it often requires some sacrifices regarding the final result. Particularly true in Catyph, where I have video transitions between each move, and very slow rendering times in 3dsmax. I had to optimize the production as much as possible and find the best ratio between quality and time of production! I work on my personal computer, not a very powerful system and I have limitations.
Eventually my next step could be to create a game with e-on's Vue
http://www.e-onsoftware.com/products/vue/Which would allow much more realistic environements. However this is a very heavy process and I'm not sure I can do it all alone. It will probably depend on how people welcome Catyph next year! There were many people who played ASA who asked me for another game, and that's the reason why I finally decided to work on Catyph. So if I can be convinced that I should do another game later, I probably will... I already have a lot of ideas
Whatever my choice for another game, I want to go with another step in quality. Catyph is technically better than ASA, and I expect my future games (if I ever make some) to be even better. That's also part of my challenge!
Realistic environments with Vue + 360° views in Dagon could be awesome.
Or maybe I will just take the plunge to realtime 3D and try making my own Adventure game with Unity or UDK? There are so many possibilities, that I cannot tell today. Some of these possibilities are much more technical and difficult than others, so everything will rely on the success of Catyph. If people say "stop, enough of your boring games", then I'll just stop ^^ Or maybe I'll stop for financial problems too
I also keep in mind that there is the crowdfunding possibility, but actually I think it is difficult to handle when you're a freelancer. Time will tell!
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