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[jovan.vesic]

@unsilentwill Why thank you, my good sir!  
@Mr. Levich I'm a huge fan of Monkey Island series, and would be really happy if we managed to capture at least some of the charm those titles had. Admittedly, in terms of atmosphere it seems like we are currently going for something more akin to Full Throttle or Grim Fandango, but still.

Logo

We are in a process of designing a basic website, and one of the things needed is logo. This was a tough nut to crack I must admit! But here's something we agreed upon (for now). Comments are very welcome as always:

Some notes:
1. I tried to incorporate some in-world symbolism:
a) the sun should represent Deus: (closed city erected on top of Columnae, supposedly perfect, but also practically unreachable city, heavenly place or even literally heaven itself for some people)
b) two columns on the sides are, well - Columnae themselves.
c) three cogs underneath are representing Machina: autonomous and incredibly complex organism-like machine built underground, which is not only extracting all the necessary resources and sending them to Deus, but also diagnosing different "needs" and predicting imbalances or potential problems in Deus and adapting the output to avoid them.

2. Style:
a) Font of the word COLUMNAE is our custom variation based on the real-world fonts designed in 1900s, as we are trying to recreate to a degree the style of that epoch (even though our world is not the Earth and it does not directly reference real-world geography terms or history facts)
b) This almost floral border is also inspired by the design of this period.

Problems:
- words "a past under construction" are not too readable on smaller sizes, but I really have no idea how could we manage this better. We have chosen a long (sub)title for our game because reasons, so yeah.
- the cogs are sort of cliche. It seems to me that in a past few years they are even frown upon within some hardcore steampunk communities (?), but they just perfectly fit the symbolism mentioned before, so I think we'll just ignore it
- "COLUMNAE" font - in spite of what I wrote before, I do admit it has a bit of graffiti/hip-hop vibe, and it's definitely not something we aim to evoke with the logo.

******

Regarding the Cliffs from the previous post, this is what we settled for right now (and we are really happy about it):

P.S. The rock on the left looks like a giant thumb pointing up the sky, with the nail in its upper right corner. You probably haven't noticed this on the first glance, but now it cannot be unseen.

[jovan.vesic]

Press stuff

Some of you may not consider this a part of game development, and it's certanly not "development" in its strictest sense. But as we are a really small team, sometimes there is no visible line between game development and marketing (everything we made so far is part of the game AND potential marketing material) so I will not try to draw it arbitrarily.

For some time now we've been thinking about what we really need before we try to actively reach out to press/bloggers about our game.

The most obvious one is some sort of video - we have been reluctant to release almost anything even though we have a lot of animated material, because we feel it's not "finished" yet, and in the game like ours - where the "action" is not part of core game mechanics - sometimes the static is all that is needed and the animations are there just to make things pretty. Plus, I had a lot of different work to do lately, so while Jelena (our artist) was drawing really nice stuff and in the large quantities, a lot of animations for those are still in "draft" stage. So I decided to write a little "script" for our first teaser - having in mind what we already have finished. After that I will start working on stuff that could be included in the teaser based on the script, and leave other stuff half-finished for now. Too few people means you have to stay focused on your priorities! Sadly! So that's the plan for the next week or so.

Second thing we've been working on for some time is press kit. If you have read this devlog from the beginning, you already know we have a lot of things to tell: huge world worth describing, parts of its history which are really necessary to understand anything, and game mechanics like retrocausality which are really hard to explain in just a few words. On top of it, I like to write really long sentences and over-explain things   So, writing a short and informative Press Kit was a CHALLENGE. Here is what we managed to make of it.

If you have any suggestions how to make it better in any way we would be really thankful. Also - english is not our native language (as you have certainly already figured out reading this devlog ). So grammar-nazism and style suggestions regarding Press Kit are more than welcome!

The third thing is the website. We made a really minimal one: there are links for twitter, facebook, youtube, this devlog, and press kit. And that's it. I would like to add a mailing list and some sort of "about" page ASAP. Not sure if "About" page should be shorter or longer than text in press kit though?

***

... and not to leave this update without any images, here's a concept art:

[jovan.vesic]

Last night I was browsing our game google drive folder looking for some misplaced stuff (have to keep that thing tidier in the future) and came upon the file with ~70 silhouettes of characters our artist made some time ago. I totally forgot how much I like those, mostly because we have been focused on producing particular scenes (which do not include those guys) for some time.

I thought I should share, so here's a semi-random selection of them  

[jovan.vesic]

i heard you like teasers, so here's a teaser for the teaser... so I can .. tease you before I tease you..?

ok nevermind, here it is:

...and

(higher resolution).

[Zorg]

Very cool!

The font and the decoration fit well and do not look like graffiti. But your logo is too detailed, in my opinion. I like the sun on top and the gears at the bottom. So i made them bigger in the following overpaint. Also, i tried to create a closed shape.

[jovan.vesic]

Hey zorg! Thanks a lot for your feedback and the time invested to make those! I totally agree on "too detailed" part at least for some uses of the logo. We were actually working on the simplified versions ourselves (we are currently experimenting with printing/painting it on some hand-made ceramic mini-bottles with usb-corks in them  ).

I thought a lot about omitting "A past under construction" part from the logo. There is no way we can omit it from the title Oof the game though, and because of that I don't feel that's generally a good idea to omit it from the logo. (Just "COLUMNAE" is not so search-friendly unless our game becomes a huge hit heh)

What I'm thinking about those days is having two versions of the logo - the simplified one (without "APUC" subtitle and with enlarged details) being used as at small sizes. On large sizes I admit I like those unnecessary details in this case, maybe because to me they don't seem like something designed in the 21st century.

Anyway, we already tried to enlarge the sun and the cogs, but it's possible only to a degree without them looking misaligned with the border. But your idea - showing only half of them - solves this problem though, and I think I will experiment with it further, so thanks!

[Zorg]

We were actually working on the simplified versions ourselves (we are currently experimenting with printing/painting it on some hand-made ceramic mini-bottles with usb-corks in them  ).

In my opinion your logo lives from the "sign" impression (like TYWINSON CO. in your second screenshot). It's a good idea to think about how to physically build your logo OR actually do it. :D


The "O" is slightly modified. For simplicity's sake i removed all decorations in this sketch.

I'm not a fan of additional subtitles, but they are definetely useful. Two versions are the best solution in this case, i guess.

[Mr. Levich]

The half-sun/half-cog idea is simply fantastic and looks much more recognizable, especially in lower sizes

[jovan.vesic]

Thanks guys, I made a new simplified version of the logo having in mind what you said about it. We still have to change a few things and to decide about details, but it seems like some version of half-sun/half-cog thing will be definitely implemented.

So to zorg!

[jovan.vesic]

Haven't updated this devlog for some time, short update about last two weeks:
1) we were trying to figure out if we are able to set up kickstarter account as it is one of the options for funding the game in the future. Conculsion: a) it's very difficult to do so if you are resident of Serbia and don't have "a partner" in U.S. or eligible countries in EU. b) Kickstarter Support is not really helpful and is pretty slow to answer mails. It took us 7 days of exchanging mails with them to get a HINT to a simple answer (what is correct format for entering business id number). Also considering Square Enix Collective and some other options. Do you guys perhaps have some advice regarding this, what do you think would be a good way to fund COLUMNAE?

2) Jelena (our artist) is working on some promotional in-world designs: promotional jugendstil-ish poster for Deus, a page from encyclopedia explaining some steampunk science, pre-apocalypse newspaper article discussing if company building Columnae is involved in heavy corruption, patent drawings of Machina, stuff like that. I can't wait for those to be finished!

3) I've been mostly working on animations. Nothing big to show yet, but here are some new screenshots, clips and gifs:

Sweeney's barber shop and Selphey's photo booth

"It was very convenient to have a barber shop near the photo booth, in case you need a quick trim. However, Sweeney's barber shop is now permanently closed. There were some  But Selphey's photo booth is still popular, especially among young fashionable techies."

Déjà Vu

"The scene looked so familiar, almost as if it had already happened to him in some other life."

Gifs:

   

   

[Jasmine]

This is b.e.a. utiful. I find one gorgeous project and stumble upon another. So many great ideas at work. Really eager to experience the world you all are crafting!

Also, I'm no expert, and am only giving my opinion based on observations, but:

1.) Kickstarter, in my opinion, is slowly starting to fall short, in terms of indie development. People are less likely to throw money at a team with little experience. Though there have been quite a few indie successes, Kickstarter has done a fantastic job of hiding the hoardes that aren't. I think that one of the biggest deterrents for Kickstarter, or one thing that has left it muddy, is communication. Its crazy how teams fail at that, time and time again. Planning is another, even though that kills trust in the long haul. From what I have seen, people are more understanding of hiccups in development when the crew has been transparent the entire time.

Novel short, you have to take all that into consideration, along with gathering enough support of those interested in your genre to generate revenue, while also accounting for the negatives associated with the website. You can totally succeed, but I'd definitely check into other crowdsourcing platforms. Kickstarter's name has become tainted over time, which I believe makes it harder for devs to get funding, unfortunately,especially with it being one of, if not the,  most popular crowd-funding site! I have seen quite a few gorgeous games on Square Enix Collective.

What other methods of funding are you all interested in?

[sidbarnhoorn]

This looks beautiful! Looking forward to see it develop further and eventually playing this! :-D

[jovan.vesic]

Thanks guys.

@M4uesviecr I agree that Kickstarter is not as good an option for funding indie games as it was a few years ago, but I still think it's still MUCH better than any other similar crowdfunding option I have heard of. We were considering Indiegogo, and we got the impression it was bad, and getting worse. Maybe golden years of crowdfunding just ended for indie games on all platforms? Or maybe I'm just not adequately informed

As for other options, we would like to avoid deals where we give up most rights over the game, the world etc. to the publisher. Also we would like to keep as much creative freedom as possible. In other words we would like to stay "independent" I guess 

Other than that, no restrictions I can think of right now. I don't think we will stop working on this game (soon) even if we don't find any funding solution, but it would mean only 2-3 of us would be doing this, and that is part-time -> probably 5+ more years of work. Yep, we should have started with a smaller game

(Also, on a slightly unrelated note, I would LOVE to be able to make our game totally free to play for everyone, everywhere, forever but I don't think that's realistic in our situation)

[Jasmine]

I hope I didn't come off as a negative nancy! I think that this game has a chance of doing very well if you all do research and PR before launch. If you are guys are hoping to work full-time, and keep full artist license, it looks like crowd-sourcing will be your best bet, especially if you want something to show in the next 2 years. I definitely agree when you say that Kickstarter would be your best bet, mainly because of the amount of publicity the website generates on its own. You'll just have to work a bit harder to gain trust.

Also, don't cross out making it free just yet! You may find a way to make it possible in the future.

[jovan.vesic]

I hope I didn't come off as a negative nancy!

Not at all! I really appreciate your feedback, and share your opinions regarding Kickstarter.

[jovan.vesic]

Regarding simplified logo, we got those handmade old-school bottles, they look (and feel) awsome!
(Btw, the guy who made the bottles has some supercool stuff, check it out: http://stang.rs/)

[Greipur]

We were considering Indiegogo, and we got the impression it was bad, and getting worse.

Yes. Avoid Indiegogo, I say that after managing to succeed with an Indiegogo campaign a year ago.

If you're able to pick Kickstarter (as in being eligible) you should crowdfund it there. You'll probably get zero traffic from Indiegogo's site itself since the game scene doesn't seem to be big there (apart from board games).  There are a few outliers but I think it's fairly obvious that they managed to channel their fanbase to Indiegogo rather than being discovered there. For our own project most of the backers had never backed a game before on the site so it felt afterwards like there could've been more if we'd chosen Kickstarter, which more backers probably used (I prefer that site personally).

In my opinion Indiegogo should only be chosen if your country isn't eligible for Kickstarter and you can't find a partner.

[jovan.vesic]

@Greipur That's the exact sentiment we were getting from other people we know who did indiegogo campaigns! Although, none of their campaigns were about games, so your feedback is much more valuable for us, thanks!

May I ask why you were not eligible for Kickstarter?

[Greipur]

May I ask why you were not eligible for Kickstarter?

Back in July, 2014 Sweden wasn't eligible yet, and we didn't know anyone trustworthy enough in another eligible country to cooperate with. I think you can understand our frustration when they opened up the site for Swedes just a month after our campaign ended.

Best of luck to you!

[jovan.vesic]

@Greipur urgh sounds REALLY frustrating


We now have a mailing list. We intend to use it only for reeally exciting and important stuff, so don't fear the spam and subscribe now!  

Counting Columns

A few weeks ago we decided it's about time to determine the exact number and positioning of columns. Story-wise, only the size, shape and approximate number of columns were important to have until now, but time has come - we need to be exact.

This loose concept shows a number of columnae holding the mechanical "Bud of Steel" which acts as an intelligent shell for mysterious Deus (protecting it from elements and illegal immigrants). Black thingies are the buildings built in the last ~150 years by people who couldn't afford to get into Deus when heavy poisonous gases made living on the surface impossible.

Each columna is envisioned similar to two Eiffel towers on top of each other (the top one being upside-down). Total height of every columna is ~600m (~2000ft).

The base of Deus is a circle, so we decided to position columnae in several concentric circles. We needed roughly 100 columnae for a density and population we had in mind (calculated by average total usable surfaces of every columna). To uniformly  (more or less) fill the base circle with square-based columnae of the same size, we chose "+6" array of numbers: 6, 12, 18, 24... columnae in each circle. For the central "circle" we decided to put a unique, slightly larger, hexagon-based columna (as we also needed something like that for the story).

Now: six circles equaled 91 columnae (1+6+12+18+24+30), and seven circles - 127 columnae (1+6+12+18+24+30+36). As there will probably be some uninhabited columnae, we chose 127... also, seven circles has this nice reference with Dante's "Purgatorio" I really like.

For now, we don't actualy intend to use those 3d models in the game itself. It's just a tool to help us while imagining, drawing and writing the game content.