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[Candacis]

The last one mentioned was from an American playwriter and actor, Thomas Tafero. The guy even made a Kickstarter and actually premiered the thing in New York. Yep, it's on Youtube. I discovered the thing, loved it, and knew that I needed the manuscript, that I must have this play to read it countless times.

I also saw the video and am drawn to it. Is there any way to buy the manuscript? Maybe as an e-book or something like it?

[Ludipe]

Wow, these inked in environments are just beautiful. Following this one for sure.

Yaaaaaay! :-D

I also saw the video and am drawn to it. Is there any way to buy the manuscript? Maybe as an e-book or something like it?

When we reached out for them we were told the script had never been digitized before, so I doubt there's an e-book or online version of any kind. They might consider making it available online at some point, we just asked for permission to use it in the game, the rest is up to them; but you may try to contact them, they were really friendly with us.

[Ludipe]

There's a new update coming up tomorrow but we just wanted to share this sneak peak of the new interface

[Ludipe]

Update #27 : The city is dying

Pitching a game is never easy. Games are meant to be played, not watched or read; but we still need a few short sentences that can give a stranger an overall perspective of what we are working on.

If you have been following our progress since the very beginning of the project you might have noticed that we changed our pitch quite a few times, it's pretty common, just like mechanics or game design, pitches also require iteration.

It's not that "A Place for the Unwilling" is so revolutionary that it can't be described with a couple of sentences, but our closest gameplay references ("Pathologic" and "Sunless Sea") aren't that well-known out there; people can't take a look at our game and say something like "Yeah, you jump around and reach the goal, Mario-like, I get that". We can't use fancy words like "point & click adventure" because it isn't like that (we also believe the fact that it's hard to describe it's a good sign).

There are many features that we like about our project, but not all of them are suitable for a pitch, like the fact that strangers appear as shadows and the blurry cloud will only go away once you get to know them. First thing we did was writing a list with the top features we wanted to convey when talking about "A Place for the Unwilling".

- It's a narrative-heavy game (duh!)
- It's an open-world game
- It's all about the city
- Time is always running
- Additional goal: make sure people understand it isn't a "point and click" game

When we started our Kickstarter campaign we still didn't have a pitch that we really liked, so we went for the old "X meets Y", which isn't optimal but it does the job when you're under pressure. It's even better when you put two things together that don't seem to have much in common, Reigns was described many times as "Crusader Kings meets Tinder". We went for "Sunless Sea meets Majora's Mask"; "Sunless Sea" is very narrative heavy and it's an open-world game, "Majora's Mask" on the other hand is "open-world-ish", with a city as the main hub and very focused on time.

And it worked, people digged the pitch quite a lot, but we also saw plenty of angry comments on reddit and press articles criticizing our pitch. So we removed that part, but traffic went down pretty fast, and we changed the whole "Sunless Sea meets Majora's Mask" and replaced it with "A game inspired by Sunless Sea and Majora's Mask", which still worked just liked the original but made those angry comments go away.

Once the Kickstarter was over we tried many others. From "combat-less RPG" to "an open-world adventure game set in a city where time is always running". The last one seemed to work fine, at least people felt way less confused about the game and seemed to understand the concept, so we kept that for a while, even when we knew it still wasn't the "right" one. It explained the concept of the game but it lacked any emotional impact. At the time we couldn't come up with a better one, so we just focused on other tasks, knowing that we would need to come back to this issue later on.

A few weeks ago we were working on a new internal document which goal was to describe the overall narrative of the game in a short text. Ángel, our lead writer, wrote this paragraph:

And it kinda clicked. Futility and death are very important themes in "A Place for the Unwilling", and they convey some of the feelings we want to express. The fact that something is dying means that time is limited and that you can expect a certain decadence. We tend to be very cautious about the story elements we choose to reveal, so we had some doubts about sharing that the city is going to die at the end of the game. People usually ask us a lot about "why does the game end after X days" and we usually answer that there's a reason for that, though it's a secret.

After talking it over we decided it wouldn't spoil the game at all since, after a few in-game days, it'll be easy to see that pretty much everything is going down; besides, the reason why the city is dying remains a mystery and, we'll still have different endings, because even if Pompeii was doomed, each citizen there still experienced a different story.

We need to do some tests and keep iterating, but it's official, the city is dying, the only question now is, how will you live the last days of its existence?

[Juliano]

Great style! I think Over the Garden Wall is an amazing reference for a game. I love the show as well, it is really inspiring. Tie it all together: The style that you already got, great controls and sound it will be a work of art! :D

Is refreshing to see stuff that look like they came out from the game atmosphere. Lots of potential here, I'm following the project and also Lucas! Best of luck! 

[Ludipe]

Great style! I think Over the Garden Wall is an amazing reference for a game. I love the show as well, it is really inspiring. Tie it all together: The style that you already got, great controls and sound it will be a work of art! :D

Is refreshing to see stuff that look like they came out from the game atmosphere. Lots of potential here, I'm following the project and also Lucas! Best of luck! 

Hey Juliano!

Thanks for your kind words! It's exactly what we are going for, an open experience which feels a bit different from what we usually get in games :-)

[Ludipe]

Update #28 : The importance of small things

Hey there folks!

Every once in a while we like to focus on telling you all about the smaller details of the game. It's been a while since the last time we did that, so let's stop for a minute and take a look at some of the tiny features that shape the game.

On Update #23 we explained how the whole city gets chopped into several smaller areas before being implemented in the engine. This allows us to optimize the game while also saving up some production resources, though there was a smaller issue we didn't foresee. If something isn't on your current map then it isn't being loaded by the engine, which is perfectly fine, we use the fog to cover what's out of the map, but we forgot about audio. If there's a fountain in the next map you can't see it because of the fog, but you should be able to hear it. Audio is based on proximity, so it broke with every map transition, ruining the mood.

After talking it over and discussing possible solutions we decided to have the closer maps always loaded. So the visual assets and logic are being divided just like before, but the engine is always considering your distance to audio objects; sounds pretty simple but it wasn't that easy to implement. Good news is that it's already working, so one thing less on our task-list!

Lately we've been spending a lot of time working on the interfaces. We even remade the dialogue screen, since the old one was a draft, and that gave us the chance to come up with something that fits the theme better. Content created early in development tends to evolve as, at that point, the team doesn't have a clear view of the whole project. This new version feels like a notepad and every character in the game will have a personal "writing" sound that reflects their personality. So even when there's no voice-acting you'll be able to recognize a person just by listening to how they talk/write, isn't that cool?

We also added some tiny effects to text (which will be hard to appreciate on such a small resolution) and tweaked the way text appears on screen; making pauses after every sentence and trying to make conversations more organic. You'll be spending most of your time talking to people, so we need to make sure everything is right on the spot.

And new interfaces deserve new effects, we're still experimenting with all this but we plan to replace those fade-out effects you've seen a thousand times. Here's another sneak peak of the tests we're running (we're still trying out many things, nothing close to a finished version yet).

And that's all for today. We'll be back with a new update in two weeks, but we're always around, so leave a comment, hit us on twitter or just write an email. We'll be in Gijón (Spain) until Saturday (participating in two talks) so if, by any chance, you are around come and find us! :-)

[Ludipe]

Update #29 : First Anniversary

Hey everybody!

Today's December 7th, a year ago we made public the development of "A Place for the Unwilling" and started our devlog.

(devlog's first anniversary, yeah! :-D)

When you're working full-time on a game it becomes a huge part of your life(like really huge), so as the year comes to an end, we can't avoid getting a bit too sentimental about all that happened since we started: we launched a Kickstarter campaign, added more people to the team, learnt a lot, experimented with new tools, went to several events, met many cool people and even started working with an external team of writers. You get the point, many things have happened even though it feels we've doing this for a couple of weeks.

Updating our devlog every two weeks is an arduous task, but one that we intend to keep doing. Many would argue that it may not be worth the effort, but we think it's a really nice way to stay in touch with the community, like a long regular "We're alive" note that gives us an excuse to chat with you, report our latest progress and hear your thoughts and ideas about it.

Our devlog kinda feels like a personal diary. Making a game takes time and sometimes you need to take a look back and realize that, even if you feel stuck, the whole project is constantly evolving, something easy to forget when you spend weeks drawing roofs, balancing numbers or coding tiny effects that don't appear on screen longer that a few seconds.

So yeah, it's not Christmas yet but we're getting nostalgic and doing the equivalent of sitcom's recap episodes, going through some of our favorite updates :-P

During our Kickstarter campaign we were overwhelmed, to say the least. Some updates were quite short as we quickly jumped from one task to the next. "Update #6 - Artistic references" might not look too exciting, but there was one tiny detailed on it that made it special for us. It was the first time we mentioned "Over the garden wall", a terrific show we adore and that was a great inspiration for our game. We don't usually talk too much about it but we love when somebody sees our game and says "wow, this reminds me to Over the Garden Wall".

On "Update #8 - A day in the city" we tried to convey the gameplay of our project, something that, as of today, is something we're still struggling with. Hopefully once we get the game to more events and put the gamepad on people's hands we'll get a bit better at this. When you can't use shortcuts like "walking-simulator", "roguelike" or "point and click" the road to explaining gameplay is always winding (specially when you can't quote games like "Kentucky Route Zero" or "Pathologic").

"Update #12 : EGX, goals, plans, updates and more" was pretty big, we announced that the team would grow a bit more (Ángel joined us as our lead writer during our Kickstarter campaign) and that we were looking for a programmer (not too long after that Martín joined the team as well). We also talked about our decision to make the cast of "A Place for the Unwilling" more inclusive, if we were going to skip many historical facts on behalf of our story and narrative we might as well use the chance to create a more equal society.

We were pretty excited about "Update #14 : Meet the cast!". We had reached a new milestone, the cast of characters was almost ready, the pieces were on the board. Just taking a look at all those portraits lined up felt good (it still does).

From time to time we work on something for weeks or months but we aren't yet at the point where we're ready to announce it, that's what happened to our collaboration with the external team of writers that are helping us with the background lore. So after months of planning we released "Update #17 : The many voices of the city", in which not only did we explain the whole thing, but also uploaded a few videos so you could meet the writers working on the project. This announcement also felt like a huge step forward.

But not every update is about production and the technical process of making the game, every once in a while we enjoy getting side-tracked and making a more narrative-focused text, like in "Update #20 : The origins of the City". Or in "Update #22 : The sweet King in Yellow", where we got out of the road once again and told you about a curious anecdote that happened to Ángel while doing some research for the project. There was some internal discussion about the decision to write these kind of updates, as they don't speak directly of making the game, but we felt they were important for the project and, because of that, should have a place on our devlog.

Sometimes we reveal new stuff in between updates, though that's not very usual. We did that with the new teaser we released in October. The only video we had before that was the one we made for Kickstarter, which felt really old and it was about time we featured some of the newer/flashier additions to the game. The project is still changing really fast and we're considering releasing small videos here and there, not trailers or teasers, just short pieces of video that show different parts of the city, but that's not among our top priority tasks at the moment.

And to warp this up we need to mention one the latest, "Update #27 : The city is dying", in which we talked about how the city is dying and that's going into the pitch, which brought some mixed feedback that we'll need to go over later on.

Everytime you message us after releasing a new update you're helping us a lot, we're thankful for every comment! ;-)

These were some of the "bullet points" that sum up our last year. Tell us why do you follow our devlog, what kind of content are you interested in or what would you like us to write about next, we're always open to suggestions!

There will be one last update before the year ends (in two weeks) but you know how this goes, we're always around, leave a comment, find us on twitter or just write an email and say hi! :-)

Cheers!

[Ludipe]

Update #30 : Calling it a year

Hey everyone!

Time for the last update of the year! The whole team will be taking the next week off so we can get some rest and start the new year right on track (and you know, Christmas is meant to be spent with family and those things ;-P).

Before calling it a year we got together for one last team meeting. We do this every few months. We go to a nice café and spend the whole afternoon just talking about our goals for the upcoming months, defining priorities, tasks and workflows. We also discuss new ideas or things that we can't bring up on a regular day since we're often too busy with our personal tasks.

We try to define milestones for new features and systems as well as for content creation. It's hard to design systems without a given content to try them out, but at the same time creating content without those very same systems in place doesn't work either. So we work on both things at almost the same pace.

Planning ahead when making a game is quite hard. You need to time things you know nothing about. Like when you need a new feature to fill a gap (though you still don't know exactly what) and you know you'll be doing some research, trying to come up with ideas and implementing them. You might need to produce some new assets at some point, test it and iterate (or if it doesn't work at all start all over again). So yeah, we tend to assign more time to each task because we know it's never as easy as just doing it (specially when we can't find many references around).

So this is a pretty common conversation regarding new features.

- Reports show that players need some kind of indicator that highlights the item that is in front of them.
- Yeah, we could do A, B, C or D to fix that.
- Well, I believe A and D wouldn't really work on "A Place for the Unwilling" because of X.
- I think B would be great.
- Sure? C could work even better.

We spot the goal and suggest different solutions based on references and personal experience. We then remove those which don't really make sense. We usually end up with a couple of them which might work, but there's no way of being really sure without actually doing them. We need to do a few tests to find out which one is the best. So a lot of time doesn't go into completing a certain task but finding out the right approach for it.

Our next milestone will be focused on creating a new playable build that we can use to test more features and improvements made over the last months. One of the hardest things to get right on this demo versions is the very beginning of it. It's usually the last thing we do since you need an overall perspective of the whole game to craft the right introduction for it; but people who try out the demo don't care about that and you need a beginning that sets everything up.

We came up with a trick to avoid working on the actual beginning of the game while preparing the latest build. We would set it on your seventh day in the city. It seemed like a cool idea that would allow us to skip a few "not-so-fun" things and get right in the middle of interesting events... and it was a really bad decision, though we didn't notice that at the time. While working on "A Place for the Unwilling" we try to make sure both player and character are synchronized (remember the reason behind turning strangers into shadows?), but skipping a whole week and having citizens who already knew our character (and having a main character who had way more knowledge than the player controlling it) kind of blew up the whole thing. It was a disposable beginning, one that was made just for that demo, but it still was one of those things that seem like a decent idea just before you hand the controller to somebody else and realize it doesn't work at all. Iterating is fun, isn't it?

And that's all for today! We'd like to wish you a Merry Christmas. Hope you all enjoyed reading our devlog because we love sharing all these stories with you.

Don't go too far though, we'll be back in two weeks with a new update ;-)

[Ludipe]

We are taking a week off to be with our families and get some rest. Hope you're doing the same. Merry Christmas! ;-)

[Ludipe]

Update #31 : A Cthulhu Mythos Story

Hey everybody! Hope you all had a nice Christmas break :-)

We're back, as promised, with a new update. This one was written by Ángel, our very best narrative designer, enjoy!

---

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh. What, in this given context, would be translated as “Welcome to the first update of 2017”. Enter on your own will and leave part of the happiness you carry around.

Until now, not in the trailers, the blog entries or in the interviews have we gone deeper into the Lovecraft side of “A Place for the Unwilling”. Yes, since our Kickstarter campaign we had stated that good-old H.P. Lovecraft would be part of this project. But we still haven't clarified to what point. Is it a mere ispiration? Is it just about using only the essence of his tales? Does the game follow his work up somehow? Today we'll answer some of those questions. But first, a bit of personal history.

I believe I read my first Lovecraft story, “The Statement of Randolph Carter”, when I was about 9.  In the countryside there's a way to brand cattle so anybody can spot its owner. You take a red hot iron with the farmer's mark and press it against the cow's meat. I felt something like that, in terms of intensity (as well as atrocity), while reading that tale. Its final line –- “YOU FOOL, WARREN IS DEAD!” –- written in uppercase, still visits my nightmares.

Only a small step separated that tale from assaulting my aunt's own Lovecraft library. After reading this short story I found out that my aunt Ines had been fond of Lovecraft during her teenager years. I invaded her collection of anthologies, which rested hidden in one of my grandparent's rooms. I read them all over and over again. “The Whisperer in Darkness”. “At the Mountains of Madness”. And my favorite, “The Dream Cycle of Randolph C. Carter”. All of them published by Aguilar. All of them translated by Rafael Llopis. All of them extraordinary.

Saying that Lovecraft changed my life is to fall short. He shaped it. Everything I aspired to be as an artist. What I requested from fantasy. My fears. My wishes. All of that crystallized in those early readings, not only of horrors before which one feels like a speck of dust in the cosmos, but also of the wonders that were only possible beyond the Silver Key door. Going down the golden steps that lead to the deepest part of the dream.

When I took matters into my own hands as the narrative designer of “A Place for the Unwilling”, I confessed to the rest of the team my wish for the game to be a LOVECRAFT story, not INSPIRED BY LOVECRAFT. The difference is subtle but important.

When one watches a movie like “Re-animator” what they find is a violation, so to speak, of what Lovecraft meant. It's so ironic that it hurts. Lovecratf's tales were published in pulp magazines, those that would be later identified with bright colors and ridiculous stories. Those covers that we remember are the antithesis of Lovecraft's work. He was a poet, an exceptional writer that not even being a misogynist and a racist lost any of his sensitivity when describing the sensations, places and beings beyond humanity. A movie like “Re-animator” assumes Lovecraft was like the covers of those magazines. Trashy fantasy. And that hurts those who have read his work over and over again.

What have we done in “A Place for the Unwilling” to avoid falling into the cliché of tentacles and shots that populate so many Lovecraft adaptations? The answer fits in just a few words: taking root in the lovecraftian mythology. Not in the one by August Derleth. Not in the ones crafted by all those copycats which, with more or less fortune, have imitated his style. The plot in “A Place for the Unwilling” is coherent and continuist with the canon established by the 23 Lovecraft tales that form “Cthulhu Mythos”. Not only that, our game also follows the steps of the other tales written by Lovecraft about the dream world, those that tie together, occasionally forgetting about pure horror, its mythology.

The reason why we don't talk too much about this decision, on both trailers and devlog updates, is because we believe many overuse the name of Lovecraft to sell proyects. We can now say it out loud: “A Place for the Unwilling” is a “Cthulhu Mythos” story. To the last consequences.

We don't want to spoil any of its content, because you'll want to discover everything on your own. But what we can say is that there are three essential tales to which “A Place for the Unwilling” is a sequel and a prequel at the same time. “At the Mountains of Madness”. “The Dream Cycle of Randolph C. Carter”. And “Celephäis”. There is also a tiny play with a yellow monarch of which we have already spoken about, a monarch hat some believe could be an avatar of the Black Pharaoh.

Lovecraft wasn't ever able to write his great novel. Nor did he create, maybe except for Wilbur in  “The Dunwich Horror”, a memorable character. In “A Place for the Unwilling” we're aiming to achieve both goals. A great project based on his imaginary. And 15 characters that you won't forget. It's an ambitious objective. And because of that, day to day, we keep shaping that dream up with our souls. Because winning or losing doesn't really matter after all. The journey is the important part. That white ship that comes to pick us up, once in a lifetime, to take us to where dreams are realities.

---

We'll be back in two weeks. Leave a comment if there's anything you want to tell us. See you soon!

[emabece]

Buenas! Aquí un seguidor y backer del Kickstarter!

I've just found this devBlog and I'm definitely reading all of your posts. You've achieved a really cool concept and atmosphere both with the art and the game design and story.

I'm myself a 3D artist in a small indie studio and I'm really interested in 2D game development. Are you guys using Unity? How do you create your animations?

Mucha suerte con el desarrollo, espero impaciente por probar el juego.
Saludos!

[Ludipe]

Buenas! Aquí un seguidor y backer del Kickstarter!

I've just found this devBlog and I'm definitely reading all of your posts. You've achieved a really cool concept and atmosphere both with the art and the game design and story.

I'm myself a 3D artist in a small indie studio and I'm really interested in 2D game development. Are you guys using Unity? How do you create your animations?

Mucha suerte con el desarrollo, espero impaciente por probar el juego.
Saludos!

Hey there emabece! :-D

Thanks for supporting the game. We're glad you like what we have been showing so far.

As explained on some of the updates we're using Unity, which saves us a lot of time, enables us to do ports and we get to use Ink, a really cool narrative engine by Inkle.

Rubén, the 2D artist who makes all the game assets, uses Toon Boom for the animations. You can get in touch with him through twitter if you want to ask for advice.

[Schrompf]

Just stumbled over this game - it looks gorgeous! Thanks for keeping us posted.

[Ludipe]

Just stumbled over this game - it looks gorgeous! Thanks for keeping us posted.

Thanks! We love being as open as possible (while avoiding spoilers ;-P)

[Ludipe]

Update #32 : Making Money

"It's an exciting time to be a trader in the City. Ships arrive everyday filled with new cargo that changes from owner to the next in the blink of an eye. It's chaos, politics and wits. All together. It's a complete mess, but one that moves like a beautiful creature.

Becoming a trader means to stand in the spotlight. Because no matter what's happening, those who control the money will set the path. Those who don't understand the flow of money will always be one step behind."

In most games you gain wealth because you want a shinier armor, a bigger house or a deadlier gun. In "A Place for the Unwilling" you'll be doing it to influence events. Yes, connections, decisions and actions will still be the most important part of the experience. You may even choose to ignore trading, but money is an ally you'll want to have on your side.

Creating the right trading systems for the game is quite a challenge, but we're slowly getting there through experimentation, trial and error (as well as lots of research). The first thing you need to know is that "A Place for the Unwilling" is an adventure game where you play as a trader who just moved to the City. It ISN'T a trading game. We don't want it to feel like a huge spreadsheet.

In most trading games you try to buy low and sell high, that's how you make money without actually producing anything. So you go from one shop to the next checking prices and seeing where you'll get a higher profit. That process makes you see all your transactions as mere numbers. When you have so many shops and goods everything seems more generic. Impersonal. Today's economy is all about numbers on a screen, while early local economy had traders thinking in terms of people and numbers.

Having dozens of shops is great when you're building a trading simulator, but we're more interesting in the world's narrative. In "A Place for the Unwilling" there will be only about 5-6 vendors and all of them will be part of the main cast, they'll have a face, a routine and a life out of their shops. They'll have motivations and your relationship with them will influence the price of the goods. It will also work the other way around! Your business will influence your relationships.

So just buying and selling stuff won't be the best strategy. Prices will change from one day to the next based on both your actions and story events. Trading will become a mix of politics and having a good plan. Not everything is about having an instant profit, a vendor might be in need of a certain item, acquiring other goods would get you more money, but getting them the desired item can improve your relationship and make them thrive (if you want them to). We're trying to make transactions count, be something more than stock moving from one box to the other. It needs to feel part selling goods and part social engineering.

Money is just a tool to shape the City. Every transaction and deal counts, but with more wealth you'll have access to more choices. That's how we blend narrative and trading together, making sure each of them influences the other. There isn't a right way to play "A Place for the Unwilling" and, for once, there shouldn't be a right way to lead your business. Earning more money means you have more cards under your sleeve, but sacrificing your fortune for the right reasons might get you to the same outcome.

---

And that's all for today! See you in two weeks, but you know we're always around ;-)

[francismoy]

¡Enhorabuena! Aquí otro backer, uno de los creadores de Breaking Fast.

That's an interesting idea, and also a daunting challenge from the point of view of design. I mean: balancing prices wrt wealth and decisions and still making the game compelling... wow! I'm intrigued about how this will evolve. Keep up with the good work!

[Ludipe]

¡Enhorabuena! Aquí otro backer, uno de los creadores de Breaking Fast.

That's an interesting idea, and also a daunting challenge from the point of view of design. I mean: balancing prices wrt wealth and decisions and still making the game compelling... wow! I'm intrigued about how this will evolve. Keep up with the good work!

Thanks for supporting us on Kickstarter! :-)

Yeah, balancing narrative and trading isn't easy at all, but the alternative isn't really a choice. At least the game has a couple of fixed rules (days the story will last and that also act as turns) that allows us to define the perfect strategy, calculate how much income can you get each day and then structure everything around that.

But, as said before, it's all about doing research, experimenting, failing and iterating.

[Ludipe]

Update #33 : I'm sorry, but I'm in a hurry

Hey everybody!

It's already time for a new update. We wanted to tell you about a couple of things but, since none of them is worth a whole update, we've put them together. Hope you like it! :-)

---

Improving dialogues

Writing dialogues in a game like "A Place for the Unwilling" feels a lot like designing levels. You have linear corridors, hubs with multiple exits, loops, doors (or locked branches) and even keys (variables that open branches). It's almost as if everytime you started talking with somebody you entered a new world, one made of messages and choices.

Even if the narrative is interesting it'll feel dull if dialogues aren't well structured.

When we began working on the project we needed to take care of an additional element, exit choices that end the dialogue. They needed to be common so players wouldn't feel trapped but, at the same time, placing too many of them felt repetitive. After playtesting our first versions many players felt uncomfortable, they couldn't leave the dialogue when they wanted to as that annoyed them. It took us a bit but we came out with a nice solution for that, letting players end a conversation whenever they want. It doesn't matter if the other character is right in the middle of a long speech, you can leave if that's what you wish. You'll say something polite like "I'm sorry, but I'm in a hurry" and leave right after that.

There will be consequences depending on the topic of the conversation and the character you were talking to. They might feel insulted because of your rush, some of them might take it like a serious offense. But time is your most valuable currency after all, so if you're running late for a meeting perhaps interrupting them is worth the trouble.

This small addition makes dialogues more organic. And since you can leave a conversation at any time we don't have to worry about adding choices to end it.

---

Indie Prize

We're almost done preparing a new playable version to test all the new ideas we've been talking about over the last updates. "A Place for the Unwilling" has been selected for the Indie Prize showcase at Casual Connect, so we've been given a booth and free exhibitor tickets (yay! :-D).

We'll fly to Berlin on Monday, where we'll spend four days showing our project, getting feedback and having meetings. Be sure to follow us on twitter to see some pictures of the show or visit our booth (if you're around) to play the game and see some concept art that'll be on display.

There'll probably be an update about our experience once we get back, but let us know if you plan on passing by.

---

Solo

We stopped doing crowdfunding shootouts several months ago but this is a pretty special occasion. Our friends at Team Gotham are working on a gorgeous game about love called "Solo". You'll play as a sailor whose partner has gone missing. Looking for her you'll sail seas, explore new lands, solve puzzles and go on a journey that will make you think about your very own definition of what love is.

Their campaign is live on FIG, where it's already over 60% of its goal (with 22 days left) so things are looking good for them. We've seen how the project evolved over the last year, and we even got to play it a few times, so we can assure you it's damn good and promising. Don't miss the chance to support them while the campaign is still active!  (they also have a devlog on tigsoure)

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And that's all for today! We'll be back in two weeks with a new update, which will be probably focused on our trip to Berlin. We're always around here to answer all your questions. That said, see you in two weeks! :-)

[Ludipe]

Update #34 : Back from Casual Connect!

Hey everybody!

We're already back from our trip to Berlin. Being at the Indie Prize showcase was amazing, as we were able to meet many devs and get feedback for our project. Many people stopped by to say hi and play "A Place for the Unwilling" and we had quite a few meetings over there.

Goods news is that "A Place for the Unwilling" is going to be playable in a major event pretty soon, but we'll leave that for the next update.

We have showed our games at many events and, even though we might not be the most experienced guys around, we have some tips that might be useful to those of you. We decided to use this update to share some helpful bits of knowledge that we've picked up over the last years, let's start already!

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Choosing the right event!

First thing is choosing where to go. Travelling (specially when attending events) can be rather expensive, so picking the right places to be is very important (specially if you have a low budget). You should ask yourself what is that you are looking for, is it feedback? publishers? exposure?

There are events just for professionals, others focused on players and some mix both. Maybe you just want to chat and get to meet more devs, maybe you are looking for work for hire. Choosing a goal will help you decide which events you should attend.

Don't overlook smaller local/national events! They might not be as flashy as the bigger ones, but they're usually cheap (or even free) and they're good to test games and meet some fellow ++ devs.

Plan ahead!
So you already chose an event and got your early bird tickets (hopefully!). You can now lean back and relax, right? Absolutely not!

Booth (if you got one)
Think of what you'll need to feature your game at the event (PC, screens, posters, etc). Sometimes it's better to take all your stuff with you, while sometimes it's best to buy/rent it once you arrive. No matter what you choose always contact somebody from the staff. They will always be willing to help you, make sure you know the size of the booth and are fully aware of any space limitations. They might also be able to advice you about hostels, renting equipment or some other stuff (don't forget about power adapters and powerstrips).

Meetings
Who's attending the event? Many professional events have online platforms you can use to browse attendees and arrange meetings, be sure to use them! (also try to do this as soon as possible)
It doesn't matter if you want to talk to journalists, publishers or devs, get in touch with them before the event. If you get a meeting request from somebody you don't know just accept it (unless they're just spamming their services around), you never know what you'll learn.
You'll probably meet more people at the event, but planning meetings ahead is a MUST.

Logistics
By now you should know that, even if you're and indie dev, you do need to sleep. Look for a place to sleep that is close to the event. Hostels are usually a good choice, though sometimes airbnb can be even cheaper. Also check that you know how to get from the airport/bus station/whatever to the place where you're staying at. You'll also want to email yourself your full schedule (meetings, activities, after-parties, etc).

Are any other devs you know attending the event?
Maybe you could help each other, share cabs, rooms and information. It's always helpful to have more people supporting you. Also ask around in case any dev you know attended the event last time, they might be able to give you some useful tips.

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Get ready

Looks like you made it, this whole thing is finally starting, what now?

Always arrive early
Preparing the booth takes time, specially on your first day, since you might not even know where it is. Same thing happens with meetings, walking around and figuring out where everything is tends to be a good idea. Not everybody is already there at the opening hour, so you'll be fine even if you're a bit late, but you'd better try to avoid that.

Taking care of the booth
Say hi to the people at the booths right next to yours, you're going to spend a lot of time together, so go ahead and introduce yourself. Always leave the game running or just play a gameplay video on loop when nobody is playing it, people always look at shinny moving things. Have a notebook at hand and write down every piece of feedback you get. It doesn't matter if you think it's not relevant or if you're sure you'll remember it, just write it down! You'll probably be sorry if you don't.

And don't forget the game isn't the only thing in need of feedback. A good pitch is really hard to get but, with so many people playing your game for the first time, what stops you from trying a different pitch with each person? Go for it and pay attention to their faces to see their reactions.

Using social media
You aren't likely to go viral with a photo of your booth, but at least your contacts will know you're around. It wouldn't be the first time somebody kilometers away introduced me to another person who was at the event. On top of all this it's always nice to go back and see the pictures, so take a few.

After-parties: Partying is just part of the job... right?
You shouldn't miss after-parties or devs dinners, yes, we are all really tired after being at the event the whole day, but in these gatherings people are more relaxed and it's pretty easy to start a conversation, talk to others and keep meeting new people. You'll have plenty of time to rest once you're back home!

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You made it back alive!

Message back people you met
If you had any business meetings you should send them over all the documents and stuff you showed them at the event, they'll want to take a second look once they're comfortably seated at their offices.

It's always a good idea to use twitter and facebook to stay in touch with the developers you met.

Organize those business cards you collected
Seriously, some of them will come handy later on, make sure you don't lose them.

Rest!
Sometimes it might be hard, but find some time to rest once you're back from an event. You'll probably be tired. Besides, you really should do your laundry.

BONUS ROUND : Saving money

Food
Is it a big commercial event? Food might be expensive, better make some sandwiches early in the morning and put them in your backpack.

Equipment
Nobody likes travelling around with a screen and a PC, but sometimes you need those. Renting them isn't usually cheap. Packing them in a suitcase is pretty common and (usually) less expensive. You can always ask a local friend to lend you what you need (and do the same if they visit your city). Some devs prefer to get more creative and do things like buying all they need once they arrive and re-selling all the goods after the event.

Sleeping and moving around
Check hostels and airbnb. Couchsurfing is another solution if you're up for it. Everything is cheaper when you're travelling with others. Public transportation is usually cheap but Uber can come super handy in some places, so get it on your phone.

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And that's all for today. Hope these tips will be of some help. It's all pretty basic stuff but it never hurts to talk about it. We'll be back in two weeks, but feel free to drop us a comment! :-)