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[Silverspook]

Hi everyone! Neofeud 2 is the sequel to Neofeud: a Dystopic Cyberpunk adventure game in the vein of Blade Runner, but with an overlay of Game of Thrones-like political intrigue, and 1366x768, hand-painted, stylized visuals. The game is presently in the concept stage, but here is some teaser art:

[Silverspook]

A sneak peak at some Neofeud 2 designs



It was a lot of fun painting the Earth (never done it before), I felt bad that I had to cover it up with space-stationey stuff!

If it isn't already apparent, I was binge-watching The Expanse simultaneously during creation of this artwork.

[Silverspook]

A big devlog update from the Neofeud Patreon site: https://www.patreon.com/posts/9738374


First off, thank you to all my Patrons who've helped bring Neofeud to fruition.  The good news is, Neofeud is at least meeting my baseline expectations at this point in terms of commercial and critical success.  Currently, I'm still hoping that Neofeud will get Greenlit soon, before Steam takes Greenlight down.  If you haven't already, please check out the Neofeud Greenlight page and give it your vote!  http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=894789880
Neofeud hasn't yet broken into the "Quit my dayjob and focus on Silver Spook Games 100%" level, but it is at least moving off of shelves, and many folks have been generous and willing to pay more, sometimes *twice* the base price of the game to support us.  If you haven't yet, you can still pick up the DRM-free version of Neofeud from the Itch.io store.  As a thank you for picking the game up early (I realize most people want it on Steam), you get the soundtrack and the ebook-version of Neofeud free, and a Steam key, once Neofeud is released on Steam. 

Itch.io store: https://silverspook.itch.io/neofeud

In addition to swapping my gamedev-hat for the marketing cap / Neofeud evangelist for the past month, I've also had some tumultuous, but ultimately fruitful goings-on in terms of our big move to the Big Island of Hawaii.   The wife and kids had been camping for a few weeks, and crashing with some rather fascinating characters, got stranded in a Burger King parking lot and an eternal-Burning Man commune...  But we're now inside of an actual *house* house, with four walls and a roof!  So in addition to supporting the development of Neofeud, thank you, patrons and purchasers of Neofeud for supporting a temporarily homeless homesteader family in getting started in this new land!

I have also entered the liminal phase of development, that is investigating potential projects.  With the incredible amount of work it was, making Neofeud for the most part alone, I'm considering collaborating with others for future Silver Spook Games endeavors.   There are a few possibilities on the table right now:

1.) Neofeud 2: I'm currently in the conceptual phase of this.  I may bring on an artist and/or potentially a programmer.

2.) Collaborate with a writer to turn their story into an adventure game:I've been chumming the cyberspace waters, posting in forums, Facebook, etc.  with the notion of taking a sci-fi / cyberpunk writer's story and making it into a game, which would be synergistic for both of us; I can offload the universe of narrative from my brain-space and the writer will get a visibility boost.  One cool writer-group that have expressed some interest -- they are writers and also adventure-gamers -- is a circle called "Chaos Nova".  They have some pretty interesting sci-fi writing as well, you can check them out here: http://www.chaosnova.co.uk/?page=samples

3.) Join a game development team as the writer:I met a guy who was a huge fan of both my earlier game, Terminus Machina ( http://www.moddb.com/mods/terminus-machina ) as well as Neofeud.  He happened to be presently in development of a full-3D cyberpunk game similar to Deus Ex, which, as I've mentioned, is my favorite game of all time.   He was interested in bringing me onto the team as a writer, which could be great as story is one of my favorite mediums of creativity.

Oh, also, the Facebook group I met the guy in?  Bruce Bethke and John Shirley also apparently hang out there from time to time!  Check out the Cyberpunk Writers Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/874654982584725/

Ultimately, I may do several of these projects simultaneously, depending on how the cards fall, schedules align, etc..  I am certainly excited to be back in the development saddle.  I am not a master-marketeer by any means, but an indie must do one's best!

At any rate, I will be looking into new rewards for my gracious continued Patrons.  If you would like something in particular -- like more behind-the-scenes material or a livestream or something of the sort -- do let me know.

Until then, here's another Neofeud 2 Concept art / Artist's rendition of our new house on the volcanic Big Island of Hawaii.  (JK, we're not living on a barren lava flow, lol.  Although we did visit one. )

[Silverspook]

The dream-like pre-concept phase of game design... still trying to figure out what this is going to be.

[Silverspook]

The Neofeud Team, Live!  This Saturday!



Want to know the $2 sound-proofed booth trick? How to gamdev while taking care of crazy toddlers? How to paint like H.R. Giger? Who is the Six Billion Dollar Baller!?!? Tune in this Saturday at 3 PM Eastern, when the Neofeud cast and yours truly will be doing a post-game hangout livestream!

Livestream link: https://www.youtube.com/user/twiliteminotaur/live
More about Neofeud: https://silverspook.itch.io/neofeud

[Silverspook]

A post-release hangout with myself and a bunch of the voice actors and contributors who helped make Neofeud! In it we discuss the $2 voice-actor sound-proof booth, pursuing one's passions while having a family, the robot / automation revolution, post-scarcity economics and universal basic income, how we're already living in a dystopic Neofeudal society, Canadian whiskey vs. Hawaiian Guinness, living next to a giant lava-spewing volcano, and more!!!

[Silverspook]

Great review of Neofeud!  "Neofeud offers 10 hours of gameplay... great for any SF or point-and-click fan."  It is in French, but thank the techno-gods for Google Translate!

https://cabinetdechaologie.wordpress.com/seances/treizieme-seance/neofeud-au-futur-imparfait/

[Silverspook]

The Neofeud Short Story Collection is out!



"In a dystopian future, the one-percent hover in glimmering golden sky-castles above a wasteland of destitution.  A young 'low-born' seamstress' only chance to go from Cinderella rags to Kardashian riches is to be 'noticed' in a cosplayer competition, and to marry a ultra-wealthy prince or be picked up for a TV show by a megacorporation -- all while dealing with poor body-image and self-esteem issues, resulting from a society that doesn't need or want her.

A sentient machine, one of millions of 'defective prototypes' mass-produced by tech-giants, winds up in a 'machine prison' due to 'substrate profiling' -- robot is the new 'black'.  He's beaten, abused, and finally teams up with the robo-convicts to jailbreak from the supermax facility. 

Neofeud is a cautionary tale, a dark vision of where we may all be heading very soon, if we aren't careful.

This series of short stories is set in the world of "Neofeud", a dystopic adventure game."

[Silverspook]

I don't always make adventure game backgrounds, but when I do, they are hand-painted in 4000 x 3000!




https://silverspook.itch.io/neofeud

[Silverspook]

Some work in progress on a potential protagonist.



https://silverspook.itch.io/neofeud

[Silverspook]

A bunch more art this week, plus a big livestreamed announcement of the new game and new gamedev collaboration partners!

[Silverspook]

Got the first scene of the game into Adventure Game Studio and playable!  No animations yet, but at least you can click on stuff and slide around!

[Silverspook]

Robopocalypse!

This took me a long, long time.  I think the only background that's ever taken me longer was The Neofeud Sky Palace.

Worth it, though, I think!

[Silverspook]

Hi guys, just an update for you all: Neofeud's bonus content is free with the game until June 13!

Here's a link for convenience: https://silverspook.itch.io/neofeud

(Bonus content includes the soundtrack - 2 1/2 hours of music + the original script)

In addition, Neofeud merchandise is now available.





And finally, I will be livestreaming development of the next Silver Spook Games title, tomorrow, 6/10 at 3 PM EST!

[Silverspook]

Thanks everyone who voted, Neofeud has made the final cut!  If you don't want to wait till it's released on Steam you can also just pick it up on itch.io, and you'll get a free Steam key once Neofeud is out on Steam.

[Silverspook]

Hey guys, just an update: Neofeud has made it through Steam Direct and I will be announcing the Steam release date soon!

I've also begun a new project called Forgotten City:





  If you'd like to support development of it, you can pick up Neofeud on Itch.io right now or become a Patreon Patron.  Thanks!

https://www.patreon.com/neofeud

[joey4track]

OMG drooling all over my keyboard.. are you guys gonna pay for that?! 

[Silverspook]

Lol, thanks Joey.

Also, I got your message. I'll be responding shortly.

[Silverspook]

Hey guys! So the big news is Neofeud is just $10 for the next week! You'll also get a Steam key for free when Neofeud hits Steam, September 19th!

That's right, at long last, Neofeud will be coming to Steam September 19th!



As I am a one-person indie developer, I'm my best to get the word out about Neofeud for the Steam release, but have basically no marketing budget. So, proceeds from the Itch.io sale will be used to help pay for publicity of Neofeud's release, and app submission fees for the next Silver Spook Game! I'm hoping to raise at least $200 which would help to cover the costs of some social media promotions, as well as the $100 submission fee for the next Silver Spook game, Dysmaton.



Here's a rundown on the work I've been doing over the past month or so:

X Create Version 1.2 build of Neofeud - with 30+ bug and glitch flixes
X Onboard Neofeud to Steam (And wrap my head around being a Steamworks developer, generally!)
X Create art, coding, and test 37 new Steam Achievements
X Create the Neofeud Steam Storefront
X Research and begin working on promoting, increasing visibility, and preparing a successful game release campaign (I really need Neofeud to do well with this Steam release to keep making games!)
X Test the latest Neofeud version with Steam achievements, send out to closed-beta testers and implement fixes as needed
X- Finish several more speed-runs and stress-tests through of Neofeud to ensure stability of the Steam version
Some of the Neofeud achievement artwork:



Simultaneously, I've also been working on writing the game story for Dysmaton, creating art assets, and implementing into the game itself as well. While I am somewhat used to taking on many or all of the jobs of game development, at this point I notice that working on successfully rolling out a game, and handling the business and marketing end of it, whilst trying to develop *another* game is proving to be the straw that's breaking this camel's back. Which is one reason why I'm hoping this Itch.io sale will be able to raise a reasonable amount of funds that I could then use to pay for help with the business and marketing end, as I basically have zero budget that isn't earmarked for groceries, the roof over the family's head, and other essentials.

So if you were considering picking up Neofeud at some point, now's definitely the time, and I'd greatly appreciate it!

Special thanks this month to Frank from Utomik (AKA "From Frank w/ Love") for all his help with so many aspects of Neofeud especially in the promotion department - https://twitter.com/_kaassouffle

As well as Mark J. Lovegrove for his invaluable advice as a veteran of the indie game industry - https://twitter.com/Screen7uk

Finally, have a look at this brand-spanking-new

I just recorded today with amazing science fiction author, Brandon Hovey!



In this episode, Silver Spook and Brandon discuss insider-tips on bring a game to Steam, how to promote your indie game, book, or other artwork, and more!

If you're an indie game developer, a cyberpunk or science fiction writer/fan, or generally just a cool person, definitely hit me up, as I'd love to talk to you! :D

[Silverspook]

Neofeud is now on Steam!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/673850/Neofeud/