Hello there!

How are you doing?

I hope you’re all happy an healthy and making/playing some games every weekend or so <3

Wowie, it’s been 4 years since the first I, Penguin release! I honestly can’t believe how fast time has passed and how much I learned, but we’ll get to it later, because the thing is:

I, Penguin is back!

For real this time.

Let me explain some things about this comeback and what you should expect.

Excuse me, who are you?

Probably some of you are new and don’t know me, and some of you probably have forgotten me, so let me introduce myself!

I’m Javier Calderón (call me just Javi please), a game developer from Spain that has been making small games for quite some years now!

I, Penguin is the first minigame I’ve ever published. It’s an RPG with penguins, snow, ice and penguins!

I made it when I was 16, and I just want to remake it. It brings me a lot of memories and I want to preserve them the best way I can.

Why didn’t you update it when you said you would?

Because I was 16-17 years old, I didn’t know what I was doing and I couldn’t afford to make and manage a project like this without killing myself.

Why are you making the game now?

The past four years I’ve made more than 10 small games, I’ve met a LOT of people, and now I’m actually working for a gamedev company, GameTroopers, since June of this year, where I’ve been already able to code for some of the current console platforms!

This means I have the experience and resources I need to make a project this “big”, as it’s now when I feel ready for it.

Then you’re just updating the game or what?

Nope, I’m going to remake it from scratch!

Over the past few months I’ve been making design documents trying to find some common ground where I could mix story, art style and gameplay together. The snow set will be maintained with some changes, there will be penguins (yay!), but the combat system and the tone of the narrative and dialogues will change a lot.

Seems like a lot of work. Are you doing it alone?

Athough most of the time I’ll be a solo developer, I’m counting with the help of my partner, Paloma Pipeleers, a fantastic 3D artist who I met more than a year ago. They’re already redisigned and rigged the new penguin model, and now they’re working on some basic animations to showcase it!

Also I’ll be working Juanjo Jiménez, one of the best musicians I’ve ever met, friend of mine since before I started making games, who will be occasionally comissioned with a new soundtrack for the game, based on the tone of the music of the original. He’s already started, and I have a track to show you! But please be patient.

When should I expect some news about this game?

I’ll be doing a monthly devlog, starting on December 1st! Then I’ll be posting them the 15th day of each month, so stay tuned!

When will I be able to play it?

I don’t know! I’ll be dedicating 5 to 10 hours a week to this game, and I don’t want to promise some deadlines I cannot fullfil later. The best way to ensure you I’m working on it is with the monthly devlogs where you’ll see the progress I’m making!

Once I have something resembling a beta, I’ll publish it so you will be able to test it and send me feedback!

Will it be a free game?

No, it won’t. But it won’t be expensive, probably around 5 or 10 bucks, although it’s way too soon to be speaking about this as I don’t really know how big the final product will be.

Over the past four years I’ve learned the bad way that I shouldn’t underestimate my work, and to price it in base of how valuable I think it is. It’s a question I’ll be answering later, probably next year, don’t worry.

Can you show me something?

It’s soon to show gameplay features, but we’ve made a video teaser and Telegram Stickers!

I’ll eventually post screenshots and videos on the devlogs, so don’t worry about that. I’ll try to be as open as possible with the project development process!

How can I suport this development?

There are three ways to support me and the making of this project:

• Buying my games! The 7 games I’ve published here, on GameJolt, will change from Free to Name your Price. You’ll be able to download them without any cost, but you’ll also be able to pay for them whatever you want to support my work!

• Becoming my patron! I’ll be opening a Patreon on December 1st to try to make a monthly income so I can cover development expenses, in exchange of internal test builds each month and an extra, more detailed devlog where I’ll explain whatever you want about the game!

• Following me on Twitter and GameJolt! As simple as that. No money required. I want to interact with you everyday, I want you to be informed and I want you to tell me EVERYTHING you think or feel about this project. This is critical for me: I want to make a game that can put a smile on your face while playing, and I can’t do that if I don’t know what makes you smile!

Expenses? What are you talking about?

I’m talking about:

• Private GitHub repository fee

• Webhosting

• Test server maintenance

• Paying Juanjo for each song commision

• Paying Paloma for their enormous help and work

• Paying myself because dang, I’m working on a game!

• Future publishing expenses (marketing campaigns and localization, for example)

• Steam publishing fees maybe?

• Unity Pro Licenses maybe?

In conclusion

In a week I’ll open Patreon and send you the first devlog, so thank you for sticking with me this long and I hope I can see you again very soon!

With love and care,
Javi