Hey, Altered Reality fans! This is a new thing we're doing..
So, we've started our monthly newsletter thingy.. We've decided that this is the best way to keep you updated on the behind the scenes activity when it comes to Altered Reality's development. Hopefully we get ahold of this whole newsletter thing better than we had ahold of the daily updates.. (Sorry about the infrequent updates, by the way.)
This last month we've been discussing the music of Altered Reality, and we've developed a track that best represents one of our boss enemies, we won't spoil it for you though, so don't worry!
We've gotten feedback on it, and it seems like you guys really enjoy the sound & style, which is very much so inspired by Earthbound & Toby Fox. We've attached the track to this letter so you can take a listen to it!
In the coming months we have a lot of big plans. Especially as the leaves fall.. So, keep your eyes peeled for more content & updates in relation to Altered Reality, and remember.. Subscribing to our Patreon will allow you to see this content early, where we'll update you on the discord & you'll get a special discord tag. We're also planning on allowing patrons to have chats with the team! So consider subscribing to our Patreon for more content!
Let's take a look back at some old content that's been made over the years..
Over the last few years Altered Reality has gone through many phases of development, engines, and other things. We're really sorry for all the delay, by the way. We're just looking to make this game as good as possible, and we want to make sure the choices we make are the right ones.
Here's some concept art our artist made for a later chapter of Altered Reality, the concept art shown is actually part of a much larger storyboard for a very important scene we're working on.
During our concept phase, and development of the game's graphical style, we designed Maura's now very well known sprite. Our pixel artist, Erasmo; was able to make simple sprites that still feel very much alive, which is definitely going to benefit the game going forward.
Isn't she adorable!?
Erasmo has been hard at work making Altered Reality feel like an interesting and unique experience through his colors and shapes. We should have some in-engine pixel art to show you very soon...
Speaking of engines, we'd like to announce that we're switching to Godot! This will be our final engine change and will be what we're working in moving forward. Altered Reality is a large game, and I believe switching to a larger and much less restricting engine will benefit the game's development.
With this change, we've also gained a new member on the team who will be helping us program Altered Reality and do some behind the scenes work and planning.
The reason we made this change was because when we originally were using GameMaker we were inspired by other indie-devs who've made similar games in the engine.. And then it hit us that those games, are kind of a one-of-a-kind type deal. Developing Altered Reality in GameMaker would definitely slow us down, so we've switched.
What will Altered Reality development be like moving forward?
Developing Altered Reality is a huge task, and I'm willing to face it. Over the past few years I've been struggling with real-life stuff, and I haven't been able to focus on my passions. I also had underestimated the amount of work this game will take, a LOT, because Altered Reality used to just simply be a horror game. That has changed. Altered Reality is no longer just a simple horror game, but is a complete RPG with many complex mechanics & features. Horror is still a major part of the experience, though.
Changes like this happen, and I believe that its a good thing, because I always dreamt of developing a large video game, so this is my dream project.. Our vision for this RPG horror game is huge, and we hope to deliver something that is as good as possible. But still, please keep in-mind that we're a very small development team, and things take time. We're going to take as much time as we need to finish this game, so that means we could be years off of Altered Reality's release.
By the end of this month, we should be doing a Q&A where we'll answer any major questions that the community has, so hopefully you guys can get an idea of what's going on inside our heads. If you have any specific questions about the upcoming Q&A, please feel free to comment them below!
What's next?
We have a long ride ahead of us, and your support means the world to us as we journey through the development of Altered Reality. We appreciate your patience and dedication as we strive to bring you an experience that's truly special.
As the days grow shorter and the nights become darker, be prepared for intriguing surprises and exciting updates. There's a lot in store for the Altered Reality community, and we can't wait to share it with you.
Stay tuned, and remember, the adventure is just beginning.
Warm regards,
Carter D.
ButterflyCube Studios
Patreon subscribers will get this update approx. two weeks earlier than non-subscribers. If you're interested in getting these newsletters & other content early, please subscribe to the patreon!
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