Tag Archives: Update

Coming to Steam: Sabres of Infinity and Guns of Infinity

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I’ve got some good news, and I’ve got some bad news.

Well, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I’ve got some good news with maybe a little bit of a dark lining: both Sabres of Infinity and Guns of Infinity are going to get released on Steam.

Needless to say, I couldn’t be happier about this: a Steam release means that both IFs will be made available to millions of new potential fans, people who perhaps would have never known about my work otherwise.

The “problem” is that a Steam release also means a great deal more work for both me, and Choice of Games. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been working on overhauling some of the old art for Sabres (You may have noticed some of that new art gracing both the header image to this post, and the Sabres of Infinity page. Don’t worry, the existing versions will be getting an art update as well). In the meantime, Guns of Infinity has been getting a once-over by a professional copy-editor, and both titles are getting CoG’s customary kinematic text Steam trailers. This means that it could be a matter of weeks, or even months before Guns of Infinity is ready for launch. However, it also means that the finished product will be more polished and receive a wider release than it would have otherwise, and that that simultaneous release of Sabres of Infinity on Steam would introduce a whole new audience to my first published IF.

I suppose that’s more than worth the wait.


Almost Finished: Guns of Infinity

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Despite taking a little bit longer than I expected, I am happy to say that Guns of Infinity is finally text-complete. That means all the chapters, epilogue, prologues, and features (including save imports, which are being tested right now) are finished. All that’s left is some last-stage polishing, achievement scripting, and the compilation of all the promo stuff.

I’ll be putting a page up later this week, so stay tuned for that.


Coming Soon: Guns of Infinity

For everyone who’s been waiting patiently for the sequel to Sabres of Infinity: I’ve got good news.

I’ve been hard at work on new chapters for Guns of Infinity for the past few months, ever since The Hero of Kendrickstone came out. At the moment, total word count clocks in at well over 300 000 words written, making this IF my longest and most detailed so far. With one last chapter (and an epilogue) left to go, I can hopefully announce a release date sometime in the next few weeks.

I’ll also have a new page for Guns of Infinity up shortly.


A New Project: The Hero of Kendrickstone

For millennia, humanity has lived in the shadow of the Flowering Court, a powerful empire ruled by strange magics. They claimed the forests and plains as their own, leaving stunted human kingdoms to develop along the hardscrabble coast.

Then, one day, they disappeared.

Two hundred years have passed since then, and humanity has flourished, driving deep inland into what had once been the rich lands of the Flowering Court’s vast realms. Over the crumbling ruins of their once-superiors, humanity has built outposts, fortresses, cities, creating new kingdoms and empires. It is a glorious time, where a man or woman who is brave enough, determined enough, or clever enough can become a figure of power and legend. Where fortunes are made and lives are lost in the wild hinterlands of frontier provinces and far-flung outposts.

It is the golden age of the adventurer, and there is no place better for an aspiring hero like you to make your name than in the shadow of the blood-red keep of the great city: Kendrickstone. Founded by one of the first adventurers, it is the gateway between civilisation and the wild frontier, and home to traders, mages, knights, and criminals. It is here, with little more than your wits, a few coins, and what scarce skills you have, that you will hone your abilities, assemble your equipment, and carve out the first words of your adventurer’s legacy.

Will you find a mentor, or stand alone? Will you fight with sword, staff, sling, or spell? Will you lay down the law, or walk free? Will you seek to help others, or only yourself?

Will you become the Hero of Kendrickstone, or will you die trying?

In The Hero of Kendrickstone, my new project for Choice of Games,  you will play a young man or woman who leaves your frontier village to seek your fortune as an adventurer in the great city of Kendrickstone. There, you will face the challenges of living costs, organised crime, and finding a mentor willing to teach the skills needed to become a great hero.

Oh yes, and adventure! The sort that leaves you facing terrible beasts, scheming nobles, and an insidious army of bandits, bent on seeing your new home destroyed.

“Save the villagers, become a hero, make rent.”

Not too bad of a tagline, eh?

Expect a page coming up as soon as I actually get the cover art scanned in.


Master of Fortresses 2 Video Update

Here it is: another look at the gameplay from Master of Fortresses 2. This time, I show off a new map, “Alte Veste”, based on the battle of the same name which took place during the Thirty Years’ War. I also show off new gameplay features like the Barracks/Population Cap system, as well as the Redeployment system, which was developed in direct response to one of the largest complaints about Master of Fortresses 1: the inability to move units after they were placed.

More video updates in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned.


Good News, Bad News and Other News

As the title might suggest, I’ve got all sorts of news today.

The bad news first, I suppose: It turns out Armor Games’ HTML5 portal isn’t quite set up yet, and won’t be for a few more months. That means that’s possible Master of Fortresses 2 might not see a release until early 2015.  That being said, I’m still working on it. Almost all the maps are complete, and I’ll likely be uploading a video update sometime tomorrow to show off some new mechanics which tackle some of the glaring issues with Master of Fortresses 1.

The good news: this delay not only means that I have more time to polish and bugfix, but also that I can start work on new projects ahead of schedule. The most prominent of which is Guns of Infinity, a direct sequel to last years’ Sabres of Infinity, picking up right where the first part of the story left off. As the months go by, I’ll post a few snippets of what I’m working on up here, and maybe discuss a few of the themes and bits of lore, if that ends up being a popular draw.

Lastly, I am also working on another project as a writer-for-hire for CoG. I’ve already got about a third of the text done. I look forward to revealing more information about that in the future as well.


Master of Fortresses 2 Gameplay Video!

Here it is, at long last: gameplay footage from Master of Fortresses 2. This clip shows the redesigned menu system, some of the sound and music already implemented, the new graphics, as well some new features which promise to deliver deeper and smoother gameplay.

There’s still a lot more about this game that I’d like to share with everyone, so stay tuned for more videos like this one in the near future.


Mecha Ace Update, and What’s Coming Up Next

It’s now been little more than five weeks after the release of Mecha Ace, and I’m proud to say that it appears to be doing really well. Despite a few pesky bugs on release, Mecha Ace has gotten overwhelmingly positive reviews on all three of its release platforms, and I’m almost certain that Choice of Games has recouped every single dollar of their investment into this interactive fiction of mine.

Updates are still ongoing, and I will continue to work on new bugfix patches for as long as new bugs are being reported. That being said, the bugfixing process is only taking up a miniscule fraction of my time.

So what’s next?

Before I’m able to direct my full attention to any other projects, I need to tie up the remaining loose ends I’ve accumulated over the years. First among these is Master of Fortresses 2. Development slowed down dramatically while I was writing Mecha Ace, but I’ve been able to put a great deal more time and effort into it since Mecha Ace’s release. So far, I’ve made exceptional progress, and over the past week or so, I’ve been opening up what I have right now to a small group of testers.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to put up some long-awaited gameplay footage from a thoroughly tested and balanced version of the first level, sometime this week.


Incoming: Mecha Ace: Heroes of the Vedrian War

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It is the dawn of the fifth century of the Interstellar Era. Humanity, having long since escaped its home system, has spread throughout the galaxy. 

Driven by the increasing tyranny of Old Earth, the outer colonies have launched a war of independence against the core worlds. It is a war to the knife; a desperate campaign of deep space battles, long sieges and planetary bombardments, a war fought with ‘combat armatures’; giant piloted humanoid machines, which clash in the battlefields and skies of the outer worlds.

It has been five years since the war started. The conflict between Earth and her rebellious colonies have consumed billions of lives. 

There is no end in sight.

This is what I’ve been working on over the winter: Mecha Ace: Heroes of the Vedrian War, a new interactive fiction taking inspiration from both western science fiction and “real robot” mecha anime. In Mecha Ace, you will take the role of an ace combat armature pilot, fighting for the independence of the outer colonies from an increasingly tyrannical Earth government.

Launching from the CWS Caliburn, a top-of-the-line carrier, you will lead your unit of six mecha into a brutal campaign over the strategically vital star system of Vedria. Over the course of the story, you will be able to choose the machine you pilot and the weapons it carries. You will be able to find friends, enemies and even lovers among the Caliburn‘s crew and your fellow pilots. Ultimately, you will be able to decide the course of the war as the Vedrian campaign comes to a cataclysmic conclusion.

Mecha Ace will come out sometime in the next two months. I’ve put up a new page for it here.

 


A Quick Update

It’s been a while, I know. I am still here, though I’m currently being pulled in a few directions by work and school. Here’s a quick update on what’s going on:

-I am currently putting the finishing touches to my new Interactive Fiction for ChoiceofGames, expect a proper announcement about that soon.

-Guns of Infinity is at the tail end of its planning phase. With luck, I’ll be able to start writing sometime in May.

-I’m also wrapping up my (hopefully) last semester at University. After I get my degree, I will (obviously) be able to devote a lot more time to work.

-I am still working on MoF2, but progress is understandably slow. However, I am hoping to finish it before I start actually writing Guns of Infinity.

Expect more detailed and specific announcements regarding each of these things to come soon. As for now, I still have one more term paper to finish, and one more exam to study for.