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@parallelzodiacproject-blog
Hello
I am making this post to introduce myself. My name is Skylar and I am the new Social Media Manager for the Parallel Zodiac project. I will be taking over this Tumblr account as well as the Twitter and the Facebook page. I will be happy to answer any questions, and will post an update soon as to what has been going on with the project.
Please Forgive Me
In recent months, it has been difficult to update the blog because I moved, and have just gotten back into a day-job, but there is also good news, on the game-front.
We have several chances coming up very soon where we could receive funding; enough to make every bit the game that we’ve been dreaming of making. It’s just a matter of showing off what we’ve got and hoping for the best!
In the meantime, this means we do have a tech demo in the making, which is almost done--and we are still fairly on-track to release a playable demo mid next year--so if we do get this together, I will do my absolute best to make updating this blog a high priority as we unroll new developmental milestones and get things cemented in place.
I Need Some Help...
If anyone likes to manage social media for a living, I could really use some assistance with this blog. I’m obviously not the best man for the job, and it would help my cause to have a regular contributor.
If anyone would like to apply, or knows someone they could refer, I would love to have some interviews, because the game is still going strong, and perhaps is better off now than it has been in a long time, and it’s about time to start having an online presence.
Problem is, I’m doing a little bit of everyone’s job (being the initial creator of the company and the project in question), so I simply don’t have the time or motivation.
Hopefully this reaches a few people.
I Know It’s Been Awhile...
Summer has been pretty brutal to progress so far. Many of my people have had to take breaks for one reason or another, some of whom I still am able to contact and have reassured me that it won’t be long... but others who have had no such luck.
I am personally learning to code in order to help move things along a little faster, perhaps even get the momentum up to a point where things can update a bit more, and I won’t have to say “sorry there’s not really progress”.
Officially the Worst at Updates.
So I apologise to anyone who was actually trying to follow the blog--I really need to hire someone to do this for me--but here goes:
We have several new 3D Modellers, one of which has been a great help in keeping them organised. Between the three of them, we should have some nice visuals coming to life before we know it!
We’ve begun detailed design of the environment at large, and things have been smooth so far--there are a few cities set up, and more yet to come.
In the meantime, my writers and I have been hard at work finishing what is required to be in the first Act of the game--which will effectively be the demo version. We are hoping to release a demo version by the start of PAX East, and have something to show when a few of us go there.
Movement has finally begun, and the team is up to 23. Let’s get this show on the road!
Haven’t Updated in Awhile...
I realise that I’ve been quite busy, and I haven’t updated anything in a few weeks... but to say the least, that’s been just one duty in a mountain of things I’ve had to do, and took the lowest priority.
A relationship of eight and a half years ended in a bad way, and I’ve had to clean up after it... and between that and figuring out the rest of what happened in the meantime, it’s been difficult to devote any of my time or energy to social media--but the team is still hard at work on the game.
We’re actually going to be pushing towards a full demo by next March, when PAX East comes around--a few of us wanted to go, so I figured why not try to kill two lizards with the same stone?
We’ve finally got a deadline, and even if it’s a loose one, I honestly hope we can pull it off. We need to get this show on the road sooner than later, and have proof of all our hard work.
Recruitment Time
Ah, time again for me to seek out new talent... Someone made an interesting point: that even my current team of 19 (though most of us are not remotely full-time) is a small group for something as big as we’re making. So it’s time to start looking again, and figuring out the financial aspect.
This is definitely the part they don’t tell you about when you’re first looking into making something--cost. Breaking it down can be a nightmare, sometimes.
Ah, well. The sooner we get something going that we can actually show off, the better. I’ll bite the bullet now in exchange for a better product, later.
The Problem With Plans
Is that they can fall through. No meeting this week, but I understand that people are adults and have obligations. That’s why things are going so slowly, but at least we’re starting to get somewhere.
Hopefully we’ll have a few more things that we can show, but the big thing right now is, we’re specialising in character movement; each one is different, and has unique situations that are going to make for some (potentially annoying) strategic party situations. Tidbits for my fans!
Meeting Adjourned
We’re on our way; with a few basic steps in the right direction programmed, we’re finally beginning to have some palpable progress.
With that said, our only active 3D artist is taking a hiatus, so we’re on the lookout for anyone who is willing to help out... otherwise, it’s going to be a slow process.
Either way, you don’t need art to proceed with programming... it’s just nice to have. My guys are doing as well as they can, and I appreciate their work.
On my end, I’ve been learning Blender (but have little proficiency) and have taken another paid side-project that I intend to use as my own project’s funding. Might be slow goings with that, too. We’ll see.
I Need Timestamps on My Old Posts
Seriously, I’ll have to fuss around in the options to figure out if I can do this, because it will help me to be consistent.
Meeting today went well--we discussed some of the early programming concerns as well as Level Up mechanics and other similar miscellani. I’m happy that the group is really starting to come together and be passionate about progress.
Hopefully we’ll have something to show off soon enough.
In the meantime, a little insight for those who might be curious: the game is a Third-Person 3D Strategy (Tactical) RPG with survival elements and romance. It is a choice-based plot with many alternate endings and twists within the story itself based on what you input. It is a group of modern-day heroes thrown into the midst of an alien war.
That’s all I can really tell you, though! We’ll reveal more as we go on, and more becomes finished. I appreciate all of you who are following (more than you know), and encourage you to tell your friends about us, if you think they’d like the game.
I try to post updates weekly, but am somewhat bad at it, and I’ll admit it openly. Once I find someone to take it over who can manage to update on a weekly basis consistently, I’ll take them.
Sorry, Still Bad at Updates.
I’m going to have to find someone who is willing to make weekly updates on this thing, or maybe just do so after our meetings.
The game is still coming along, steady as she goes. In fact, things are happening more quickly and steadily than ever before, despite real life biting me (in particular) rather hard in the ass.
I’ll start to do some reveals when things are a bit more solid. For sure, we have the beginnings of a bit of everything... but we’re all still working as much as we can, when we can.
Sorry again about the silence--that’s literally just me forgetting to blog about things. Don’t mean to scare anybody, I promise!
Progress!
My writer and I have been working almost daily on small improvements and other such business. It’s a nice change of pace from others in the past who would do anything and everything to avoid a weekly meeting.
Not much else to say--we’re still just making small tweaks here and there. Once we have things completely 100%, I may start leaking small details.
New Team Members
Of course, when someone leaves, they must be replaced... and I’m happy to say that I have a very dedicated new writer who is getting very into the story... which really makes me feel like I made the right choice in choosing him.
I enjoy it when I can work with someone who genuinely likes the idea--it creates a forwards positive energy--but he also seems able to remain critical, and asked about changing things if it was for the better, and we seemed to agree on the principle that if it’s better, it’s good to change.
I look forward to working at a much steadier click than before.
Up and Down
With the other lead writer leaving, I was a bit down for awhile--but I have signed on a new lead writer to work alongside me, and I am getting them contracted in now.
They are reviewing the game in its basemost form and all the existing elements, in order to get a feel for the world... and hopefully, they will fit in very well.
Similarly, my Senior Programmer is getting right to work, and I love that he shares my drive. I am very happy to have him, and to finally see things get that necessary initial shove into creation.
Progress...
We’ve signed on a senior programmer (this time, who agreed to the job beforehand) who already seems to be eager to get things arranged and going. I like the forward-moving attitude.
Things are progressing, but slowly--we have one nearly-finished model and not much else other than documents and concept art, but these first few steps are always the hardest.
I apologise for not updating more frequently, but I have been trying to obtain a better day-job that will allow me enough funding to at least have a couple of people working for me on a semi-regular basis. Maybe if we can get things rolling a little more quickly, we can get out a demo and get the crowdfunding that we will surely need in order to make a completed project.
At any rate, I’m happy to have him on-board, and maybe we’ll start finally putting the steps in motion to get a demo going.
What Goes Up...
There has been a little stall in development with a few people resigning here and there... and I completely understand life getting in the way. Most of my people at this point are completely voluntary, and there is nothing I can do about free will, nor would I wish to have control over another person.
Best of luck to those to which we’ve said goodbye; our number is still fairly strong, and we have a lot of varied talents still hard at work.
I’ve been doing my best to keep my own financial security in check, switching long-term careers and finally feeling like non-game work has begun to move forwards... alas, that means that game work has inevitably slowed down. I am still working when I can, but my own obligations at the moment are numerous, so I am very sympathetic to those who are bogged-down, or under a lot of stress. We must all consider our own health, first and foremost.
In the meantime, I will slowly keep plugging away at design and writing, as my modeller does his own work, the programmers their own, and so on and so forth. We’re not stopping--just had a slow in the momentum.
Lots of New Faces!
I’ve begun to acquire plenty of new help, including a few programmers and a 3D animator--so maybe we can finally get this thing in motion!
I have no idea what it must be like to start coding from scratch (I’ve only really used programs that had pre-rendered assets and were fairly user-friendly), but I have a lot of confidence in the people I’ve got coming to the team.
Look for progress reports in the near future--we’re about to have a game!