...and not many left!
Hi friends! I've been quiet again, but today marked another achievement: the game now saves your progress and you can replay from any unlocked checkpoint. With this work, I've finished all the core programming work.... read more here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/davidboard/lifeless-moon/posts/3748937
Nearly seven years ago in Alaska, I cracked open my laptop and got to work on a new 3d model for a game idea. It was rough, but part of a bigger vision -- a story I wanted to tell that had been nagging at me ever since creating Lifeless Planet. The model was a quirky diner, the launching point for a multi-year odyssey for me, and very soon... for you! Read More...
Very behind schedule with this update, but I'm happy to announce the gameplay work is complete! There will be a few adjustments as playtesting reveals issues, but last week I delivered a build of the game to my publisher with the full arc of the game playable start to finish.
Read More:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/davidboard/lifeless-moon/posts/3680249
Well, these are exciting times for the project. If the next few weeks go as planned I should wrap the full beta of the game including locking in all final content that was not in the alpha build. I'm sure you're wondering if you can get a look... I think I'm going to wait until it's a little further along. If you play it now, there's enough rough edges/missing stuff that you might be disappointed. Second, I'm going to really need lots of eyes on this thing at the beta stage, whereas right now there's QA happening, but lots of known issues that would just muddy the waters I think if I asked for feedback at this stage. So... SOON for a test build, but not yet!...
Finally!!! I am so excited to announce Serenity Forge is publishing Lifeless Moon to PC and consoles. This is such an awesome team of indie developers and supporters. I'm so glad to have them on-board and happy to finally make this announcement.
And... During the Summer of Gaming IGN event, we finally unveiled the new trailer!
(View the trailer at the top of the home page)
Video: IGN Summer of Gaming Trailer for Lifeless Moon
The only sad bit of news is that we've decided on an early 2023 release date. I think that is the right decision because it will give me and the Serenity Forge team time to properly finish and polish the game. After 5+ years working on it, seeing an end date that is maybe just over 6 months away seems pretty great. This project has sapped enormous amounts of my time, energy, and soul. I'm so glad I can finally start sharing more details—and more important—actually finish it!!!!
Thank you all for the support, and if you haven't yet wish-listed it on Steam, please take a sec to do that!
Hello lovely people! As I near the end of core production on this game (5 years later!), I want to say a huge word of thanks for patiently supporting me. There's still much more to do, but I know it will get finished now. Frankly, there were days I wondered. It's so hard to go "110%" for day after day, week after week... for years. Honestly I don't know how I found the motivation some days. But I'm relieved to be at this place, and I truly couldn't have done it without you.
Now as you know, I always struggle with how much to reveal-- in particular, as I work on the final cinematic sequences. There's several characters in Lifeless Moon and I've spent a ton of time recently finishing and refining the character models. Instead of showing them in their 3D glory, I came up with the idea of rendering them out in flat colors. This gives you an idea of the characters but without revealing too much. They won't look like this in the game, but I do think it would make for a great T-shirt design!
I've been talking with my publisher about release dates, console ports, and marketing plans. I'm not quite ready to announce a release date, but we do have a clear target now. I wish I could say it's soon: it's not, but I feel really good about our plan and the time we have to get this game playing nicely and looking great. I'll definitely make sure you all get a look sooner than release day, so really it won't be long!
Of course, not everyone will like the final game, but at least I know I've poured my heart and soul into it. Thanks for sharing the journey with me. Much more to come!!!
Take care,
Dave