Friday 5 February 2010

Alpha - the beginning of the end!

Yesterday, after several weeks of grueling 15 hour (kid you not) days, we finally reached a really important milestone here at Frictional Games. It's by far the most important milestone we have reached so far and might be the most important milestone of the entire project!

We have completed making the Alpha version!
For ALL Platforms! (Windows, Mac and Linux that is)

So what does this mean? In general terms it means that we now have a large chunk of the game done which we can evaluate and draw conclusions from. More specifically it means:
  • All code for tech, tools and game are done and what is left is basically polish. Note again that this is for all platforms! Sure, the polish is not an easy thing and can include plenty of smaller feature additions, but it is a road map that we can control and plan for.
  • We can now, for the first time in almost three years, test the game and see how it really plays like!
  • We now have all of the design for the game done and know with strong certainty how we want it to play and how to fulfill that vision. Much work remains, but now we know what we are working for.
  • Having the design done also means that we can pinpoint very exactly what needs to be done and how it should be done. This means that can we now for the first time see a finish line and know that we have what it takes to cross it!
This project has been an emotional roller coaster for us at Frictional Games. There have been many times when we thought we where done for and had to stop making games. Now we finally feel that we have the finished game firmly in our grasp. Hopefully all the sweat and tears we put into this will help create an extra memorable experience for you all to play in a couple of months!

And oh, more fun stuff to come really soon!


30 comments:

  1. Congratulations! I can't wait to play it! I hope we'll see some sneak peeks of it.

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  2. Nice keep good work !!!!!!!!!

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  3. Nice! Can't wait to play it! An alpha, and it's to the point where you think it should be done in a few months? Pretty impressive. Hopefully this one's your big hit, you guys really deserve it!

    Oh, and would a demo be included in "more fun stuff to come really soon?" ;D

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  4. Great news, contratulation guys!

    If i can make a question: how my hours of play it's about at this alpha stage?

    Anyway, go on guys, i cant' wait to buy my copy for Linux ;-)

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  5. Fuck yeah. I can't wait to give you all my money :DDD

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  6. Gameplay time is very uncertain at this point. But the alpha which is lil bit less than 50% of the game seems to take a bit over 4 hours to complete for a first time player. That is very preliminary though, so do read too much into it.

    We are working on adding as much interesting content to the game, not making as long as possible :) Still, we want to make sure it lasts a few hours :P

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  7. Look forward to playing this! I have been loving Penumbra.

    So glad that there are serious developers that do not forget about Linux. :)

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  8. Thank you guys!

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  9. Nice news! I am happy to hear that this project is running forward to its end!

    Good luck with polishing!

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  10. Need beta testers? :P

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  11. To make things clear: It is only coding stuff that is at a polishing stag, still plenty of graphics left! Just you all do not think we will sit around only polishing stuff for the coming months :)

    Paul:
    No need right now. :)

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  12. Great great congratulations.. I loved penumbra. This one will rock i trust on it!

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  13. Do us little blog readers get a sneak peek? ;)

    ~DtD

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  14. Good news! Open beta later? ;)

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  15. That is awesome news!
    Congratulations to everyone at FG.
    Me and my brother can't wait to play it.
    If it's just half as good as Penumbra it's still a masterpiece.

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  16. That's great! I can imagine the emotional aspect of it: the doubts, the occasional discouragements while still having to worry about if there's enough cash to go around.

    Your passion definitely shows in your work. Keep it up! I'm looking forward to purchase this game when it comes out.

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  17. Congratulations!
    Though three years, man, that's huge.

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  18. Congratulations!

    I love the Penumbra series and hope this will be rock too!

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  19. Looking totally forward to it.

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  20. First of all, congratulations!

    Now a question, will there be physical copies or will it be a digital download?

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  21. "will there be physical copies or will it be a digital download?"
    Both!

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  22. Same day Linux. My tears are building up.

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  23. I just recently discovered the Penumbra series, and being a fan of both survival horror and HP Lovecraft I love it so far, and if this game is anything like Penumbra it'll definatly be worth my money.

    Bra jobbat grabbar! :D

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  24. Congratulations! Keep up the good work.

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  25. Great work guys, I'm happy for you, you didn't give it up..
    I hope you'll get some rest and fun now, with finishing the project.
    I can't wait to buy the game.

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  26. I've now read through this entire blog and I am amazed of the theories you have made on horror games!

    I must admit it's not my genre as I get too scared really, I stop functioning as a human. But you have really inspired me!

    Excellent work, and congratulations on alpha!! :D
    Goa grabbar!
    Tora

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  27. Thank you all for the encouragement!

    Stars are about to align and horrors from beyond are approaching. Most likely next week!

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  28. Total awesome!! =D

    You can done this game!! Do never give up!!!

    You got all my support! :D

    BEAT THE UNBEATABLE!!! (valve I think......)

    (well, it would be great! XD. )

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