A Humble Partnership Is Formed
Yes,
Jack Houston And The Necronauts will be distributed digitally to all its wonderful backers via the amazing folks at
Humble Bundle! Each backer will be given a unique key code to access the rewards associated with their tier. You can even tie it to your humble bundle account so you'll always have your Jack Houston goodies in your Humble Bundle collection!
Humble Bundle will also be handling pre-sales for the game from now on. Let's give those guys a hand!
Pre-Orders Now Open Via Humble Bundle
Now, anyone can pre-order the game through Humble Bundle! And for a limited time, we are leaving the option to claim certain backer levels as well, so there's still time to get the boxed edition! Check out the all new pre-order page:
http://www.warbirdgames.com/?page_id=545
Another Partnership Unites Jack Houston With More Players Than Ever!
Its official, folks! Jack is headed for the
Unity engine, and
Cerulean Games is partnering with
Warbird Games to make it happen! Cerulean CEO Dave Calabrese has been working to develop the foundation of the ideal 2D adventure game engine within Unity and, with our new partnership, Jack Houston and it's backers will be reaping the benefits! It's a perfect partnership because, as Jack inherits advantages only possible by switching to Unity like higher and dynamic resolutions, smoother scaling, deeper parallaxing, more elaborate scene animations, smoother gameplay and virtually unlimited platform support, the Cerulean Games engine will enjoy the growth and development that comes from applying the framework to a full blown adventure game, keeping up with all its real world demands.
It's a perfect match, and I'm truly excited to see Jack move up a notch with Cerulean Games and Unity!
A Deeper Look Behind-The-Scenes
With nearly 50 videos documenting all the various aspects of production, the response to the YouTube channel has been great so far. Looking back however, I feel like it could be so much more. The short snippets can be interesting when they build up over time, but I'd like to see the YouTube videos go further. If each episode can become a more complete slice of the development experience, I believe they could act as a far more comprehensive update for backers, as well as a solid point of entry for new fans to find the project.
Furthermore, I would like to invite everyone to post questions for me either on the
youtube channel, by @'ing me on
Twitter, over email (warbirdgames [at]
gmail.com), or wherever, and I will answer you live on the new video series!
Check out the first episode of Warbird Games Fantasy Workshop!
The Continuing Adventures Of Jack Houston
Last time I hinted at a major change to the game structure. As promised, I presented my concept to the VIP/ Producer level backers, and although the response was spare, it was also very positive!
As I'm sure many of you may have guessed by now, the change at hand is in fact a shift from a boring stand-alone game (booo!)... to a continual
episodic format!
I was initially quite excited to announce this, but as many of you are no doubt aware, shortly after my last big update, Double Fine announced that they had run short on budget and would be releasing the first part of their own adventure game on Steam as an early preview. This lead to a mixed reaction, much of it quite negative. In fact, the reaction gave me pause to re-think my entire concept.
But then I realized, I'm not actually doing what they did. To paraphrase John Cleese, this is something
completely different. So let me just clarify what this means.
In the case of Jack Houston, I will not be releasing only a part of my game design. The first episode will be as long as it was always intended to be at the base Kickstarter fundung goal. Rather, I am designing the game as the first episode in a larger, overarching storyline. What will be dubbed "episode one" will be a very satisfying, self contained adventure with a movie serial style structure that promises more action ahead. Just as a single episode of Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones is an exciting stand-alone experience, yet develops a slow burn master story that builds over time, so will each episode of Jack Houston be a complete and satisfying adventure, with a twist ending that promises yet another wild ride around the corner.
Why have I decided to structure it is way? You probably all remember the TV show Babylon 5, but do you remember Murder One? What about Disney's Gargoyles? Know what they all had in common? They were three of the earliest shows on network television to do away with the "reset button" at the end of each episode, a tactic TV producers had been practicing for years so that syndicated shows could be re-aired in any order, even skipping episodes not purchased by the network. In the late 90's, these three shows blew the doors off old fashioned TV storytelling and popularized a continuous story format previously only seen in soap operas. Now, we can hardly imagine TV shows that don't evolve some greater story with every episode. It's nearly unheard of in modern TV drama and the basis for every seasonal epic we've become addicted to from HBO, Showtime, USA, Netflix, the BBC, etc.
I always intended to include Jack Houston in a series of space adventures, but rather than feature him in a series of disjointed stand alone games, I would much rather tell a larger, more intricate story only possible in an episodic series. Its just the nature of my writing. It also happens to be the nature of classic movie serials and a lot of Edgar Rice Burroughs adventure novels, two major sources of influence for me. And I've chosen to structure the series into seasons, so that the close of each season gives you a nice resting point between story arcs.
So, with that in mind, welcome to:
Jack Houston And The Necronauts, Episode One: Land Of The Saucer Men
...Not a
part of something great, but something
great that leads you forward to more greatness
ahead!
Jack Houston Fantastically Fun Fall FAQ!
Now let's answer some questions you haven't asked yet... but would probably like to!
With the switch to Unity, what platforms will this now be available for?
Our targeted platforms include
Windows, OSX, iPad, iPhone, Android Phones, Android Tablets, Linux, Ouya and
GameStick. Additional platforms may be added over time.
How many episodes will Season One be?
Jack Houston and the Necronauts is the title for season one, and there will be four episodes in this season.
Will the first release be only 1/4 of a game? Is this just a 1/4 preview?
No. As promised, episode one will be roughly the size of Space Quest 4 in number of areas and length of gameplay. It sets up a major goal that can be attained within the space of the episode, and will lead to a definite ending for this adventure. It will not abruptly end without some resolution, and the next episode will in fact have a different setting, a whole new set of supporting characters, and a new story goal altogether.
As a backer, will I have to go buy the other 3 games in this season?
No. All pre-October 2013 $15+ backer key codes give you access to the entire 4 episode season entitled "Jack Houston And The Necronauts", a $40 value. Episodes will appear on the download page as they become available.
Do I have to have/make a Humble Bundle account to get my rewards?
No. Having an account will give you a more convenient way to keep track of your purchases in the future, as it will add Jack Houston to your HB game collection where you can always return to download your rewards, but it is not required. If you choose, you can simply use your key to claim your downloads without making an account.
What if I lose my key code?
Simply return to the
key re-sender page. If you have trouble, the Humble Bundle technical support is there to help you out. And of course, I will also be glad to help if you email me.
Will there be new key codes for the rest of the games?
No. The key you receive today will give you access to all downloads, current and future, associated with your Jack Houston And The Necronauts reward tier.
How will my bonus copies work?
On your rewards page, you will find any bonus codes included with your tier. These codes will give your friends access to the bonus copy tier with their own product download page on
HumbleBundle.com
Is the release date still Dec 2013?
While I am still technically, relatively on schedule, I will soon be heading into the rather complex stage of character creation-yes, the stop motion part. Building and animating the puppets may go more smoothly than I thought, but I'm also conceding to the possibility of some sticky, unanticipated slow downs. I'm also looking at the switch to Unity, which may actually speed me up in some ways, but could also cause unforeseen delays.
If things are not looking hopefull by December, I will reevaluate and find a new target release date.
What I can promise you is that I will not rush the production just to get "something" out. I'm confident this game will be a gem, but only with the right amount of polish. So please bear with me, folks.
When does alpha & beta testing start?
Our first goal is to import the assets for the first game area (in this case, a set of "rooms" making up the first section of the game) into the new Unity engine and implement the logic. Once that's done and playable, we will invite our small team of Alpha testers (including high tier backers with Alpha access) to check out builds for several platforms. Note: we will be testing multiple platforms at once.
Beta will start once all the rooms are working and we're ready for more broad spectrum testing.
The New Verbcoin GUI
Here's a look at the new GUI in a 15-minute BTS video I created for VIP/Producer level backers a while back. Now that this GUI is relatively set in stone, I'd like to share it with everyone!
Cutscene VFX Sneak Peek
Here's a couple of work-in-progress shots from the cutscenes. These shots were made entirely with models and space imagery, and ZERO CGI!
That's All For Now!
Well, Dave and I have a lot of work to do, but we will give you a peek at the new Unity engine in action very soon!
In the mean time, be sure to subscribe to the
YouTube channel or keep an eye on the
official website to follow all the video updates, and don't forget you can join us in the
forums!
I want to stress, without you folks, this whole project would just be some scribbles in my notebook. Thank you so much, every one of you, for believing in Jack Houston, and for supporting my vision of a hard boiled sci-fi adventure game epic!
Talk to you soon!
-Stacy D.
