THE PLAN

[Hoeloe]

No worries, I can make those additions easily enough.

As for towns, they do have a few requirements, and some coding will be necessary, but there's plenty of people on the ASMT discord who can help out with that, if you're worried. If you have discord, feel free to chat with me in a bit more detail.about it if you'd like.

[GenesisJames]

No worries, I can make those additions easily enough.

As for towns, they do have a few requirements, and some coding will be necessary, but there's plenty of people on the ASMT discord who can help out with that, if you're worried. If you have discord, feel free to chat with me in a bit more detail.about it if you'd like.

As long as it's not too involved, that should be fine! I can message you on Discord; mind if I get a link? Can't seem to find it anywhere

[Hoeloe]

https://talkhaus.raocow.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=18597

Development is happening over here. Once you're through verification, if you don't care about spoilers you can ask for the spoiler role and that'll give you access to a special spoiler discussion channel, as well as the ability to view all the dev discussion.

[Hoeloe]

Small update, looks like all the towns and game level slots are claimed! I'll be trying to check in with claimants periodically to make sure things are on track, so if you are working on a claim, feel free to send me updates and such via discord or talkhaus DM!

[Hoeloe]

Another small small update: We have one level slot open. A level had to be cut due to real world events making it much more problematic than was originally intended, so there's a new slot open in World 6, ideally to be filled by a two-exit level, but that's by no means a requirement.

[Hoeloe]

Wow lots of small updates. Almost like progress is happening and I'm super keen to see even more. That slot that opened up has now been claimed, so we're just waiting on people to make what they said they would.

However, we can still make space for levels if people want to submit them!

At some point relatively soon there's going to be the relays to work on, too. Any other help anyone can give is also greatly appreciated, just get in touch if you wanna be part of this project, because even though the main game has all the level slots claimed, there's still a ton that people can help with!

[WestonSmith]

As someone without access to the Discord - is there any sort of update on A2XT Episode 2? Is it a dead project? Is it nearly done?

Just curious. Not sure how to keep up to date on these things.

[SAJewers]

As I understand it, Rixi and Hoeloe have been slowly chipping away at it, though it comes and goes

I don't think it's in A2MT territory yet, though it doesn't appear to be near anything resembling SMWCP2 either

[Duker]

As someone without access to the Discord - is there any sort of update on A2XT Episode 2? Is it a dead project? Is it nearly done?

Just curious. Not sure how to keep up to date on these things.

As far as I know joining the discord is the sole way to follow the development

It is most definitely not dead, but how close to completion I dare not guess. The hopes earlier in the year was to have a release this year iirc, I don't know if they're still on track for that

[Hoeloe]

Development is still going. At this point a lot of it is being handled solely by me and Rixi, and that's meaning we're having to pace ourselves around other stuff in our lives, as well as avoiding burning out. Slowly but surely making progress, though I can't guarantee a release this year.

For an idea of progress - the game is currently playable from the start up to around world 3 (missing a level from Rixi mid world 3, and the w3 boss, also from Rixi), though world 4 is almost done and world 5 is not far off.

Of course we wouldn't be opposed to some help with fitting everything together. There's a lot more of a plan than the previous projects now, so it's mostly a case of making the things that we're missing and implementing the plan as written.

[WestonSmith]

Appreciate the update. Sorry to hear so much is on so few shoulders. I suspect most of the remaining work is technical in nature? If so, I'm little to no help.

[Hoeloe]

Appreciate the update. Sorry to hear so much is on so few shoulders. I suspect most of the remaining work is technical in nature? If so, I'm little to no help.

A good chunk for sure, but not all. There's still a lot of polish work for towns, for example (and the entire W6 town needs making, which I am willing to do if needs be), and a few world maps constructing (though those are potentially leaning into "technical" because of reasons).

[Rixithechao]

some screencaps and clips from the dev channel this year, mostly town stuff from worlds 1, 3-5, and 9

(meant to post these earlier but a lot of stuff happened today )

[Rixithechao]

Hey, it's been a while! Hope everyone had a good Halloween!

Here's a few new gifs and a screenshot we shared on discord during October:

Development has been moving along decently well lately -- we have all of the towns now and a majority of the work on them is done, most of the overworld maps are done (the remaining ones are kind of a doozy, though!) and we've made steady progress with the bosses and cutscenes, including some that have been on the chopping block for a while now. Hoeloe's currently resting -- she's been low on energy the past few days -- but she'll give a more specific status update when she can.

In the meantime, I've been preparing to get the ball rolling with a certain part of this project we mentioned a while back. I'll be publishing a thread for it later tonight, so stay tuned for that!

[Hoeloe]

Hoeloe's currently resting -- she's been low on energy the past few days -- but she'll give a more specific status update when she can.

All right so, let me write this up.

In terms of the current status of the game, the majority of it is playable now:

World 3 is still missing a few things, with Rixi in the wings to fill those in when possible.
World 6 needs the map and its boss finishing up.
World 7 needs the final level and boss finishing, as well as one level in the middle of the world currently being made by Genolandia
World 8 needs its map creating, and the final level finishing (which I believe is intended to be a relay)
World 9 is missing one level, currently not claimed, as well as its final level (another relay) and boss.

Currently all the levels up to the end of World 7 have had a first pass of cleanup done, with the final two worlds still needing it.

As well as all that, there are still several cutscenes that need making dotted throughout the game, but those can be hashed out pretty quickly.

The plan is that once the game is playable from start to finish (even if features and some content are missing), we'll open the floor for testing so we can more quickly identify and resolve problems, as it is quite difficult to test things exhaustively in a game this big. I can't give a good estimate of when exactly that will be, but hopefully some time within the next few months.

Currently, I'm working on the World 7 boss and level cleanup, while Rixi is working on the World 6 map and a few other missing things. We're also still on the look out for people to make a few pieces of character artwork. We have most of it complete, but there's just one or two missing ones we'd like to get nailed down. Anyone is free to sign up for that, so just let us know if you want to help out.

On top of that, the World 8 map is proving a difficult challenge, so if anyone with some experience with Blender wants to help out there, please get in touch.

In short, there's still plenty to do but the game is taking shape, and if anyone does want to help with the remainder of the work please do get in touch because it'd be a huge help and hopefully get the game ready faster.

I think that's all from me for now, though there's a good chance I forgot something as I'm still fairly out of it, so I'm going to go back to resting for a bit. Hoeloe out!

[Rixithechao]

In the meantime, I've been preparing to get the ball rolling with a certain part of this project we mentioned a while back. I'll be publishing a thread for it later tonight, so stay tuned for that!

In case anyone missed it, that part of the project is the game's voice acting!

We're looking for an actor to perform one or more fully-voiced lines for

Uncle Broadsword

as well as whatever yippees and wahoos and other such noises everyone would like to contribute for the rest of the cast. No need to audition for a specific character if you'd prefer to wing it! Check out the thread for more info:
https://talkhaus.raocow.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=20612

[Rixithechao]

Surprise! One more spreadsheet!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

We're looking to start populating a certain section of the hub we've had set up for a while now, so this is everyone's chance to weigh in on who to put there. No asset submissions necessary, we'll handle the graphics; just leave a comment in the spreadsheet or a spoilertagged post here with your thoughts and suggestions!

If you're not familiar with commenting in Google Sheets, you can either right click on a cell and select Comment or just select the cell and press Ctrl + Alt + M (or whatever the equivalent is on other operating systems.)


When a cell has a comment or comment chain, the upper-right corner turns yellow. You can then select the cell to reply to the comment(s) there.



Alternatively, y'all can just post like "

character X should be in the cameo room

" or "

I disagree with character Y being at table 3-2 of the cameo room for reasons A, B, C and/or D

" or "

character Z should say "words words talk dialogue and things" in the cameo room

" or what have you and I'll copy that feedback over to the sheet myself.

[Rixithechao]

As a reminder, if anyone still has a Big One audition to submit or wants to request the extension, y’all have a little under 5 and a half hours left to do so! I might not be available right when the deadline hits but I’ll be checking the time of any last-minute posts/DMs to make sure they’re not tardy.

[Hoeloe]

Oh gods this project has such a habit of getting out of hand really fast. It's well past time for another progress update:

SO WHAT THE HECK IS EVEN HAPPENING ANY MORE?

Sooo, progress has been happening. A LOT of progress has been happening since the last update. In fact, despite there being a few holes and unfinished parts, almost the entire main game is playable from start to finish. It's possible to start a new game and play all the way up to the final boss without having to use cheats or save editing to skip over anything. The postgame levels are pretty much all done, with one exception (more on that later), and most cutscenes required for the game are complete barring one or two for the ending sequences, and most of the postgame scenes. The postgame itself isn't accessible yet as it requires an unlock scene which hasn't been made yet, but that itself isn't too difficult to do. The artwork we've been pushing for is done (though there's still opportunities to help out with artwork in other areas!). The world maps are done. The towns are more or less done. In fact, the vast majority of the game is actually done.

SO WHAT'S LEFT?

There's... actually quite a bit of work left, despite what I just said. There's some code that needs polishing up, there's a level or two missing in the middle, which I believe rixi is handling, there's also some boss polish that needs to happen, but that's on me and rixi to do. There's still a lot of work needed in the hub, and a few things in the towns. We're missing some music, as well as some cutscenes and one boss (that I believe Rednaxela was intending to make). This is all stuff we're working on in the core dev team, but there's definitely room for anyone to pitch in if they want to, just give us a yell!

There are also a few things we do need to outsource to the community, because this is already a ton of work and there's just some stuff better off handled by others to keep to the spirit of the collaborative element of this project. The first and foremost of these is voice acting. This already has a thread about it that rixi has been handling, so if you're interested in helping out with some of the voice roles we haven't cast yet, head on over to The Voicework Thread and express your interest there! We'd be glad for the help! Though it's not there at the time this update is posted, rixi is planning an update in the Voicework thread in the near future so be sure to keep tabs on it!

Running up close behind that is Relays. The plan is for this game to feature two level relays, one at the end of world 8 and one at the end of the postgame. To keep the workload manageable, we're only working on the world 8 relay to start with, but the world 9 one will be started up soon, so watch this space! If you want to help contribute to either Relay, head on over to The Relay Thread and sign up there!

Then there's sprite work. There's a few areas that could really use some sprite work help, on things like tilesets and even some bespoke animation, so if you're interested in helping out there just drop us a message and we'll find something you can help with!

Behind that is some extra help with a few pieces of full-screen artwork. One level requires 3 pieces of artwork displayed across the entire screen, and it would be good to get these made to match the scene they appear in. These aren't strictly necessary as the scene does work with the placeholder art, but it would be great to get some new pieces to really help sell the moment.

We also have to work on collating credits for absolutely everything in the game, which is more work than it sounds since some levels are quite old and their creators have moved on from the community, leaving us to source their graphics, sound, and music ourselves. Any help here would be incredibly welcome.

Of course, there's also space for things like music, sound effects, even additional levels should anyone have a burning desire to contribute one. There's plenty of work left to do, and plenty for people to get involved in, so please do let us know!

WHAT'S THE PLAN AFTER THAT?

The intent after we've got the relays handled, as well as most of the rest of the content fitted together, is to open the floor for testing. This means that dedicated testers will be able to play the entire game in its unfinished state, and help to find bugs, issues, or anything else that needs refinement. At this stage we'll also be taking the game and giving it a balance and polish pass. I've already done one pass of the entire game to ensure everything is tidy and functional, but we need to make sure we don't have any frustration spikes, and that the game behaves as expected with further polish. From there, all that's really left is to finally put a bow on the project and send off the game.


I know this project has become somewhat this community's Half Life 3 - the project that's never done, and it's definitely had its share of difficulties. It's been very, very hard work up to now, and try as I might I haven't been able to dedicate as much time as I would have liked towards getting it done. With that in mind, however, the position we're in now is so close to complete that it's almost tangible, and I'm more determined than ever to get this project out the door. We need the help of the community to make that happen though, so I hope you'll lend me a hand in getting over this final hurdle!

[KobaBeach]

im sorry for sounding extremely dismissive and unwarranted and talking out of my ass, blatantly, but please just release it and stop it with voicework and relays and whatnot. as much as i expect this game to be perfectly fine on release, this is not sustainable for future collabs. /honest /nonaggro /worried

[Hoeloe]

im sorry for sounding extremely dismissive and unwarranted and talking out of my ass, blatantly, but please just release it and stop it with voicework and relays and whatnot. as much as i expect this game to be perfectly fine on release, this is not sustainable for future collabs. /honest /nonaggro /worried

Releasing it in this state would be releasing it in a zombie form. The game is not done. It's not a complete game as it is right now, so unless you want the story to make no sense, there to be parts missing from the game entirely, and for it to actually not be finishable because the final level isn't done... releasing it is a bad idea.

You're right that this isn't sustainable for future projects, but we're sort of at a point where we have to reap what we sowed in order to get this game done. Had we settled on a much smaller scope earlier, this would have been done by now. We didn't, and cutting the scope down at this stage would mean major refactors that would take just as long.

I just want to make it clear that we are not sitting on a finished game gradually adding things to it at our leisure. We have a framework that is slowly taking shape. That's not the same thing.

[Rixithechao]

If it comes down to it there are a few things we can cut or downscope without creating too much extra work, but just a few and they'll still mean some refactoring. The voicework is the biggest one, and we've been mindful of this throughout organizing that aspect of the project; scrapping it entirely is a last resort but remains on the table, and we have other specific plans for limiting the scope depending on how things go. To spoil a bit of the update I'm writing for the VA thread, we're setting more deadlines and cutoff points for this year.

[camwoodstock]

If it comes down to it there are a few things we can cut or downscope without creating too much extra work, but just a few and they'll still mean some refactoring. The voicework is the biggest one, and we've been mindful of this throughout organizing that aspect of the project; scrapping it entirely is a last resort but remains on the table, and we have other specific plans for limiting the scope depending on how things go. To spoil a bit of the update I'm writing for the VA thread, we're setting more deadlines and cutoff points for this year.

our hot take is that if voicework gets cut

y'know, presumably sans the broadsword infodump, since the reason voicework came up was to voiceclaim that scene specifically

, we think it would be EXTREMELY funny if we just. have one sole character who is still voiced somehow. especially if they're just extremely minor.

[Rixithechao]

Voicework update is go!

The rough order in which we'd likely downscope the voicework if need be would be to start with cutting the krew, then any town-only characters that don't already have clips recorded, then major NPCs, and finally bosses. As it is there's 3 krew members and 3 bosses that need VAs, and those 6 now have deadlines. More info in the update.

[Rixithechao]

Due to life circumstances I won't be able to work on A2XT2 much for the rest of the month, and I'll be without desktop access or much free time during at least August if not some of September as well.

After talking it over with Hoeloe and re-evaluating some things:

• We're extending the deadline for the last two boss roles to September 30th. The cutoff point for Demo, Iris, and Sheath remains August 8th.

• If nobody auditions for the boss roles before I get back, we're considering scouting fandub VAs on Tumblr* in whatever time we have left.

For that second one I'm adding a poll to this thread, so if you have opinions on

a new character

and/or

Serac

being voiced by someone outside of the raocow fandom, be sure to vote accordingly.

*Specifically fandub VAs on Tumblr because of the options we've looked into that seems like the closest combination in spirit to community collaboration.

Update on this: the main thing I set aside the remainder of this month for fell through, but between that + my family pushing me to cannibalize an indie project I've been chipping away at on the side for amazon merch designs + a bunch of other stressors that have been piling up this month (including an upcoming dentist appointment for my first fillings and a spider infestation in my bathroom after an egg sac hiding under the shower soap shelf broke open)... I'm just, thoroughly drained and burned out.

I'm taking what time I have left this month to recharge before the ordeal that next month and early September are going to be. Hoeloe's mostly unavailable as of yesterday but she'll be back in August.

In summary: I'll be back in the fall, fuck grindset culture (monetize your passions in moderation!), why is there a bulldozer in the greenbelt this morning