Finally thought we should update this site to reflect the current status of the Shadow Field process, which is that development is on hold for the foreseeable future.

It’s not all bad news though – we’re now spending some time on some iOS prototypes and will probably look at creating and releasing something (way!) smaller in the near future!

If you want to see a video of where we got up to, there’s one here: Shadow Field – Latest Build.

If you want to keep updated on future developments, your best bet is to follow us on Twitter: @Jason_Bakker, @gpatch and @Pikamus.

Belying the apparent evidence that we have been indolently slacking away, our brains turning to mush and our bodies swelling and sagging until we look somewhat reminiscent of the Wall-E spaceship-dwellers, the developmental efforts on Shadow Field have in fact been continuing steadily, as we chip away at the ever-waning pile of remaining features and content.

Okay, we may have gotten a little mushy.

If you’re in Melbourne next weekend (the 14/15 of August), you’ll be able to come along and see the fruits of our labor in its current state at Freeplay, Australia’s best (also only) independent games festival! We’re not quite at a stage where a portion of the game is representative of the final version, but the core gameplay is getting pretty fun, and it’ll be great to catch up with you fine folk. We’ll also see  if we can attract some more interest to the game… speaking of which, tell your friends!

And also, if you’re going to be at Freeplay, I’m going to be leaving our booth temporarily on the Sunday to be on the Ask a Game Developer panel with some other Australian game industry fellows – should be an informative event if you’re interested in how games get made. It’s at 3:30pm in the Experimedia centre.

Leading up to the event, we’ve been doing a few things that we probably should have done a while ago – we’ve got an sweet new logo (look up), quite a bit of new art in the game, and will endeavor to finally replace the old tower-defense screenshots on the game page with some shiny new ones. But to get the full experience, you’ll need to come by next weekend to see the latest, greatest version of SF! Look forward to seeing you there.

Peace out!

- Jason

Also, we will most likely be releasing some more exclusive information via the newsletter – if you’re interested in seeing some of our work in progress stuff (and hearing about certain surprises before they’re announced to the rest of the world), the Shadow Field Newsletter is the place to be. Subscribed. To.

Cheers!

- Jason

What’s that?

Why, thanks for asking! Shadow Field development has been coming along swimmingly – each of the four main characters now have a (rudimentary) version of their special ability that they’re able to use upon incoming foes, and the camera and combat controls have been improving day by day. Planning-wise, we’re starting to really nail down a lot of the core design elements such as the structure of the player progression throughout the game. Next on my list is the task of actually programming up a dynamic world for the player to explore, complete with “inhabitants”.

One thing that is really a focus for us in Shadow Field is creating a world that feels complete and as real as possible – not necessarily graphically (we are a 2D topdown game after all), but structurally and societally. One of the games that I look to as a shining example of what feels like a living, breathing ecosystem is Bioshock.

It's OWN!

Between the creatures who inhabit it there exist relationships that make sense, and that may not necessarily involve you – it doesn’t feel like a “game”, with a bunch of enemies placed around a level, but rather an existing habitat were entities actually live their lives, unrelated to the player or the protagonist. Rapture is definitely a key inspiration for us in our approach to world design.

I’m hoping to get a video prepared sometime in the coming weeks – the gameplay is coming together nicely, but we want to make sure to have something to show you that will reflect how the game will play in the final version – the only major thing left for that really is setting up the dynamic world.

Wish me luck!

- Jason