12 de dezembro de 2018

ASYLUM: Big Milestone Achieved!

Phew, following a couple of very intensive weeks, we're happy to announce that we have a playable and fully featured demo of ASYLUM working great with top-notch performance and minimal loading times! It's a huge milestone after all this time!

This is an internal demo that we're sharing with Kickstarter backers, and so far initial reactions have been hugely positive: players are in love with the atmosphere and agree that, even after this short glimpse, "what we can expect was worth the wait" and they are "very excited to delve deeper into the dark, decaying corners of ASYLUM!".

Did we say short? Yes, it's only a fraction of the final game, yet backers reported playing 60 minutes, as much as 90! This means our estimation of 10-12 hours for the final game is either spot on or quite conservative. Fans will also be happy to hear that performance is solid even on older computers, and we still have more optimizations to do!

All in all, the outlook is very positive as we now work towards beta status and get ready to suggest a release date. We just ask you a bit more patience, but rest assured: ASYLUM is happening!


Of course, it wouldn't be a proper update without sights and goodies from the game! First, we'd like to share with you this extended gameplay video that we showed last month in the Argentinian game expo EVA 2018 and got great reactions from the audience:

https://youtu.be/KwaPvJiGPgs
(please note it was recorded in 720p, hence some blurriness in the video)

Improvements to the game include tabs in your trusty notepad, so that you can clearly keep track of the stuff you must know, from tasks to inventory items:



Speaking of which, can fans of Scratches detect the Easter Egg in that scene?



And then there's the gorgeous menu system, essentially a patient record (the patient being YOU!):



Yes, we always try to maintain the mood of the game. Even on the menu.




We know it's a bit late for Halloween, but we sent our previous update just before Halloween. Anyway, we're still giving away Scratches keys to all Whisperers in Darkness of our Discord community: https://discord.gg/senscape

Rumor has it it's quite easy to become a Whisperer (mere minutes, in fact) — but hurry up, this won't last longer.


And last but certainly not least, a big THANK YOU from the whole Senscape team for your patience and understanding as we strive to complete this game. Things are looking extremely good and we hope to be sharing more exciting news soon. For now, rest assured that ASYLUM ACTUALLY EXISTS and PEOPLE ARE LIKING IT.

19 de outubro de 2018

ASYLUM: Potpourri of News and Goodies!

Salutations to our wonderful Steam community!

It’s been an exceptionally busy month for ASYLUM and it’s not over yet. Things are progressing fast and we’re happy to report that we’re just about to wrap up a big playable chunk of the game — in near final form, truly polished and ready for public consumption. Exciting times ahead, and the momentum on Steam keeps getting better! We’re now nearing 14.000 wishlists, mere days after we reached 10.000. Wow, just wow!


Most work on the project now amounts to adding interactive stuff and implementing the remaining puzzles. It’s taking time, though, because we’re going out of our way to add as many details as possible. We plan to reward your observation as you unlock the mysteries concealed by the dreadful Hanwell Mental Institute.

For instance, we created a full maintenance schedule for our janitor, complete with an easter egg for fans of Scratches:



If you pay attention, you’ll find that every element in the game is very consistent with each other. There’s a huge timeline of events and intertwining storylines leading to a big finale you won’t forget, and every detail counts. We really can’t wait to share our monstrous baby with you!


We also added a crosshair to the game. Yes, we wanted to avoid it because it breaks the immersion, but it doesn’t hurt as much as we expected and greatly improves the gameplay. Don’t worry, ASYLUM is still a classic adventure game and you don’t need to shoot zombies! Inmates maybe, but not zombies.

(just kidding)

https://youtu.be/MOa3nFaOnIE

Please note the mouth-watering atmosphere complete with subtle fog. And yes, there are tons of items you can pick and investigate in great detail.

Of course there's been more progress on this front and we're happy to report that its interface and overall presentation of the game are pretty much done. We'll need to do testing and tweaks but it's already playing smoothly. Yay!


We also had a bit of fun doing promo materials:



Funnily, a lot of people asked where they could buy the book. We wish!


Regarding our previous update where we showed a glimpse of the dialogue system, we want to clarify that there will be voice acting in the game. We just haven’t recorded voices yet, but that’s planned.

As for the eternal question (is ASYLUM ever going to be released?), we must quote Jerry Dandrige:



Thank you for your continued support and patience, and have a spooky weekend!

—The Senscape Team