Over the past year we've had quite a few successes and failures! In this article I will attempt to catalog and go over these events and give some insight into 2018. I will break up and discuss in terms of each division and any progress we've also had since our last update. So buckle up and lets get started!



Currently its awaiting final animations so we can author the update. As Stacey and her animators work to author the improvements we need implemented before that update is allowed to be released. As you can see the update will be sizable as huge amounts of gameplay/abilities have been revamped and rethought as we continue to push what Dark Storm needs to be in theirs final form.



This year we've investigated and tried to improve the core sections upon internal discussions and in relation to concerns to gameplay ensuring there was consistency. We've cut things and rethought some ideas that just weren't going to work gameplay wise and at the engine level. A good example was the retrofit of the center area to be somewhat what you see below. You can see we've changed the side center areas and refocused on better line of sight blockage and such!

You can read the full article here!
http://www.indiedb.com/games/a-dark-storm-is-coming/news/2017-in-review-and-whats-to-come-updates-17

Dev Video Log by our Lead Animator Stacey


Now Weekly devs will be switching out and doing weekly Sunday updates to clue you guys in on our development process and the hurdles we overcome as a team.

Read the Full Article On indiedb Here





We also have a new url and no longer will be using the old adarkstormiscoming.com (it's been retired). It has some new content on it about the VR Missions and Ascension and we'll be throwing up posters and other designs for people to buy soon that will help support our development.


Click Here to Visit the new Page (http://www.darkstormuniverse.com/)



The Discord join url is on our new post on indiedb!
https://discordapp.com/invite/DvpmWV?utm_source=Discord%20Widget&utm_medium=Connect

What we're trying to do by opening up a public discord for people that are interested in the game to talk to devs and follow news and to make a hub for our patreon to talk with us. If your supporter or pateron message a dev or post in the chat so we can verify it and give you the proper tag.


We weren't very thrilled on the reception of the VR and just generally the update schedule for it. We've been working internally to revamp the SP VR with better tutorials and to introduce a 3 tier mission system.


Below is an example of our Tier 3 mission opener where you would choose a weapon and start the time trial.


Joshua so elegantly suggested we make a better design so we went with this kinda approach. So we're making the world fade out in segments in the next version and getting that ready for playtesting to look for bugs.





Tier 1 Missions being entirely Sneaking or stealth, Tier 2 being Missions, think assassination or companion missions to escort hostages to a evac point and finally Tier 3 which are Time Trials where you try to maximize the amount of carnage you can dish out and are scored on how creative your kills are.






A few tier 2 examples from Joel where you'll have to search the environment and accomplish missions












We're also working on setting up a IK system in the engine to attach the left hand to the gun so it's less jarring and we're working to cleanup some systems related to that. We're not quite happy with the aim node resolves we're getting stock in the engine for the first person view.






Heres an example but you can still see slightly some jitter and movement with the handles translating between the aimnode poses. We have a basic IK in place but we're going to be tweaking and improving it to make it completely seamless. Its totally more noticeable in the 1P Aiming related stuff. But its getting better over time and trial and error.





Here i'll show some of your animations some of the best you guys have done so talk about a few your proud of to give me to show for the animators as a whole.




We're huge fans of Half life so when we started the conversation on main menus we knew there was no way we weren't going to make fully dynamic ones that are from the levels and areas you'll play and explore. Heres our first pass of those goodies!



Keep in mind we're still using the VR layout for the top banner we haven't finalized the one for ascension yet.! Only the people that buy Ascension will get it. The VR build will receive a few dynamic ones themed to those missions once we allocate time to it.


We're currently testing the builds internally and revising as needed for gameplay bugs and other issues that might pop up performance wise. Finalizing UI's like the following and importing and configuring them into the UE4 Widget system.





In the next 2-3 months we hope to open up development so we can start doing closed beta testing. Remember Paterons get priority but we will have applications for anyone that is interested in lending their opinion in these stages of development.






And last but not least we've been revising the last hour or so of the first chapter to accommodate more tactical choices of how to use the environment to their advantage.





We've taken to improving and expanding upon the previous Vech Bay and Entrance to it to allow for high level sniper gameplay between the Player and the Sniper class.





They will play games with the players and cloak perched on sniper vantage points to pin and kill the player as they travel through this section for their objectives. But we introduce multiple ways of outsmarting them via the player drone to using vents, alternative catwalks to scout and branching paths to give the player more choices on how they accomplish their goals and avoid them altogether if they think out their situations.





Due to our game being a royalty contract. (You get paid after the game is released based on how much time and work you put in), we often have people drop out randomly at random intervals as life demands. For this reason we are almost always looking for new people to bolster our ranks and join the Fenrir Team.


If you are interested, please check our post here for more details.


O and remember, buying the VR Missions helps keep our server infrastructure up helps us keep developing the game. It makes our lives as indie developers that much easier. If your not interested in the VR or already have it check out our Patreon by clicking the image below. Thanks for following us and we hope to have a solid release soon next year! Also we'll be looking for QA testers to test performance and gameplay! So watch Indiedb closely!

Due to our game being a royalty contract. (You get paid after the game is released based on how much time and work you put in), we often have people drop out randomly at random intervals as life demands. For this reason we are almost always looking for new people to bolster our ranks and join the Fenrir Team.

Currently we are looking for:

Programmers:

- Knowledge of C++ and or Unreal Engine 4 Blueprints.
- Ability to problem solve code problems independently.
- Ability to work with, and compromise problem solving solutions with other programmers.
- Able to put in at least 21 hours a week (3 hours a days) dedicated to working on Dark Storm.

Level Designers:
- Knowledge of Unreal Engine 4. or
- Ability and time required to learn Unreal Engine 4 independently.
- Ability to work independantly, and research the required material given.
- Ability to work at least 21 hours a week.
- Ability to have good communication with your lead, and other level designers.
- Ability to take the story, mechanics, and other directions given by a lead, and apply it to your level.
(We are also looking for a level design lead. Knowledge of managing, and abilty to put extra time towards the project is required, and or the ability to set time aside to learn. )

Modelers:

- Knowledge of importing assets and the requirements for Unreal Engine 4
- Ability to make 3-4 high quality assets a week.
- Able to have good communication with your lead, and stay on task.
Character Modelers:
- Knowledge of anatomy, and the human body.
- Knowledge of facial structures, and bone structures.

Audio Lead:

- Knowledge of Importing Audio into Unreal Engine 4
- Ability to cut up audio, and work with voice actors for sound quality.
- Knowledge of managing
Animators:
- Motion Capture clean up.
- Ability to make precise, well rounded animations in a reasonable time frame. (1 week for simple good animations)

If you are interested, have questions, or want to know more. Please send an email with the position you are interested in on the title to: recruitment@adarkstormiscoming.com

VR Updates:

Awh yes the moment you've all been waiting for right? MORE VR NEWS.
Here are some screenshots from some of the new levels we'll have a lot more dev news coming next week as we come closer to next months VR update.


Heres a few missions we're tweaking and adding to the VR about 2-3 dozen more are on the way in the next VR overhaul we're aiming for about sometime next month if we get the animators we need!.

Prop Modeling:

Rob Lawrence: hes been revising the old gun placeholders we have now and has been updating them and giving them that final polish look. Sexy Aint it? I for one cant wait to push out the next update to the VR we have tons planned that we hope will make our fans very happy!




I highly recommend you follow our Efforts on Indiedb . You can read the full news article here.
http://www.indiedb.com/games/a-dark-storm-is-coming/news/dev-update-9-well-were-cooking-now

Poster/Promo Art Teaser!!
I know i'll be putting one one my wall once its finalized! Anyone else? We're considering putting up a poster shop for all the tons of cool designs we have! Would anyone be interested in that sorta thing? Once they are polished up of course! ;) Which do you guys like more out of the two?








Animation Rig / Character Modeling
Andrew the new guy we brought on two weeks ago got to work quickly and hauled it to get us a working facial rig and simulation to cloth,breasts and hair. Its working quite decently below besides some skinning mishaps that will require adjustment but i cant wait to see the final version as we work close to completion. Its rather all coming together nicely! We tested it on Lauren Amber's sister since shes the closest to being done there really nothing else we're going to change on her. Amber is next we'll be starting her tonight! Hope to show some updated related her gameplay and new animation quality soon!

We'll be adjusting some skin weights over the next weeks on her to fix some simple deforming here and there

Give these Gif's a second to fully load and cache they play slowly initially




Cloth Simulation,Breast Simulation at its finest. still W.I.P



Falling Cycle Test




Facial Rig Progress:
Not we can finally get out there and recruit a gameplay animation team and another for cutscenes since we now have a very reliable rigger supporting the animation pipelines infrastructure. Cheers Andrew! P.S im terrible at animation all i made were weird poses xD







You can read more about our progress here and for some VR related Tidbits
http://www.indiedb.com/games/a-dark-storm-is-coming/news/dev-update-8-animation-rig-lighting

VR Missions:

Since the initial inception it has always been our goal to deliver a platform that would allow players to play offline in the abstract wacky training missions and online. Im glad to announce after the lead programmer finally getting over his sickness he'll be taking over that with Ethan and bringing the VR with a few new feature updates to bring the gameplay back up to par and ensure its an experience on its own and for anyone that buys the VR there will be a significant discount on Dark Ascension Chapter 1 on all future chapters. Its our way of thanking you guys for your continued support we really appreciate it, that and your patience .


The VR is somewhat universal of sorts neglecting levels and some main characters everything we do in one gameplay wise/animation wise directly will affect and improve both VR and Ascension.We value the feedback you guys have written on our steam store page and if you would like to support our team visit our Store page and pick up a copy and brace yourself for the upcoming VR news next month! All i can say is there is a major balance and gameplay overhaul coming that will be simply compared best as substantial. Yes and you get the new snazzy drone system! Show below





We're also updating this old Mess from the VR and revamping and simplifying the backend via the more basic level scripts that handled teleporting the player between levels and back to the hub to a simpler one or two functions that are more modular in function. Overall these tweaks will take a day or two at most but we're waiting for some animations and level design additions to buff up the level VR level roster. We're looking at adding about a dozen or so more maps and then fully start supporting that Online mode we've been teasing in the current VR hub. Stay Tuned for this! :)



Read More about our progress here! Just Posted Today! =D
http://www.indiedb.com/games/a-dark-storm-is-coming/news/dark-storm-dev-update

What makes a good game? That is a question with no direct right answer, and varies from person to person. Some will argue gameplay, while others will argue graphics, sound, or simply the environment, but when asked "What makes the foundation of a good game?"

A stealth action game like Dark Storm, what will make it good? It should feel right, and make sense. Mechanics and difficulty difficult, unforgiving, but not so much so it makes the player quit. The story and characters feeling as though they belong there, and of course the environment. What game is complete without a surrounding that you can get immersed in, and sometimes, feel a little overwhelmed?

The levels of Dark Storm have gone through many iterations through the years, style and looks, but now that they are nearing completion, they are hitting that "just right" feel, where we hope the players can get lost in the twisting and turning hallways, cat walks, and dark corridors as they explore and try to escape from the bowels of the Irving Facility as the story develops around them. Sneaking their way through dark corners, and damp passages to reach the surface, and engaging in fire fights in cavernous rooms.

So here are a few screenshots of parts of the base that you can look forward to playing in.


Please remember, this is a work in progress, and you may spot unfinished assets, and area's. What is shown is subject to change as needed in the future.

Screenshots Here

Hello Everyone!

It's been a good amount of time since I've sat down to write one of these. I'm sure people who have been somewhat keeping an eye on the development is wondering what's been going on with Fenrir Studios, and Dark Storm. There's alot to tell you!

If you've read past Letters, you'll have noticed a trending theme of struggling to find people who are willing to work for royalty, and at the same time having the skills and knowledge required to bring you guys the best game we can possibly bring, and which we've promised. This and other set backs, such as our only programmer getting quite sick for a month has occassionally brought much of our game to a halt in terms of production now and again.

Despite all of that however, we are seeing a release date around the corner. While things are subject to change, we anticipate a release, or close too a release by Q3 of this year. We also are pushing to have a Demo out and playable before that happens.

The best news however is that a vast majority of our game is done. Most of the work is going into the AI and re building them to best fit into the gameplay we need. This is of course easier said than done, and are actively seeking programmers, and animators to help bring the components, and AI alive to a high quality which we wish to have throughout our game.

We will also be releasing a Steam store page specifically for Dark Storm Ascension, so you can better decipher the difference between VR MIssions, and Dark Storm. We understand it has been pretty confusing for people, and will remedy this very soon.

Fenrir Studios has always been open about being as transparent, and truthful as possible, it's only fair that those who are interested, and have supported us through VR Missions knows the entirety of what's going on behind the scenes, and for this, we also bring our grievances, and set backs to light.

Because of the ongoing struggles to gain, and keep people with a royalty contract, while gaining very little funding as a whole, we had to sit down and make a decision while eating some pretty hard reality pills. The first reality is simply we are attempting to make a pretty high quality game. Most developers attempting this have either been doing this for years under a publisher, or have a very large team doing it with enough funding to cover. We have neither. What we do have is a very dedicated and passionate development team, that despite the countless set backs, and almost no funding have been fighting on to bring Dark Storm to you. Because of these hard truths, we made a decision.

We broke Dark Storm Ascension into 4 Episodes. These 4 Episodes are 4 of the "main" parts of the story. The story as a whole wasn't changed. By doing this we felt it was a win/win for both you the players, and us, with the players getting the most benefit out of this switch.

In earlier Letters I explained that certain parts of our game had to be removed, some mechanics such as the weapon customization had to be removed as well due to our limited ability, and time. This switch will alleviate that by quite a bit, allowing us to give you more than if we decided to release it all together as one full game. As we release episode 1 for example, the funding will greatly help us begin to pay the team, which in turns allows us to keep members, and bring you a higher quality game throughout.

Secondly, it allows us to put back those area's we had to remove due to time constraints. While Episode 1 is released we now have the funding, and time again to put those area's back in, and make them as flush, and exciting as we always wanted. Which wouldn't have been possible otherwise.

Thirdly, with real time responses from the players in Episode 1, and feedback. This gives us a much better idea of both what you the player likes, and dislikes. Which helps us balance the game from episode to episode, and rebalance past episodes as well with that feedback. Allowing us again to bring you the best quality possible.

Additionally, this change helps the players both be able to see our updates, and engage us in suggestions, and discussions on the forums more actively instead of everything being behind a curtain.

And lastly, with this change, it will allow us to put focus back on the VR Missions, and extend it to what we were hoping it was going to be all along, with many additions, updates, and maybe even a multiplayer/ Co-op experience.

Going into this year, we see many big steps being taken, and many which you the player will be able to experience with us. Apart from what already explained, we will be releasing the Steam Store page for Dark Storm Ascension, and our website to help you guys better find what you're looking for when it comes to Dark Storm.

Once again we thank you for your support, and patience with us through this long road. The light at the end of the tunnel is drawing near, and we simply ask that you hold on for a little longer as we do our best to bring you the best game we can possibly bring.

- Sincerely,
Isaac Cudd
Associate Producer

Hello again to another Letter from the Producer number. Gee, which is it now? Oh right, VI!

I know it's been quite awhile since we've last had an update, especially after we said that we were going to keep bi weekly updates. I feel as though we owe everyone an explanation to the past, and current situation here at Fenrir Studios.

Several months ago we unfortunately parted ways with the lead animator on our team who has been with us from the start, while losing our most trusted and best animators at the time all around the same week. This took a heavy blow on our progress as we felt that we simply couldn't release anything with the current state of the animations. As we dived into the back log and behind the scenes work on our animations we realized several things needed to be re done, and the background technicalities of the animations needed much more work. This has been a grueling and timly process, one of which we are happy to say is finally over. With that out of the way, and a new host of animators on our team we are once again fixing and polishing our animations to be ready to be shown, and something to show we certainly will come the end of Oct.

Nearing the end of October we will have a polished and working section of the game ready to show, test, and demo. This means that for the first time ever we will have a large section of the game ready to be played which we will be passing too youtubers, and a select few people who have been chosen over a year ago to play test our game early. We may in the coming month pass this application out one more time.

With that being said there have been several major changes to the game as a whole. These changes were thought over, and considered heavily before we made the final decision. They were tough calls to make but unfortunately due to the situation our team has been in from the start they were simply calls we had to make and just bite the bullet.

The first major change is the cutscenes. Due to the state, and small team of animators we've had, and the difficulties recruiting animators who can animate and put the required time into the project we've had to change how the cutscenes will be played out. Instead of being a cutscene as you'd see in a game similar to ours, instead we've opted for a more artistic approach. Our cutscenes will consist of picture stills that can show more feeling and emphasis on the situation than our current skills in animations could ever do. It was a tough call, but we felt that this was simply the best route we could take given the time and ability our animators have.

A second major change is the removal of a few area's in our game. These are sections we've never shown or had completed entirely, and were side quest and side route area's that led you away from the main action. Due to the unfortunate time constraint, and complications we've ran into over the years and our release date to be towards the end of this year, and not be pushed back yet again, we've felt that the best course of action would be to cut these area's from the game. Make no mistake, our game is still very large and lengthy, and I doubt anyone would have noticed anything was cut if I hadn't mentioned it. However, to stay true to our word, that we are transparent, truthful, and overly honest I feel its only right to let those who are most interested in our game know the best, and even the worst of the situations.

Once our initial release of the demo is live, and our current mill grind towards the release is over, we will once again resume giving bi weekly updates on both the VR Missions (Is not a VR headset Game), and Dark Storm Ascension.

Once again, thank you for taking interest in our game Dark Storm Ascension. Our team is working over-time, and extra hard to release a Demo we feel people will enjoy and like. Please stay tuned these next two months for more updates, and announcements concerning the release and a possible chance to be an internal tester for the game!

Sincerely,
Isaac Cudd
Assistant Producer

In todays Art Issue, we'll be going over some of the most recently completed area's and pictures which were finalized just this weekend.



So lets get started! Our Heavy Ivan is ready to go!

First up is the Snow Fox. One of the vehicles which will be populating the grounds outside.



Next but not least, is our office concept. This room will be a part of the area which will see heavy gameplay, and be the first introduction to sneaking to the player.





The Warehouse is yet another area which will see alot of gameplay by the player where you'll be able to get the drop on your enemy.



--------------------------

We hope you like what you see! Please feel free to leave a comment for our art team, and until next time the Fenrir Studios team bids you to have a wonderful day!