Okay, the lack of updates does not mean that we are dead. We haven't announced anything like “hey guys, the project is cancelled” or
“we've frozen the development” so rest assured that we are still very much alive and focused on the development of the game
Now, I'll give some insight on what we've been doing for the past year, what we are doing now and what we will do in the future
My name is Dreamy, I’m a lead developer of Ambient.White, and I’m here to explain what is going on.
First: What was the past year like for the project
Well for the past year, our team has attended multiple conventions such as Babscon, Galacon and some smaller ones
where we showed fresh, exclusive footage of the game, explained our vision and successfully attracted some very talented people into the team.
Additionally, we were quite active on our Patreon blog, making announcements almost every month
writing in detail about what's new, what's next, and even releasing two closed demos - one in April and another in June.
As for the development of the game, in a nutshell, we were mostly exploring gameplay concepts that would work for the game, doing game builds,
testing and experimenting until we were satisfied with it. As you might have figured out, it took quite a long time.
We made mistakes we learned from them
Then we made more mistakes, and we learned even more
Making games is hard, you know... if you know any stories about game development
you might be pretty familiar with the fact of how much time is wasted due to various mistakes.
This is especially true since we don't have much experience.
Sorry for being so vague, I just don't want to spoil anything until the project has been completed.
In general, we have been fleshing out the concept, adding minute detail and polishing up
situationally reorganizing schedules, and now we are much much closer to completion of the game.
The main reason is - we don't need to!
What? “Dreamy, what are you talking about?! Fans of the game need to know whats going on! They care so much about the project!”
I know
That's why I don’t do many announcements
Ok let me explain
Consider what would happen if I made announcements every month this announcement would be
small, boring unless if I reveal spoiler content of course
so they will quickly become tedious and will only remind you of the fact that the project is not yet completed.
It's probably better if you forgot about the project and remembered about it just in time, when it's completely finished.
However lets imagine what if spoiler content was mentioned in update videos
then you would know everything about the game before it's even released!
We simply cannot leave you without the pleasure pleasure of fully experiencing a game
Moreover releasing trailers, videos, pictures and news about the game before the launch may result in situations similar to what happened with No Man's Sky, Watch Dogs
games like that
You know what I'm talking about
By the way, guys, as much as we would like to make every piece of our content look good and sexy
creating announcements like our last update video takes a lot of time and effort
to the point that it actually drags our attention from working on the game.
Not to mention, that by the time such an update video is complete
some of the content in it may even become irrelevant.
So, in a nutshell, we value the end result of playing the game as a whole, when it comes out
And we also believe it is unnecessary to make small, boring announcements; just to remind you that the game...
Unfortunately, it's not done yet
**HOWEVER, WAIT! **Before you say: ‘Are you really dragging on the development for the purpose of getting more money on Patreon?’
Let me tell you - Hell NO! - if I had this goal, I would have used a completely different strategy
If I wanted to get as much money as possible from people, we would have gone with a similar strategy to those...
certain... development teams use...
To be fair, they are making a lot of money from donations, and are only increasing that amount with every game update they release.
However
it would seem that with a strategy like that... the actual game never gets finished.
We are A Little Bit Different
We put a high emphasis on quality to ensure a complete experience, that would pull various heartstrings
including love, hate
happiness and pain
To feel the spirit of adventure, and to get through the mental journey you never knew you wanted or needed.
We are doing our best to not just make a fun game
but to create a game that will make you think and feel
A Game that will stay in your heart for a long time like games and movies and cartoons
We have been inspired by
And
We want to believe that we are doing something special.
'But, Dreamy, if you try to create something perfect, you will, most likely, never finish it!!!
Will you ever actually complete the game we are looking forward to so much?!'
Yes. I, as well as everyone else, care about the game being completed and released as soon as possible
But then there is a question:
How complete is the game at this point?
Ambient White is a story-driven adventure game. So, the story, in this case, from start to finish serves as a skeleton for everything else:
gameplay, music, atmosphere, level design and so on
Everything is built around the story and storytelling
to make the player feel and experience the same kind of struggle the main characters are going through.
Why am I telling you this? To better explain the fact:
hey we've actually finished the story section of our game!
And this is quite an important milestone because since the skeleton the game is complete
we are able to flesh out levels, small details in them and gameplay
To you, this may sound like it should be done in, practically, no time
However, according to our current schedules, plans and our experience in development so far
it does, and will, take a lot of time.
So this begs the question
When is the game going to come out?!
Honestly can't make good assumptions guys
I hope it will be complete after half a year or so
We know how much it matters to you, and, obviously, it matters a lot to us as well
But again we are aiming for a good game and good games even with complete and experienced teams can take
years to develop
But still
Let me tell you one interesting thing here
We have been quiet for such a long time, but you guys haven't. You still have been reaching out
You are still, to this day, supporting us; you even understand the fact that we need time, and, judging from your comments and emalis
You seem to accept that
Seriously we can't be happier to have such a supportive and caring fanbase so
Thank you
Your comments and emails of support your donations reviews
encouragement fill
every hour of our work with inspiration and a wish to do better, to work faster, more efficiently and, most importantly.
You make every one of our days, every decision to get back to work instead of resting
Every line of code and stroke of the brush
Worthwhile
So thank you a lot for your support!
And thank you for helping our common dreams, hopes and goals come true.
We'll keep on working, and we'll keep on getting closer to finishing the game we've all been waiting for
Oh, and to be clear, if we do make another announcement in next few months
it will either be related to an important milestone in developement
that is worth talking about, or some other news you will actually want to know.
Thank you for your attention and see you in the next update