It's been a while since I've updated what is happening with this game, now, officially called Monumental Failure (thanks to those who said they liked the name). This period of quiet was not due to inactivity, quite the opposite. We have been busy preparing Monumental Failure's branding, demo, and Greenlight campaign. The "We" there is important too. My girlfriend Jess has signed on to take an active role in the development of the game. Together, we've branded ourselves Scary Wizard Games (follow us on Twitter). Toronto has a lot of raccoons, so when Jess proposed it as a logo I was down. Monumental Failure as a name I had conceived of quite a while ago. Most people I mentioned it to found the pun to be clever enough. Developing a logo, we wanted to focus on blocky, ancient, stone carved fonts. 'Monumental Failure" is a massive amount of text to fit into something sleek. Instead, we went for a stack of blocks, evoking the monuments the game will focus on. The broken column ads some pictographic imagery, turning a text treatment into something uniquely ours. Because Shtone Hemge had already been released as a thing, I figured I needed to post an updated, on brand revision of the demo. What should have been a simple revision turned into three weeks of work, as I completely replaced the UI and added split screen multiplayer. In an unsatisfying way, the experience of the game the player receives is pretty much identical to the game jam version. Behind the scenes though are some huge improvements which will help me hugely going forward. Grab that demo here.
Finally, ho-lee-sheeeeet, GREENLIGHT! This feels like the first real test of the game. Not much to say, just please go vote! We're really excited to have announced about what we're working on. More updates soon! Cheers, Spenny
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This was originally posted at https://www.idlethumbs.net/forums/topic/10838-devlog-project-stonehenge/?p=402447
Hey, if you are a regular around here there's a chance you played my Winter Wizard Jam entry Shtone Hemge. [Webpage | Itchio | Wiz Jam Thread] Shtone Hemge is a comedy physics game where you help a group of druids construct a monument. Project Stonehenge will encompass taking the ideas of the the Shtone Hemge prototype and expanding them to full game, chocked full of content, and sold on Steam. The druids and Stonehenge will still be there, but there are so many more monuments to construct! Help Egyptians build a pyramid. Help Romans build the Colosseum. Help ____ build _____. You get it? Why Project Stonehenge? Shtone Hemge got some good feedback. Members of the community here seemed to enjoy what the prototype contained. It was blogged by FreeIndieGa.me. At Christmas, my girlfriend's father played through it about ten times before figuring out he couldn't get his score much better. I know that's a fairly small body of feedback, and maybe it's tough to be convinced that it constitutes enough of a foundation to base a commercial project off of. But, in my head, Shtone Hemge was meant to be so much more. When I was conceptualising the prototype I had lofty ideas of multiplayer features, I really wanted to make a game you and a friend could play together, and laugh together while playing. This means split screen. This means pass-the-controller hot seat. This could even mean co-op or head to head modes. I wanted a game that had a tight scoring system, that would convince you to show off your score and mastery. I wanted a game full of surprises you couldn't help but tell your friend to check out. I have experience making comedy physics games. I have a lot of experience playing the couch friendly multiplayer games. Games like Starwhal, Mount Your Friends, and Gang Beasts. I can definitely take a stab at making something that captures the comedic value of game physics. What are the Next Steps? Greenlight is the first major hurdle. I figure to do this, I want to polish up the content found in the prototype build, to have a demo that can help convince people to vote. This means a new UI and a split screen mode. What Happens Beyond That? There's a lot I want to do with respect to how the game is displayed. Pull the stone arches in to a circle. Have the camera circle and give you a final look at your amazing monument. As a goal, I'd like ten scenarios to be in the game at launch, 10 different monuments in other words. I want to make the scoring system work a bit different, or at least a bit more transparently. I think having a three star system for each scenario would make the game much more engaging as a single player game. Also, infer from that, the scenarios will probably be unlocked in some sequence, again, to engage a solo player. Further down the road, more monuments, more modes, mutators to diversify the fun, it's open ended. Can You Help Me Out? There are 2 problems I'm struggling with. First, if you played Shtone Hemge, you will remember you are judged by a pantheon of gods, including Sanic Hegehog, John Cena, and forum members Dibs and Lu. Fun times for the jam, starts to make less sense if you see that on Steam (sorry Dibs, sorry Lu). What do I replace it with? Real gods? If Apollo and Hercules are judging you build the Parthenon, is that cool? What about some Dank memes, Business Cat and Rage Face judge your constructions? A mix of the two, a Rage Faced Apollo? I'm leaning on the 1st option, but I'd be happy to hear thoughts. Second. Game name. You're building monuments, and frequently failing to do so. The name I've been kicking in my head is Monumental Failure. Punny and old memes. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. Thoughts? I'm really excited to give a go at making my own commercial project. You'll be hearing more about Project Stonehenge soon. -Spencer |
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