Jamison Stone's Blog, page 22
November 17, 2017
WE DID IT! THE LAST AMAZON KICKSTARTER $ IS HERE!
YAY! THE LAST AMAZON FUNDS HAVE ARRIVED! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
So, I'm sitting here listening to Ai Wo Koete (Transcending/Exceeding Love aka Suikoden III Opening Theme, because that is my life) and feeling so thankful to everyone who has allowed David Granjo and I make The Last Amazon! Words cannot express what is in our hearts, so we will endeavor to do our best to show you through our art! Although our feelings are ineffable, we wish to say one more time: THANK YOU!
In that vein of showing excitement through art, here is our newest DRAFT image of Amazon Soldier Cynsin, a cosplay model extraordinaire and our newest actor for TLA!
Cynsin is really awesome! So awesome, in fact, that she and her fiance will be coming to Awesome Con for our Exhibition Booth on March 30 though April 1st in Washington DC! I mean, you can't really get MORE awesome than that, right?! But if any of you wonderful people in the D.C. / Maryland / Virginia area want to try, please come and say hello! We have a really sweet booth set up, and would LOVE to see you!
Cynsin and her fiance also run Aesthetic Cosplay, a fantastic cosplay costume and prop company AND they will be doing our custom The Last Amazon cosplay costumes and props for our shows! So. Freaking! AWESOME!!!
While our TLA custom suits and props are still being designed, check out their other amazing stuff by clicking HERE. As many of you know I am a HUGE gamer, so I am particularly impressed by their Guardian Sword from Zelda Breath of the Wild seen directly below. (Yes, that is Cynthia, and yes, I said fiance, sorry guys and gals!)
Isn't that a freaking amazing prop!?! I obviously want a Rune Blade from Rune of the Apprentice made, but more on that later! Aesthetic Cosplay also has some other really rad light up (and some even have sound FX) props from many IPs including Overwatch D.Va's gun and Loot Box! I also really like the Zelda Guardian Shield, but I digress...
So! Back to brass tacks, or in this case, brass die foil hardback book covers! We have been talking with our Printer, "On the Mark" and have some really exciting news about your books! But before we dive into that (will be done in future updates) I wanted to be REALLY clear with you all about the money we raised.
So, we "officially" raised $20,999 (jeez, can anyone spare me a single dollar!) but once Kickstarter took our their service charge and money processing fees, our net deposit was $18,075.52, which just cleared! Yay!
Now, I'll be blunt with you (hopefully like that Guardian Sword prop featured above) if it were not for Kickstarter we would not have met many of you, and therefore been able to share our art with not only you, but now the world. So, personally, I feel honored that I can, now through my own Kickstarter, nourish that very same community of creators and backers that I have grown to love over my many years backing projects. (And yes, yes, I know that I still have been "nourishing" Kickstarter every time I back ANYONE's project, but jeez, don't ruin the moment!)
Soooo, with all that said, now its time for us at Apotheosis Studios to put your money to work and Create The Best Damn Space Sim... Wait, that's not it... To Create The Best Damn Post-Apocalyptic, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Superhero, "Photo Sur-realistic" Graphic Novel you've ever seen! Lucky for us, you've never seen one before! :P
UNTIL NOW that is, and all thanks to YOU, our backers! YAY! THANK YOU!
October 28, 2017
Cheryl @WhoaNerdAlert is REDD!
Please click HERE to back us on Kickstarter today!
In other news, so pumped to announce that we cast the fabulous Cheryl @WhoaNerdAlert for our Code Name: REDD character!
Cheryl is a rad So Cal Nerd, page model w/ Cosplay.Alliance, pro napper (so we have been told) and has one of the hottest dude's on Instagram @dylansta9. We have our eye on Dylan for a character, so stay tuned for that!
Cheryl and DarthLexii are epic cosplay friends and will be hanging out in LA Comic-Con this weekend! If anyone in the LA area wants to get their picture taken with them, comment on their pictures, HERE and HERE to coordinate!
We have gotten some very generous pledges in the past 2 days (THANK YOU!) but have 3 days left to raise $4,000! WE NEED YOUR HELP! If you want to make this book happen, please pledge and tell your friends to pledge so we can hit our goal!
Time is running out! We need your pledge today!
Please click HERE to back us on Kickstarter!
We have a few more tricks up our sleeve, but we are going to be cutting it close! Please help us make this book a reality!
October 25, 2017
$5k Pledge and New Color Options for AmazonLEX!
Great news! We just received a $5k "EXECUTIVE PRODUCER" pledge on our The Last Amazon Kickstarter Campaign this morning! So much wow!
Moreover, I have received word that another $5K pledge might be in the wings! No promises, but we can hardly contain our excitement! If it goes through, that means we just need to raise another $3k in 6 days!
They say Kickstarter campaigns live and die via the success of their first or last week. Well, the time is neigh! We believe we can do it! But we need your help spreading the word! Please share, comment, and support us in any way you can! Let's do this!
In other news, here are a few color choices for AmazonLEX, Darth Lexii's character! Pretty cool, huh?!
Which color is your favorite? Please post your choice in the comments and let Darth Lexii and us know! So exciting!
October 9, 2017
President Demolishes Statue of Liberty. Declares Antifa a Terrorist Organization After Riots Become Violent.
The President of the United States, via Executive Order, demolished The Statue of Liberty and dumped her ravaged remains into the Hudson River to, “Make a statement to Antifa and the Violent Alt-Left about their continued removal of confederate monuments.”
Before the signing of the Executive Order, most news outlets assumed the president was attempting to make some kind of tone deaf point regarding monument removal. They argued that his actions were an uncouth means of showing the American people that any statue—confederate or otherwise—could be demolished legally, even the famed Statue of Liberty.
After signing the Executive Order, however, the president didn’t even bother having the statue dismantled before toppling it, stating, “I want the Violent Left to clearly see what their hypocrisy made me do. I want those Militant Liberals to see Lady Liberty’s body hit the water with a splash and sink into the darkness. They were the ones who did this!”
Demolishing the 450,000 pound (225 ton), 151 foot statue was no small feat. First, a gigantic ramp was built on Liberty Island with explosive charges set at her feet. Chains were then strung across “Lady Libertas” via helicopters, and pulled taught by a small flotilla of tugboats. Leaked official White House reports clearly state that the chains used were forged out of Chinese steel. The irony of it all is painful beyond words.
“Nobody knew taking down Lady Liberty could be so complicated,” the president said at his press conference on Liberty Island moments after the blast. “Let me tell you, it was unbelievably complex! But I did it, and even created jobs in the process! It took boats and chains! And those chains were American steel! But, I’ll tell you this, it was a lot easier than if Daisy O'Connell had been up there. That fat pig would never have come down! (Laughter.)”
After being asked why he would actually destroy The Statue of Liberty, the president said, “If you take down one historical American monument, why not another? Would you prefer I take down Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln? Who draws that line? Do violent Antifa and Alt-Left protesters get to decide what gets taken down? Is this only their country? No! This is a nation of laws!”
When a reporter asked the president if he destroyed the statue because he “Despised liberty, the very thing the Statue Of Liberty represented?” The president answered angrily, “Fake news! Sit down! I followed the rules! We have the best rules and I love the rules! I had this statue removed using, guess what, the rules! And you know what? It’s on an island, so there was no way for the Alt Left and Antifa to protest it—no way for them to stop me! If the globalist liberals don’t want to follow our rules, they can go to Canada like they have been threatening all these years. So dumb!”
Island or not, the American people still protested the destruction of Lady Liberty. While the president was giving his press conference on Liberty Island, riots broke out all across the Hudson bay. In fact, due to their severity, the press conference was ended prematurely and the president was forced to be evacuated by secret service via emergency helicopter. The American peoples' cries of outrage were answered by many other nations, especially France who had gifted the Statue of Liberty to America in 1885.
Although the Antifa protesters could not reach Liberty Island due to naval blockade, they laid waste to the banks of the Hudson. Rioting was most intense, however, on three American fronts: Liberty State Park, Jersey City; Battery Park, lower Manhattan; and the entire western shore of Brooklyn. Because Liberty State Park is relatively free of buildings, the damage there was minor compared to Brooklyn, which was set ablaze, and Manhattan, where destruction extended far past the New York Stock Exchange.
Riot Police and SWAT were quickly overwhelmed by protesters and counter protesters. After the first full 24 hours of rioting, the National Guard was called in to subdue the chaos with tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and electric tasers. This had little effect and only seemed to anger the crowds and intensify the conflict. When ordered to escalate their force beyond compliance techniques, however, many National Guardsmen/women refused to brutalize their fellow American Citizens.
After 48 hours, the president ordered, for the first time in American history, the deployment of ARC Officers (Artificial Riot Control) armed with chest mounted LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Devices) and ADS (Active Denial Systems), and head mounted dazzler lasers weapons.
These super powered robotic foot soldiers were supported by self-driving, heavily armoured fighting vehicles loaded with turret mounted water cannons, pepper-spray projectile launchers, and larger scale LRAD and ADS platforms. They were also accompanied by air support with self-piloted armored police drones equipped with tear gas dispensers and additional dazzler lasers.
ARC units are based off AGI (Artificial Ground Infantry) units developed in 2019 in conjunction with DARPA and the US Military for non-human combat overseas. Unlike their military counterparts which have a full array of lethal weapons, the ARC models used in the Statue of Liberty riots were outfitted for domestic use. Therefore, they were only equipped with the bare minimum non-lethal ADS, LRAD, and dazzler weapons.
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ADS (Active Denial Systems) are directed-energy weapons which causes the water in the upper epidermis to boil, stimulating a "burning" sensation in the nerve endings and generating intense pain. LRADs (Long Range Acoustic Devices) are high pitched sonic weapons capable of surpassing 160 dB, the threshold for eardrum rupture. Lastly, dazzlers are directed-energy weapons that use intense light to cause blindness or disorientation. These weapons were developed by the U.S. Military for overseas use and had not, until now, been sanctioned for domestic crowd control.
Despite the heavy presence of robotic enhanced law enforcement, the conflict lasted several more hours. Although the Alt Right counter protesters instantly dispersed once ARC Officers came on the scene, Antifa continued fighting the mechanised units with firearms, mokolo cocktail, and improvised explosive devices. These conventional weapons, however, seemed to have little to no effect on the ARC units and hardly slowed their forward march.
As Antifa retreated, they lit fires and left a wake of destruction in their path. Full damage reports are still being calculated, but it is estimated that there are thousands injured and many hundreds dead. The total economic cost is still unknown but estimated to be well over $50 billion.
After the riots were quelled, the White House was silent for days. When the president finally gave a press release, he made these opening comments.
“You damn dishonest press, this is all your fault! This is not about tyranny, it’s about showing Antifa and the Violent Alt-Left that they are lawless animals! Do you see the mass destruction they caused? Antifa nearly destroyed all of Manhattan, New Jersey, and Brooklyn! They killed hundreds of people! All my military advisers say that Antifa and these Militant Liberal groups are Terrorists! Horrible! Antifa, you are now, officially, a terrorist group! If you thought Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Taliban were bad hombres, Antifa is the worst and are now “numero uno” on America’s Most Wanted!”
When a reporter asked the president if his “advisers consider destroying The Statue of Liberty an act of terrorism,” the president exploded in anger, shouting, “You are fake news! Fake! News! You disgusting liberal press just don’t get it do you? You caused this! Get out!”
The only other question allowed was from a conservative news outlet who asked, “Mr. president, sir, do you have any other big plans for removing additional outdated American monuments?”
The president responded by saying, “Big plans? Me? I have huge plans! But more important than that, I want to say something directly to the Antifa Terrorists. And this is not a dare—it’s a statement. Test me again, Antifa, and see what happens! You will be stopped! Know this, in New York, my Military advisers forced me to use non-lethal, but Antifa, if you do anything like that again, I’m gonna bomb the shit out of you!” The crowd erupted in cheers as the president continued. “It’s true. I don’t care. I don’t care! They've got to be stopped!” With those final words, the president left the podium.
While the president’s motives are known only to him, many believe the removal of the Statue of Liberty was a ploy to incite mass violence so the president's Military advisers could officially vilify Antifa as Domestic and Foreign Terrorists, while simultaneously having an excuse to test the Military’s new mechanized ARC/AGI units in a domestic setting against actual American citizens.
Before I continue to speculate on the tragedy of this past week's events, and contemplate the full ramifications of American Military grade robots being used against Americans Citizens on American soil, I first need to cry myself to sleep. As my family and I do so, I will be reciting this quote which the president has now ensured lies in darkness at the bottom on the Hudson River:
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
American Liberty, although you now reside in darkness, may you at least, Rest In Peace.
_________
JACKSON STINE reported from Boulder, Colorado. This article was seen in print on October 9, 2021, three years before MADD (Mutually Assured Destruction Day).Please SHARE this article so we can ensure this does not happen in real life! Truth be told, I do not believe our president would ever actually destroy The Statue of Liberty. Despite this, I do feel Antifa has a very high likelihood of being labeled a Terror Group, which I desperately hope does not happen. Although a work of Science Fiction, I feel this article, and The Last Amazon (the Graphic Novel in which the article is located) is a great reminder to us all, Liberal and Conservative, of the tumultuous time we live in and the potentially catastrophic consequences of our actions. -Jamison Stone, author and co-creator of The Last Amazon, October 9th, 2017.
This article is one in a series of unexpected points of view found in the graphic novel The Last Amazon. Click HERE to watch the story unfold and please support this graphic novel on Kickstarter. Then please share www.TheLastAmazon.com to help spread the word.
October 8, 2017
NEW KICKSTARTER VIDEO FOR THE LAST AMAZON!
We are very excited to announce that we just finished our trailer for The Last Amazon and launched it on Kickstarter today! Click HERE to watch it!
The very talented composer Rodrigo Boechat created our music and we are so stoked to share it with you! We have a lot more epic stuff planned over the next few days, but for now, are excited to hear what you think about our video!
Please watch and then let us know what you think by POSTING IN THE COMMENT SECTION of our Kickstarter page. Your comments help us with Kickstarter visibility algorithms, so please post a comment! THANK YOU!
October 3, 2017
RUNE’s Two Year Crowdfunding Anniversary and a New Graphic Novel!
Hello fellow Apprentices and Masters! I just got back from Baltimore Comic Con where we celebrated the 2 year anniversary of our first RUNE Booth! It was also Freya’s very first Comic Con this weekend, and yes, she is sporting a “Straight Outta Asgard” shirt! #WinningAtParenting ?
So wild, just over two years ago we started this whole crowd funding thing, and you all have been with us every step of the way! What a trip it has been! Even as I type these words, I can hear Becca and Freya laughing in the other room. From the bottom of my heart I thank you! The picture below (my first booth ever!) makes be both smile and cringe, but I have learned a lot, and look forward to many more books, booths—and maybe—babies :) But I digress...
I wish to thank all of you for making Rune of the Apprentice possible. If reading it gave you even a fraction of the joy I had writing it, then I consider it a wild success! In that vein, I also would like to humbly request that you leave RUNE a quick review on Amazon by clicking here or by going to www.RuneOfTheApprentice.com It will only take you a moment and will ensure that I can publish many more books in the future—both sequels AND prequels!
Which leads me to my next crowdfunding project that is now LIVE and called The Last Amazon! Yes, you heard right, just this past week, I, on the 2 year anniversary of starting my crowdfunding campaign for Rune of the Apprentice launched the crowdfunding campaign for The Last Amazon, an Epic Graphic Art Novel on Kickstarter!
Fear not, fans of RUNE, for The Last Amazon is a prequel to RUNE and The Rune Chronicles. This story arc not only shows how a desperate human race got from a broken earth to the technologically majestic world of Terra, but also chronicles the birth of Terra’s creator, Numen Consciousness! I am excited beyond words for this book and so proud to be partnered up with David Granjo, illustrator extraordinaire! He is a truly magnificent artist, and now, dear friend!
David and I have so many awesome things planned for this 96 page, 9 x 12 Landscape "Graphic Novel!" Art of this caliber deserves nothing less than the highest quality of inks, printing, hardcover, and care, something which Inkshares is unable to do. To learn more about this epic project click here or go to www.TheLastAmazon.com. If you want to bring this epic near-future sci-fi graphic novel to life, please back it now!
Yes! That’s right, our Kickstarter is now LIVE and taking pledges! How awesome! We are so excited to share more info about The Last Amazon with you in the coming days, so stay tuned. For now I will leave you with these awesome action illustrations below and give you this warning—the fall of liberty is upon us! Beware!
To learn more go to www.TheLastAmazon.com
To learn more go to www.TheLastAmazon.com
September 13, 2017
DevLog #2 - Art, HacknPlan, Radical Honesty Dot Collector, and Indie Games, oh my!
Super excited to share our second DevLog with you all! Over the past two weeks, the team has been hard at work on Shadow of the Moon and we have even added a new concept artist to our illustrious crew!
Joe and I have been hard at work on the game's story, we've done some great planning for the engine, been interviewing some super talented candidates for sound and composing, and have even been prepping for Baltimore Comic Con! It's been kind of a crazy few weeks but very exciting!
Oh, and did I mention we also got some super cool art from Darren Soto? No? Well check it out! This awesome piece was commissioned by a very good friend of mine who wishes to keep his identity a secret -- just like a super hero he can't let the reptilian overlords he works for know he is such a passionate geek!
I'll just say this, his name rhymes with God, when we saw this image we both were awed! Oh, and he also travels a lot abroad, and has a work ethic many applaud -- and his girlfriend appropriates his sculpted bod!
Huge thanks to both our mystery man and Darren Soto -- this image is awesome! You both rock! I'm excited to hang out again at Baltimore Comic Con in a few weeks!
New Team Member David Granjo - Concept Artist
I'm so happy to announce that we have bolstered our ranks here at Apotheosis Studios with a super talented concept artist named David Granjo. David, in addition to being an artist par extraordinaire, is also a super nice guy and great team fit for us.
David Granjo is a concept artist, illustrator, and author of The Last Amazon. In his spare time, David is a master Kebabs maker and video game aficionado. A native of Portugal, David currently lives in France with his wife and cat, and if anyone ever kidnapped his cat, he says he would take down the Eiffel Tower to get it back! (This is a Last Amazon joke, go read it!)
David’s dream is to work with an Indie Dev Team as they grow into a AAA Video Game Studio. So, now that David works for Apotheosis Studios, his dreams are coming true! Yay! (He did say, however, that if Apotheosis Studios does not go AAA, he can always sell-out and work for Naughty Dog, instead! Lucky for him, we already have one A in our name, so the second two letters are enviable! That's how it works, right?!?)
David's book The Last Amazon will be released next month (keep an eye out on the Apotheosis Studios Blog for its official announcement) but I've read it already, and loved it!
Brief Synopses for The Last Amazon: In the near future, Azureus Island is advertised as the last oasis on a war torn planet. Only the lucky few can afford this land of opportunity and experience “Paradise on Earth.” The Last Amazon follows the story of Danni Winters, a young woman who wins a beauty contest allowing her a coveted position to live and work on Azureus Island. This is a dream come true until after a horrible kidnapping, Danni discovers that Azureus Island is not a “paradise” as advertised.
We will be hosting The Last Amazon's press release right here on this blog, so stay tuned. While this book's art style is a little more "sexualised" than Shadow of the Moon, David has extraordinary artistic range and in this DevBlog I will be posting addition pictures he has created. Directly below is a re-imagined White Walker from HBO's Game of Thrones. Pretty awesome!
HacknPlan Update
We have been very busy on HacknPlan and have have some updates about the platform for both fans of Shadow of the Moon and fellow IndieDevs, alike! First off, HacknPlan is awesome, and secondly, it's getting better every day!
I just found out today that HacknPlan will be releasing a new feature: Next week HacknPlan will launch an update which allows referencing design elements directly into both "Tasks" the and the GDM (Game Development Module - what HacknPlan calls the GDD)
This will be a huge time saver! Let me explain:
Currently, HacknPlan has a lot of cross platform integration between various facets of its tool. This allows a user to link a specific section of the GDM directly to a task (which is profoundly helpful for workflow and project management) but until this new feature is implemented, there was not an easy way (other than a hyperlink) to link and cross reference specific design elements within the GDM and/or Tasks.
What this will now allow us to do is reference specific game mechanics, features, or elements within a Task or GDM section. Instead of unwieldy hyper links and or "see object x" tags, we now will have a simple drop down selection tool which will automatically connect it. I am really excited about this! This cross platform functionality is one of the many features what makes HacknPlan so powerful! Keep up the good work, guys!
HacknPlan suggestions:In that same theme of cross platform functionality, our IndieDev team uses Slack (if you are not, check out this Gamasutra Post "Why do devs love Slack, and how do they get the most out of it?" ) and while HacknPlan does have some really helpful slack integration, while we work on Shadow of the Moon we keep seeing ways it can be even better. Currently, there are some great configurations for Slack message integration which you can see in the image below, but I was MOAR!!! Here are a few examples specifically for Slack:
#1 I REALLY want there to be a way to signal the mention ability from HacknPlan into slack, so when I "@" someone in HacknPlan, they get a push notification highlighting that message in their Direct Messages on Slack. Currently when I have a question for a team member I must ask it both in HacknPlan, AND message the team member on Slack to get their attention in the real world. If this push notification was automatic, it would save everyone on my team a good deal of time. (Yes they do get an email, but, as the Gamasutra post states single chat platform is ideal.)
#2 I'd love some kind of Slack integration which features notifications for hours logged only (within the Admin "Integration" Tab) so team members and I can see hours logged. On larger teams it can become cumbersome to see all changes in “Development notations” or “General Notifications" so a way to select when either anyone, or even a specific team member logs hours would be awesome. I Looked into setting up a slack forwarding bot for hour info forwarding from #hacknplan_changelog to #hacknplan_hours but it requires some API and I don’t know if it’s worth my time to either find a bot within a GitHub library or code the API myself.
Again, HacknPlan already has good integration, but as the tool evolves, I hope additional functionality is added in the Integration tab.
While I am talking about HacknPlan features I'd love implemented, here is a HUGE one which will be a massive time saver: I would LOVE for a way to for team members to be able to rate meetings, other team members, and specific objects right in the GDM. (This can be sued for concept art, features, sound fx, etc.) Currently we use slack, and that is good, but I want something integrated which saves everyone's vote and have tied into the GDM, itself.
To be able to do a survey and have it be radically transparent among the team would be epic. Let me give some context:
Ray Dalio, the founder, chair, and co-chief investment officer of Bridgewater Associates (and one of the 100 wealthiest people on the planet) has an awesome decision making tool in his company called "The Dot Collector." I think implementing some variation of "The Dot Collector" would be absolutely perfect for IndieDevs and Hacknplan. This would help not only for meetings, but also for getting feedback on elements of the GDM. Need to get feedback on that new death animation? Well, easy fix with the Dot Collector! People can see their own rating and see what everyone else thought, too! that way they don’t let their personal bias get in the way of the final product!
In the below video Ray Dalio first talks about the very painful lesson he learned which changed his thinking about decision making and leadership. This eventually led him to adopt "Radical Honesty/Transparency" and "Algorithmic Decision Making" within his company (skip ahead to 6:20 if you don't want the backstory -- and skip to 9:16 for info on the "The Dot Collector"). Basically he gained enough humility to balance out his audacity, and has built his company culture around this new form of radical honesty.
In sum, Ray Dalio needed to create an environment where his team felt comfortable to disagree with him so that he could stress test his perspective -- an "Idea Meritocracy" not an autocracy where one person leads and others follow, AND not a democracy where everyone's points of view were equally valued. But instead an idea meritocracy where the best ideas would win out. In order to this, however, he needed to create "Radical Truthfulness" and "Radical Transparency." AKA, teams needed to say what they really believed, but also see what others were saying, too.
For Indie Game Devs this is a huge game changer (sorry, horrible pun!) which will not only allow all team members to quickly offer feedback on new features, art, game mechanics, sound FX, or meetings, but also do so in a way which balances this feedback based on each person specific skill sets and subject matter expertise.
Additionally, by allowing EVERYONE in the discussion to see what other people feel and say (after they cast their vote) it give that much needed perspective allowing each team member (including the Creative Director!) to see their own opinion as just one of many. This causes people to naturally start asking themselves "How do I know my opinion is right?"
This shift in perspective is like going from seeing in only one dimensionto seeing in multiple dimensions, and shifts the conversation from arguing over opinions to figuring out objective criteria for figuring out which opinions are best! There are a lot more details about The Dot Collector and for those looking for more info on how it works, and how Ray Dalio and his company uses the system, check out this Quartz article:
"At the world’s largest hedge fund, 24-year-olds use “dots” to critique their CEO."
To have a simpler version of the The Dot Collector in HacknPlan (linked to the GDM, and scheduled meeting times) would allow IndieGame teams, and the Creative Director, to have a quick and easy way to quickly come to a collective decision on a new features versus individually making it on their own. Collective decision making is much stronger than individual decision making when its done well and paired with strong leadership, and Ray Dalio states it has been the "secret sauce" behind his company extraordinary success (and his vast personal wealth.)
While we strive for "Radical Honesty" at Apotheosis Studios, other Creative Directors and/or IndieDev Teams might not find this transparent approach to be a good fit for them. According to Ray Dalio's company's research, this aproach does not work well for 25% of the population.
According to neuroscience, there is a part of our brain, the prefrontal cortex, which would like to know our mistakes and weaknesses so that we may do better personally and professionally.
BUT, there is another part of the brain which views this whole process of honesty and transparency as a "tax," and that's the amygdala. Basically, there are two "you"s inside of you. (This is explored in CGP Grey's Video "You Are Two" which is trippy AF!)
But to sum up, there is an emotional you, and an intellectual you and often they are not only at odds, but are actively working against not only each other, but the system that is "you" as a whole. Some people can bridge this gap and some can not.
BUT don't lose hope, because with mindfulness, teamwork, and good leadership, this battle can be won in the majority of team members to the betterment of not only one's self, but also whatever project you are working on, Indie or otherwise!
Shadow of the Moon Progress UpdateWow. OK, that was intense! Reeling it back a bit, I want to relay a super quick update on our engine from our programmer: On the coding front we have planned out a very unique method for storing and handling game objects (level design elements, enemies, and objects). Our feature tracks unique aspects of those objects even if they are not onscreen. Importantly, it does not limit what our objects are able to do when they are off screen (which is usually limited due to efficiency issues). Lucky for us, our engine won’t suffer slowdowns despite tracking relevant information about the object. We are happy about this for obvious reasons :)
On the GDD and Story front, Joe and I have been hard at work fleshing out the GDD and breaking down the golden path of the game, allowing us to better refine gameplay and character development. We have a log way to go, but are making great progress!
In our next DevLog, we will highlight our new Sound Director, but for now will have to bid you all a fond farewell. I have a bunch more work to do and can't DevDiary all day, sadly!
Again, we are so excited to welcome David Granjo to team Apotheosis Studios! We are really excited to see the concept art David creates for Shadow of the Moon in the coming days!
Here is a quick glimpse below and to the right of what you should be expecting in the next few weeks, concept art wise! After some preliminary sketches we will then have full color drafts to share, too! We have a lot of exciting art headed your way and are stoked to hear what you think!
In the meantime, please follow us on: Twitter @ApotheosisStu and sign up to our Apotheosis Studios Newsletter by clicking HERE so you don't miss our next DevLog! See you soon!
September 5, 2017
Far Flung - Guest Post by TCC Edwards
A Journey Across The Universe
I know the exact moment that Far Flung was born. I was living alone at the time in a tiny little town called Chalk River, way out in northern Ontario. I was a university student with one of those co-op jobs that sounds great right up until you actually get it. I mean I was working at the facility where CANDU nuclear reactors are designed! Sounds cool, right? Just like Homer Simpson! The work was co-op grunt work, the kind of thing a real researcher shoves onto interns, but still very nifty if you’ve got a mind for science.
The not-so-cool part came when I got back to my rented place in a tiny town with few social groups and not much to do on a Friday night. It was a lonely and extremely humbling experience, but I had to make the best of it. I found lots of time to look up at the stars – and when you’re that far from the US border, you REALLY see the stars and even the Northern Lights once in a while.
When I wasn’t looking up, I looked to my notepad and pencil, often while watching TV. Star Trek: Voyager was running at the time, and it was one of the few shows one could reliably watch on the standard cable package. There was a big two-parter, I think it was The Year of Hell, and everything just kept going wrong. The fancy Starfleet vessel got damaged, supplies ran short, and characters got permanently killed. Geeks know what happened at the end – everything was reset. The entire two-parter “never happened”, as far as Captain Janeway and her crew would remember. At the end of the series, they all returned home, with all of the main characters still alive at the end.
Fast forward nearly a decade later to my life in South Korea. My life took a weird turn away from my degree in Science, and I was teaching English in Busan, South Korea. I was finally adjusted to life in Korea, married to a Korean, and I was gradually meeting more writers. Meeting people who wrote fiction and learning about their crazy, inspirational, and wonderful ideas and growing frustrated with myself for not getting my own ideas out. I looked back to those nights in Chalk River, and discovered that the silly little Voyager episode had planted a seed in my head.
I wrote. I wrote flash fiction first, and moved on to short stories. I met amazing people in the Busan Writing group, and we produced anthologies of our stories and poems. We were especially proud of the last one, Peripheral Portraits. When I look at the list of authors inside, I think how every one of these people had an idea and saw it through. They were willing to put their ideas in a book we sold for $5 to our friends. There was something truly empowering about the work of editing and producing those books together, and I think we all appreciated getting ourselves out there, even to a small audience.
Far Flung finally came together in my head. The resemblance to Voyager was now in premise only, as a different cast of characters, different technology, and new alien beings took form in my head. I made rules for writing it, rules like “no rewriting history with time travel”, “dead characters stay dead”, and “no aliens that look like a guy with bumps on his head”. You can probably name a few franchises that led me to these restrictions.
At last, here I am with a manuscript I believe in. I thought up a spaceship that can jump across light years in an instant. With hundreds of colonists and a diverse crew, the ship is ready to fly to the fourth planet in Tau Ceti, about 12 light years from Earth. As you probably guessed, that doesn’t happen. The ship ends up in a distant galaxy instead. The crew has supplies for a colony and temporary quarters for the weeks they were going to spend moving equipment to the new colony – it’s certainly not a luxury liner, and they have a month or two of food at best. Their only chance for survival is to meet new civilizations and negotiate with strange beings.
They will try to get to Earth again, but they won’t. That’s not a spoiler – I’m very upfront about that from early on in the story. This is about making a new home and finding a place among the people who live around you.
I hope you will follow Far Flung on its Inkshares page and read the preview chapters, and help me fund its publication. I’m certain you’ll enjoy the journey as much as I have.
Visit Author TCC Edwards On Inkshares and on his Blog
My goal with Far Flung is to balance the discovery and intrigue old-school sci-fi with cinematic action, thrills, and danger. I think readers will appreciate the nuanced characters and the attention to detail as the narrative follows the Tereshkova and her crew to a new home.
I’m raising money for the book on Inkshares with the hope of winning a coveted Top 3 spot in the current Launch Pad Competition. The story is already in the Top 75 on the Launch Pad Manuscript list on the Tracking Board site. All money raised for this will go into the editing and production of the final novel. – TCC Edwards, author of Far Flung
Read the preview on Inkshares and find out why readers are praising Far Flung. Visit Author TCC Edwards On Inkshares and read his his Blog here.
August 30, 2017
DevLog #1 - HacknPlan for Shadow of the Moon (Apotheosis Studios Indie Game DevLog Intro)
So excited to kick off our official Indie Game DevLog for Apotheosis Studios and Shadow of the Moon! The team and I are stoked to share our crazy journey creating Shadow of the Moon, an epic Top-Down 2D, Roguelike Action-Adventure, Role Playing Game!
We have been working on Shadow of the Moon for a few months now and using HacknPlan daily. So far we are really enjoying it! For those who are unfamiliar, HacknPlan is a unique game production tool which bring game design documentation and project management together to provide a systematic way of organizing, planning, and tracking the progress of game development. Although we only have a few months of HacknPlan under our belts, we have learned a lot and it has made a huge difference.
In addition to our specific trials and tribulations of Shadow of the Moon (and of the Indie Game Dev grind in general!) we also want our Indie Game DevLog to share our experience of HacknPlan with other game devs so they can learn the strengths and weakness of this tool. Even just using it for a few weeks we have found some helpful customization which we hope will assist others as well. AND if you have any HacknPlan tips for us or for the Indie Dev Community, please share in the comments below!
Before we dive into HacknPlan, though, we are super excited to tell you all a bit more about our game Shadow of the Moon!
Our Game: Shadow of the Moon
Shadow of the Moon is an Indie Top-down Roguelike Action-Adventure RPG video game created by Apotheosis Studios.
The story follows Zera, a young warrioress who is trapped in nightly recurring dreams in which she desperately tries to rescue her kidnapped sister Kasha who Zera believes is held hostage in the dark and deadly Tetragar Tower.
Zera witnessed her sister’s violent abduction, and—although her memory is confused and conflicted—she relives the terror with greater clarity in every nightmare. Each night, Zera’s infiltration of Tetragar Tower feels as real and painful as the waking world, and with each subsequent “death”, she learns the skills and abilities necessary to defeat the Tower’s minions.
Shadow of the Moon Key Features:
Deeply immersive storyline and expanded franchise tie-in, starring an intriguing heroine and a diverse cast of emotive supporting characters;
Epic role-playing & action-adventure gameplay, including real-life martial arts, a dynamic slow motion combat system, and customizable abilities and equipment;
Semi-permadeath that balances loss of progress with persistence of upgrades, and other roguelike mechanics;
Immersive, procedurally-generated environments, with high risk/reward exploration;
Vivid pixel art focusing on dark, magical-surrealism aesthetic, feeling both nostalgic and unique;
High replayability with native Twitch Integration optimized for Speed Runners and other Streamers.
Shadow of the Moon is set in the same world as Apotheosis Studios’, The Rune Chronicles, a series of Fantasy/Sci-Fi novels by Founder and Creative Director Jamison Stone. The Rune Chronicles is a world where magic, nature, and Nano-technology have lost all separation. Humans and variations thereof inhabit this mystic land where you can learn the secrets of the universe from angelic Guardians, and the mind is the most powerful force in existence.
The Rune Chronicles series includes Rune of the Apprentice, published by Inkshares in 2016 and it's sequel Oath of the Apprentice with expected publication of 2019. Although no experience with The Rune Chronicles is needed to play Shadow of the Moon, this game weaves seamlessly into the larger framework of Rune of the Apprentice and its sequel, giving this game’s world, story, and characters unparalleled depth.
For more detailed information about The Rune Chronicles click HERE. And for more information on Shadow of the Moon HERE.
Back to HacknPlan: As Rock Paper Shotgun puts it, here is "wot I think" so far!
HacknPlan has been not only profoundly helpful, but also a lot of fun to use. Although subtle, it brings an element of "gamification"
to the game dev process which, at least for us, is awesome. The joy of finishing "Milestones" and "Tasks" has never felt so good!
On a meta level, HacknPlan has a very useful "Milestone" feature which allows high level tracking of all "tasks" within the project.
Our team has Milestones set up for things ranging from:
First Draft of our GDD/GDM (Game Design Doc)Implement and Outline Base Structure for DemoConvention Booth PreperationAnd even tracking this blog series!(You can see more Milestones in the image to the right)
The tasks themselves are highly customizable. Seen to the left was our first test task of learning how to utilize HacknPlan.
We now have become proficient and are able to tailor our tasks not only to each team member, but each aspect of the multifaceted endeavor that is indie game design.
Currently, most useful is how tasks align with the GDD, which HacknPlan calls a GDM, but more on that in a sec.
Something that is very useful is that tasks can then be visualized on a board which tracks their progress to completion.
One suggestion we have is adding a "Final Review" tab which can be seen in yellow on the task board. It has helped us a lot.
We currently have a team of 6+ people working on Shadow of the Moon and those testing a feature are not necessarily the ones who can greenlight it to completion. Because of this having another tab has helped us streamline our operations.
HacknPlan Game Design Model and Task IntegrationUltimately, one of the most impressive features we have encountered is what HacknPlan calls the GDM (Game Design Model.) All game dev teams know the importance of a GDD (Game Design Document) and the GDM is a powerful new tool, that when combined with HacknPlan "tasks", allows clear communication and agile game development for everything from story to features to engine.
Previously, we had been using a shared GoogleDoc for our GDD, but the HacknPlan GDM has proven to be far superior due to its ease of use, cross platform integration, and flexibility. You can upload images right into the content, add comments, easily move things around, and have multilevel alignment across the entire project from character development to in engine items. In addition, everything is linked within the system for efficient navigation. Best of all, however, is how the GDM uses tasks. Here is an example:
While working on our "Character Description" Task for Meesu (a kick ass blacksmith at Castle Rahu), I had an idea for our Twitch integration feature for our speed running timer. I pinged our Slack channel (oh yeah, Hacknplan also has Slack integration, but more on that later) to see what others thought of the idea. I imminently got some great feedback from the team:
Jude, our Twitch PR "Intern" said, "That's awesome, will totally help with getting some early traction with fellow streamers and speed runners"; Richard our programmer said, "I can totally code that, even in the demo!"; and Joe one of our writers said, "That's perfect, now need to add it to the GDM! Jamison can you make a task for me and link it to Slack?" Took me all of 3 min to get instant feedback.
Well, EZPZ! I made a new task to outline the speed running feature in the GDM and assigned it to myself. Next, I made a task to add said feature to our "Key Feature List" and assigned that to Joe. Took my literally 2 minutes to do and it auto linked back into Slack where Joe could see it (along with a quick link that would bring him right to the task.) If that's not agile, I do not know what is!
Shadow of the Moon Programming UpdateOn the programming side of things we set up our Gitlab Repository and connected it to HacknPlan (had a few hiccups there, but it has integrated smoothly now) Richard, our programmer extraordinaire, has been kicking ass on our engine and already implemented:
SDL Initialization RoutinesBasic Outline for Movable Object ClassBasic Outline for Static Object StructureProgram Specific Doubly Linked List
Next, Richard will be Implementing:
Interpolated Sprite ClassWrapper Timing ClassStatic and Moving Object MappingAnd soon will have a video showing our basic gameplay! Yay!
HacknPlan Features and Our Suggestions/TipsAnother really cool feature of HacknPlan is the time tracking features. You can see on many of my screen shots above I am even tracking the time it takes for me to write this blog post! That time is going towards my "task" for this Indie Game DevLog #1 and its corresponding "Milestone" for the whole Indie DevLog series. Even better, all of my hours for each blog post will be tracked by the system and integrated into my personal profile and work footprint which can be viewed as a spreadsheet or pie chart!
This is a huge help to know how much time you and your team are dedicating to various aspects of development. You can track many categories (seen below) ranging from Programming, Art, Writing, Bugs, and "Management: (a custom category I personally added.)
Strangely, HacknPlan didn't have a default Category for any form of project management but I easily created one and populated it with subcategories (seen below) ranging from Fundraising, Creating New HacknPlan Tasks, to Email Correspondence.
For me, as Creative Director and Head Writer, it is invaluable to know exactly where every minute of my time is going so I can know what I am over and under prioritizing in the project (basically, where I am wasting time.) Indie Game Devs (and anyone who leads a startup company, really) need to be very judicious with their time, so tracking all they do to make sure they are not wasting time is invaluable! Because of this, I highly suggest setting up this "Management" Category and populating it with relevant SubCategories.
Closing ThoughtsI have a long list of suggestions for both the HacknPlan Dev Team and HacknPlan users, but I will save those for Indie Game DevLog #2. All in all, though, I am VERY impressed with this tool. Even though HacknPlan is only a few months out of beta, it has been a real pleasure to use. HacknPlan truly brings game design documentation and project management together. It's in a very unique game production tool that provides a semantic way for our team to organize, plan, and track the development of Shadow of the Moon.
The entire Apotheosis Studios team and I are super excited to be sharing our journey of making Shadow of the Moon with you all! We will have our Indie DevLog #2 filled with more HacknPlan info, suggestions, and tips out soon, so keep an eye out. We also will be sharing additional Shadow of the Moon art, and engine progress! Make sure you Subscribe to our Mailing List so you don't miss it!
To sign up to our Indie DevLog Mailing List click HERE.
For more information on Shadow of the Moon click HERE.
For more detailed information about The Rune Chronicles and Book I: Rune of the Apprentice click HERE.
Keep in touch! Follow/Contact us with the links below:
Mailing ListTwitterFacebookInstagramTwitchEmailAnd yes, that picture is me, Jamison Stone, at our Comic Con booth. In addition to Author and Game Dev, I am also a Cosplay Fanatic! Follow me on Instagram for more epic pictures!
To read the next DevLog in the series click HERE!UPDATE: We purchased a non-exclusive license from WLOP for the concept art of one of her characters long before posting this. WLOP's art is great and we are using it, as our contract states, as the template for our character during this early dev stage. Our character Zera already has large deviations in our GDD compared to WLOP's work but we need an artist to implement them!
Any artists interested in joining our team and help us make Shadow of the Moon? You can email us HERE or on our Contact Page to get in touch! Please include a link to your portfolio and past work! Thanks and looking forward!
HacknPlan for Shadow of the Moon (Apotheosis Studios Indie Game DevLog #1)
So excited to kick off our official Indie Game DevLog for Apotheosis Studios and Shadow of the Moon! The team and I are stoked to share our crazy journey creating Shadow of the Moon, an epic Top-Down 2D, Roguelike Action-Adventure, Role Playing Game!
We have been working on Shadow of the Moon for a few months now and using HacknPlan daily. So far we are really enjoying it! For those who are unfamiliar, HacknPlan is a unique game production tool which bring game design documentation and project management together to provide a systematic way of organizing, planning, and tracking the progress of game development. Although we only have a few months of HacknPlan under our belts, we have learned a lot and it has made a huge difference.
In addition to our specific trials and tribulations of Shadow of the Moon (and of the Indie Game Dev grind in general!) we also want our Indie Game DevLog to share our experience of HacknPlan with other game devs so they can learn the strengths and weakness of this tool. Even just using it for a few weeks we have found some helpful customization which we hope will assist others as well. AND if you have any HacknPlan tips for us or for the Indie Dev Community, please share in the comments below!
Before we dive into HacknPlan, though, we are super excited to tell you all a bit more about our game Shadow of the Moon!
Our Game: Shadow of the MoonShadow of the Moon is an Indie Top-down Roguelike Action-Adventure RPG video game created by Apotheosis Studios.
The story follows Zera, a young warrioress who is trapped in nightly recurring dreams in which she desperately tries to rescue her kidnapped sister Kasha who Zera believes is held hostage in the dark and deadly Tetragar Tower.
Zera witnessed her sister’s violent abduction, and—although her memory is confused and conflicted—she relives the terror with greater clarity in every nightmare. Each night, Zera’s infiltration of Tetragar Tower feels as real and painful as the waking world, and with each subsequent “death”, she learns the skills and abilities necessary to defeat the Tower’s minions.
Shadow of the Moon Key Features:
Deeply immersive storyline and expanded franchise tie-in, starring an intriguing heroine and a diverse cast of emotive supporting characters;
Epic role-playing & action-adventure gameplay, including real-life martial arts, a dynamic slow motion combat system, and customizable abilities and equipment;
Semi-permadeath that balances loss of progress with persistence of upgrades, and other roguelike mechanics;
Immersive, procedurally-generated environments, with high risk/reward exploration;
Vivid pixel art focusing on dark, magical-surrealism aesthetic, feeling both nostalgic and unique;
High replayability with native Twitch Integration optimized for Speed Runners and other Streamers.
Shadow of the Moon is set in the same world as Apotheosis Studios’, The Rune Chronicles, a series of Fantasy/Sci-Fi novels by Founder and Creative Director Jamison Stone. The Rune Chronicles is a world where magic, nature, and Nano-technology have lost all separation. Humans and variations thereof inhabit this mystic land where you can learn the secrets of the universe from angelic Guardians, and the mind is the most powerful force in existence.
The Rune Chronicles series includes Rune of the Apprentice, published by Inkshares in 2016 and it's sequel Oath of the Apprentice with expected publication of 2019. Although no experience with The Rune Chronicles is needed to play Shadow of the Moon, this game weaves seamlessly into the larger framework of Rune of the Apprentice and its sequel, giving this game’s world, story, and characters unparalleled depth.
For more detailed information about The Rune Chronicles click HERE. And for more information on Shadow of the Moon HERE.
Back to HacknPlan: As Rock Paper Shotgun puts it, here is "wot I think" so far!
HacknPlan has been not only profoundly helpful, but also a lot of fun to use. Although subtle, it brings an element of "gamification"
to the game dev process which, at least for us, is awesome. The joy of finishing "Milestones" and "Tasks" has never felt so good!
On a meta level, HacknPlan has a very useful "Milestone" feature which allows high level tracking of all "tasks" within the project.
Our team has Milestones set up for things ranging from:
First Draft of our GDD/GDM (Game Design Doc)Implement and Outline Base Structure for DemoConvention Booth PreperationAnd even tracking this blog series!(You can see more Milestones in the image to the right)The tasks themselves are highly customizable. Seen to the left was our first test task of learning how to utilize HacknPlan.
We now have become proficient and are able to tailor our tasks not only to each team member, but each aspect of the multifaceted endeavor that is indie game design.
Currently, most useful is how tasks align with the GDD, which HacknPlan calls a GDM, but more on that in a sec.
Something that is very useful is that tasks can then be visualized on a board which tracks their progress to completion.
One suggestion we have is adding a "Final Review" tab which can be seen in yellow on the task board. It has helped us a lot.
We currently have a team of 6+ people working on Shadow of the Moon and those testing a feature are not necessarily the ones who can greenlight it to completion. Because of this having another tab has helped us streamline our operations.
HacknPlan Game Design Model and Task IntegrationUltimately, one of the most impressive features we have encountered is what HacknPlan calls the GDM (Game Design Model.) All game dev teams know the importance of a GDD (Game Design Document) and the GDM is a powerful new tool, that when combined with HacknPlan "tasks", allows clear communication and agile game development for everything from story to features to engine.
Previously, we had been using a shared GoogleDoc for our GDD, but the HacknPlan GDM has proven to be far superior due to its ease of use, cross platform integration, and flexibility. You can upload images right into the content, add comments, easily move things around, and have multilevel alignment across the entire project from character development to in engine items. In addition, everything is linked within the system for efficient navigation. Best of all, however, is how the GDM uses tasks. Here is an example:
While working on our "Character Description" Task for Meesu (a kick ass blacksmith at Castle Rahu), I had an idea for our Twitch integration feature for our speed running timer. I pinged our Slack channel (oh yeah, Hacknplan also has Slack integration, but more on that later) to see what others thought of the idea. I imminently got some great feedback from the team:
Jude, our Twitch PR "Intern" said, "That's awesome, will totally help with getting some early traction with fellow streamers and speed runners"; Richard our programmer said, "I can totally code that, even in the demo!"; and Joe one of our writers said, "That's perfect, now need to add it to the GDM! Jamison can you make a task for me and link it to Slack?" Took me all of 3 min to get instant feedback.
Well, EZPZ! I made a new task to outline the speed running feature in the GDM and assigned it to myself. Next, I made a task to add said feature to our "Key Feature List" and assigned that to Joe. Took my literally 2 minutes to do and it auto linked back into Slack where Joe could see it (along with a quick link that would bring him right to the task.) If that's not agile, I do not know what is!
Shadow of the Moon Programming UpdateOn the programming side of things we set up our Gitlab Repository and connected it to HacknPlan (had a few hiccups there, but it has integrated smoothly now) Richard, our programmer extraordinaire, has been kicking ass on our engine and already implemented:
SDL Initialization RoutinesBasic Outline for Movable Object ClassBasic Outline for Static Object StructureProgram Specific Doubly Linked List
Next, Richard will be Implementing:
Interpolated Sprite ClassWrapper Timing ClassStatic and Moving Object MappingAnd soon will have a video showing our basic gameplay! Yay!
HacknPlan Features and Our Suggestions/TipsAnother really cool feature of HacknPlan is the time tracking features. You can see on many of my screen shots above I am even tracking the time it takes for me to write this blog post! That time is going towards my "task" for this Indie Game DevLog #1 and its corresponding "Milestone" for the whole Indie DevLog series. Even better, all of my hours for each blog post will be tracked by the system and integrated into my personal profile and work footprint which can be viewed as a spreadsheet or pie chart!
This is a huge help to know how much time you and your team are dedicating to various aspects of development. You can track many categories (seen below) ranging from Programming, Art, Writing, Bugs, and "Management: (a custom category I personally added.)
Strangely, HacknPlan didn't have a default Category for any form of project management but I easily created one and populated it with subcategories (seen below) ranging from Fundraising, Creating New HacknPlan Tasks, to Email Correspondence.
For me, as Creative Director and Head Writer, it is invaluable to know exactly where every minute of my time is going so I can know what I am over and under prioritizing in the project (basically, where I am wasting time.) Indie Game Devs (and anyone who leads a startup company, really) need to be very judicious with their time, so tracking all they do to make sure they are not wasting time is invaluable! Because of this, I highly suggest setting up this "Management" Category and populating it with relevant SubCategories.
Closing ThoughtsI have a long list of suggestions for both the HacknPlan Dev Team and HacknPlan users, but I will save those for Indie Game DevLog #2. All in all, though, I am VERY impressed with this tool. Even though HacknPlan is only a few months out of beta, it has been a real pleasure to use. HacknPlan truly brings game design documentation and project management together. It's in a very unique game production tool that provides a semantic way for our team to organize, plan, and track the development of Shadow of the Moon.
The entire Apotheosis Studios team and I are super excited to be sharing our journey of making Shadow of the Moon with you all! We will have our Indie DevLog #2 filled with more HacknPlan info, suggestions, and tips out soon, so keep an eye out. We also will be sharing additional Shadow of the Moon art, and engine progress! Make sure you Subscribe to our Mailing List so you don't miss it!
To sign up to our Indie DevLog Mailing List click HERE.
For more information on Shadow of the Moon click HERE.
For more detailed information about The Rune Chronicles and Book I: Rune of the Apprentice click HERE.
Keep in touch! Follow/Contact us with the links below:
Mailing ListTwitterFacebookInstagramTwitchEmailAnd yes, that picture is me, Jamison Stone, at our Comic Con booth. In addition to Author and Game Dev, I am also a Cosplay Fanatic! Follow me on Instagram for more epic pictures!
