Progress Update - March 2023 news

Hey there everyone!

This past week we debuted a new trailer that we've been working on for a good while now, and so far it's gotten an overwhelmingly positive response. The excitement throughout much of the community is excellent to see, and we're genuinely thrilled to be able to show off what we've been up to after several years of minimal updates from us. If this is your first time hearing about it or you haven't already given it a watch, feel free to do so here.

What's New

In addition to working on and recording footage for the trailer, the past few months have been full of much needed polish and improvements that have raised Black Noise's standard of quality across the board. The past year in general has been an extremely exciting period of our development for multiple reasons: New and incredibly talented people have joined as members of our team, various levels and mechanics have been modernized and polished, AI has been improved, and many other aspects of the mod have rapidly come together in ways we never could have dreamed of as little as a few years ago. There have also been some major changes as to how we handle our workflow internally—which I'm really happy about—that have boosted our productivity and organization a fair bit (particularly in collaboration and testing, which is highly useful).

Other than that, all there is to say is that development is consistent and is going well, and that we're all very excited to show you more of what we have in store.

Join Us

In related news, Black Noise is looking to expand its art team! With the project currently in its late stages, the idea is to make it as high-quality and polished as we can before release. A robust art team is essential for this, and as such we thought it was necessary to reach out to the community in search of talented individuals looking to join our project.

3D Character Artist

First and foremost, Black Noise is looking for a 3D character artist to help create high-quality, original models for NPCs and enemies that are fitting for the style of SOMA and its universe. You'll be working with established concepts and artwork in addition to references and descriptions, and will have a large degree of creative freedom over the designs of various characters.

Animator

Black Noise is looking for an additional animator to help bring certain characters and sequences throughout the project to life. While we're happy with our existing custom animation work, having another animator onboard will allow us to expand upon the world in a way that's consistent with our current, overall standard of quality. A good deal of experience with Maya, Blender, or other applicable animation software is a must (Maya is ideal and is best for compatibility); and you'll collaborate directly with our animator and the rest of our team during both the design of animations and their eventual implementation into SOMA's engine.

3D Prop Artist

Black Noise is looking for an additional prop artist to round out our art team. From environmental objects to interactable items, a wide variety of props are a necessity for an immersive and interesting game world that fits nicely into the aesthetic and gameplay style of SOMA and other HPL titles. Though Black Noise is already filled with quality custom models, the addition of another 3D prop artist will allow for us to create spaces and situations that come across as even more authentic and true to SOMA's universe and time period.

If you are interested in working on Black Noise and anything here sounds up your alley, you can reach us via direct message through our Twitter, Reddit, and ModDB—or send us an email at team@blacknoisesoma.com.

If none of these positions apply to you and you wish to be a part of the project, feel free to let us know through any of our official channels. We're especially open to those with experience in concept and graphical art (in addition to 3D art), so please do not hesitate to contact us if you feel like you would be a good fit for our team. We ask that you don't spam any of our inboxes out of consideration to both us and others, as we try to read and reply to as much as possible!

Addendum

It's been a wild ride leading up to the release of our trailer and we're very happy that it has been well-received so far. In general, expect much more from us in the future and make sure to follow our Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, and ModDB for further news and updates. We have a lot of interesting things to talk about and even more interesting things to show, so stay tuned and keep an eye out throughout these next few months. This is only the beginning.

Delenda Est.