Welcome to the beginning of Foreverhood 2.0. Over the past several months, I’ve been re-examining the loose ends of the project and solidified the game-play style which for the most part has been very open ended. Because Foreverhood is very story driven, i wanted to give the player the ability to choose the side they fought for: sort of a Fable take on game-play where the player could be good or evil. Depending on which side the player swears their allegiance to determines how the story played out, both sides giving the player a completely different look at the storyline. The game-play for this determined the players side basted on who the player killed, and was meant to be interchangeable so the player could swap sides basted on conversations, events and just for the plain hell of it. Because of Dooms scripting limitations, the prototype for this type of game play was extremely limited and while full of bugs, solidified in my mind what the game-play could be like with some tweaking. However, because the bugs go back into the fundamental systems, it is necessary to re-examine my position on just what it was I was building. I also received some very useful feedback from the judges at the IGF competition which led me to re-examine the game entirely.
So, after two months of development, I have tightened the story, created the blueprints for all the weapons and monsters, and outlined the fundamental systems in game-play which all seem to be feasible. I also spent some time outlining my tasks so I can pass over certain areas of development to others. While I don't have any immediate need for help, it’s good to know that i can future tasks are not going to be as much of a hassle as originally thought to be.
So here’s the battle plan as of now. I have two new levels to be built from scratch. I've finished the base texture resources for one of them and will spend the next month developing the level style. The last level is a collaboration with the secondary Foreverhood artists, who is responsible for creating the nightmare and several emblems and seals found throughout the game. Hopefully all level design will be done in the next three months, and once completed the monsters and weapons can begin being built. Never the less though, i am confident that i will have another large build done by the years end which will encompass 2/3rds of the final material. I was hoping to be done with the game by then, but being a one man team doesn’t yield its-self to be very leanest when your lifestyle no longer surrounds your project.
Until then, rest assured that this project will be finished. Until then, enjoy the new screenshots showing off the first interior spaces found within the game.
B.Goodsell
ps. The website is having technical difficulties and will be updated when i can log in again.
