Early Trailer, World 1 Done, and IndieCade! news

We made it! We are proud to report that the first third of Havencall (world 1) is completely done, playable, and has even been (lightly) tested! We also made a trailer, and were able to submit the game to IndieCade Sunday, the day of the late deadline!

It's been a bit of a roller-coaster ride for us over the past few months. Until recently, we kept asking ourselves: will we be able submit Havencall to IndieCade? Can we finish enough of the game in time? Will we have the time we need to make a trailer? With every milestone reached we would gain confidence, and with every hitch, added feature, or improvement, we would start to wonder again. But in the end we made the deadline and are feeling pretty accomplished after that big crunch.

So give our trailer a watch and let us know what you think! It shows gameplay and cutscene footage from the first third of the game, as well as a few stills/teasers from the other two thirds of the game (worlds 2 and 3):

Please note that for this deadline we didn't have time to get the higher quality microphone that we plan to use for the in-game voice acting. So never fear, the mic quality will be much better in future trailers and the game itself. There's currently no voice-acting in the game, but we hope to add it over the summer.

So what have we done development-wise since our last update? So much I'm not sure where to start! Here are the biggest things:

Art

• All three major cutscenes of world 1 were drawn, compiled and animated.
• Two mini cutscenes for smaller dramatic moments were added.
• Aura's back ¾ view was completed and animated, to complement her front ¾ view.
• A new location was drawn, to provide a needed transition before entering the final area of world one.
• New animations for Aura (in side view) were completed.

Code

• The first puzzle was revised, tweaked, and balanced.
• The second puzzle was completed and balanced.
• The ‘active puzzle’ or ‘boss’ of world one was completed and balanced.
• All of the art assets and cutscenes mentioned above were integrated into the game.
• Cutscene dialogue was added and tweaked for correct timing.
• A new event where Aura can use her magic was added.
• A hint system was added, so players who are uncertain how to proceed can get a little advice.
• All of the music and sound effects (mentioned below) were integrated into the game.

Music

Jamie, our composer, was able to come over and work with us in person the last two weekends in a row, which was awesome, as we could easily give her feedback and hear her musical ideas. It was much more efficient than our usual long-distance working process. Here’s what Jamie was able to complete in just a few days:

• Music for all three major cutscenes was written and timed to the visuals so the music reflects the action.
• Music for the boss battle of part one was written (and then extended so it wouldn’t loop much).
• Night-time versions of several tracks were created.
• Several existing tracks were expanded upon and tweaked to fit certain areas.

Sound

We could not give Dean, our sound designer, very much time given this tight deadline. However, he was able to get us quite a few great sounds, and he plans to revise and add much more as development continues. He made nearly everything for world one in just a few days:

• Sounds for Aura’s bedroom (i.e. sit down, chest open, pick-up item, door open)
• Sounds for all three major cutscenes (i.e. rumbling, teleport, garbled speech, etc.)
• Sounds for the first puzzle (crystal on, crystal off, puzzle solved, crackling)
• Sounds for the second puzzle (barrier combined, barrier broken, puzzle solved)
• Sounds for the boss fight (impact, boss noises, Aura’s magic, etc.)

We are still far from a finished game, however we feel relieved that we made the deadline, and happy to have the first ⅓ of the game completely done. We’re excited to continue pushing onward and share Havencall with you later this year!

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