1.0.0b is out!
- Fixed camera "stutter" for certain framerates / monitor refresh rates.
(I adjusted the game's fixed timestep to match a 60 Hz refresh rate - keep an eye out and report physics glitches!) - Typo fix and minor text tweaks.
Filcher News
Countdown, discount and demo news
Filcher is set to be released on September 14th, around 21:00 CEST, which is in less than 22 hours!
There will be a 10% discount for the first week.
If you are on the fence about buying the game, a free demo will become available at the same time. It will cover the tutorial plus the first two missions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SusgBwMCWKQ&lc=Ugya-BSa_NU3ETCuWj94AaABAg
There will be a 10% discount for the first week.
If you are on the fence about buying the game, a free demo will become available at the same time. It will cover the tutorial plus the first two missions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SusgBwMCWKQ&lc=Ugya-BSa_NU3ETCuWj94AaABAg
Status update 2021-06-21
Filcher is now disturbingly close to completion. Last time I posted, I was about to start drawing the comic book cutscenes. It took way longer than expected, but all the art is now finished. I went for a black-and-white pixel art style, heavily influenced by Hellboy‘s Mike Mignola and V for Vendetta‘s David Lloyd. Still needs some polish here and there, but I’m really happy with how it’s come together.
Then there’s the writing, which permeates the game in the form of mission briefings, cutscene captions and speech balloons, in-game dialogue (you can eavesdrop on certain conversations) and the occasional snarky comment from Sporey during missions. I was initially going to have a full comic intro cutscene for each of the game’s ten missions, but that proved slightly over-ambitious. There are now six cutscenes (which cover all the major story moments) plus a text briefing for each mission, complemented with images.
So much for the story stuff, but surely the gameplay is more important? True, so I’ve been going through all the levels, filling previously empty rooms and adding more loot, secrets, readables and overall detail. I’ll await the feedback of my long-suffering playtesters Gurt and Splinter and fix whatever problems they find. Then I’ll invite a few more outside testers for the whole game, and maybe put out a demo version for the public. Still figuring these things out.
It looks like Filcher should be ready for release later this summer. More info soon!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7oAvMsPFc4
Then there’s the writing, which permeates the game in the form of mission briefings, cutscene captions and speech balloons, in-game dialogue (you can eavesdrop on certain conversations) and the occasional snarky comment from Sporey during missions. I was initially going to have a full comic intro cutscene for each of the game’s ten missions, but that proved slightly over-ambitious. There are now six cutscenes (which cover all the major story moments) plus a text briefing for each mission, complemented with images.
So much for the story stuff, but surely the gameplay is more important? True, so I’ve been going through all the levels, filling previously empty rooms and adding more loot, secrets, readables and overall detail. I’ll await the feedback of my long-suffering playtesters Gurt and Splinter and fix whatever problems they find. Then I’ll invite a few more outside testers for the whole game, and maybe put out a demo version for the public. Still figuring these things out.
It looks like Filcher should be ready for release later this summer. More info soon!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7oAvMsPFc4
Status update 2021-03-21
Time for another update!
The game’s ten levels (including the tutorial) are now *basically* done!
It’s been a lot of work, and there are definitely gaps left to fill in – placeholder textures to replace, conversations to write, props to add, challenges to tweak, boring rooms to make more interesting… but at least the critical path is all in place, which is a weight off my shoulders.
Next, I’ll be making rough sketches of all the comic book panels and put them between the missions. to get a feel for the flow of the story. With all the building blocks in place, Being able to run the game through from start to finish, I’ll see what needs fixing and tweaking, shortening and lengthening, softening and hardening, lightening and darkening, clarifying and mystificating…
I’ll probably need another month for the cutscenes and one more for general polish. I know I keep pushing the deadline back, but to be fair, the deadline is just a goal – something to prevent me from getting stuck on tiny details forever.
That’s all for now. Take care!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
The game’s ten levels (including the tutorial) are now *basically* done!
It’s been a lot of work, and there are definitely gaps left to fill in – placeholder textures to replace, conversations to write, props to add, challenges to tweak, boring rooms to make more interesting… but at least the critical path is all in place, which is a weight off my shoulders.
Next, I’ll be making rough sketches of all the comic book panels and put them between the missions. to get a feel for the flow of the story. With all the building blocks in place, Being able to run the game through from start to finish, I’ll see what needs fixing and tweaking, shortening and lengthening, softening and hardening, lightening and darkening, clarifying and mystificating…
I’ll probably need another month for the cutscenes and one more for general polish. I know I keep pushing the deadline back, but to be fair, the deadline is just a goal – something to prevent me from getting stuck on tiny details forever.
That’s all for now. Take care!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Status update 2021-01-16
Happy new year, reader! It turns out I’m bad at guessing how long things will take. I haven’t quite finished all the levels for Filcher yet, so my planned release date will have to change from “early 2021” to “pretty early 2021”. My current best guess is mid-April. Yeah, that sounds reasonable! he exclaimed confidently.
I’m almost done with the game’s tenth and final mission. I then want to finish one more mission for the middle of the game, and lastly I’ll make the very first level, which is the tutorial. I’ll then draw all the fancy comic book panels for the game’s story, all of which I’ve thumbnailed and planned out in reasonable detail. I’ve had most of this stuff figured out for a long time, and now it’s just a matter of implementing it, which can be a slog at times.
Also, because I’m an old man now (30) I need more breaks from the computer so I don’t fossilize in my chair (keep in mind I’m doing all this in my spare time). While this is a passion project, my advice if you’re planning to design, code, write, draw, score and sell your own immersive sim is 1) wtf don’t, and 2) Keep it small! I’ve always thought of Filcher as quite a small game, but the amount of custom content required for these 10 levels is more than I imagined.
To give myself a nice break, I drew a Mike Mignola-inspired poster for the game. I don’t know if the in-game comic book cutscenes will be in this exact style. I’ll be doing a lot of drawings, and a minimalist style isn’t necessarily faster than drawing something with more lines and detail… but we’ll see how it turns out! Thanks for your bottomless patience, and stay tuned for more.
I’m almost done with the game’s tenth and final mission. I then want to finish one more mission for the middle of the game, and lastly I’ll make the very first level, which is the tutorial. I’ll then draw all the fancy comic book panels for the game’s story, all of which I’ve thumbnailed and planned out in reasonable detail. I’ve had most of this stuff figured out for a long time, and now it’s just a matter of implementing it, which can be a slog at times.
Also, because I’m an old man now (30) I need more breaks from the computer so I don’t fossilize in my chair (keep in mind I’m doing all this in my spare time). While this is a passion project, my advice if you’re planning to design, code, write, draw, score and sell your own immersive sim is 1) wtf don’t, and 2) Keep it small! I’ve always thought of Filcher as quite a small game, but the amount of custom content required for these 10 levels is more than I imagined.
To give myself a nice break, I drew a Mike Mignola-inspired poster for the game. I don’t know if the in-game comic book cutscenes will be in this exact style. I’ll be doing a lot of drawings, and a minimalist style isn’t necessarily faster than drawing something with more lines and detail… but we’ll see how it turns out! Thanks for your bottomless patience, and stay tuned for more.