Development Update #13

🎊Loco Motive is finished!🎊

Let's get straight into it, we've hit our biggest milestone yet! - After several years in development, we're very pleased to confirm that Loco Motive is complete. We'll be continuing to squash any bugs in the lead up to launch, of course, but the work is done. We made an entire video-game, people!

We've had a few questions about whether we are still intending to release Loco Motive in Q4 2024..

Yes! we'll be announcing our release date very soon, so please stay tuned for impending updates!


🎙️Role Call! - Voice Cast Announced🎙️

Earlier last month we gave the green light for our talented voice cast to announce their roles, and they delivered with gusto! Huge thanks to Kimlinh Tran and Kirsty Gilmore for casting! - we're proud to confirm (in Alphabetical order) that Loco Motive features the vocal talents of:

Jack Ayres as Gunter Gudrun, Hagen Gudrun, Jimmy

Jack is a Welsh actor and Voice Actor originally from Cardiff, South Wales. Jack has established himself as a versatile and rising voice actor for video games and character voices having featured in almost 40 video game titles as of 2024, including Baldur’s Gate III and Black Myth: Wukong.

Samantha Béart as April Benelli

Samantha is a BAFTA and DICE nominated, GANG Award-winning actor. In the world of videogames, they are best known for their role as Karlach in Baldur’s Gate III, but you may also know them as Thomasina in the critically acclaimed adventure game “The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow”.

Sally Beaumont as Beverly Moore, Sister Gretchen, Quinn Morgan, Florence Schreiber, Pearl Wexler, Shelly Gedling

Sally is a voice actor living in Oxford, UK and no stranger to voicing adventure game characters, having played a wide range across 30+ video game titles. This includes The Excavation of Hob's Barrow, a leading role as Fia in the upcoming Old Skies, and a stand out performance as Weeoo in Harold Halibut.

Alasdair Beckett-King as The Handshake Leader

Alasdair is an author, actor, video game writer and award-winning stand-up comedian, winner of the 2017 Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year, and Chortle's Breakthrough Comedian of the Year in 2023. Alasdair is also the creator of the Nelly Cootalot series of adventure games.

Sean Chiplock as Arthur Ackerman

Sean has been an avid participant in videogame culture ever since his childhood, so it’s no surprise that he enjoys performing for them just as much as he enjoys playing them. In the world of videogames, Sean has featured in everything from AAA behemoths like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Genshin Impact to indie success stories such as the recent Duck Detective: The Secret Salami.

Savy Des-Etages as Diana Osterhagen

Savy is an experienced voice actor and audiobook narrator hailing from Lancashire, UK. In the world of video games, Savy has lent her talents to widely popular titles such as Viewfinder, Cassette Beasts, Fallout: London and more!

Antonio Greco as Donny Donato, Casino Enforcer

Antonio is a versatile voice actor who specialises in character, animation / cartoon, and video game character voices.

Darius T Jackson as Raymond, Sonny, Victor

Darius is a Chicago based voice actor for video games and animations, known for their role as Felix in Cassette Beasts.

Jacob Janerka as Brother Jared

Once described as Australia's ‘most enigmatic’ game developer, Jacob Janerka is known as the creator of the surreal adventure game Paradigm and the upcoming The Dungeon Experience.

Dave Jones as Lex Lamont, Isaac, Harold

Dave has previously voiced characters in video games such as The Excavation of Hob's Barrow and Planet Zoo, but he is perhaps best known for his role as Halsin in Baldur’s Gate III. This performance earned him a spot on the BAFTA Game Awards longlist for- Best Performance in a Supporting Role.

Amina Koroma as Justice Bailey, Edna, Doris

Based in South London, Amina is co-founder of the British VO Network and a talented voice over artist who reads across Commercials, Drama, Animation and Gaming. In the field of video games, Amina is known for their roles in Baldur’s Gate III and Read Only Memories: Neurodiver.

Nickeem Latty-Morgan as Emmanuel, Sonny

Nickeem is a voice actor and freelance video editor based in South London, specialising in character performances for video games and animation.

Jim Meskimen as Mr Masson

James Ross "Jim" Meskimen is an accomplished actor, impressionist and voice actor who has been a fixture in film, TV, animation, games and audiobooks for decades. He has appeared in films for director Ron Howard, Paul Thomas Anderson and Garry Marshall.

Brent Mukai as Herman Merman

Brent is a Japanese American Voice Actor, based in Los Angeles. He brings a decade of experience in film and theatre acting, improv comedy, and stand up comedy. Brent is known in games for his roles in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Genshin Impact, Lost Judgement and Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes

André Refig as Antoine Cassoulet

André is a dual-nationality French-British actor based in London, UK, and has provided a wide range of voices for video game projects from indies to AAAs in both English and French. André is known for their role as Aymeric Cassel in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Will Derenzy-Martin as Doctor Hirsch, Kasper Bergmann, François Tatin, Philately Stamp, Maurice

Will is an award-Winning Voice Actor based in London, UK. Will has played a wide range of characters, including Hercule Poirot in Hercule Poirot: The First Cases and Milil (God of Song) in Baldur's Gate III. Other titles include Black Myth: Wukong and The Excavation of Hob's Barrow.

Maxim Reston as Remy Galette

Maxim is an experienced multilingual British voice artist and actor based in London, UK. They have featured in a number of video games such as Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and Jagged Alliance 3.

Kaitlyn Robrock as Lady Unterwald, Arista Gudrun

Kaitlyn is an American voice actress, best known for her role as the current voice of Disney’s Minnie Mouse. She is also known for her role as Felicia Sundew on Disney’s Amphibia and Tommy Goodman on Adult Swim’s Mr. Pickles.

Leonie Schliesing as the Shoeshine Girl

Leonie is a multilingual, award winning Voice Actor. Their videogame roles include Aurore Cassel in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and Toka in Assassins’ Creed: Valhalla.

Edwyn Tiong as Jian Liu, Frank

Edwyn is a Voice Actor and writer based in Adelaide, Australia. They have featured in a wide range of video games, including Cassette Beasts, Harold Halibut, Unavowed and Freedom Planet 2. They are also known for their role as Detective Grimoire in Tangle Tower and its upcoming sequel, The Mermaid Mask.

Inel Tomlinson as Dirk Chiselton

Inel is an actor, TV personality and stand-up comedian from London, UK. Inel is a main cast member in the smash hit show Horrible Histories, he also hosts for Comic Con, BAFTA, Netflix and is the voice of Comedy Central UK. Inel has also voiced for a number of video games, including Final Fantasy XVI and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II.

Adrian Vaughan as The Board, Byron, Thomas Page, Ron, Henry Whistle, Vince Fortune, Brother Brian

Adrian is a voice actor based in Melbourne, Australia. Their voice features in a wide range of video games, including Wargroove, Harold Halibut, Budget Cuts and upcoming adventure game, The Drifter.

Natalie Winter as Susanne Goldschmidt, Ruth, Evelyn, Mary

Natalie is a UK based Voice Actor and Director, with credits spanning stage, screen, games, and radio. She has voiced a number of video games, including Assassins’ Creed: Valhalla, Skull and Bones, and The Excavation Of Hobbs Barrow.

🌟Next Fest Post-Mortem🌟

The dust has finally settled on Steam Next Fest, and we couldn't be happier with the response to the demo! thank you to everyone who played, streamed on Twitch, told a friend and provided feedback!

Loco Motive was in the top 50 titles under the 'Most Wishlisted Upcoming Games' tab, meaning we featured in the top 1.41% of all games that participated!

We also did very well in our chosen categories, with Loco Motive featuring as the #1 game in the Point-And-Click and Investigation categories, and charting #2 in Comedy, #3 in Mystery and #4 in the Puzzle categories.



We also received some kind words in the Press, of which we've curated a few quotes:

• "If you're a LucasArts nut or just like a witty murder mystery, Loco Motive is a must play.... The set-up, characters, pixel art, slapstick humor, voice acting, animation – everything is fantastic." - GamesRadar+
  
  
• "I really recommend checking out Loco Motive. When people say "LucasArts-style adventure" they normally wildly exaggerate. From this ENORMOUS demo, it might finally be time to bring out the accolade." - John Walker, Co-Creator of Rock Paper Shotgun
  
  
• "Loco Motive throws you headlong into a murder mystery worthy of an Agatha Christie novel but with the wit and slapstick of a classic cartoon...The exquisite animation, snappy soundtrack and soundscapes will have you engrossed." - Thumb Culture
  
  
• Loco Motive is a throwback adventure game featuring rich characters, lovely sprite art, and plenty of comedy. - PC Mag

🎖️We're nominated in the DevGAMM Awards!🎖️

We're very excited and humbled to announce that Loco Motive has been nominated in three categories at the upcoming DevGAMM Awards 2024 for:

🏆'EXCELLENCE IN NARRATIVE'
🏆'EXCELLENCE IN VISUAL ART'
🏆'THE GRAND PRIZE'



This was a very welcome surprise, and we'll be eagerly attending in Lisbon, Portugal next week with our fingers and toes crossed!

✨Wishlists!✨

We're delighted to announce that we're very close to our dream goal of 100,000 wishlists by launch!

Another shout-out to everyone who added Loco Motive to your wishlists, shared feedback and has supported us throughout development. We're a tiny indie team creating our debut game and this means a lot to us!

If you haven't already, consider wishlisting Loco Motive to receive a notification when the full game launches. It’s just one click, but it really helps us out!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1709880/

Stay tuned for impending news, you can follow us for regular updates on Twitter or join the official Robust Games Discord.