CRT7 News

[p]Hi all, Tom here![/p][p]I hope you've all had a good summer, and are looking forward to the upcoming spooky season. I'm always a big fan of Autumn, partly because it always seems the right time of year for escape rooms to me! Anyway, I've been pretty busy working on CRT7 the last couple of months, and we have quite a few things to go over today, so let's get started![/p][p][/p][h2]Voices From Static[/h2][p]The strange, haunting radio is now complete! All the puzzles are solvable, all the audio is in, and it all has subtitles! As you might know by now, accessibility is being included wherever I can in CRT7 because it is important to allow as many people as possible to play the games we make. The extra benefit of that approach, however, is that it also helps everyone playing. Subtitles can help anyone decypher what is being said, for example, and it links in really well with the next thing I'm going to talk about, too.[/p][p]Anyway, I'm really happy with how this device has come out, as it looks exactly how I envisioned: something recognisable, but obviously strange to interact with. [/p][p][/p][p]What do those buttons do, why is there a calendar present, and what exactly are the voices emerging from the static talking about? Well, I'm keeping some things under wraps so you'll have to play the game to find the answers![/p][p][/p][h2]A Helping Hand[/h2][p]For many of us who love puzzle games, we play them with a notebook by our side. We scribble down just about anything that seems strange or important for later. I love playing games like this! But I'm aware that it doesn't work for everyone, so I've been trying to think of a more inclusive and way of taking notes in CRT7 that fits the vibes. [/p][p]And, well... I've come up with a way I'm really excited about that you can see below (click the image to watch the video):[/p][p][/p][p]Now, whenever you want, in CRT7 you can hold down the 'View Hotspots' button (by default Tab, but you can rebind it) to take a photo using your in-game phone! The photos can be accessed from the phone menu and you can then draw on them in a few different colours – circle important parts, cross out failed ideas, or sketch out potential codes – whatever you find helpful, all without leaving the game. These photos and the notes are saved between play sessions, photos can be deleted, and you can always fully erase your notes while leaving the original photo untouched. Cool, right? Plus it works really well with things like the subtitles as you don't need to remember the codes yourself if you don't want to – just take a photo and check your phone later on![/p][p][/p][h2]Autumn Roses[/h2][p]The final major thing I've been working on is another subroom in the game... and those of you who've been following along know what that means: another type of puzzle! I'm not going to go into much detail about how this one works, but I think it'll be quite an interesting puzzle for you all to solve. Plus, I also love how it sounds too! It's not complete yet, but I'm probably about 60% of the way through it and hope to finish it soon.[/p][p]You can take a sneaky look by clicking the image below:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Autumnal Acts[/h2][p]So, what's next? Well in the short term I need to finish off the Rose Room puzzle from above, and ensure that completing it allows you to progress to the next part of the game. I'm hopeful that won't take too long as I have most of the systems working for it. I also need to ensure it saves your progress too, of course.[/p][p]After that, however, I'm going to be working on the final subroom. What exactly that is will be kept secret from players as a fun surprise. I'm not quite sure how long that will take, but once it is done the game is in a really good position. It will mean I'll have a first draft of everything from first starting the game up until the end game sequence! I'll then need to go back through the entire game and see what I've broken (plenty I'm sure) and update the hint system for all the new puzzles. The aim is to have that completed by the end of the year so I can get it out to an early group of testers to find more bugs and to ensure everything makes at least some sort of sense.[/p][p]In other words, it's not long until I get to see other people playing the game again for the first time in a good long while. This is exciting, but also nervewracking! Still, I shouldn't get ahead of myself, still plenty to do so I best get to it.[/p][p]Talk again soon![/p][p]- Amicable Animal[/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p]Hi all, Tom here![/p][p]If you've been following along for a little bit you might know this is the time of year when I get to spend more time digging into game development! Last update I also mentioned what I was going to get working on in June... and I'm happy to say I've made some good progress! Let's go through it together![/p][p][/p][p]First off the glowing phosphors paper puzzle sequence is now complete enough to move on. I'm sure I'll come back to it later and tweak some things when everything is in, but its fully solvable and feels good to play.[/p][p]Also, by popular demand I've reworked how the very first puzzle in the game works as people were finding it more difficult than intended. I've done a bunch of small and subtle updates here from slightly changing the flow of how you activate the mode, to changing when certain buttons appear and are active, but perhaps the most important is the addition of a (limited) undo option, as you can see below:[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]This should give people more ability to experiment and see how the shapes interact! But I had to be careful here, because another issue I'd noticed from people playing is perfectionism – they would keep restarting if they ever messed up. But the game is about messing up and still progressing, so hopefully this will help people from getting stuck in an unintended loop. I'll keep an eye on it![/p][p]Finally, I have started work on updating a later area of the game too, adding more accessibility functionality (such as the in-built subtitles I use elsewhere) and some... mysterious buttons. Huh, I wonder what those new buttons do? The look important...[/p][p][/p][p]What's next? Well next will be finishing up the improvements to what I've started above. I need to hook up all the subtitles and make that all solvable with the new secret features. There are also more books to finish and populate the world with as we move into the next few puzzles! The aim is to get a new playable build sorted in the next few months, to test all this new stuff with a few select people... and perhaps to add in a oft-requested Quality of LIfe (QoL) feature for puzzle games like this one...[/p][p][/p][p]So I guess I better get back to it then! Chat soon yous lot![/p][p]- Amicable Animal[/p]

Hi all, Tom here!

I just wanted to let you know two main things today. First is that CRT7 (and SOLAS 128) will be in the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase this year, happening from May 29th to June 5th! I'm always delighted and honoured to be invited to these events and for games I've worked on to appear alongside other incredible work going on in the puzzle community.

CRT7 will have a demo live and ready to play in the showcase. If you've played it before don't expect anything new this time around, but if you didn't relaunch the demo after completing it, it might be worth returning as there is some post-demo stuff not very many people discovered!

Perhaps even more excitingly (at least for me) is that after a hiatus forced by real life issues, I'm now back on CRT7 development! You might have seen I released a small game recently (*cough* Upfall *cough*) in order to get back into the routine. That's out, being played by people, and has done it's job. I'm excited to be back!

So, what does this mean for CRT7? Well, it means that I've got a plan and I'm going to be getting back to making real progress!


There are three major things for CRT7 I want to work on next:

Number 1: I need to finish up the glowing phosphors paper puzzle sequence, a picture of which is below. There is one puzzle I'm wasn't happy with, that I'll update and make hopefully more interesting soon! This should be relatively quick.



Number 2: I've been thinking more about the first major puzzle in the game where you first meet the pentominos. A picture of a later level of this is below. This puzzle can cause people to get stuck, thinking they have to complete it all to progress. I've got a couple of ideas about how to improve the flow of that section that will fit into the story and themes of the game. So, I'll be updating that to get players through it more smoothly. This might be a little more fiddly as I'll have to add some new functions in without breaking everything, but fingers cross it will go smoothly!



Number 3: It's time to look at the next puzzle(s) in the sequence and get them working. I've been wanting to get back to this section for a while as it's perhaps one of the creepier and most unique sections in the game and it really leans into CRT7's themes of time and isolation. It's time to get working on the Radio Desk (shown below) and update that to work with the rest of the game's puzzles. This one is likely going to take the longest, as I'll potentially need to rerecord audio, add new mechanics, include subtitles for the radio, and generally tweak things all over. Still... I'm excited.



Phew, a long post today as it's been a bit since I've written an update! As always, if you're interested in supporting CRT7, please do give us a wishlist to keep up to date with progress and when the game will launch!

It's good to be back...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2096780/CRT7/

- Amicable Animal

Hi all, Tom here!

So... You might be wondering what is going on? This doesn't look like an escape room! Yeah, that's fair! Long story short: I was struggling while working on CRT7 and I needed a break. As you might have seen in my posts, last year wasn't great for me and I needed some time to sort myself out. However, after enjoying a local game jam event I decided I wanted to polish up what I'd made and release to maybe help me get my mojo back. Plus, let's be real: the world is pretty awful for a lot of people right now, and I thought it would be nice to give something back for free. No strings attached, no expectation of anything from you if you play it, just something out there for anyone who wants it. Don't worry, CRT7 is still coming, and I'll be back working on it again soon, hopefully with new found vigour!

To that end Upfall will launch on Steam, totally utterly free, in just one week's time. This game has been a bit of a labour of love and an experiment into visuals, sounds and vibes. I worked with my friend eggysworld (who did the awesome sprites) to make something a little different, but distinctly Amicable Animal. Take a look below:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

So... what is Upfall? It's a game designed to be played in those small gaps in your day. On your lunch break, when something else is downloading, when you need a quick distraction. Each run takes between 2 and 10 minutes and the aim is simple: SURVIVE. Bounce off of bubbles, avoid anything that looks glowy and mean, and see if you can make it back to the surface. As you play you'll unlock new palettes for the game, new instruments for it to play, new ways for it to sound, and even new modes and characters. You can wishlist it and soon play it here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3570280/Upfall/

Oh, and if you have a PS4/PS5 controller, I strongly recommend you try to play the game with that. And don't forget to look down, as you might see something fun going on with the controller!

That's it really! In one week you'll get a chance to play the game and discover what it is about for yourself. Oh, and of course I've put in some little secrets to unlock too... I really hope you enjoy it!

- Amicable Animal

Hi all, Tom here!

This is just a quick one today to say that there is no development update this month as it's time for the Amicable Animal Annual Shutdown! Or perhaps more accurately I should say I'm putting myself into sleep mode to hibernate for the rest of December?

Whichever it is, the holiday season is upon me here, and after it has been such a long and difficult year, I'm turning off the CRT monitor for a little bit and taking some time away. I'm in a seasonal mood, however, so I wanted to share with you a cute little secret hidden within the mysterious monitor. Developers are human and get bored and distracted too, and so must have the main character of CRT7 when they made this:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

I hope you all have a great break if you're having one, and I'll see you again in 2025! (Wild!) Hopefully CRT7 will reboot refreshed and ready to explore more of the dark. Until then, take care of yourselves and have a good one 🧡

-Amicable Animal