ASYLUM News

Greetings, everyone! I bring you a juicy update, possibly the last one before launch 👀

Quite a few topics to discuss, so let's get started, shall we?



First, to confirm the following: we were planning to launch an updated demo today during Next Fest, but decided to hold on for the time being. Every day counts now, and we're applying coats of polish and fixing bugs everywhere. While the demo was quite fine overall, it still had a few kinks to work out (ie: new intro not color graded yet), so I preferred to have the team keep focusing towards launch.

Technically speaking, we already participated in a Next Fest years ago, and we might launch the demo next week in case you want to verify the game runs well on your device.



When we removed the planned localizations from the store page as we wanted to launch ASAP, there were sad faces 😔

I don't like sad faces, so we put in motion an extremely ambitious plan with a group of translators we've been in touch with over the years. As I'm writing this, the localization strike team is sending me translated documents that we're already implementing.

How many languages, you ask? Here's the confirmed list:

• French
  
• German
  
• Greek
  
• Italian
  
• Polish
  
• Portuguese
  
• Russian
  
• Spanish
  
• Turkish
  
• Ukrainian
  

While there's always the possibility that some of these might not make it exactly by launch since it's a tight deadline, we're talking about a potential delay of mere days. See and marvel at how the language selection works:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Hopefully this news will prompt more happy faces 😄



Because there's no better sign of an imminent launch than recording voice overs. We're so satisfied with how the script turned out, that we licensed a technology called Speech Graphics to improve the lip sync of our characters. You can see and hear it in action in this video:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
I know it's not AAA, but it's still a far cry than anything we ever did in this area for ASYLUM. Also, we're aware that the protagonist sounds rather flat in this conversation, and we're doing retakes. There's a sweet spot that's difficult to achieve here, since you're an ex-patient after all and meant to sound like a hollow blank slate. But just so you know, it's on our radar.

One more cool moment for you to check out:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


After a lot of thought, I've decided the launch price will be... *drum roll*... $24.99. With a 10% discount during the first week, and regional tweaks for certain countries.

People tell me this is awfully cheap, but we're not in this for the money — just the fame and glory.



There's been lots and LOTS of work on the sound design department. This was the #1 feedback from the earlier demo and internal testing, and we addressed it. It's a massive improvement across the board, with a fully revised soundtrack, weird ambient noises, screams, sploshes, gooey stuff... The Hanwell Mental Institute is now fully alive and breathing. Check out a short clip of your upcoming visit to the high-risk section here:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

One more thing: recently followers in our social networks sent us a series of questions that I responded in a recorded video. It was very well received, more than I expected, so here goes in case you folks want to take a listen. It's 30-mins long. There's insights about the development of ASYLUM, Scratches tidbits, gamedev advices, and news about what's coming next from us:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


And with system requirements! We confirmed these just today. The ones that were listed until now were a bit dated, but the good news is that it's not a dramatic difference. Basically, a 10-year-old PC will manage just fine.

Check them out for yourself, and also do note the amazing new GIFs 🤓

https://store.steampowered.com/app/230210/ASYLUM/

And... that's it! I'm sorry if you were expecting today's Next Fest demo, but hang on in there — just a few more days!

-Agustín

As if life wasn't horrifying enough in 2025, we're getting ready to unleash more terror and dread upon you. Yes, in case you somehow missed the news, ASYLUM is launching on March 6. Many skeptical eyebrows have been raised, but true believers have accepted this news as a sign of the impending end of the world. So enjoy it while it lasts, because it's really happening this time!

I'm happy to report that the new trailer has been very well received, so much in fact that it became our most liked video ever on YouTube. But the good news don't stop there: we've surpassed 50.000 wishlists here on Steam, which puts us in great shape for launch! In fact, it's closer to 52k as of this writing. There's still time to reach 66.666, so make sure you tell your loved ones, heck, why not your hated ones too, about the game!

[center][/center]

There will be a few more updates here before we go live, and I'm eager to tell you about the materials we're preparing for the Steam crowd: emojis for every occasion, trading cards, cool wallpapers you'll definitely want to use... oh, and it's already running well on the Deck too! We need to adjust controls and a few other tweaks to get that Verified ✅ checkmark for launch.



We also confirm that ASYLUM will be featured on Next Fest February with a fully revised demo. There will be a bunch of fun activities and streams. And if you're looking to get one of those coveted Scratches keys: another big giveaway is coming!

The whole team is stoked with how the game looks and feels, and I trust the passion and dedication we invested into this thing will soon show. Everyone is working hard to ensure we deliver a smooth and bug-free experience. And thanks for the patience throughout all this time — the community here on Steam is just great 😊

See you soon!

[h2]Important update about the launch plans here: [/h2]https://steamcommunity.com/games/asylum/announcements/detail/501692310177711944?snr=2___

[h2]The original announcement:[/h2]

No, it’s not April Fool’s. It’s Halloween, and tradition dictates horror related stuff is announced today (in addition to pagan rituals and avoiding masked killers).

So we got an announcement for you alright. An important one: fate has decided that ASYLUM will launch on March 13, 2025. Yup, mark your calendars, this is not a drill. We're finishing this game for once and for all.

And look at that, there’s even a gorgeous new trailer to celebrate the news:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Of all the promotional materials we've ever released, I feel this is the most realized one, conveying the tones of impending doom and bittersweet melancholy you’ll find in the game.

One big note, folks: we updated our store page and intentionally set the release language to English only, to avoid false expectations of available languages at launch. Of course we’re still planning to translate the game to as many languages as possible. We don’t know exactly which ones will be ready for next March, but as they get confirmed, we’ll re-add them.

And that’s it for today. Look at that, so very few words this time. I’ll let the video do the talking. Hope you enjoy it, and see you soon.

Now watch… WATCH…

[center][/center]

Hello. Happy Friday. This is a new ASYLUM update.

BUT! Contrary to the past few ones, this joyous new collection of words is meant to hype you. Yes, you wonderful people -- we're very appreciative of the strong reception to our previous write-up, and we're going to increase the rate of communication as the release date draws closer. So here's what you can expect in this mélange of tidbits:

- Fewer words than usual (I'll try).
- Eye candy and mood. Lots.
- Some cool technical wizardry.
- Next steps and tentative timeline of major events.

Read on for the goods!

[h2]The good things always happen with the rain[/h2]

One of my favorite quotes in a movie, it's from John Frankenheimer's Seconds. A poetic line by itself, but has a special meaning in the context of the film. In our context, though, it would be more like the horrific things always happen with the rain.

Anyway, a critical goal in ASYLUM is to ensure the environments feel engrossing, you know, as in the moooood and the feels absorb you. Scratches had a good dose of ambiance, yet everything felt somewhat static and lifeless (in a way, it kinda fit with the style of the game). But, we've always aimed for a big boost with its successor -- ensuring the passage of time is well represented during the night you spend in the Hanwell institute, with as much detail and movement as we can. Different stages of weather are an excellent way to establish a notion of urgency and dread. For example, rain:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Really dense rain, gloomy clouds, distant lightning, raindrops hitting surfaces, both inside and outside, all combined with a cared-for sound design. Remember, this is pre-rendered graphics -- there's arcane knowledge applied here to put those splashes of raindrops on top of the car.

Speaking of sound, we finally have a full-time, dedicated sound designer (Nico Franza, who worked on some of the spookiest scenes from Silent Hill: Ascension) enhancing all the gloomy places you'll visit. This was a big note from beta-testers, that audio ambience overall needed an extra kick. Well, people shall be happy:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Moving on, I mentioned characters are being polished as much as we can, and testers also mentioned inconsistencies, such as Lenny missing while you open the door and move from one room to another. Again, this isn't regular 3D in which you seamlessly move between real-time geometry, you must render separate videos with and without Lenny. It's a crazy amount of work but we're doing this out of sheer love.



And before I close this section, here's some more footage with visual effects being worked on, such as flying leaves and puffs of dust as dusk falls, or heat haze near a menacing boiler. We know fans of Scratches like boilers very much, so we must get them right.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Oh, yeah... and FIREFLIES!





This is my favorite recent development, because it's a feature we briefly explored but left behind. With an old-school style and pre-rendered adventure, there's so much movement and sense of depth you can have... unless you have a stellar team with great ideas and skill. The theory worked, but we never got around to establishing a pipeline that would allow us to scale this visual treatment across many environments. It's pretty wild. Let me first show you this old video how it's meant to work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF0uAUgyHNg

You see what happened there? It's four flat images projected on the sides of a cube. But then I put a light inside the cube, move it around, and the flat geo projects... shadows? How on Earth?

Well, as they used to say, learning algebra is important. And I finally found a good use for it! Look, it's like this:



That's the diffuse map (the very same texture you see in the game, as part of the cube) and a normal map. You're likely familiar with normals -- they're additional information for diffuses, so that a game engine like Unreal knows how light is meant to propagate across the texture. That's what they call Physically Based Rendering or PBR. Normals are used to bring an extra dimension to a flat texture without adding costly additional geo, such as cavities, cracks, holes in a piece of fabric, and a looong etc.

Well, in this case, we're using the normals to tell Unreal how the light should propagate across the "fake" room. There's more than just applying the normals, they have to be rotated in a certain way to avoid artifacts and some obscure magick that goes over my head. The result is that we can do stuff like this -- pay attention to how parts of the room react to blinking light, as if they were distinct surfaces:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

It's a darn clever implementation, if I may say so. Credit for the original idea goes to Fran Tufro, and then Pablo Forsolloza for the 3ds Max scripts. I worked on the Unreal shader, then more recently Dani Herrera and Tomás Fernandez established the pipeline. Great job, guys 👏 We exaggerated the effect for the Infirmary, a larger area with plenty of stuff that serves as a good example of how this works. Take a look at the jars, different parts of the walls, beds... there's *depth* where there's not supposed to be:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

I don't believe any game has done this kind of lighting before. As a bonus, that video features a new music track from Pablo Cordes. The soundtrack is now clocking at 50 minutes, and it's quite reminiscent of Scratches and John Carpenter. I'm deeply in love with it.

[h2]Closing words[/h2]

Holy crap, I said fewer words, but I can never help it. OK, so here's the summary:

I'm thrilled with the overall status of the game, and the team feels the same. The past few months have resulted in a huge lot of progress and stuff that we consider final. Seal of approval and ready to go. But there's still work left to do. Early October we'll share another build to beta-testers with most feedback addressed. The big pending before submitting that multiplatform build (Win, Mac and Linux) is me -- I need to review the script, prioritizing dialogue lines so that actors can start recording.

We're definitely close. Mood-wise, it's pretty much there. ASYLUM is stubbornly anachronic, but plays well, like any modern game. The best way I can describe it is that lets you feel what it was like to play an Infocom text adventure, without dated design annoyances such as dead-ends or sudden deaths and in glorious (pseudo) 3D. All while harkening back to a particular era of the adventure genre in which experimentation and ingenuity were common, as 2D was transitioning to 3D. It's a heartfelt love letter to the genre.



It still needs the cherry on top, which is the well-executed story, and that's entirely on me. There's still some of that glue missing in key moments, and I can't tell right now how long that will take. But, our goal is to release a new teaser or maybe even a full-blown trailer by Halloween, also update our Steam page, and settle on a launch date by then. I have my producer Fafa Cabrera breathing down my neck to make that happen. So there, that's solid news. And no, we're not going to show up in Halloween announcing a launch date in 2274. I'm talking about a handful of months at most.

In more conclusive news, we're going to have a new game jam during October! And I think it's going to be fantastic. Previous instalments yielded excellent games, even very well-reviewed commercial ones such as Partum Artifex, so we're hyped. Keep an eye on our Discord community if you want to participate.

OK, hope you liked the update. Time to eat pizza and watch an obscure horror movie. See you soon!

—Agustín