Progress Update: 5/27/22

Earlier this month, I and my team had the opportunity to screen the first two and a half hours of the new Down the Rabbit Hole at EVE Fanfest. We had to crunch a bit to create something ready for viewing, but we were able to have it presentable just in time in a rough state.

The screening was, as you might expect, a stressful experience; we were showing a work-in-progress to who would certainly be our harshest critics: long-time players and fans of the game. But to my relief, it was received extremely positively. Many players (and developers) said that they enjoyed the nostalgia brought on by covering such an early period in the game, and the player of renowned character Katia Sae told me that the video helped his wife understand what he’d been doing all of these years, which is a strong indication that we’ve managed to make something interesting for both veteran players and those uninitiated.

Of course, there were details that needed to be altered, but there’s an adage I find applicable: “The best way to get a correct answer on the internet is to present a wrong answer.” I knew going in that some details were wrong or inaccurate, but we had no time to change them before the screening. (I was exporting the video the night before I left) However, the event has placed me in contact with some extremely knowledgeable people who also have archived old information, images, and video, and are willing to share them with me as well as fact-check the script before it goes live.

The next step is just to continue writing. As I finish each section, I’ll send each to Ryan to roughly sketch out the music, and Arc and I will identify areas where graphics would aid in comprehension of the material. Once the final narration and music are finished, Arc will animate the appropriate sections, timing them with the music.

Now we just plug away.

-Fredrik