Fech The Ferret recap - Q4 2021
Added 2021-12-31 20:15:37 +0000 UTCHelo helo and welcome again to the reguarly-scheduled quarterly recap of all matters related to pink ferrets! More specifically, welcome to the last recap of 2021.
The final months of the year were filled with exciting updates, so let's get right into them!
As it often is, the most important news is the presence of a new demo of Fech The Ferret. This time around it's a short one: there's the second half of the Ferrest and the start of the quarry. Focusing making the game more fun while also being more accessible. For instance, in the most recent builds we made it easier to climb up walls, we adjusted level design to decrease emphasis on platforming and - after over a full year in design - we added a brand new mechanic, the ciambella roll: it makes the player go extremely fast at the cost of stamina, which can be recharged by dropping from somewhere high before rolling or touching water. So, make sure to go for a swim if you wish to keep rolling!
Btw, you can find all links to the demo here now: playfe.ch
Or check the latest teaser here on my youtube channel.
I hate making websites, I avoided this for years, but eventually I had to give in and make one for Fech. So after 3 days of studying how to make a Wordpress site using GitHub Pages, playfe dot ch came to be. Not much to add besides saying I'm super proud of it and I hope you'll share this funny sounding URL with all your friends ✨.
Now, the reason why I made a website was that back in November we joined a big convention called Milan Games Week. In preparation to it, we did all sort of things like setting up a nice booth, making con-exclusive mini-comics (which were also for sale here on Patreon this past month) and a life-sized cardboard of Fech. Super cool stuff, and it all led to a wonderful (and tiring) experience where we finally got to show the game - in person - to thousands of people! I even stumbled upon a lot of old acquittances there!
Oh btw! If you wish to see the comic strips, check out this tweet I made some time ago
Going back to typical news - oh of course! - as you've noticed by now, we also worked on improving the look of zones. During these months we figured out a reliable pipeline to let Dramis (the concept artist) and Wishdream (the prop modeler) work on new props and decorations almost independently from the rest of the development. It's now a constantly ongoing process, so expect zones to keep looking better and better throughout 2022!
On the matter of graphics, we're also starting to show new sections of the game. It's still a bit too early to fully disclose them, but you'll certainly see more in a couple of months as the game releases in Alpha on Itch.io
There's two actually! The Alpha release on 22/02/2022 on Itch, and a Steam Early Access in Summer of 2022. After a small change of plans we decided to delay the Steam release by a few months. The reason is purely to secure more visibility on Steam, and to try reaching more people. And, don't worry, if you buy a copy on Itch, you will also get a Steam key!
Lastly, among the things I'm programming, I've decided to add - after popular demand - claw marks and paw prints when Fech attemps to climb a wall. It might not be as marvelous as the grass tech you're used to, but it's crucial technical advance nonetheless 🐾.
Oh! And I've been also playing with Fech's new face rig! So far I've added a blink animation to the game and tested some new expressions. Perhaps I'll go into more details in the future.
As usual the past 3 months were filled with a lot of amazing artwork. I wish I could post more (I posted 5 instead of the usual 4), but I would be clogging the post. So, here's a few of them!
And the following submissions are the ones that won the mini-comic contest. If you're wondering about the winning artwork, it's an incredible remixed OST of Fech.
Lastly I need to mention that someone made a tiny pink ferret game for secret Santa. I'm not sure on how to share it here, but you can find it in the news channel of the discord server of Fech The Ferret (playfe.ch/discord).
I was tempted to write about all the new art that's been posted on Twitter and Instagram recently, but the post has been getting a bit too long. So that would be all for now! You'll hear a lot more about the game next year, perhaps in new formats too ✨.
Until then,
