Fech The Ferret recap - Q1 2021

Helo helo!
I'm back with a new quarterly report! I don't really have much stuff to put in this preamble so let's just-

Gabriel has officially joined the team! Not long after Alex's departure, the project has gained a new level designer. Known better as (Not So)Greedy, you might remember him for being the guy who made Sonic GT during the past couple of years. So far working with him has been outstanding, with his incredibly valuable contribution we're now able to comfortably meet the main deadlines set for this year!

I'm glad you asked. So! Like every year we aim to show the game at some expos and festivals. This time it's even more important since the release date is starting to get closer. In fact, a year from now the game will already be out on digital stores. I won't go into details for now but, unless something huge happens to the team, you can take my word for it, the game will be out next February.
(as seen here: Steam page)

So...

It's going really well, the game has hit alpha stage!
In just 3 months Greedy and I have been able to assemble around 35% of the game world, effectively all the areas before Marmocle (the city of the game). Everything is still far from gracious as areas are simply put in the correct order, and quite some work on graphics and transitions still has to be done (tester patrons surely know what I mean). One thing is for sure, now the game is starting to actually feel like an open world. I believe you'll see more about this in the next recap.

Btw, among other things, I can mention the addition of swimming mechanics and fully functional cranes. Also grass broke during winter holyday. RIP. I'll make sure to restore it in due time, and more efficient than ever, hah!

(early gif of a thing made for the quarry back in January)

Oh oh, I briefly mentioned it, but yes, a new build came out very recently, but it's a private one still, you'll have to wait quite some time before the next public demo comes out.

That's something I've worked on a lot during this month. I've always had some fairly ambitious plans for this city, I wanted to give it depth and make it feel just right while being able to express my love for specific architectural styles. So I decided to take a course on architecture and urbanism at Fine Arts (I get to choose 2 extra courses over the span of the 3 years here) and soon after, I took a short online course on game urbanism. I can say with confidence that I've learned a ton, though it'll take several months before I can show you the results of these studies (so far I've only made the maps of everything).

Unfortunately all of that is still secretive, I believe you won't see much about it until next SAGE. The only thing I can show you is the new face rig Lilly and I are making for Fech. 

You know, giving him some life with animations. (Not pictured here, sorry!)

Aaand I couldn't forget the most important part of the report, your contributions! Here's just four among the many drawings that you've made in the past 3 months.

And an additional link, I'm astonished by this dynamic pose:
twitter.com/Neweegee/status/1373797275256913922
(also look a this edit by VAdaPEGA ahahah)

And here's a simply wonderful sketch!
twitter.com/samonthepeanut/status/1371764346905235457

End of the recap! Despite the lots of work done in this period, especially during the past month, I can't really show that much. Though this time, it's mostly due to the game entering a new phase of development, so instead of going back to showing new stuff in spring, this year I'm sort of getting ready for something bigger.

See you next time!

As usual, let me drop some vital links here: all the links that matter 

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