Updated the copyright stamp for 2022
This is not legally necessary, but it is a simple reminder that this website and the material hosted on it is not somehow abandonware or forgotten by it’s creator. Sometimes less then honest actors search for creative visions that were at one point shared on the internet, but forgotten, as the basis for their own business endeavors.
Added 10+ more Banner graphics to the banner shuffle
You may have noticed we like to tease actual art that will end up in future publications using the header graphic/ banner. There are now a bunch of new ones that use face images of non-playable characters from Township. Although the Township book project is slated for sometime after the Planet O-oot project, we feel like it adds a bit of intrigue to tease at far-future projects, as well as the ones actively being hammered out right now.
Published a Developer Blog Post about NFTs
It’s derivative to mention a blog post, inside of a blog post (this), right after posting previously mentioned blog post in the same day, But… It really needs to be made clear; NFTs are stealing a lot of art right now without permission and we’re trying to make it as perfectly, painfully clear as possible that Planet O-oot is NOT connected to any NFT projects.
All of the above out of the way, the future of Planet O-oot is looking bright. A new studio space has been established that will increase art output and a lot of time has been cleared off to devote exclusively to this project. The general update “chunks” discussed in May 2021 still stand as the most likely pattern of updates to come in the near-ish future (let’s say Q1 of 2022, fingers crossed).
The current major issues being worked on right now have to do with tables for character creation, how to present them graphically and to what extent there will be addition tables for each Tribe / Alien Species. The goal continues to be striking a balance between including as much information and gameplay elements as to enrich the overall experience, but to trim back enough fat to keep it accessible.
The intention is to keep the game easy to jump into initially, with the lore and worldbuilding naturally coming up and into play as it makes sense for when the player would want to know these things. Front-loading information is not inherently bad, but it can weigh down a lesser-known I.P. (intellectual property) as it tries to introduce itself to new players. Often, when something is better established in pop culture, you can bypass that initial easing-in process and go straight for the deep lore, the tiny details and the extra-ordinary bits that add layers of excitement; this is why a generic “high fantasy” setting has remained a popular choice over the years. Thanks to Lord of the Rings, Dungeons&Dragons, Warhammer and World of Warcraft; most people are very familiar with general concepts like “elf”, or “dwarf”. Creators often only have to add in what makes their particular flavor of elf a bit unique, while being able to save paragraph space from having to describe the fundamentals. Conceptual Shorthand is very useful if you want to jump ahead to focus on aspects besides baseline worldbuilding; especially in order to focus more on the game mechanics.
The simple truth is that, in most cases, we only have a finite amount of patience for absorbing new content before we get overwhelmed. Once we’ve decided to be committed to something, our patience can seem endless and our brains become more excited to absorb additional information to build on what it already knows, but that first stage of introduction has to be framed carefully as to trigger that sort of commitment and interest, instead of confusing and making the player feel hesitant in investing more time into this new thing.
Lots of developers would say that openly discussing these types of considerations comes across as pulling back the curtain too far; that it might be a bit too blunt to just say it and that it needs more buzzwords to smooth it out. On one hand, I do agree, but on the other I think being more direct between customer and creator can help build a bridge of understanding. Even at the risk of sounding offensive sometimes, I think having this kind of direct stream of thought communicated in turn helps the consumer understand what goes into the products they enjoy and to be able to empathize with certain design choices that could otherwise come off as “strange”.
– Admin P.