PeaceIsland posts
Posts: 216
Files: 42
Doing System Sweep/Unity Upgrade...
... so today's update has been delayed until tomorrow. Until then, check out this neat video that shows how the project has improved, since the first days!More tomorrow!
On The Road(s) Again, And an Homage to Lost Art.
Finally got some time today to start working on cleaning up the terrain painting- particularly around & in the roads. This was something I really wanted to address before the previous release, but we all know about the best plans of mice & men...Unfortunately, a few paths, lawns & parking lots were missing their proper textures, and the ruts in the roads were only about halfway where they needed to be. Fixing all of these and many more details wi...
If you are having problems downloading the latest Alpha...
HELP IS ON THE WAY!We are posting another, more accessible version on Box.com, and will be sending out a new link, within an hour!We sincerely apologize for this - this is a result of the caps that google puts on downloads, and this is the FIRST time this has happened! I guess Peace Island got a LOT more popular, in recent weeks!
Midnight Oil, Improvised Beds, and a Manual
Well- I have been watching this build, for the past 12 hours. It does not look like, despite my best efforts, it will finish building, within the next couple of hours.I have done something I've not done in two years: moved some spare cushions & blankets into my small office, so that I can sleep by the computer. I set an alarm to wake me up every two hours, so that I can get back to work and have the alpha built & posted, at the earliest oppor...
Server crashed- we need another day for PC alpha release!
Many apologies.Please enjoy this video of one of the island cats that inspired Peace Island while you wait!
New PC Alpha By 2/28
One of the things I have gotten used to in game development is having to come to you, the contributors, a few days before a new Alpha release with relatively empty hands...Ya see, it's pretty much essential that in the weeks leading up to a final build, you "lock down" just about every major feature, so that everyone can focus their energies on making sure that what we HAVE been able to include works, and hunting down bugs.For the mos...
Three steps forward....
We've been making a lot of good progress over the past two weeks! Before I get into the back-end stuff, I wanna hit ya'll with the eye candy:I'm VERY pleased to say that Deer have returned to Peace Island! For some reason, they disappeared about nine months back. I believe this was due to some minor miscommunications between myself and the devs, because their re-integration was easier than I thought it would be.We were also able to br...
SO CLOSE - BUT SO MUCH ELSE!
We said we would be presenting a new Alpha by the end of the month, and while we are INCREDIBLY close, we ran into a snag. In the interest of transparency, I'll lay it out here:The guy to whom we entrusted the development of the character controller - well, he just sorta disappeared. One week, he was working with us, as he had for the previous six months, and the next, he was hard to find and when we DID track him down, he was not responding ...
How to extract the Peace Island Mac Alpha
WE HAVE GOTTEN REPORTS THAT MANY ARE HAVING A PROBLEM UNZIPPING THE MAC ALPHA.We sincerely apologize for this oversight.To extract the zip file, you need "The Unarchiver" app for Mac - it's free:https://theunarchiver.com/MORE STUFF TO COME, TOMORROW!
The Central Question of PI, A word about Patron Rewards, and a bit of Dev News.
Hi- We've not done a public update, in almost a month -Sorry for the lapse! We didn't mean to come off as a "Members only" franchise - we've just been focused on releasing the Alphas.SO- ARE THE HUMANS WORTH BRINGING BACK?Now- before I start, I don't have any intention of turning this update into a slow-reel of the worst news of the past week. That having been said, I could not help but reflect, as I watched these events u...
We're still battling bugs - We need 48 more hours...
We will be releasing the Alpha, at 8:00 PM EST on Friday.Until then, sit back and have a snack with Ronan!
In-Game Name Mentions, Asian Game Conferences, And The Coming Alpha.
As our long-term supporters well know, we're always working to catch up with physical premium mailings (more go out each week!) However- there has been one premium that more and more patrons have been asking about, lately:"How will I get my name mentioned in the game's story?"We apologize that it has taken us this long to start reaching out to everyone who has contributed at that level, but we wanted to make sure that we could inc...
New Release on December 16!
More about that below- first, let's talk about progress & news of the past week:Essentially, we're all engaged in finalizing the tasks we started, two weeks ago, when I last updated...As you can see above, the new roads have pretty much been carved out & painted - although I hope I can add a bit more subtlety to the textures. We're adding a few puddles (in case your cat needs a quick refreshment,) and I'm currently tackling the Ve...
Music news, and an anniversary!
While most of the development over the past week has been back-end coding, I've been busily at work hand-painting the roads, and our composer Richard has been doing some amazing work on the procedural soundtrack - here's a demo!Note how the music changes, as the stats change. This is a simple demonstration of how the procedural soundtrack responds to your gameplay - the final version will be AMAZING...SO, HEY - Three years ago, I began wo...
Solid Steps Towards A Glorious November!
Hey - sorry I'm a day late in getting to ya'll! To tell the absolute truth, it's entirely my fault - I've spent the a great share of the last ten days wrestling with an issue that I THOUGHT was related to our terrain shader, but wound up just being an intrinsic Unity issue. All of this had to be sorted out, before I could start the REALLY fun stuff:YA see, every time I've booted up the previous couple of alphas, one detail in ...
This is the time of year...
That Peace Island takes place in. When the first leaves are shed and the first hints of autumn colors arrive, but days remain balmy and the nights cool. It's also that golden spot between the end of tourist season and winter (a time Mainers have treasured long before the arrival of COVID.)Over the past year, I've been asked many times if the current pandemic has affected the Peace Island project much. I've always had to confess that i...
Join us on Thursday for a Peace Island live stream
This Thursday, Richard DeCosta - the composer of Peace Island's procedural soundtrack - will be hosting a live Demo/Q&A session over on YouTube!PLEASE CONSIDER TUNING IN!
Island archeological find!
Yeah- this is an unscheduled update - but you'll have to forgive me...Those who have been following the project for a while know that the Peace Island project is in great part an homage to the islands of Casco Bay.Now, in the process of developing Peace Island, I have been doing a lot of historical research of these islands. There have been independent communities there that predate the formation of the USA, and discovering remnants of those ...
On lights, scheduling, and premiums (again.)
So hey, guys!I REALLY have to say that the most significant leap forward over the past two weeks has been the creation of the night lighting system on Peace Island.Up until we got these guys working, nights on the island were rather drab, confusing affairs- it was really hard to figure out where you were at times, due to the lack of any landmarks. Now, just about every property on the island features lighting to aid your midnight prowling.Now, I ...
Schedules, Histories, and Livecasts.
THE BIG NEWS IN THIS UPDATE IS THAT WE HAVE RE-EVALUATED THE DURATION OF OUR PATREON CAMPAIGNHere are the quick details: We previously planned to terminate our Patreon campaign at the end of October - we are extending it, and adopting a new development calendar.Does this change premium requirements? Absolutely not. Our policy remains the same:If you have donated 25 dollars total to the Peace Island project, you qualify for the 25 dollar premiums....
Peace Island Livecast 8/30, 7:00 EST
Please tune in with your questions, comments and criticisms! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOAlRauhro8
Anniversaries, Politics and Premiums.
This last weekend marked the first anniversary of our Patreons taking Peace Island to the place it is now!This was a pic I took, 30 seconds after my last shift at my line cook job:It's absolutely AMAZING the progress we have made, thanks to your support! A year ago, it was just Laura and myself working on the project in whatever time we could grab away from our 10-hour shifts.Now, we have a dedicated core staff of five, and have brought in th...
Hello to all the new folks!
We had a lot of folks join the project lately, thanks to an article over on 9gag.com - Welcome! Thanks so much for your confidence & support!Lemme tell ya- transitions are sometimes quite difficult.It looks like Lizzie had a much better time with her move, than we did... Since the release of the 0.9 Alpha, Laura & I have been stuck in a perpetual cycle of failed moving attempts that have really tried our patience. One moving company cancelled bec...
Time relentless takes no sides...
While it's been an incredible week of progress, it looks more and more certain that the release of the 0.9 alpha will have be put off until the 10th of July. I could go into the more technical details of why, but the bottom line is: We are still a relatively small team (a core of 5, with approximately 15 people working freelance.) Everyone contributing to this project is accomplishing amazing stuff on a daily basis, but there are only so many...
Leaks, Basements, and My Favorite Tree...
But first, I wanted to share a bit of leveling card art we got in, this week!We've got about seven more pieces coming in over the next three weeks - it's a particular joy to get old-fashioned 2d art for the project. When you deal with 3D work 99% of the time, this sorta stuff is like a refreshing, cool breeze running through my mind.WE'VE NARROWED THE PROBLEM WITH THE MAC ALPHA DOWN TO A SMALL NUMBER OF ISSUES:The most annoying of whi...
A "Wellness Check," Hardening Sprints, a Cataversary, and Premiums!
So, It's been a crazy month - How Crazy Was It?SO danged crazy I just realized it has been close to a month since I have posted a public update about the Peace Island project!FIRST OFF, HOW ARE YA'LL DOING, THESE DAYS?I know I am addressing a worldwide audience here - some of you are reading this from places that are still under quarantine lockdown, and others where life has pretty much continued without any change at all for the past fou...
LAST-MINUTE NEWS - 0.85 PC ALPHA BUGGED & FLAWED - UPDATE & MAC ALPHA COMING IN 48 HOURS.
BAD NEWS: But we JUST realized there are serious bugs with the latest PC release.GOOD NEWS: Mac Alpha is 99% done.UPDATES ABOUT BOTH WITHIN 48 HOURS.
So- a lot of stuff...
First off, I felt it necessary to announce:Due to the current COVID-19 situation, we are temporarily halting the shipment of postcard/art print premiums. If you are among those who got their postcards in the most recent shipment (or will receive them soon,) know that the premiums that you receive are 100% safe- the postcards were packaged MONTHS before the virus emerged, and the prints were given nine days to sit before shipping. Just dispose of ...
A week of back-end shenanigans!
This week, we really ceased work on new content for the Alpha, to focus better on making sure that what we DO have is working as well as possible. Unfortunately, most of that is wrestling with esoteric code and converting existing content- however, there IS eye Candy:Just last night, we were FINALLY able to get the IK working on all four legs of the cats. This will essentially ensure that in the next alpha, when the cat moves over an uneven or sl...
COVID/Premium update for Peace Island
Hi, folks!In the wake of recent events here in the USA and abroad, we felt that it was important to take a moment to speak with you about how the recent COVID outbreak is impacting Peace Island development, and the delivery of premiums.FIRST OFF - Everyone working on Peace Island was "ahead of the curve" on the whole "work at home" thing. "Self Isolation" isn't an inconvenience to people like us- it's a LIFESTYLE. ...
