Thank you!
First of all, I would like to thank everyone for their continued support for Immersive Poetry from announcement until now. The IndieDB community has been a huge help in spreading the word and getting more people to experience the game. At the time of this article, approximately 500 people have it in their Steam libraries, a HUGE accomplishment considering this was the studio’s first attempt at a commercial product (and we’re only two people, only one of which works full time). Additionally, almost 700 people have downloaded and played the beta, which, again, is huge for the first release with no prior marketing experience!
At the beginning of 2018, Immersive Poetry also saw a new unlockable system in which players collected fragments that unlock famous poems throughout history, along with 3 new achievements to complete. While not perfect, this was a huge accomplishment from a gameplay standpoint for the game and will be fleshed out as time passes.
Much has been learned from this experience and the mistakes made along the way. I (Sing) previously had no book knowledge in game design, and this led to many, MANY game design atrocities in Immersive Poetry. While I have been and am still working hard to ring out any large design flaws, there will always be some at its core that can’t really be changed, and that’s okay, because next time around, there will be plenty of room for improvement.
Additionally, prior to developing Immersive Poetry, I had no 3D art experience, which means that there are several (Not all) 3D assets modeled by others that I used in place of my own. While this in itself isn’t a ‘bad’ thing, I do believe that a game developer should do his/her best to make a uniquely designed game, and that can be hard to do without your own unique art style. I am currently and have been taking a 3D art course, and I can’t wait for the production phase for the next project to begin because this time, I’ll be ready to add my own unique style instead of someone else’s!
The reason for the lack of updates to Immersive Poetry is mostly due to these courses I have been taking to better my development skills. I believe that practice is most important, but having an expert tell you what’s best isn’t so bad either. I hope to return to my full-time work schedule within the next month or two and begin the next project while updating Immersive Poetry periodically.
The point of the above paragraphs is that this has been a learning journey. I’ve crammed my head with knowledge in nearly every field in game development, from design to execution, and it never stops. There were imperfections in Immersive Poetry, but it will always be my greatest accomplishment because it’s the first thing I ever shared with the world, and, like a painter remembers his first painting, I’ll remember Immersive Poetry.
What's Next?
Now, let’s talk about what’s next. While I’ve stated previously that I had several projects running simultaneously, this didn’t really allow me time to learn, only do which, unfortunately, isn’t good for the studio nor what it makes. So the next title has been decided on concretely and is currently in the pre-production stage. The release date and project title will be revealed on February 16th. If you enjoyed the theme of Immersive Poetry, then let’s just say that the next title will also be right up your alley. It will take the ideas behind Immersive Poetry and build upon them drastically, adding much better design in all aspects of game development (Don’t worry, though, it’s not a sequel or anything). I love bringing literature to life because it’s something that isn’t done very often (in its rawest form), and it’s something that’s relatable to everyone.
That sums up this announcement post. Thank you for reading!
