Asylum Project Update #84 – We Have a Game!

Okay…Agustin says the game is now “playable from beginning to end.” But can we play it yet? Nope. (Banging head into wall)

Category: Upcoming Releases
Written by: Karla Munger on May 13, 2019
Genre: Point-and-Click Horror
Published by: Senscape
Developed by: Senscape
Release Date: You wish…
Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux

More info: Another Asylum Update, and on a Weekend! Be Still My Telltale Heart!  – November 18, 2018

In this instance, I’ll be posting excerpts from the latest Asylum news — which is rather lengthy — verbatim. You can see the full update here  .

Agustin says…

Greetings from a twisted plane in the further regions of experience! Wow, that last update was quite well received. It’s safe to say it was our most popular post ever. There’s no chance we can live up to that… but we can always try!

There’s a great deal of stuff I’m going to discuss today, so expect a rather neurotic writeup. But let’s start with the major bit of news this week…

We have a game!

ASYLUM is now playable from beginning to end, a milestone that understandably makes up [sic] very happy (and relieved!). A playthrough is happening soon, and I’m thrilled to report the individual portions we played are terrific and up to the standards we set for ourselves.

Keep in mind we don’t consider this beta yet, just the implementation of the whole game logic. Some portions still have mockup assets and we’re now swiftly working to replace them with the real deal. I mean, while it would be a decidedly unique experience, we won’t release the game like this:

Haha, imagine your face if we did… and our severed heads in retaliation.

Old school adventure gaming

So, all puzzles are implemented! During this process, we took a bunch of days to revise the entire game design, balance things up a bit, and make sure pacing is tight.

Interestingly, the game is far more puzzle-oriented than we originally anticipated. We’re positive fans will love the brain teasers we designed here — a few even feel like throwbacks to classic adventures. I spoke about this a bit last time: ASYLUM combines the design philosophy behind Infocom adventures with modern game design sensibilities. It may be the closest you’ll ever play to a graphical text adventure (without dead ends and sudden deaths, that is).

Check out the flowchart sample to give you an idea of how the game branches in later stages, and keep mind this is just one tenth of the whole chart!

What next?

Besides concluding the game logic, recent areas of work included the dialogue system, inventory, and interface in general. We consider all of these aspects final now. There’s always room for more tweaks, but the “shell” of the game is pretty much done.

From now on, we’ll focus on implementing the last critical assets required to reach beta. Beyond that point, the greater volume of work will involve adding further non-essential details (readable stuff, easter eggs, feedback lines, etc), sound effects (many are still missing) and more music. As soon as we reach beta, we should be able to confirm that mythical release date.

The game is getting done and will feature a consistent and thorough quality level. I guarantee you an engrossing experience: we took great care to ensure everything is consistent and makes sense.

Inventory reloaded

This is one of the changes we implemented following invaluable feedback from backers, turning the journal into your hub to keep track of everything currently happening in the game: people you’ve met, items you’re carrying, topics you should investigate, and concrete tasks you must complete.

It’s more clear and friendly now to understand which item you’re holding along with a sweet feedback. Thanks to your trusty journal, you can quickly see the full list of stuff you’re carrying and how it looks.

Menu reloaded

If you liked the journal, wait till you hear about the menu! We strive to maintain the immersion, even when you’re perusing the game options. But this is more than just an everyday menu — one of the last tweaks we did is give you the ability to review essential documents that you find in the game.

We can’t tell for sure if ASYLUM will be a great game, but its menu is gonna be AMAZING.

Matrix relo… no wait, wishlist reloaded

The other bit of exciting news we wanted to share with you is… 30.000 WISHLISTS ON STEAM!!!