Black Aether

[CarnivorousJelly]

I agree with Streetboat

[HumiliatioN]

Oh my god, speechless.. that's all I can say!

[MrBehemoth]

Thanks everybody, I really appreciate all your kind words and encouragement!

Speaking of meta, today I've been working on Trystan's computer. In the teaser it's just a blurry YT screengrab, but I've given myself the daunting task of making a (very limited but adequately) interactive computer interface in HPL2. This is one of the new mechanics I hinted about earlier. I wasn't planning on doing any more reveals for a while, but you folks have been so encouraging that I want to give you a peek...

Spoiler below!

The plan is to replace the whole mechanic of finding documents in the world with finding webpages instead, based on clues you uncover. As the story unfolds, Trystan might learn of something he wants to search for online. When he returns to his computer it will have become a suggestion in his search engine, unlocking multiple pages of content. Plus email and video are two of the ways that Trystan communicates with the world he has cut himself off from. Just thinking about the development involved me gives me a headache, but I'm certain it can be done using some sneaky entity switching and some epic scripting. It's coming along nicely!


click for full size

[Paddy™]

Fantastic work on the teaser mate, I'm really getting excited for this now. And am I the only one who felt a slight tingle in his belly-banana when he saw the fridge magnets? You should release a mini-map consisting of a bare room with a fridge and a bucketful of magnetic letters; that'll keep us well-busy until you finish the main game!

Will the computer screen work like the terminals in SOMA?

Good luck with the project, and congrats again for the RPS feature on Bickadoodle! I'm sure Black Aether will be an even bigger hit than Bickadoodle and The Trapdoor combined.

[MrBehemoth]

You should release a mini-map consisting of a bare room with a fridge and a bucketful of magnetic letters; that'll keep us well-busy until you finish the main game!

Hold your horses - there'll be plenty of time for spelling out whatever dirty words you like.

Will the computer screen work like the terminals in SOMA?

What's SOMA?

I remember reading some chat somewhere discussing whether the terminals in SOMA would be like in Doom where your crosshair becomes the in-perspective cursor and you just point and click from where you're standing, or whether it would be a case of you click on the screen to engage with the computer, you use it, then you dis-engage. In that sense, it will be the latter, like SOMA.

But ... I'm guessing FG are going to use a custom shader to render text and graphics onto the screen material, and so they'll have a lot more freedom, potentially, in what SOMA's computers can display.

Also, thanks for the appreciation!

[MrBehemoth]

Slightly OT...

Mr Jenkins is a real live rodent gentleman, the eldest of our clan.

The venerable Mr Jenkins passed away today.

RIP Mr Jenkins

May he live forever in the Black Aether.

[ThatCrazyShaman]

Slightly OT...

Mr Jenkins is a real live rodent gentleman, the eldest of our clan.

The venerable Mr Jenkins passed away today.

RIP Mr Jenkins

May he live forever in the Black Aether.

Aww, I'm sorry to hear that. At least you have a somewhat meaningful way of memorializing him.