The Beekeeper's Picnic (Is Completed!)

[Rincewind]

This really looks right up my alley,
love the graphics and the setting!  Definitely wishlisting this on Steam.

[brushfe]

This is amazing! Congratulations on everything so far. I've wishlisted the game!

[Jabbage]

Thank you for all the lovely comments and support, everyone!

It's been a busy few months for this project since my last post, although I can't say much development actually got done!

I was invited to a conference at the British Library to talk about my game and Sherlock Holmes games in general, and the problems of adaptation in interactive narratives.
This was more than a little intimidating because I feel like I don't know a lot about game design (especially the lingo!), and a lot of the audience did. It was a great few days though.
I got a free sneak peek at their current exhibition on digital storytelling, which I definitely recommend checking out if you're in London this Summer!

I've been scrambling over the past month because I'm planning a Kickstarter campaign for late September and really like to take part in Steam NextFest in October, which means pulling together a "proper" demo, and wrangling Steam's convoluted back end to get all the files working. Just as everything was going great my computer died and I wasted a few weeks trying to get it repaired, before realising I was going to give in and buy a replacement.

One of the best decisions I feel I made was commissioning an excellent artist to create some gorgeous cover art for me which I could use for all the graphics I need across Steam, Itch and Kickstarter.
I've been doing all the artwork in the game myself and I feel like I could have whipped something up, but being able to outsource it so I could think about other things was such a load off my mind, and I'm so much happier with the final product than I think I would have been if I'd done the artwork myself.

I've also got a brand new trailer, woo!

You can follow the Kickstarter here!

[RootBound]

Great to see some updates! Love the trailer. Looks like you put a lot of thought into the writing, and the details in the art are incredible. 

[Rik_Vargard]

That's a very nice trailer!
And very (!) nice classic pixel art.
Looks like there will be a lot going on there, gameplay wise.
Keep up the great work

[Jabbage]

Thanks! I hope so, the gameplay is the bit I'm most nervous about! 

[Jabbage]

Exciting news!
I launched a kickstarter for the project today... and it's already fully funded!

I kept the goal quite modest because I had a couple of very specific goals in mind, but I have to admit I'm really surprised that it's funded quite so quickly!

[AndreasBlack]

It's almost as if you had a photography of me as reference. Tall and skinny figures is the way i guess Started following your Youtube channel  

[Jabbage]

Hello everyone!

I'm aware it's been absolutely ages since I posted here, so I thought I'd let you all know that this project isn't dead, and I've been furiously working at it since I wrote last!

The big headlines

The game is functionally complete and playable! - I opened the game up for beta testing earlier this year and I'm really satisfied that it's now able to be played all the way through. It seems to take people about 3-4 hours, although if someone gets really into exploring every possible interaction it can take them 6+, and there is some replayability to the truly dedicated due to a few moments that you can handle in different ways. 

The game now has music! - The lovely composer for the project, Sandy Garnelle, is well underway composing a lovely soft and impressionistic soundtrack for the game. It's exactly the kind of thing I imagined a couple of years ago when this was all just a pipe dream. As soon as I began adding the music and ambient sounds it was like all of the settings and scenery felt really fresh again!

Voice acting: it's happening - This is a big one. I didn't really even consider adding voice acting to the game even when the kickstarter raised enough money to possibly cover it, as casting and directing voice actors is something so utterly out of my wheelhouse and I feel like a badly voiced game is worse than one that isn't voiced at all. I'm also aware that I didn't really write the game in an economical way, where voice acting is concerned!

BUT I've had a really wonderful opportunity to work with a fabulous voice director who I've admired for ages and is a Professional with a capital P where audio is concerned. I'm not ready to announce names, but I'm delighted to find my little game has the possibility of being a vector for some of the amazing talents in the thriving British audiodrama scene leaping into the world of games. It's this weird phenomenon where the voices i was listening to while completing the animation and artwork on the game may end up being IN the game, which doesn't quite feel real.

This is going to delay wider release of the game for a while, but I'm so sure it's going to be worth it.

So I'm tentatively looking around for anyone who might be willing to publish this oddball little game of mine!  Any suggestions would be super appreciated.

[Jabbage]

The game has a launch trailer now! And our intention is to release on March 26th

You can wishlist it in Steam!

Everything is pretty much done, play testing is just occasionally finding wobbles in the audio, because there are 3000+ voice lines and it's tricky to not make mistakes! I'm hoping they'll all get ironed out in the next few weeks.
I'm also tearing my hair out a little about trying to get Steam achievements working, I keep being on the brink of saying "stuff it" and not bothering, but I know a lot of people really like them.

[MIGGO]

Catnapped!? That simply won't do.

Looking marvellous and that 'deductions' GUI looks like a very nice touch of gameplay.

[Jabbage]

Catnapped!? That simply won't do.

Looking marvellous and that 'deductions' GUI looks like a very nice touch of gameplay.

Thank you!

I hope so - the 'deductions' idea is perhaps the aspect of the game I'm least sure about! I think a lot of the humour from the game comes from the idea of Sherlock Holmes using the same approach he might have done to solve a murder to tackle silly small-scale "mysteries" and interpersonal problems, and I reflected that in having this deductions system which feels like it's come from perhaps a more serious and more difficult kind of mystery game.

I'm hoping that most people will get the joke and find it fun, but I'm prepared for some people to think it's a tiny bit tedious!

[MIGGO]

Interesting, I didn't expect that. But it actually sounds like a very fun source of humor!

[HyperAnimated]

I swear if any of the voice actors are from Wooden Overcoats, I will absolutely lose my mind.  Congrats on coming so far, can't wait to see the finished product!