[img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/828ecfc7cb2d0213c780c30c54ddfc8cd590f1a5.jpg[/img] Greetings, comrades! And greetings to the comrades of comrades! And to the comrades of the comrades of comrades! And even… Ah, you get the idea. So, uh, just wanted to say we’re alive, mostly well, our feathers are shiny, and all that good stuff. Thanks for tuning in, have a great day! Oh, you caught us — as if we’d miss a chance to ramble on about the autumn plumage of migratory screwquacks... Unthinkable! Brevity’s not really our thing, so here’s yet another endless scroll of nonsense, just for you. But first — here’s a snapshot of the screwquacks soaring over a field of ripe zhurzhiha, sent by one of our readers. Thanks for the inspiration! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/e3bb7f24cba9a20fd423325cc89e0204d5635e56.jpg[/img] Wow, look at them fly! Almost like our plans and deadlines. Except, we don’t have plans, and deadlines are some kind of myth to us, but if we did, they’d probably soar just like that. Speaking of our “non-plans,” we mentioned earlier that this year, we’re aiming to finish a three-second test version of the game and let folks try it out. Still accurate? Yep. We’re really going to try for a CBT (Combat Battle Tarantula, or maybe Closed Beta Test, we’re not sure) this December. Or maybe December of some other year… If playtests reveal that players don’t understand what to do, can’t open the menu, lose their eyesight squinting at tiny subtitles, and smash their keyboards over clunky controls, abysmal music, and soul-crushing gameplay — we’ll know we’re right on track! We’ll just sprinkle in a few more bugs for good measure. When the time comes for the Combat Battle Tarantula, we’ll make an official announcement. We’ll definitely let you know how it’s happening, how to get access, what kind of medical exams you’ll need, and all that jazz. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/62212742688fa9e35ab0239f73bea1a30f2809f1.jpg[/img] For a launch of such an unknown something, we reached out to one of the most famous and popular game reviewers in the universe — Vlad Unbribable. Known for his honesty and objectivity, Vlad was the first to have the honor of testing our early demo version, and even recorded a short, one-minute review with his overall impressions. No spoilers, so it’s safe to watch! [previewyoutube=5Emo_4yjFVg;full][/previewyoutube] There you have it, an unbiased opinion from a media icon. Or... don’t you believe ads? Well, moving on. The important stuff is covered; now, to the interesting bits. What have we actually been up to? Well… Sleeping, eating, reading profound books about a bear’s adventures in a magic forest. Oh, and working on the game sometimes. Actually, Breathedge 2 is in the final stages of crafting a full-fledged demo version with all major technical and visual bells and whistles. As we’ve mentioned before, we’re building this project entirely from scratch, with an even fuller team of four and a half chickens (not just three!). Where this will lead us, who knows? But it’s going somewhere. For example, one of our biggest hopes-n-dreams was for zero loading screens during gameplay. Yes, yes, we remember saying that the game would have loading screens between locations — but that was a total lie, as usual. Our programmers whipped up an uber-duper system of real-time, multi-threaded loading, tossed in some Spatialization, and voilà! (As if the writer here knows what that even means… Programmers just mutter incomprehensible terms to look busy, just like the writer.) Not only did all this spongebobification or whatever reduce the game’s hardware load, but now you’ll only have to wait during save file loading from the menu. Cool, right? Almost like Starfield, but without the loading screens. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/fca33f8983041427645784182e6247808233c0be.jpg[/img] More on the technically-awesome side — the game will actually have not just one broken save slot like before, but practically endless broken save slots! We kinda mentioned it before, but now it’s fully implemented and working. Save as much as you want, rename your saves, delete them, clog up your drive, and proudly flash them to grandmas from under your trench coat on the street. All for you! We even attached screenshots to each save, so you can instantly recognize which particular textures you got stuck in. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/61b5b259efd6ca73a2c65367b8d406038cf5588e.jpg[/img] Whether it’s spubblization or an endless sea of save slots — these are the very foundations of the game and its architecture (yes, we even know how to spell such concepts). The essence of our current, relentless development is to build a solid foundation that actually works and has potential for long-term expansion. Sure, we could’ve just taken the first game, thrown in some new textures, and made the same thing, but: A) You’d never let us get away with it. B) You’d never let us get away with it. Plus, that’d be boring. If there’s no challenge or risk of completely crashing and burning, what’s the point of development, right? Aside from the big architectural groundwork, we’re setting up the basics for physics, interactive mechanics, dumb AI, real-time character rendering in the inventory (yep, now it’s not just a static image but a live tiny Man, whom we crammed into the computer and fully optimized), memory cleanup, resource generation, the map, localization, and so on and so forth. Moving forward, it’ll be easier; we’ll layer new mechanics and assets onto this Frankenstein of technical solutions without needing to dig back into the core engine to figure out, say, how to prevent random water bottle generation when a player falls asleep on the keyboard. The complexity of this process is especially striking given that, for the first time ever, our script is ahead of the game’s current build! It’s usually the other way around. Looks like development’s speeding up! Fingers crossed, we’ll keep hoping for the best without actually doing anything about it — as always. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/2d9ce454a68ecee5f47692f4f17704955235d757.jpg[/img] Someone up there noticed the word “map.” Yep, not a typo. Breathedge 2 will actually have a map of locations to make life a bit easier. The first game didn’t have one, and, well, people were... suffering. Just a little. Don’t get us wrong, we do enjoy some good suffering, but still… The map will be hand-drawn by the Man himself, so we can’t really vouch for its accuracy or readability. On the one hand, the Man went to art school as a kid; on the other, no one knows what he actually did there. The map will not only hint at the best direction in which to suffocate but will also make quest markers easier to handle, filling up with additional notes and sketches as you progress. And yes, they’re proper sketches. With a pencil. Good old ancestral tech. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/b12591ded26a1486fb22bd45e062981dabd72a01.jpg[/img] By the way, speaking of technology. Recently, Denuvo launched a Discord server to answer questions, and we’ve been giving some serious thought to protecting our games. The piracy industry is robbing us of profits we wouldn’t have had anyway, and that’s very, very sad. So, after much deliberation, we’ve decided to implement a unique and groundbreaking protection system for Breathedge 2: Chinuvo. Here it is, right below: [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/346ca76a3f419dc7638e558b98f2bb3cba16fc5b.jpg[/img] Try cracking that, Elon Musk! Or, you know, whoever’s actually into that sort of thing... We’re not keeping track. Anyway, intellectual property? Protected. Technology? Discussed. What’s next? Well, more tech talk! Just kidding, okay, okay… let’s get to the high art. Yes, that’s right, we’re not planning on turning Breathedge 2 into a circus or a conveyor belt of low-grade jokes. No. Like the first game, Breathedge 2 is set to be one of the most serious, beautiful, dramatic, and intellectually stimulating games of our time, with a commitment to absolute realism in everything — from the immortal chicken to auto-braking objects in open space. We’re diligently studying history, religion, and physics through classic cartoons to bring all of it into the project. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/039a37a176877b02d0b5961e6a6a7acbcf456373.jpg[/img] We don’t quite remember what historical event that was, but our writers don’t just make stuff up — it’s clearly something important, and it’ll be featured in the game. That’s a fact. There will be other things in the game too, but those... are less certain. Of course, we’re not just studying history; we’re keeping up with all the modern trends to stay relevant and truly connect with the hearts and souls of our audience. With that in mind, we’ve revised the concept of Babe. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/d0d2650df52b71ab4f5f78d9c8d7120bafa04de5.jpg[/img] Oh, come on, you didn’t really believe that, did you? Detka ALWAYS has pink stuff! And honestly, we’re way too lazy to actually revise anything. What we can promise is that this lovely lady will be a sight for sore eyes, but Detka is staying just the way she is. Alas, time to move on. Speaking of visual appeal, we’d love to show you a comparison of two frames. In our last update, we briefly showed the train station. This one right here: [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/1db7d5e5a55bbba3004afe61fdb7b3692229867f.jpg[/img] And here it is now: [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/c86518aeee8e047229e889859975e602a39d8abf.jpg[/img] Notice the difference? Exactly. The top picture is slightly shorter in height. But seriously, we’ve finally gotten around to fleshing out and detailing the game zones. All those corpses, wires, more corpses, fences, light bulbs, even more corpses, and little hatches — all the essentials for any self-respecting derelict train station. Detailing the locations means one thing: we’ve nailed down the storyline, gameplay, and balance to the point where we’re actually allowed to start finalizing level design. Just a real piece of shi...ning ‘finalization’ work. There’s still tons of work to be done, of course, but at least the finish line’s somewhere in sight. Here’s a bonus montage of images to keep things interesting: [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/b882004c38633a6c4033aba8e7f3571a7d3b53d1.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/ca674e355b3c5c35f50c1df2c5afa8df5913774d.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/e60a64b7563f349672ed93f61a1175c8e2b4615d.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/d0d1e58fec0e970ce3cbc195d078c77a8cd200ba.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/d52058fae222c35d00e602135c1ffbe705822a90.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/8fb4d40e966c7a5e34543e09e9b5e1f3b6697196.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/668cc9b9b91bab8760dcf95e1b46d4cd259ab05b.jpg[/img] Wow! Gorgeous, isn’t it? See that AAA-level polish? Yeah, we don’t either. But oh well. What we do see is your active support for our team through your ideas, messages, wishlists, and other activities. We try to read everything, even if we can’t respond to it all. We even have specially trained chickens for reading and analyzing all incoming text. Unlike us, they can read whole sentences at once, not just syllable by syllable. P for Professionalism. That’s how it goes. Also, we’d like to remind you that we’ve become such important chickens ourselves that we now have not one, but two whole projects in development. If, by some miracle, one of them actually “takes off,” we’ll be crossing our fingers for the epic failure of at least the second project. There’s news for that one too (sometimes), plus a wishlist button and all the other Steam stuff we love so much. Stop by and check it out, we’d be thrilled to have you. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2708860/Canyons/ Whether you’re eagerly awaiting “Breathedge 3” or “Big Fishing: The Ferret Returns,” you can already drop in to ask questions, point things out, suggest ideas, or simply wish us well (or not). Our official Discord channel is always open for you. https://discord.gg/uezQcU7 [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/85e06c644fe13041808ea30135ad9ca2df6f735d.jpg[/img] We also have email. Just the plain, boring kind, not even pigeon-mail. But we do read it, so feel free to write us at: info@breathedge.com And of course, if you haven’t wishlisted Breathedge 2 yet, go ahead and add Breathedge 2 to your wishlist, because adding Breathedge 2 to your wishlist will add Breathedge 2 to your wishlist. Proven effective! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2412960/Breathedge_2 [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44238302/e79fdcccfb4544b20c922cb85fb2265469f441fb.jpg[/img]