It's been a while!

Unknow release

Long Gone

Decades have passed, play as a survivor stranded in an old suburban neighborhood. Explore the secret lives of people Long Gone through their forgotten belongings and platform through overgrown streets in this 3D pixel narrative adventure inspired by games of old. Oh, and watch out for the zombies.

[img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42310786/aa077ee7650b3c49bafa0d5efd4846f97ab2e2f9.png[/img] It's been quite a couple of years since I announced Long Gone was in early development so let's talk about changes in the game and what's been happening. In 2022 when I announced the game for steam, I posted the very early prototype to see if anyone was interested in the game before I progressed onto a vertical slice, i was absolutely blown away by the support and today the game is at almost 23000 wishlists. I've been posting small updates on TikTok which has helped the game go viral a couple of times too. Its been amazing to see the support of my little game as a soloDev! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42310786/6e914c051f003aa145045737ee6508823ed8c3cd.png[/img] In 2022, I was living in Canada, working as a Senior Concept Artist at a AAA studio, I applied for my US via and it ended up taking 19 months to process. My visa expired in Canada so i needed to return home to the UK while my US visa was processing. This meant i was on the road and busy with Freelance work on other games so progress on Long Gone was slow because i was working off a laptop on an ironing board (im not kidding). [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42310786/a13ff74d11b98e4fd82bbd3eafe1188072dbbc2a.png[/img] In October of 2023 I got into the US and I'm back with my Wife, I have a full office again and so the project is FULL [i]STEAM[/i] AHEAD. ...get it. Because [i]Steam[/i]. ANYWAY. So in the past couple of months i've finished the vertical slice, most of the game is greyboxed and the game is almost in Alpha. Alpha means that a game's mechanics are all coded and working in the game which means I'm now just making content. I've found a couple of artists to start helping me out in the ramp up to the beta milestone this summer but I'm not 100% sure when the game will be finished. [h1]Updates[/h1] So lets talk about some changes to the game from the last time you saw it here on steam. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42310786/8675beb4d0fa1053afd43d31e5aed8a344203964.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42310786/bdeb9bae544ebd47f1fe44dee404eb14a5889cee.jpg[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42310786/8c2eee7a195e628eb29965a4253b42fcfa81e627.png[/img] [list] [*] New Artwork for the front yard Demo assets (BG, porch, house, etc.) [*] Yard "Get in the house" Demo puzzles are complete and playable. [*] New Grass Shader [*] Interactive "Large" items Complete (Draws, boxes etc.) [*] Foliage system and art complete (still needs animation) [*] Bag UX and reading overhauled and fully functioning [*] Pick up and Drop system is complete [*] Cutscene Triggering is complete [*] Combining Items Complete [*] Item Use and Fail states complete [*] Dialogue System Complete [*] Keys and Unlockable items Complete [*] Character speed slowed down [*] Mouth Animation when the dude talks [*] Story outline is complete [*] So...so much more. [/list] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42310786/fd36728353df3fc4fff7a78acebce0fc6270a172.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42310786/ff8433ad5e7505a85462f3ed8db2a13a8ac3108a.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42310786/2bf1ada9155d946d1599ba1c6f263716d07ad144.png[/img] [h1]More devs and Patreon[/h1] I've had some concern from fans excited for the game that as a Solo-dev, ill not be able to make the game in a timely manor. While ive only just got back into the flow of making the game, ive also taken this on board and im in the process of hiring a couple of people to help me out on the game's visuals as that is the biggest time-sink at the moment. This isnt cheap though, so if youre interested in supporting the game then you can find Hillfort Games on PATREON https://www.patreon.com/HillfortGames [h1]Next?[/h1] A playable Demo. Even though ive tried in the description of the store page to explain the game, people still think its a survival game. Gather the food and ammo, kill all the Zombies etc. While there is some of that; its not really the game. To to squash ambiguity, the game will be playable for you all to find out. I'm hoping the demo may attract finances for the game to thrive too. The demo will be from the vertical slice which is about just getting into the house from the front yard. I know you guys are sick of that yard, but its the most art-complete section i have right now. [h1]“Is the whole game just that yard?!”[/h1] Of course not. At the very beginning of the project, I created that front yard, which you have all seen and probably got sick of by now, and this is commonly referred to as a vertical slice. Vertical slices are there to test the game can work as a product as a semi-polished piece, because that was successful by the amazing reaction from all of you guys, I went into production. While in production, I have a mantra; ”it has to work before it looks pretty”. Unfortunately all the work that isn’t pretty is ugly. Like…. Really ugly. Grey boxes, the items are cubes, animations are missing; but it’s working! This is what ive been focused on. This is why nothing has really been shown because whenever I do, it tanks in views, nobody cares, people just want the pretty stuff which I get it. I want to make the pretty stuff too! Until next time!