A.V. is a first-person stealth-puzzle-musical-adventure game (Try saying that 5 times fast). The game places the player in the role of a rogue music-processing algorithm from a computer's sound systems. From this role, the player can view the world only through audible means.
You know, it’s funny…the term “release”. You’d get the impression that a software release would carry with it certain other kinds of release. Emotional release. Release from obligations. Release from the eternal prison of bug fixing. The legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto once said that a delayed game is only delayed until it’s released, but a bad game is bad forever. Well, thanks to the wonderful world of digital media, that’s no longer entirely true.
Unfortunately for us, that means we’ll be working on A.V. forever.
But not to worry, because you, the consumer, need not be concerned with the state of “developers,” the mysterious biochemical devices which were created in a lab to build and maintain entertainment products for the masses. All you need to worry about is what these “developers” come up with for you next!
What we’ve come up with is our long-awaited support for the Oculus Rift! Those of you who have the game and an Oculus headset (yes, both of you) can now enjoy the eye-popping motion-sickness machine that is another enticing Oculus title! In all seriousness, though, we’ve been thoroughly excited about implementing Oculus support for A.V. for a long time. A sensory experience like A.V. deserves no less than an opportunity to be presented in the sensory-deprivation tank that is virtual reality. We really hope you enjoy this new feature (again, both of you), and we especially hope you enjoy it so much that you’ll sing its praises to the world, drum up massive sales numbers, and make us rich!
“But wait…” you may ask, “what if I’m one of the several people in the world who DOESN’T have an Oculus Rift? Have you done anything else?”
Well, you inquisitive little imp, it just so happens that we’ve also been upgrading A.V. from the Unity 4 to the Unity 5 engine. That process opened up a treasure trove of new bugs, and in the process of fixing those, we’ve been going around patching a lot of old ones, too. We’re not prepared to say we’ve got everything nailed down yet, but we’ve been cranking and cranking, and we’ll keep on going until we and the community think it is done or resources completely run out. We are both in the process of building a career and moving on from the school life, but still want to support A.V. as much as possible. Additionally the contract with MAGIC has run its course with the release, so additional costs come out of sales or us if need be. Once again, thanks to MAGIC, IGM, and RIT for all their support in getting A.V. out!
With the full development process behind us, our contributors have been released from their obligations, leaving just two of us to work on the game. Things may, therefore, take a little while to get done, but we’re sticking with it. We thank you for sticking with us.
More is on the way! We’ll get back to you on that…
- Doug & Preston