Ice-Pick Lodge

The moment of truth has come. Today, we invite all eligible backers to play the alpha version of Pathologic 2.

E-mails containing all necessary instructions should already be in your inboxes. If you haven’t received yours, please let us know through any channel of communication, and we’ll fix it.

The Haruspex needs you.

What is an Alpha

Art by Meethos

Playing game alphas sometimes feels more like work than fun. We’ve no doubt you’re all prepared to encounter all kinds of bugs, crashes, hilarious AI glitches and balancing errors. We have, after all, tried to set your expectations by showing our grand collection of ridiculous gifs!

But now you can also help is fix all that. We realize that not everyone has the time to provide extended bug reports, so we did our best to streamline the process for you. You’ll have our eternal gratitude if you find a moment or two to let us know what you think.

Continue reading The Moment of Truth →

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Hello and welcome to another issue of Pathologic 2 Report—a post where we showcase our current progress in cool gifs!

Make yourself comfortable, ‘cause the post will be long and we’ll be happy to—

…make a nice, welcoming game.

Um.

That was the new district-by-district system of dynamic reputation, by the way, that ensures that if you choose to go on a murderous rampage, people will remember… but not in a magic ‘stop right there, criminal scum’ sort of way. Only the local community cares, so if your reputation in a district drops, you try to avoid the place… unless you need something or someone there.

To be done: The system works as intended, but we need to balance what raises and lowers your reputation, because the townsfolk seem reeeeally unforgiving of petty theft now.

 

Picking Herbs

It’s like Skyrim, only everyone around is screaming with horror and pain

Picking herbs, that the Haruspex needs for his concoctions, is a process that needs to be both streamlined (i.e. the player should be able to find them with reasonable ease, not waste half an hour on a single blade of swevery) and non-intrusive visually. The system we’ve implemented works as intended, throwing something more on top of visual alerts.

To be done: The system works as intended and is finished.

 

Craft

Makeshift immune boosters are better than the ones you buy in shops

But brewing more efficient, valuable remedies also takes time. Happy Farm has never been so grisly!

Pathologic 2 is a game about planning and resource management, where crucial items often have several uses. Do you drink water or use it to make a tincture? Do you drink that tincture or use it on someone else to detect early plague symptoms in them? If making a remedy takes time, how do you plan your movement around the town? What do you use and what do you sell?

The choice is yours.

To be done: The system is in place and works, it’s all about balancing now.

 

Fights

K.O.!

Melee fights have gone through several iterations since January, with us improving the stamina management aspect, adding new hits (pictured above), and ensuring the actions of your opponent are telegraphed well enough for you to be able to react in a smart way. The fights are now working properly in the actual game environment.

To be done: One-on-one fights are fun now, but the actual action in the streets gets too chaotic in a bad way sometimes. We also feel that the player isn’t properly encouraged to utilize all options available to them, making hit-and-run tactics too beneficial to try anything else. More tuning required.

 

Odongh FIghts!

‘Aww, but he’s so cute!’ (Famous last words.)

Just like in the original Pathologic, odonghs have unique animations and hit like a truck. They can also jump at you with a bestial roar. All in all, you don’t want to mess with them (but we all know that at some point you will).

To be done: Same as above, only with a bestial roar.

 

Cool AI Shticks: Conceding

Well played

One way to ensure the player doesn’t feel pressured to murder everyone who rubs them the wrong way is introducing the long-promised non-lethal fights.

Let’s face it: while the mood and the role-playing of Pathologic 2 may not be about fighting, sometimes mugging people makes fiscal sense. There are several systems in the game precluding you from abusing this, like the aforementioned reputation and armed NPCs reacting to your violent actions… but some players will still be tempted to resort to violence, especially in self-defence, and we want to provide a middle ground for them. If an NPCs feels threatened enough, they will stop fighting and let you mug them. No blood will be shed.

(Unless you reeeeally want that sweet, sweet kidney of theirs.)

To be done: Tuning the AI. While conceding works as intended now, the whole complexity of NPCs’ behavior is not complete yet, so we may need to change things.

 

Cool AI Shticks: Points of Interest

Oooh, a crate! Gotta investigate that!

While we don’t want the NPCs to be overly active, they keep learning things. For example, now they feel an occasional tingle of curiosity and inspect points of interest, like crates, walls (to lean against), windows (to look out of), and, of course, the most engaging of them all: dead bodies.

As a bonus, most of our NPCs can look like they’re going through a really painful break-up at will

To be done: More points of interest… but also less chaos and unnecessary activity. We’re in that phase now when our NPCs have learned to do cool things, but tend to do them in ridiculous ways. That needs to be fixed.

 

Cool AI Shticks: Burning People

Job well done

he flamethrower-wielding corpsmen can now detect infection and cleanse it with fire, both in infected NPCs and you. Unfortunately, the cleansing tends to have the minor side effect of the infected person dying. One more thing to keep an eye on.

To be done: The AI works as intended, but the victim actually doesn’t burn and once, waiting half a second to catch fire instead.

 

Voiceover

The voices work in Pathologic 2 like they did in the original game, with characters uttering single phrases—not voicing their written dialogue, but expressing an additional level of character. Most Russian lines have already been recorded, but they’re not implemented yet.

To be done: Actually introduce the voices to the game. Record the English version. Add subtitles.

 

Characters and Plots

A rather CHEEKY-BREEKY fellow

Currently, most of our resources and energy goes into implementing actual content—that is, the storyline itself. While the majority of the assets are already complete, you never know when a particular event may demand a unique animation, item, or even subsystem. After a story is fully devised and all assets are available, it needs to be scripted and tested.

And not spoiled to y’all, which is why this part of the Progress Report is brief.

Just like your fleeting life

To be done: The task of adding more content is never done.

 

More Locations

Kind of hard imagining a young girl living here

You can almost smell it

The town is built completely now, except some unique indoors. Now it’s all about polishing the locations.

To be done: Polishing. Polishing. Building more indoors. The ‘burnt-out’ (post-infection) districts are still to be added. Also, polishing.

 

Less Stupidity

How Can Stairs Be Real If Our Legs Aren’t Real

Oh, it’s the dancing plague

Wheeeeeeeeeeeee

Like we mentioned before, before they get smart, they have to pass their stupid phase. The really, really stupid phase.

They do perfectly represent our modus operandi sometimes though

Привет! Сегодня мы рады показать вам очередной отчёт о состоянии нового «Мора» — то есть большой пост, где мы с красивыми гифками вещаем о том, что добавили в игру в последнее время.

Располагайтесь поудобнее, потому что пост получился длинный, и мы будем рады…

 

 

…продемонстрировать вам всё дружелюбие «Мора».

Гм.

Это, кстати, была наша новая система репутации. Теперь, если вы устроите кровавое побоище, люди это запомнят… но без волшебных патрульных, спешащих к вам через полгорода с криком «Стоять!». Происходящие события волнуют только тех, кого более-менее затрагивают, то есть жителей района, где вы находитесь. Так что если репутацию вы подмочили, можно просто не возвращаться в дурное место. По крайней мере, до тех пор, пока вам там что-нибудь не понадобится.

Что ещё надо сделать: Система работает как задумано, но стоит откалибровать, какие именно действия и как влияют на репутацию, а то сейчас горожане с пеной у рта кидаются даже на мелких воришек.

 

Сбор трав

Это как «Скайрим», только вокруг вас все кричат от ужаса и боли

Гаруспик собирает для своих зелий травы. И этот процесс должен быть одновременно и удобным (не заставлять же игрока тратить по полчаса на жалкий стебелёк савьюра), и не слишком назойливым. Нам нравится решение, которое мы отыскали: кроме визуальной подсказки на стебельки трав игрока наводит кое-что ещё.

Что ещё надо сделать: Ничего! В этой системе всё уже работает как задумано.

 

Крафт

Рукотворные иммунные лекарства куда лучше покупных

Но чтобы сварить эффективное зелье, потребуется время. «Весёлая ферма» ещё никогда не могла похвастать таким количеством кишок

Новый «Мор» — это игра про планирование и менеджмент ресурсов, так что у важных предметов часто есть несколько функций. Вы выпьете воду или сварите на ней тинктуру? А эту тинктуру выпьете — или используете, чтобы проявить в ком-нибудь ранние симптомы чумы? Если изготовление ценного лекарства требует времени, как распланировать движение по городу? Что оставить себе, а что продать?

Выбор за вами.

Что ещё надо сделать: Система работает как задумано, остался только баланс.

 

Драки

Нокаут!

С января рукопашные схватки пережили уже несколько инкарнаций. Мы улучшили то, как тратится на удары выносливость, добавили новые атаки (см. выше) и проследили за тем, чтобы действия противников телеграфировались, позволяя игроку оптимально на них реагировать. Кроме того, драки теперь работают непосредственно в самом городе (а не отдельных сценах, как раньше).

Что ещё надо сделать: Драться один на один уже интересно, но вот как только участников собирается больше, на улице водворяется хаос. А ещё у игрока пока нет достаточно веских причин использовать все доступные им опции: метод «ударить-отбежать» по-прежнему остаётся самым эффективным. Тут потребуется дополнительная работа.

 

Драки с одонгами!

«Ой, какой миленький!» — знаменитые последние слова

Как и в старом «Море», в драке одонги используют уникальные анимации, а кулаки их вгоняют противника в сыру землю по колено. А ещё они умеют прыгать на игрока с грозным рыком. В общем, лучше с ними не ссориться (но мы же все понимаем, что однажды это случится).

Что ещё надо сделать: Всё как в предыдущем пункте, только с грозным рыком.

 

Фишки AI: умение сдаваться

Неплохо сыграно

Один из способов сделать так, чтобы игрок не пытался прирезать всякого, кто косо на него посмотрит, — это добавить в игру пресловутые нелетальные драки, о которых мы говорили уже давно.

«Мор» — игра не про драки, но, положа руку на сердце, иногда ограбить кого-нибудь попросту выгодно. В игре есть ряд систем, которые ограничивают возможности игрока на этом поприще: например, вышеупомянутая репутация — или готовность вооружённых NPC накинуться на правонарушителя… но всё равно часть игроков захотят с кем-нибудь подраться, тем более если на них нападут первыми. И для таких ситуаций мы добавили компромиссный исход.

Если NPC достаточно крепко испугается, он прекратит драться и вывернет перед вами карманы. Проливать кровь не придётся.

(Ну, если только вас не искушает его манящая почка.)

Что ещё надо сделать: Продолжать настройку AI. Сдаются наши персонажи уже как нужно, но всё многообразие поведений ещё не реализовано — так что кто знает, что придётся поменять. Настроить анимации рук от первого лица.

 

Фишки AI: точки интереса

Ух ты, ящик! Надо срочно в этом разобраться!

Вообще-то мы не хотим от NPC в игре чрезмерной суетливости — но кое-чему они всё же продолжают учиться. Например, теперь их периодически начинают волновать так называемые точки интереса: ящики, стены (на которые можно опереться), окна (куда можно посмотреть) и, конечно, самый интересный объект на свете — мёртвые тела.

А ещё все наши NPC при желании начинают выглядеть так, будто прямо сейчас переживают болезненный и драматичный разрыв отношений

Что ещё надо сделать: Добавить новых точек интереса… но и сбавить суету. Наши герои сейчас находятся в той фазе, когда делать всякие интересные штуки они уже научились, но выглядит это пока что потешно. Продолжаем работать.

 

Фишки AI: сожжение зараженных

Продуктивный рабочий день

Санитары-огнемётчики теперь умеют замечать в окружающих инфекцию и выжигать её огнём: и в NPC, и в вас. К сожалению, у такого очищения есть небольшой побочный эффект: смерть. Так что не теряйте бдительность.

Что ещё надо сделать: AI огнемётчиков работает как надо, а вот жертва пока не научилась загораться и падать сразу — это занимает у неё полсекунды. Выглядит забавно.

Озвучка

Озвучка в новом «Море» работает так же, как и в старом: персонажи произносят отдельные фразы — не по написанному тексту, а дополнительно раскрывающие их характеры. Большинство реплик на русском уже записаны, и теперь их нужно вставить в игру.

Что ещё надо сделать: Вставить реплики в игру. Записать английскую версию. Добавить субтитры.

 

Персонажи и сюжет

Чики-брики и в дамки!

Вообще сейчас основная часть наших сил уходит на непосредственный сюжетный контент. Большинство ассетов (объектов, персонажей и т. д.) уже созданы — но новые истории в любой момент могут потребовать дополнительных анимаций, предметов или даже подсистем. Когда же некий сюжет продуман целиком и все нужные для него компоненты созданы, всё это добро ещё нужно заскриптовать и протестировать.

И не проспойлерить вам! Так что в деталях мы об этом рассказывать здесь не будем.

Прямо как наша жизнь

Что ещё надо сделать: Контента никогда не бывает слишком много.

 

Больше локаций

Трудно представить, что здесь живёт девочка-подросток

Можно почти услышать запах

Город наконец-то полностью выстроен, за вычетом нескольких уникальных интерьеров. Сейчас мы заняты проработкой мелких деталей.

Что ещё надо сделать: Полировать. Полировать. Доделать последние интерьеры. Добавить «заколоченные» (пережившие вспышку чумы) кварталы. И дальше полировать.

 

Меньше дури

Ступеньки — это сложно

Это не простая чума, это танцевальная лихорадка!

Уиииииииииии

Как уже было сказано, жители города уже научились совершать необычные действия — но пока что не научились вести себя достойно. Учим.

Впрочем, иногда они идеально отражают наш модус операнди

As you are hopefully aware, the most important IPL-related question is whether The Lodger’s scarf is soft and fleecy enough; and we are proud to announce that it has finally been answered.

Please welcome Ice-Pick Shop—an online shop with IPL-related merchandise.

Behold The Treasures

While video games are regrettably immaterial, the sensory aspect has always been important to us. So it is with great pleasure that we announce that you can now actually touch some things of our making. Running this little production also helps us create a pipeline to make sure the backer rewards are of great quality when we finally produce them (which is, by the way, soon now).

After backers receive their rewards, some of those goods will also become available in the shop.

For now, please enjoy the Knock-Knock, The Void, and Pathologic 2-themed postcards, posters, stickers; wax seals, that are incredibly satisfying to use (wax is just so squishy); a bunch of other goods; and, of course, the True Lodger’s Scarf!

(Which is, by the way, quite soft.)

More goods are to come, so if you’re into this sort of thing, please stay tuned. We ship anywhere in the world.

 

Quite. Soft

Christmas comes early this year! And it’s shrouded in darkness.

If you’re a backer eligible to receive the soundtrack of Pathologic 2 as a reward (which is to say, a backer, since even the lowest tier is), expect an e-mail from us today!

And don’t let it get lost on its way, since it contains a link to Theodor Bastard’s Utopia—a bonus album, the tracks from which you’ll hear in the game. This beautiful, shamanistic, and at times downright scary music will either put you in a meditative trance or the state of utter dread. A perfect addition to any Pathologic lover Christmas party.

You will receive a direct link to the losеless files, DRM-free.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Christmas comes early this year! And it’s shrouded in darkness.

If you’re a backer eligible to receive the soundtrack of Pathologic 2 as a reward (which is to say, a backer, since even the lowest tier is), expect an e-mail from us today!

 

And don’t let it get lost on its way, since it contains a link to Theodor Bastard’s Utopia—a bonus album, the tracks from which you’ll hear in the game. This beautiful, shamanistic, and at times downright scary music will either put you in a meditative trance or the state of utter dread. A perfect addition to any Pathologic lover Christmas party.

You will receive a direct link to the loseless files, DRM-free.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

 

Today we have a warning for you to heed!

The new Pathologic will become unavailable for pledging this Thursday. This means you will no longer be able to support the development of the game by preordering it; it also means you will no longer be able to purchase add-ons such as posters, pendants, and other thingamajigs.

At some point in the future, we’re planning to launch a shop that will sell some of these items—not as rewards, but simply as merchendise. But the plans are not set, so we’re can’t tell you when it happens and which particular items will be available, so if something on the Backer Portal has caught your eye already, do consider ordering it right now while the option is still there.

If you’ve already ordered something and your backer portal account is not empty, you will still be able to manage the funds as you please (e.g. choose a different reward with the same cost). You just won’t be able to refill the balance.

Pathologic Tabletop will remain available through its own site.

Today we have a warning for you to heed!

The new Pathologic will become unavailable for pledging this Thursday. This means you will no longer be able to support the development of the game by preordering it; it also means you will no longer be able to purchase add-ons such as posters, pendants, and other thingamajigs.

At some point in the future, we’re planning to launch a shop that will sell some of these items—not as rewards, but simply as merchendise. But the plans are not set, so we’re can’t tell you when it happens and which particular items will be available, so if something on the Backer Portal has caught your eye already, do consider ordering it right now while the option is still there.

If you’ve already ordered something and your backer portal account is not empty, you will still be able to manage the funds as you please (e.g. choose a different reward with the same cost). You just won’t be able to refill the balance.

Pathologic Tabletop will remain available through its own site.

It turns out the current project we’re working on demands certain statistical data. To that end, we’ve decided to conduct a small study on the limits of human ability. By donating no more than a minute of your time to us you would help the process immensely. Thank you in advance!

>>> STUDY <<<

It turns out the current project we’re working on demands certain statistical data. To that end, we’ve decided to conduct a small study on the limits of human ability. By donating no more than a minute of your time to us you would help the process immensely. Thank you in advance!

>>> STUDY <<<

Let us talk about sound.

(плеер с музыкой)

What will you not hear in Pathologic? There definitely won’t be any pop hits. No signals of planes, ships, or trams. No highway roars planned for it either. A merry carnival is unlikely to add its noises to the game, and so are ambulance or emergency buzzers. Do not expect to hear the sound of jumping either.

Instead, you will have an opportunity to catch dogs bark and crows caw, the dying moan and the infected rave feverishly. There will be painful coughs and heart-rending screams. Funeral silence instead of a noisy carnival. You will hear rusty hinges creak and cry, the earth breathe, and the blood in its veins pulsate. You will hear rough barks and gentle hums; you will hear someone murmur behind the wall. A knock on the door. A key turning impatiently. The patter of rain against a window and footsteps scurrying across a wet pavement. (Okay, we’re just reading from a content list now.)

The Town’s soundscape consists of several layers, each composed of a number of categories: characters, atmospheric ambient, and so on. Depending on the character’s status and the player’s actions, they can change in volume and receive additional effects to emulate altered states of perception—in this case, the perception of sounds. Sometimes the noise of rain can get overwhelming; sometimes, human voices come to the foreground; in other cases however, all you can hear is the beat of your own heart.

We hope that the player will end up listening not only to the sounds, but to the natural pauses as well. Perhaps they will even experience synesthesia.

Still, for now we keep experimenting and fine-tuning the details. For instance, right now we’re creating the content to fill the aforementioned layers with; we record everything you’ll encounter in the game, break the sound library into categories, and test their compatibility when emulated under different conditions—outside of the game’s engine. The work on integrating the newly-created categories into the game and making them sound right lies ahead still. As is testing, more fine-tuning, fixing mistakes, changing details, testing again… all the fun of creative work!

As for recording the sounds themselves, we use every technology available, stopping at nothing. We put microphones into glass vases to record flies buzzing. Wrap them in cloth and plastic to hit them or drown them in water; beauty has its price. We record rustling and scratches, broken toy mechanisms and nails scraping wood. We tear cloth apart and break glass, pommel iron shields and stop others from oiling rusty hinges. We make actors moan and howl, scream and writhe. (The best part of the job, really.)

Still, sometimes we do use the sounds from our friends’ libraries—you can’t always record, say, cows fast enough and with enough emotion.

And for some reason our landlords won’t let us get our own office cow.

Let us talk about sound.

(плеер с музыкой)

What will you not hear in Pathologic? There definitely won’t be any pop hits. No signals of planes, ships, or trams. No highway roars planned for it either. A merry carnival is unlikely to add its noises to the game, and so are ambulance or emergency buzzers. Do not expect to hear the sound of jumping either.

Instead, you will have an opportunity to catch dogs bark and crows caw, the dying moan and the infected rave feverishly. There will be painful coughs and heart-rending screams. Funeral silence instead of a noisy carnival. You will hear rusty hinges creak and cry, the earth breathe, and the blood in its veins pulsate. You will hear rough barks and gentle hums; you will hear someone murmur behind the wall. A knock on the door. A key turning impatiently. The patter of rain against a window and footsteps scurrying across a wet pavement. (Okay, we’re just reading from a content list now.)

The Town’s soundscape consists of several layers, each composed of a number of categories: characters, atmospheric ambient, and so on. Depending on the character’s status and the player’s actions, they can change in volume and receive additional effects to emulate altered states of perception—in this case, the perception of sounds. Sometimes the noise of rain can get overwhelming; sometimes, human voices come to the foreground; in other cases however, all you can hear is the beat of your own heart.

We hope that the player will end up listening not only to the sounds, but to the natural pauses as well. Perhaps they will even experience synesthesia.

Still, for now we keep experimenting and fine-tuning the details. For instance, right now we’re creating the content to fill the aforementioned layers with; we record everything you’ll encounter in the game, break the sound library into categories, and test their compatibility when emulated under different conditions—outside of the game’s engine. The work on integrating the newly-created categories into the game and making them sound right lies ahead still. As is testing, more fine-tuning, fixing mistakes, changing details, testing again… all the fun of creative work!

As for recording the sounds themselves, we use every technology available, stopping at nothing. We put microphones into glass vases to record flies buzzing. Wrap them in cloth and plastic to hit them or drown them in water; beauty has its price. We record rustling and scratches, broken toy mechanisms and nails scraping wood. We tear cloth apart and break glass, pommel iron shields and stop others from oiling rusty hinges. We make actors moan and howl, scream and writhe. (The best part of the job, really.)

Still, sometimes we do use the sounds from our friends’ libraries—you can’t always record, say, cows fast enough and with enough emotion.

And for some reason our landlords won’t let us get our own office cow.

Let us talk about sound.

(плеер с музыкой)

What will you not hear in Pathologic? There definitely won’t be any pop hits. No signals of planes, ships, or trams. No highway roars planned for it either. A merry carnival is unlikely to add its noises to the game, and so are ambulance or emergency buzzers. Do not expect to hear the sound of jumping either.

Instead, you will have an opportunity to catch dogs bark and crows caw, the dying moan and the infected rave feverishly. There will be painful coughs and heart-rending screams. Funeral silence instead of a noisy carnival. You will hear rusty hinges creak and cry, the earth breathe, and the blood in its veins pulsate. You will hear rough barks and gentle hums; you will hear someone murmur behind the wall. A knock on the door. A key turning impatiently. The patter of rain against a window and footsteps scurrying across a wet pavement. (Okay, we’re just reading from a content list now.)

The Town’s soundscape consists of several layers, each composed of a number of categories: characters, atmospheric ambient, and so on. Depending on the character’s status and the player’s actions, they can change in volume and receive additional effects to emulate altered states of perception—in this case, the perception of sounds. Sometimes the noise of rain can get overwhelming; sometimes, human voices come to the foreground; in other cases however, all you can hear is the beat of your own heart.

We hope that the player will end up listening not only to the sounds, but to the natural pauses as well. Perhaps they will even experience synesthesia.

Still, for now we keep experimenting and fine-tuning the details. For instance, right now we’re creating the content to fill the aforementioned layers with; we record everything you’ll encounter in the game, break the sound library into categories, and test their compatibility when emulated under different conditions—outside of the game’s engine, for now. The work on integrating the newly-created categories into the game and making them sound right lies ahead still. As is testing, more fine-tuning, fixing mistakes, changing details, testing again… all the fun of creative work!

As for recording the sounds themselves, we use every technology available, stopping at nothing. We put microphones into glass vases to record flies buzzing. Wrap it in cloth and plastic to hit it or drown it in water; beauty has its price. We record rustling and scratches, broken toy mechanisms and nails scraping wood. We tear cloth apart and break glass, pommel iron shields and stop others from oiling rusty hinges. We make actors moan and howl, scream and writhe. (The best part of the job, really.)

Still, sometimes we do use the sounds from our friends’ libraries—you can’t always record, say, cows fast enough and with enough emotion.

And for some reason our landlords won’t let us get our own office cow.

Let us talk about sound.

(плеер с музыкой)

What will you not hear in Pathologic? There definitely won’t be any pop hits. No signals of planes, ships, trams. No highway roars planned for it either. A merry carnival is unlikely to add its noises to the game, and so are ambulance or emergency buzzers. You are unlikely to hear the sound of jumping either.

Instead, you will have an opportunity to catch dogs bark and crows caw, the dying moan and the infected rave feverishly. There will be painful coughs and heart-rending screams. Funeral silence instead of a loud carnival. You will hear rusty hinges creak and cry, the earth breathe, and the blood in its veins pulsate. You will hear rough barks and gentle hums; you will hear someone murmur behind the wall. A knock on the door. A key turning impatiently. The patter of rain against a window and footsteps scurrying across a wet pavement. (Okay, we’re just reading from a content list now.)

The Town’s soundscape consists of several layers, each composed of a number of categories: characters, atmospheric ambient, and so on. Depending on the character’s status and the player’s actions, they can change in volume and receive additional effects to emulate altered states of perception—in this case, the perception of sounds. Sometimes the noise of rain can get overwhelming; sometimes, human voices come to the foreground; in other cases however, all you can hear is the beat of your own heart.

We hope that the player will end up listening not only to the sounds, but to the natural pauses as well. Perhaps they will even experience synesthesia.

Still, for now we keep experimenting and fine-tuning the details. For instance, right now we’re creating the content to fill the aforementioned layers with; we record everything you’ll encounter in the game, break the sound library into categories, and test their compatibility when emulated under different conditions—outside of the game’s engine, for now. The work on integrating the newly-created categories into the game and making them sound right lies ahead still. As is testing, more fine-tuning, fixing mistakes, changing details, testing again… all the fun of creative work!

Still, for now we keep experimenting and fine-tuning the details. For instance, right now we’re creating the content to fill the aforementioned layers with; we record everything you’ll encounter in the game, break the sound library into categories, and test their compatibility when emulated under different conditions—outside of the game’s engine, for now. The work on integrating the newly-created categories into the game and making them sound right lies ahead still. As is testing, more fine-tuning, fixing mistakes, changing details, testing again… all the fun of creative work!

Still, sometimes we do use the sounds from our friends’ libraries—you can’t always record, say, cows fast enough and with enough emotion.

And for some reason our landlords won’t let us get our own office cow.