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Girl Genius - Adventures In Castle Heterodyne

Created by Rain Games

A fabulous Action Adventure game based on the award winning graphic novel series Girl Genius™ by Phil & Kaja Foglio

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Beta Milestone
9 months ago – Mon, Jul 03, 2023 at 06:40:43 AM

Dear Backers,

major milestone incoming!

We're starting Beta this week.

In this post, I will also do a small devblog at the bottom. That section will contain some spoilers, and will be clearly marked.

What is this foul Beta demon?

I am participating in the Beta. What should I do?

  • For those participating in the Beta, please watch your inbox this week for a separate email regarding the details.

What is a Beta?

  • A Beta version of the game is a pretty much content complete version of the game.
  • I say pretty much, because there's some additional content that will be patched in during beta towards release. Examples: Game intro 2D cinematic, game ending 2D cinematic, smaller sidecontent and polish.


What is the purpose of a Beta playtest?

  • To have a fairly sizeable amount of players playtest the game, with the purpose of finding bugs and issues and providing feedback.
  • The most important issues to find are any critical issues blocking the player from progressing in the game.
  • Game balancing. Prices of upgrades, how much damage things deal etc.


What is the content of the Beta?

  • Around 95% of the full game.
  • The player can play the entire storyline, and fulfill the additional side quests in the game.
  • Note! There is some additional content that will be patched in during the Beta period.


What platforms are available during Beta?

  • Windows, MacOS, Linux.


Devblog and spoiler section

  • This section will show some diverse content from the game, and as such, can be considered spoilers.

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Images and screenshots

So right now we're working on the game intro cinematic. Here are some WIP shots from that.

First test draft of game introduction cinematic.

So as you can see, the game introduction 2D cinematic will be different panels with camera panning and text, to introduce the player to the world and the general story.

And here are some screenshots from the new areas in the game, namely the Great Movement Chamber areas.

And here's some quick shots of a certain angry plant.

Here's Chronomoira The Clank. It's a special clank found in Castle Heterodyne with mysterious origins. It is a vendor that sells Girl Genius editions to read in the ingame comic reader. Note! This functionality will not be available until later in Beta.

Ingame test of the Chronomoira model
Thank you animation. Blender test.
Greetings animation Blender test

Here's the Statue Of A Thousand Faces found in the Special Exhibition Room.

The Statue Of A Thousand Faces. Wonder what is hidden in the maw...
The player can inspect the plaque to see a credits roll Esteemed Benefactors Of Mechanicsburg

The little Dingbot has some plans of their own!

Each Dingbot Sergeant that can be found in the game now has a unique 3D model. Say hello to Sgt. Pipeworth!

Dingbot and Sgt. Pipeworth!

Oh, and here's one of the Muse Portraits that you can find in Der Kestle. Say hello to Lightfoot and a very happy Jägermonster.

- Kenny

Twitter: @raingames_kenny & @rain_games

Upcoming: Steam Next Fest and BETA!
10 months ago – Mon, Jun 05, 2023 at 04:48:41 AM

Dear Sparks,

finally things are starting to get close to completion.

First things first.

Steam Next Fest

The game is participating in the Steam Next Fest event, where everyone can play a demo of the game, during the period of the event. 

Steam Next Fest is a very important event for upcoming games on Steam, so I hope you will all play it, show it off to your friends and communities and get people talking about the game. <3

The demo can be found on the game's Steam Store Page here, and is available during the event. The store page will not feature a demo link until the event starts.

Beta

The game is very, very close to Beta. We're estimating that we'll start Beta in mid June. Full information on the Beta will be given once we're closing in.


Release Date

I can't give the date yet, as we're waiting for our physical game manufacturer and producer to figure things out on their end. This impacts the release date, and we're trying our very best to get things synchronized. We're trying to get this settled as fast as possible so we can set a proper release date.



I'll keep this update short and sweet. 

I would love to show off more behind-the-scenes content for those of you that are interested in that, but right now we're knee-deep in preparing everything and we really need to have laser focus. Thank you for your understanding.


- Kenny

@Raingames_Kenny & @Rain_Games on Twitter.

Devblog # 18 - New Trailer, Progress, London W.A.S.D event
12 months ago – Tue, Apr 04, 2023 at 08:15:32 AM

Happy Easter everyone,

so one of the big news is the new trailer. What do you think? :)

Other than that, we are working on the last game content, and it is progressing nicely. We're almost done with the last bossfight in terms of mechanics. I will share more on that in the next Kickstarter Update in the spoiler section. We are currently working on the last levels in the game as well, and the last story content. We have also started polishing the early game content in Act 1. In short, we are not that far away from starting the beta. We'll do that once the game is playable from start to finish. News on when the beta is started will be given when it's ready, so please watch your inbox and our socials. We do not have an exact date yet.

In other news, we went to London W.A.S.D event, showing off a demo. 

Getting ready on day one
The booth
Gameplay programmer Roland practicing his presentation technique

The reception among the players were great! I was positively surprised that so many loved the game. I would say around 80-90%% positive remarks, which is really good. We had players constantly throughout the three days we were there. It was wild and intense, with around 9000 visitors for the event over the three days. At this event, many people had not heard about Girl Genius, so it was great to show off the game and the series to a new audience. I think the most common feedback\statement given by players about the game were; "It's giving me that nostalgia feel, like PS2 or Gamecube era vibes, reminiscing games like Ratchet & Clank and the Zelda-series". Interesting! 

It was a very good event, with lots of good people, good games and good vibes.  If you ever find yourself in London next year, and WASD is up, I recommend the event.

Below starts the spoiler section, so thanks for reading!

- Kenny

Twitter: @raingames_kenny & @rain_games

Spoiler section

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Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer! Here in a snazzy Blender render (who wants this as an action figure?)
WIP editor screenshot from the Red Playroom
Making more MAD SCIENCE-Y 3d props
Concept art for a *certain* area
RAWR! or GLOOMPH!
Concept art of Nepentes Dulcis
Concept art of the new enemy, the Shield Clank. It shields allies from damage, so get the little bugger!
Concept art for the Gatling Clank. Note! We *might* add this enemy to the game if we have time, but we are first focusing on finishing up all story content.
Exhibition in the Grand Gallery
We're working on a better "Game Over Screen"!

In the next Kickstarter Update I'll likely show off more spoiler content from the last bossfight and Act 3 of the game.

Thanks again for reading and I'll se you next time!

- Kenny

Twitter: @raingames_kenny & @rain_games

Devblog # 17 - New Milestone reached, new Alpha, Release Date?
about 1 year ago – Mon, Feb 06, 2023 at 10:27:31 AM

Dear Sparks,

finally, we've reached a new milestone!

We've created the brunt of Act 2 of the game, and have made a new alpha of this version of the game.  The build has been uploaded to Steam and is available for Alpha players now.

Alpha players: Please see a separate update post for information about the playtest.

 Beta players will have to wait a bit longer until the game is closer to content complete. 

We are now moving into the last project phase, and with that, I'm more confident in giving a release window, so announcement time!

The game is due to release in Q3 2023. We'll specify month and date a bit later when we're closing in.


The last phase of the project

Exciting, isn't it?! So what will happen in the last phase of the project?

Well, we're gonna develop the last Act of the game, namely Act 3, prologue and epilogue content for the game, as well as side content and polish across all acts. It is a big chewtoy to chew on, but the team is ready and highly motivated to tackle it.

Noteworthy features for Act 3:

  • The final bossfight against a certain....... someone. The fight will be a blast, and will take place in not one, but two areas of der Kestle.
  • Prologue and epilogue story content for the beginning and end of the game.
  • 1-2 unique enemy types are planned.
  • We're gonna see if we can make more interesting enemy variations of types that are already in, and only need some modification in order to be a variant, like we did with the Toxic Chicken Clank.
  • Explore the Great Movement Chamber(s), the Secret Labs, the Heart Of The Castle, the Herbatorium and more...
  • 1 new Weapon: The Boom Clank. Thrown bomb that damages enemies, and can be used in metroidvania-esque exploration as well.
  • Side content: Dingbot Sergeant quest. What will happen once the Dingbot finds all its allies?
  • Side content: Portraits by a master: What will happen once Agatha finds all the masterful portraits hidden around the Castle?
  • Side content: Othar, Gentleman Adventurer. What is he up to?
  • Side content: InkyPen reader for reading the comics, integrated into the game.

As you can probably tell, there's quite a bit of content to produce, but thankfully much of this is prepped and ready. The production will focus first on the so-called MVP, or Minimum Viable Product. We're gonna make sure that there is a coherent story and gameplay running through all acts, and that the game is playable from beginning to end first, before adding extra sauce to the game. Extra sauce, here being more content, levels, enemies, etc. There have been requests for all sorts of content, like minibosses, extra challenging optional levels and such. These are not part of the MVP and will not be the focus at first, until we have, well, the MVP in place. We're gonna put on our Steam-Powered Boots Of Speed + 2 to crush through and create the best game we can within the timeframe we've got left.

I hope that you will be cheering for us and supporting us as we're running this marathon towards the inevitable finish line, and that we end up with a cool and exciting game that we can all be proud of! :)

Upcoming Events

We are exhibiting a playable game demo at London W.A.S.D in the Indie section from the 30th of March to the 1st of April. If you're in London, I highly recommend getting a ticket because that show is awesome! Come say hi to me (Kenny) and programmer Roland who will be attending! Follow me on Twitter @raingames_kenny for some updates during the show. I'll probably also include some stuff from the show in a Kickstarter update around that time.

Teslagrad 2!

Also, our other game Teslagrad 2 launches very sooooon! Wishlist on Steam here , and you can also play the demo for free during Steam Next Fest Feb 6-13!

A3 Poster

If you want, you can print this image, ideal for posters :)

A3 Poster


New screenshots and GIF's from Act 1 and Act 2

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The Bibliotecha Door
Smashing a Fencing Clank in the Corridors Of Portraits
Dingbot solving a Lock Machine in the Foundry
Agatha and Wilhelm in the Kitchen area
Dingbot using its tools!
Exploring a stairwell area
Agatha grappling in the Observatory
Running from a chasing Steam Cat!
Not all surprises are good
Spark Moment

Act 2 Alpha available now!
about 1 year ago – Mon, Feb 06, 2023 at 10:26:55 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.