There are two parts to the cinematic, a drama portion and a tutorial portion. I chose not to record voice actors, mostly for file size reasons, but I thought having a performance in the drama portion would add a lot, so I relied on sounds that already existed which I could use out of the original context.
The tutorial is more detailed than I originally intended, a recurring theme in the AoR development. I think it must be a side effect of having a great tool that makes it easy to add such detail.
Looking back at the to-do list I posted in July I'll update my progress here:
- MAP - I was looking for a tileset that would allow a subtle and balanced progression from the thriving Free People to the blighted cold of the Black Kingdom. In the end I chose Ashenvale as the base set which gives a slight emphasis to the lush southwest of the map. If I could have added just one more texture to the palette I probably would have chosen Felwood or Northrend instead.
- EXPERIENCE - I did a series of playtests incorporating feedback and levelling out the heroes a bit. Feedback so far is great. I'll do one more big private test before I release.
- QUESTS - I decided against more complex quests (delivery, escort, collection, etc.) in favor of more general quests. The level quests will reward heroes who gain experience quickly but can't get a whole lot of kills on their own. Fate Fragments and scattered gold pick ups really highlight the hidden areas of the map too. I had some NPC related quests designed but cut them for scope. I did add a hint system that drops random hints every 5 min.
- BALANCE - The heroes have been integrated into the Balance Spreadsheet (of doom) with a more accurate way of calculating DPS. I've redesigned the upgrade paths to allow for more coherent strategy and strategic responses. I'll use feedback from the final private test to create the first release balance of AoR.
- TOOL TIPS - Done.
- TECH - There are no outstanding bugs that I'm aware of, but I'll take one more leak pass before I call this one done.
- CINEMATIC - Done.
- STORY - I've had it critiqued several time and recieved excellent feedback, which helped me reshape the last that darned paragraph and cut out some of the fat.
- WEBSITE - Squarely in the design phase right now, but it shouldn't be long before it's done. I'm not going to make a big community site, just an info center.
- LOADING SCREEN - Icing on the cake.
See you on the flip side!
