Update!

So, a lot has happened since my last blog post! But instead of writing a long, blocky, overly detailed post about everything, I am simply going to list some of the events in no particular order:

• I finished a bunch of art and animations for Havencall, much of which is shown in this video of some early prototype footage, below. For more details about the video, check out this IndieDB news post: http://www.indiedb.com/games/havencall/news/early-prototype-completed.

• David and I completely re-designed the Havencall website, complete with scrolling water caustics and everything! And no, those aren't just to look pretty - water actually plays a big role in the Havencall story. /mysteriousteaser :P
• We bought the Amnesia Fortnight prototype bundle. As game devs ourselves, it's been really interesting watching their videos and getting an insider view of what development is like at Double Fine! If you haven't gotten it, I recommend it! It's pay what you want, and these prototypes look like they're going to be awesome!
• In a fit of insanity/overconfidence, I decided to make an epic Mayan pyramid cake for my mother-in-law's "end of the world" party on Dec. 21st. If I'm lucky, it will end up looking something like this. We'll have to see how mine actually turns out. I'll post some pictures here when it's done!
• My cats were even cuter than normal, and actually "cuddled" a little (this is very rare for them!):
• David wrote some really interesting articles on his blog and Gamasutra, including this one about the "dark side" of game development and how to deal with some of the pitfalls and discouraging parts of making games.
• I read a huge tome of a fantasy novel, Brandon Sanderson's "The Way of Kings", and was awed by the brilliance of it. It is truly awesome. And this is coming from a die-hard Tolkien-ite and fantasy reader, so he has a lot to compete with. But Sanderson has created a truly unique, vibrant world that it  is so exciting to get caught up in!
• I was so intrigued by The Way of Kings that it inspired my latest Havencall scene. This scene is largely a dry, desolate wasteland, much like the shattered plains of Sanderson's book. So I decided to make much of the scene a series of stony plateaus, rather than a simple, flat desert type landscape that I was originally considering.
• I'm actually keeping a record of my progress on this wasteland scene (wow!), so I should have another process journal post up here very soon (read: by the end of the week)! Here's a teaser work-in-progress clip of that scene (click for full size):

*^_^*

Natalie