Esothe
Devlog #1: A big thank you, how Esothe started and what is yet to come with it
Hi!
First of all i want to thank you for all the warm words about Esothe, it’s made much more noise than I had imagined, the articles on Alpha Beta Gamer, next PC Gamer and then Rock Paper Shotgun. I merely counted on being mentioned in the “Unknown Pleasures” section, but instead Esothe was given its own article, which had me shocked. As for the moment the project’s website has been visited 7,779 times with 2,182 downloads, only 18 days after publishing the first build.
How Esothe was created.
The project has started in a strange way. For the last 8 years I’ve been professionally working as a level artist. In my spare time I create various small projects. In december 2015 I started working on the game I called Venineth.
The project started to grow dangerously, yet I worked on it hoping that I would finish and publish it as my first fully designed game. Two people joined me on the way, Harit (programmer) and EchoRay (music composer). Two years ago I had some health problems and so I wasn’t able to fully work on the project. From that time our enthusiasm lowered, and Venineth’s release was delayed (Steam release date isn’t set to year 4019 without a reason). In addition, small interest in the project didn’t encourage us to do much needed work.
Here’s a little picture I’ve found on the internet so the post isn’t made of walls of text only:
For the past 2 years I’ve been stuck on the point 4.
By creating Esothe I wanted to prove myself that I am able to finish anything, in a reasonable time, in a month. I could no longer look at Venineth and anything related to the space/aliens etc., so I decided that Esothe would be an idyllic fantasy land with a forest full of singing birds and romantic Elvish ruins. And I’ve done it. Would I put it in my portfolio and forget? Not necessarily.
In only 18 days Esothe managed to get more attention than Venineth in 3 years and 4 months.
Lesson no# 1. Put the build on the web, let the people play. Colorful pictures and gifs are not enough.
And so I do: https://venineth-team.itch.io/venineth-beta
Rolling ball is a specific genre, I can not objectively evaluate but it is certainly more difficult. I'm sorry I keep spamming about Venineth, you want to know what's next with Esothe.
Future of Esothe.
I do not know (I know but I will not tell you ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)). I want to finish Venineth. After the warm welcome of Esothe, I want to develop it further. I am not the only one working on it anymore, I sent the link to my friends, two talented colleagues designers Maciek and Grzesiek immediately spoke up and said: "We want to create this game with you"
And so we do (work in progress, this is NOT a final version):
I want to thank my friends who I make games with and I want to thank all of you who’ve read this wall of text. Maybe thanks to you I will be able to slowly get to the 5th point in the creative process.
I hope to upload future updates and more gifs here: https://twitter.com/mort_art_dev
Comments
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Sadly I lost interest in the marble game pretty quickly. The landscape was too simple and I found myself lost not knowing where to go. Maybe if you mixed the environment with the Esothe, it would be more interesting. I would also suggest mixing it with some of this type of marble game: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/marble-skies-brings-some-fun-3d-platformi...
Each level has its own visual theme, and each one is completely different. Some of them have a structure similar to the example you posted.
So the main problem is the first level which is quite short. I will try to clarify the path. Thanks!
Oh man, that ledge hang is a must! I have to say, this game reminded me (through no fault of your own, I know it's tricky to make a complex game) how often I wish the nimble characters in these games could climb up some uneven rubble.
Looks like good stuff.
Glad you're continuing to work on the project! It's a very impressive game and the new climbing, fighting and snow elements look great!
Didn't realise Venineth was your work too! Just published an article about that too and it's another masterpiece of world building. Awesome work! :)
You'll get to the 5th point in the way that feels right for you. I think you already got there by making something awesome in such a small amount of time.
I saw Venineth a bit earlier and right away I thought that I have to play it. I can't wait to see how it plays and where you take Esothe too. And, if it means anything, I'm hopeful that I won't have to wait until 4019 to experience more awesomeness you have created. :)