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Arctic Awakening

 
Devlog #13: Demo UpdatesFeb 20, 2024 - Community AnnouncementsWhile we've mostly been focused on the later stages of the game as we ready it for the full release, we've still been putting in plenty of overall polish, bug fixing and core system improvements that have made their way into our demo build. We really appreciate all of your incredible feedback and detailed bug reports -- we've read every comment and have been hard at work incorporating the feedback and fixing the issues. We're thrilled to release today's update to the demo that encapsulates all of the progress since our last update for Gamescom last fall! Interacting with the World Agency to explore and interact with the world has been one of our key pillars from day one, so a lot of our recent work has revolved around honing those aspects of the experience. First and foremost, the traversal system has been rebuilt from the ground up. All traversal mechanics are now run automatically with no button presses needed other than jumping from a height that you can't climb back up from. The animations and motions of the traversals are faster and smoother to feel more fluid and address motion sickness concerns. The camera is also never taken over during any traversal mechanic so that you won't get disoriented or lose the feeling of control. And for those of you that like to toggle jogging, this is now supported alongside the ability to hold the button/key as before. We've also made significant improvements to interactions such as picking up and putting down objects. These actions are now dramatically smoother and faster without feeling so jarring (and just like with traversal mechanics, the camera is never taken over). You can also now use physics to place objects on flat surfaces or even on top of other objects to arrange things in your shelter just the way you like them. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40166011/9cd006a266aa1556284e4baf7096afe26c543424.gif Weather Systems We view weather as just another character in the game, so it's been long overdue for some TLC. The most obvious of changes is that we've added clouds to the sky! It's a subtle change at times and quite dramatic at others, but it really gives us some fantastic freedom to make the weather systems that much more dynamic and vistas that much more breathtaking. To go along with the updated skies, the weather system and the color grading that goes along with it now supports full dynamic blending. The time could already dynamically update the visuals as it passed, but now the weather can change in an instant or over an extended period of time and everything will update seamlessly. In addition, the quality of the feet deformations in the snow has been improved to be more dynamic and realistic. We've also addressed some nagging issues like Kai's head dropping below the surface of the snow in some areas or the fact that dropping items into the snow would cause them to disappear into another realm, never to be seen again. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40166011/2d29f0f87d8586037153d0d67d9cfde347659393.gif Auto Save One of...Arctic Awakening Gameplay Stream @ AdventureX 2023Nov 5, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsAdventureX is back for 2023! It's the premier annual festival in London for narrative-driven games. We showcased Arctic Awakening in-person for the first time at last year's event. This year we're once again participating in the Steam event, which runs from November 2-8. About Stream One of our favorite YouTube streamers plays and commentates on the Arctic Awakening demo, from the opening scene in the plane all the way to the surprise finish of the demo. About Arctic Awakening Arctic Awakening first-person narrative adventure set in the unforgiving Arctic. Your plane crashed in a storm, leaving only your court-mandated therapy bot for company as you journey to find your co-pilot and uncover the mysteries buried beneath the ice.Arctic Awakening Gameplay Stream @ AdventureX 2023Nov 4, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsAdventureX is back for 2023! It's the premier annual festival in London for narrative-driven games. We showcased Arctic Awakening in-person for the first time at last year's event. This year we're once again participating in the Steam event, which runs from November 2-8. About Stream One of our favorite YouTube streamers plays and commentates on the Arctic Awakening demo, from the opening scene in the plane all the way to the surprise finish of the demo. About Arctic Awakening Arctic Awakening first-person narrative adventure set in the unforgiving Arctic. Your plane crashed in a storm, leaving only your court-mandated therapy bot for company as you journey to find your co-pilot and uncover the mysteries buried beneath the ice.Arctic Awakening Gameplay Stream @ AdventureX 2023Nov 2, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsAdventureX is back for 2023! It's the premier annual festival in London for narrative-driven games. We showcased Arctic Awakening in-person for the first time at last year's event. This year we're once again participating in the Steam event, which runs from November 2-8. About Stream One of our favorite YouTube streamers plays and commentates on the Arctic Awakening demo, from the opening scene in the plane all the way to the surprise finish of the demo. About Arctic Awakening Arctic Awakening first-person narrative adventure set in the unforgiving Arctic. Your plane crashed in a storm, leaving only your court-mandated therapy bot for company as you journey to find your co-pilot and uncover the mysteries buried beneath the ice.Devlog #12: Release UpdateOct 26, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsAs we approach the end of 2023, you might be wondering why we haven't nailed down a precise release date for the game. Well, creating ambitious projects like this one can often take longer than even the most seasoned developers anticipate. While we've worked hard to meet our initial release target, it's become clear that we need a bit more time. But fear not! We aren't about to compromise on quality just to meet an arbitrary deadline. We're committed to delivering a game and story that meets the high standards we set for ourselves. We want Arctic Awakening to be truly exceptional when it lands on your PC, Steam Deck, console or wherever you choose to play. https://i.imgur.com/A6kQ3J4.gif So, what's been keeping us busy lately? Well, we've recently wrapped up the script and voice-over recording is nearly finished as well. We've also taken all of your feedback from the online and in-person demos to heart, which includes major updates to the companion AI system, character locomotion, performance optimizations, object interactions, world design and overall polish to every nook and cranny in the game. We know you're disappointed to hear the release is being delayed – heck, we're disappointed ourselves! However, we're equally excited for what's to come and know that Arctic Awakening will be worth the wait. We can't wait to share it with all of you in 2024! Stay tuned for more updates by following/wishlisting our Steam page. You can also join our Discord, Twitter (X?) and the newsletter for future updates and chat with us and others about the progress of the development!Devlog #11: Companion AI ImprovementsOct 4, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsEarlier in the year we completely re-built the companion AI system for our therapy robot from the ground up. Having a life-like companion that isn't just your typical "tutorial bot" is vital to the experience of Arctic Awakening, so we couldn't just leave it at that. We continued gathering your feedback from the latest demo builds as part of Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show, and we've been using that to focus on various areas of polish to improve the behavior of this pivotal character in the story. Intelligent Target Selection One of the main issues with Alfie's navigation is that it didn't have a full model of the world – in other words, he couldn't really see! Often, Alfie is simply trying to get into the player's cone of vision, even without understanding what lies within that vision. This led to significant issues when inside walled areas, of which there are many beyond the demo! We iterated through a number of solutions before landing on a system that selects several possible target locations and intelligently selects the "best" one based on obstacles in the way, their type and their distance. This effectively allows Alfie to see walls or other large obstacles that he should stay in front of rather than trying to go around. The most glaring example of this can be seen in the below GIF where previously Alfie would often try to navigate completely outside of the building rather than following the player through the curved hallway. Beyond halls, this change improves navigation in any sort of interior space like a room or airplane, narrow cliff ledge trails and just general traversal through the forest. https://i.imgur.com/PGV22ag.gif Local Avoidance While Alfie could already navigate around obstacles, dynamically moving obstacles such as the player could throw a wrench in that. Or even more common would be Alfie's own momentum carrying him into large rocks or trees, causing unwanted (though often comical) collisions with the environment around him – he's still a bit clumsy and will run into things here and there, but now it's by design! An advanced autonomous flying robot should at least be on par with the capabilities of a current-day consumer drone. Many of these camera drones have local avoidance systems that scan the world around them and avoid colliding with obstacles that become too close, which is now what Alfie does with detectors above, below, to the front and to the sides. https://i.imgur.com/4cjvvq4.gif Custom Navmesh Baking We use a pathfinding system called a navmesh to enable Alfie's navigation throughout the world. This works relatively well; however, the complexity of the nature in our world leads to rather noisy navmeshes that make it difficult for Alfie to "understand" what's around him. This noise often leads to noisy navigation and movement behaviors. To address this, we built a custom navmesh baking system that evaluates every rock, tree and obstacle in the game world (all 1,332,787 of them – approximately) and tags these in ce...Meet Us at Gamescom/Tokyo Game Show!Aug 21, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsIt's that time of year again -- festival season. We're really excited to be official selections of two of the biggest game conferences in the world: Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show! As part of the Indie Arena Booth at Gamescom, we'll be showing an updated version of our demo in-person from August 23-27 in Cologne, Germany. We'll follow that up a month later with the new professional Japanese translation of the demo at Tokyo Game Show as part of the Indie 80 cohort. If you'll be at either event in-person, be sure to stop by our booth and say hello (we won't bite... but we don't take responsibility for Alfie's actions), play the demo and grab one of our new limited edition cards! If you can't make it, rest assured that an updated version of the demo is also coming to Steam! We're working really hard on finishing the game and we'll be excited to share more updates in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned by following/wishlisting on our Steam page and joining our Discord! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40166011/ed114e3acf4b2f3e265a8ffb561efde53f14121c.jpgDevlog #10: Adding an InventoryJul 31, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsIt's only been a little over a month since our recent demo update and new trailer as part of summer games festivities, but we've continued making great progress on the game as a whole. While it's mostly been post-demo content, we've also been smashing bugs (thanks to your feedback!), implementing new features/updates and even adding a long-awaited new feature (new demo build available now on PC and Mac via Steam)! We'll have more to share at our upcoming Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show appearances, but in the meantime, we wanted to give a quick update on what has probably been your most requested addition – an inventory! Took the stuffed dino in the plane never to be seen again? Just search your (currently giant) pockets and jiggle him around – or decorate your shelter a bit differently! The inventory lets you see everything you've collected and take it back out whenever you want. We'll likely expand this further before the full release, but for now this acts as a solid base to start from. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40166011/8dc8e2c075fb2b3119c244bf16f89e7f5a1577e1.gif This demo update isn't just about the inventory though – we've also worked hard to resolve a variety of bugs that we've seen in your feedback and in the many YouTube/Twitch streams that we've enjoyed watching (we even made a sizzle reel of our favorite moments!). We really appreciate the feedback, it'll really make a big difference for the finished game! Until next time, the best way to keep up on the game is by following/wishlisting our Steam page. You can also join our Discord, Twitter (X?) and the newsletter for future updates and chat with us and others about the progress of the development!New Gameplay Trailer & DemoJun 10, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsIt was a dream come true to be part of an E3-adjacent summer showcase last year, so you can imagine our excitement when the call came again! At Future of Play Direct we revealed a brand new gameplay trailer that takes us further "inside" the game world. Let us know if you spot anything interesting in the new environments! We've also released a big update to the demo thanks to all of your feedback from the last few months! While much of our development has been focused on later stages of the game, we've still managed to squeeze in loads of improvements and fixes to the current demo experience, some of which are highlighted below: Improved Drone Behavior We recently created an entirely new companion AI system for Alfie, but a complex system like this is never really "done". We've fixed all sorts of edge case issues that have come to light as well as continuing to improve how intelligently he navigates the world with Kai. As just one example, Alfie's now much better about getting out of your way so you won't run into him all the time! https://i.imgur.com/LCRWfCw.gif Everything Collectable We heard all of you! You want to pick up everything that ever existed in this world of ours😂 So, you'll now find that most anything that looks like it can be picked up now can be. We'll continue to expand this and add even more objects to explore, collect and use leading up to release. An inventory is in the works as well! https://i.imgur.com/V2YPxTW.gif Brand New UI In a game like Arctic Awakening, a great UI is one that gets out of your way and lets you focus on the game world. Up until now the UI was mostly just placeholder and often a distraction from the overall experience. So, we've finally gotten around to a full re-design that is cleaner, more consistent and easier to navigate/read. It also creates a much stronger foundation for the rest of the game. Options Menu Probably the most frequent feedback was about the lack of a true options menu. It's finally here.. well, mostly! We plan on adding even more settings before the full release (such as look sensitivity, control re-mapping, quality settings, etc), but the new menu now covers subtitles, language, resolution, refresh rate, VSync, fullscreen/windowed, vertical/horizontal invert and full audio controls. https://i.imgur.com/wnO9KyH.gif Improved Gamepad Support We've had gamepad support from the start, but with the UI overhaul we put more of a focus on getting gamepad support on-par with keyboard/mouse. In general, gamepad lovers are going to feel more at home in the UI. We've also added a completely re-designed dialogue choice UI that maps to the controller layout. https://i.imgur.com/jtPrUsu.gif Audio Improvements Dialogue was sometimes hard to hear and music was sometimes too loud. We've been re-working the mix, adding ducking and making various other improvements to improve the overall audio quality and your ability to always hear what the characters are saying. Performance Improvements There's still qu...Devlog #9: Adaptive Music In Video GamesApr 24, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsThis devlog was originally written by Joff Winks for his blog. Joff is the composer of the music being created for Arctic Awakening. The original blog post can be found here. Adaptive Music In Video Games As gamers, we're all familiar with the concept of adaptive music in games. For instance, we encounter a combat scenario, and the music changes to a more intense composition. We're triumphant, and the music registers our success by playing the victory theme. Switching between two pieces of music is commonplace. But what if we apply the notion of adaptation at the compositional level, dynamically changing the melody, harmony or instrumentation? It would then be possible to sculpt a piece of music to fit the contours of a scene, where the player is responsible for making narrative choices and the timing of events. From the beginning, making music that is reactive to and synchronised with a player's choice has been at the core of our thinking. But more than this, we strive for a captivating soundtrack, music that immerses you in the wild, mysterious world of Arctic Awakening. In this blog, I want to share some of what goes into writing, recording and controlling Arctic Awakening's music. Here's a deep dive into how I approach the technical demands of adaptive music in video games with an example from episode 1. Enjoy! Sections: Form & Function Different music forms have been used for centuries by composers to establish structure and hone composition skills. For games, though, the form of a piece starts with the scene. The structure of the game scene lays out what the music needs to do and when. For example, I've identified four sections from the scene Night Frights that set out how the music progresses: Wake Alfie's Lantern Search Return to Plane The composition has four sections to match the scene's structure. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40166011/894fc313040e177300c71f1d4e33bf67193ca8c3.jpg When these sections are activated depends on the player, so discrepancies in the timing of triggering events are inevitable. Looping To accommodate the variation in timing, I split the composition into looping sections. A good loop is a thing of joy! They're tremendously satisfying to make and very useful when the length of music required is undetermined. Effectively, once the play head enters a loop, the music can play indefinitely until the player triggers the next section. The critical point in any loop is where the end meets the beginning. During this transition, any natural decay (the time it takes for the recorded signal to fall from 100% to 0%) at the end of the loop is interrupted when returning to the beginning. At this point, a noticeable artefact is audible, and unless the natural decay at the end is allowed to play out, the loop point is obvious. To remedy the problem, I record all sections separately, allowing the instruments and effects, such as reverb and delay, to fade to silence. Then in FMOD, I use the transition timeline to crossfade the end of the loo...London Games Festival DemoMar 29, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsIn addition to the new companion AI for Alfie, we've been working on loads of updates and bug fixes to the game since we last showed it at Day of the Devs, The MIX and AdventureX last fall. We're thrilled to be an Official Selection of this year's London Games Festival, so we're making all of these updates available in a new demo right here on Steam. However, be sure to check it out while you can as the demo will only be available through the end of April. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1275550/Arctic_Awakening/ And please keep the feedback coming! It has been invaluable for us as we continue to hone the experience and finalize all of the gameplay/story elements leading up to release later this year. The best way to stay informed on future beta/demo availability is by following/wishlisting our Steam page as they'll all be run through here. You can also join our Discord, Twitter or newsletter for future updates.Devlog #8: New Companion AIJan 23, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsWe were thrilled to end 2022 on a bang with inclusions in Day of the Devs, AdventureX and The MIX. It was an honor to be selected for such acclaimed events, but we were even more excited to receive such valuable feedback from everyone who tried out the demo in-person and on Steam! Thanks to that feedback, we've been working hard to fix bugs, add new features/mechanics, record more voice over and lots more. However, one thing that really stood out was the need to improve our companion AI system for Alfie. We knew we couldn't settle for "good enough" when your therapy bot plays such a pivotal role in both the story and gameplay. So, we made the hard decision to go back to the drawing board and completely re-build the AI companion system from the ground up, taking into account all of the feedback and lessons learned from the last year of demos and play tests. You'll get to see the improvements for yourself soon with an updated demo later this spring, but for now, here's a taste of what's new: Physics-Based Movement Our goal from day one was to make Alfie feel "alive" in this world, but there's always been a nagging feeling that his movement didn't "feel" quite right. We realized this was because it wasn't physically-based. Making a robot float with physics isn't the easiest thing in the world, but we knew we were onto something when it started being a blast just moving him around in test scenes! https://i.imgur.com/jkPOxd4.gif The new system actually simulates thruster forces rather than just moving from point A to B, which gives him a real sense of weight and momentum. His subtle bobbing and rotation is now a natural side-effect of thruster balancing mechanics. He also now reacts naturally to speed, turning and obstacles, which helps to believably ground him in the world. What's more, a physically-based system allows for real collisions with the world. This means he doesn't fly through rocks, trees or other obstacles in his way. It also means that if he's blocking Kai's path, you can simply push him out of the way. This gives us so much more creative freedom to really bring his character out in fun and surprising ways. https://i.imgur.com/2RFNRlT.gif Navigation One of our pillars is player agency in exploration, so we didn't want you to just be following Alfie the whole time. However, having Alfie simply try to stay in front of you caused many players to get completely lost in the forest. While fitting for the scenario, it wasn't exactly the experience we had in mind. Alfie having effectively no concept of where he is or where he's going was probably the biggest issue we saw from demo players. What's great about the games industry is the sharing of knowledge. We happened across a GDC talk given by developers of the companion AI system in Bioshock that helped inspire our own "goal side" type of system. Basically, we know the general area where we want the player to end up, and we can calculate a path in that direction. This allows Alfie to bias his ...Arctic Awakening: Gameplay & Dev Insights - AdventureX 2022Nov 3, 2022 - Community AnnouncementsEvent Information We're part of the AdventureX 2022 event from November 3 - 9. We'll be running several streams throughout the event and will also be at the in-person event in London on November 5-6! About Arctic Awakening Arctic Awakening is a first-person narrative adventure set in the unforgiving Arctic. Your plane crashed in a storm, leaving only your court-mandated therapy robot for company as you journey to find your co-pilot and uncover the mysteries buried beneath the ice. Watch the broadcast on the Arctic Awakening store page.Arctic Awakening: Gameplay & Dev Insights - AdventureX 2022Nov 3, 2022 - Community AnnouncementsEvent Information We're part of the AdventureX 2022 event from November 3 - 9. We'll be running several streams throughout the event and will also be at the in-person event in London on November 5-6! About Arctic Awakening Arctic Awakening is a first-person narrative adventure set in the unforgiving Arctic. Your plane crashed in a storm, leaving only your court-mandated therapy robot for company as you journey to find your co-pilot and uncover the mysteries buried beneath the ice. Watch the broadcast on the Arctic Awakening store page.Arctic Awakening: Gameplay & Dev Insights - AdventureX 2022Nov 3, 2022 - Community AnnouncementsEvent Information We're part of the AdventureX 2022 event from November 3 - 9. We'll be running several streams throughout the event and will also be at the in-person event in London on November 5-6! About Arctic Awakening Arctic Awakening is a first-person narrative adventure set in the unforgiving Arctic. Your plane crashed in a storm, leaving only your court-mandated therapy robot for company as you journey to find your co-pilot and uncover the mysteries buried beneath the ice. Watch the broadcast on the Arctic Awakening store page.Day of the Devs, The MIX & AdventureXOct 26, 2022 - Community AnnouncementsWe've got a busy week ahead of us! Arctic Awakening has been selected by 3 fantastic festivals: The MIX Next October 27 @ 10AM PT | 1PM ET | 7PM CET Twitch | YouTube Day of the Devs November 3 @ 10AM PT (online), November 5 @ 3PM PT (in-person) Online & In-Person (in-person is free) AdventureX November 5-6 London, UK (tickets still available) We're showing new gameplay at each as well as making the demo available in-person for the first time at Day of the Devs and AdventureX. If you happen to be in London for AdventureX, come say hello and give the demo a whirl -- James and Joff will be manning the booth! The demo will also be available again on Steam with the latest updates/fixes through November 13. Keep the feedback coming, it's been incredibly helpful for our process to improve the game! The best way to stay informed on future beta/demo availability is by following/wishlisting our Steam page as they'll all be run through here. You can also join our Discord, Twitter or newsletter for future updates. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40166011/2ab832b8c1068d6bafb86b0606618173f9e4643f.pngTokyo Game Show DemoSep 14, 2022 - Community Announcements{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40166011/165c5f41e7b24591df36f1475821692861bacebf.jpg We've been hard at work making improvements to the game based on all of your feedback from the first demo release, and we're excited to show that work off with an updated demo as part of this year's Tokyo Game Show! Hundreds of bug fixes, polish and other improvements have gone into this new demo. We've also overhauled various systems for navigation, pacing, traversal and more. The demo will only be available for a limited time -- through September 23. So be sure to try it out if you missed it last time and let us know what you think! We appreciate any and all feedback as we continue to iterate and push the gameplay towards a release-ready state! The best way to stay informed on future beta/demo availability is by following/wishlisting our Steam page as they'll all be run through here. You can also join our Discord, Twitter or newsletter for future updates.Devlog #8: Early ConceptsAug 22, 2022 - Community AnnouncementsJust as with the character concepts, we've gone through significant iterations at every step of the process. However, pre-production, which in our case started way back in 2019, can take on a life of its own. While we had an idea for the type of story we wanted to tell, we had all sorts of ideas for how we might tell it. It didn't always revolve around the Arctic – or even on this planet! We had to visually explore different environments and moods before landing on what you see in Arctic Awakening today. These are usually the concepts that never see the light of day, but we came across these cleaning up some old backup drives and just had to share them! This is just a taste of some of the off-the-wall concepts that came out of very early pre-production stages. Who knows, maybe one of them could turn into something one day... {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40166011/b98cf1ae2a3e82e766a366f3c24fa05c613ad101.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40166011/6acf97a8b7cd1dbecc2b2901e6d06b2fc1caa169.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40166011/e58c8b16ca7876e8df21c5209e0ee22e990173b8.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40166011/8b796d7702abbe8e64dc1d347470032b9f07ff7b.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40166011/1fbd10d958e23a6643b1107093ebb1ede0f40df3.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40166011/acd523857efe76df8cd82c8894eb567a0af05782.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40166011/9fb3bb7f1340e34343d508fbfe0df4fa3299df17.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40166011/cf88178485ebf87fa5b1f1d48d58bfecb274d411.jpg These early concepts were created in collaboration with Lane Brown, who did much of the artwork for our previous games. For more behind-the-scenes looks at the development of the game, be sure to wishlist/follow here on Steam. You can also join our Discord, Twitter or newsletter for future updates.Devlog #7: Demo Post-MortemJun 29, 2022 - Community AnnouncementsWe ran our first public beta of Arctic Awakening during the LudoNarraCon festival in early May. It was both terrifying and exhilarating to finally have people outside of the studio playing the game after over two years of development. The majority of the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, which has been a real validator as we continue to move forward with development. There were lots of little bugs, glitches and areas needing more polish (many of which we've already fixed), but what I'd like to focus on here are a few key issues that kept coming up. Let's discuss what we found and what we're doing about it: Getting Lost By far the most common issue that players encountered during the demo was getting lost in the forest. On the one hand, this isn't surprising since that is the premise of the game. However, we of course want to maintain the right balance so that you can continue progressing in the story. Much of this issue came down to Alfie's (the therapy bot) AI and navigation. In the blizzard scene after the crash, he failed to maintain his proximity rule, allowing you to wander off unchecked into infinity. He'll never block you from going where you want, but the idea is that he'll always be able to help get you back on track. https://i.imgur.com/wxzsGEg.gif In the final scene of the demo during the daylight, many assumed they were supposed to be following Alfie, when in fact he was following you. Since Alfie tried to stay to the edge of your vision, it caused many to constantly turn off the trail and get hopelessly lost. So, what are we doing about this? Well, we're making Alfie's navigation AI much smarter! We've been overhauling how these systems work so that he's always adhering to his proximity rule for starters. We're also making changes so that it's more clear when you should and shouldn't be following him. I won't get too into the weeds right now to avoid ruining the magic of it, but the end result of the new system should be that Alfie feels much more like a companion coming along for the ride. He'll guide you in some instances, but for the most part it will be up to you to find your own path through this world. Pacing A big part of Arctic Awakening is obviously the conversations between the characters and how those relationships evolve. However, it became apparent that there were some areas within the demo where this either went on a bit too long or wasn't well-balanced when paired with things to do. https://i.imgur.com/tE6lChE.gif We've heard this feedback loud and clear and have moved things around, cut entire sections and added new things to do to make the conversations better flow and fit together. We've also gone back and revised other areas beyond the demo scenes that we now felt would run into the same issues. We're confident the pacing of the game in general will benefit greatly from this initial testing! Traversal Many games in this genre have very simplified traversal systems where you can only traverse exactly where the l...Arctic Awakening is an upcoming cold narrative-adventure mysteryJun 14, 2022 - GamingOnLinuxWith an initial setting that seems a little like The Long Dark, the upcoming Arctic Awakening seems like a thoroughly interesting story-focused exploration adventure. Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2022/06/arctic-awakening-is-an-upcoming-cold-narrative-adventure-mystery

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