Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption is coming to the Nintendo Switch! Silesia Games has done a fantastic job converting the game to work with the Switch interface - both joypads and the touch screen. You could say they needed to switch up the interface a bit. Or that it’s what we alway Nintendo’d to do. ;-)
We’ll have a pre-release sale starting on Feb. 2, one week before the Feb. 9 release date. Please help your Switch-wielding friends take advantage of the sale by letting them know about the great game you helped create!
If you’re in the gaming press, or know a game reporter, please help get the word out. We’re treating this as a new grand launch of Hero-U, a chance to share the game with many more RPG and Adventure players. I’ve updated our press page at https://www.hero-u.com/press/sheet.php?p=rogue_to_redemption for the Switch release.
Lori and I are doing a Twitch stream tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 16 starting at 3 pm PST. Come join us for pun and games, developer talk, and a celebration of our new release. The stream will be on Twitch at https://www.twitch.tv/transolargames.
The stream name is “A New Hope,” but I’m not sure how many Star Wars tie-ins we’ll manage. Join the stream to find out… or to help make it happen.
Summer Daze Progress
We’ve (well, Dave Gilbert of Wadjet Eye has) finished the first round of voice recording, and we’re working with Cheeseness and Sawa to get the voiceovers into Summer Daze: Tilly’s Tale. We’re also setting up logistics for the Alpha test and handling test reports. Yes, it’s the all-engrossing spreadsheet phase of game development! Or one of the several spreadsheet phases.
We haven’t yet set a release date for Summer Daze: Tilly’s Tale. That will depend on feedback from alpha and beta testers, as well as the logistics of getting all the voices, music, and sound effects into the game. We’re trying for a May or June release, but we might delay that to ensure simultaneous launch on all platforms.
After all, with our New Hope on Twitch for Hero-U success on the Switch, we don’t want to switch horses in mid-Twitch-stream.
Bye Bye 2020, Hello To A Brand New Year
over 5 years ago
– Thu, Dec 31, 2020 at 02:08:47 AM
Let's Burn 2020 In Effigy
The craziest - and scariest - year that Lori and I can remember is almost over. We all still need to be careful and stay safe as Covid-19 continues to spread, but we can look forward to a happier and healthier 2021.
As we’ve done each of the last two years, we’ll be streaming live on New Year’s Eve. This year we plan to start at 6 pm PST (Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020) and close a little after midnight. Our Twitch channel is https://www.twitch.tv/transolargames.
Besides the usual games, contests, puns, and developer chat, we plan to play a few games of Heroes of the Storm with fans. If you’re a HotS player, let us know during the stream, and we’ll try to get you into the party. Lori and I will share the story of how we started playing HotS, which we still play with friends several nights a week.
These streams are a lot of fun, and we hope many of you will join us to ring out the old year and bring in the new one.
How We Spent 2020
We started the year with a foreshadowing of what was to come, including severe illness in the family. In hindsight, that was lucky - A few months later, and we wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere near a hospital or convalescent facility. Bad news, good news?
That led to Lori and I moving suddenly from Oakhurst to take on a caregiving role in Southern California. Due to Covid-19 travel restrictions and caution, we’ve been here since then. While there has been no direct impact on our projects from this, the move has added to our responsibilities and distractions.
Despite that, we had some real accomplishments this year. We released patches 2.1 and 2.2 of Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption including French language localization, a movement speed slider, and bug fixes. We think the resulting game is more fun to play, and we’ve gotten very positive feedback on it.
We also (thanks to major work from Steve Coupe) completed the “Yearbook” for Rogue to Redemption. The printed version is currently at Simply Yearbooks; they will distribute it to backers in January.
We devoted most of the year to working on Summer Daze at Hero-U. Because of the delays we encountered earlier in the year, and because Tilly’s half of the game became large enough to make a full game, we decided to split it into two games - Tilly’s Tale and Ifeyo’s Adventure.
The writing and art are complete on Tilly’s Tale, and JP has completed most of the art for Ifeyo.
We also decided that professional voice acting would enhance the game. Dave Gilbert of Wadjet Eye Games agreed to direct the voiceover recording, and he completed the sessions this week. I will next choose which take to use for each line, and work with an audio engineer to break out the dialogue into individual files.
We’ve added “Cheeseness,” a talented developer from Tasmania, to help us complete the project. Cheesness has developed his own indie games, most recently Hive Time (https://cheeseness.itch.io/hive-time).
Next month we plan to send out an alpha test version of Summer Daze: Tilly’s Tale. We’ll use the feedback to fix problems and add additional dialogue if needed.
We’ll also start publicity for releasing the Nintendo Switch version of Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption. We hope to make a big splash on the Switch as well as finding new players for the PC versions.
In February or March, we expect to start Tilly’s Tale beta testing. This will be the complete game including full music and voice acting. Depending on testing results, we’ll set the release date and work on publicizing the game.
A volunteer translator has been working on a German language version of Rogue to Redemption. We hope to introduce that version mid-year.
Meanwhile, Lori and Cheeseness will work on Summer Daze: Ifeyo’s Adventure. We hope to release it in Fall 2021 if we are able to complete development by mid-year.
Late in the year, we might do a crowdfunding campaign for a new puzzle game, Puzzleworthy. I’ll be working on puzzles and story for that game while Lori completes Ifeyo’s Adventure. This will be the game for everyone who enjoyed Castle of Dr. Brain, or who just likes puzzles.
It’s going to be a busy and eventful year, with hopefully much more positive and fun events than we endured in 2020.
Happy Hero-U Holidays!
over 5 years ago
– Sun, Dec 20, 2020 at 11:34:56 PM
Snow Fun At All! Mooella, Maximilian, Tilly, Fritz, Sitari, and Rodrigo Frolic
The Yule/Solstice/Christmas/Chanukah season is the time when we celebrate the lengthening of days and hopes for a healthy and prosperous new year. That has never been quite as needed as this year!
To celebrate the season, we've commissioned JP Selwood to create these four Hero-U-themed Christmas Cards for all of you - friends, fans, and supporters. Let's face it - We may say "Happy Holidays," but Christmas is the best of the holidays with decorations, feasting, cookies, gifts, and time with family.
If you're like Lori in loving Christmas ornaments, you might want to visit her Cafe Press store. It's a little hard to find stores on the site, so bookmark this link:
This is where she designs ornaments, mugs, and things for our own gifts, as well as to share them with you.
Solstice Stream
It's that time again! From 3 - 5 pm PST today, Lori and I will livestream our Hero-U holiday party on Twitch. Come join us at https://www.twitch.tv/transolargames for games, contests, game developer tales, and holiday cheer! If I have time, I'll get a little farther into Heroine's Quest: The Herald of Ragnarok for its snowy Winter theme.
Yes, we want to build a snowman! Tilly, "the Headmaster," Jafafa, and Ifeyo.
Summer Daze Speaks!
Dave Gilbert of Wadjet Eye Games is directing voice recordings for Summer Daze: Tilly's Tale. We have a fabulous cast of amazing voice actors. Starring as Tilly Appleberry is the wonderful and versatile Zehra Fazal. Zehra confided to Dave that she's a Quest for Glory fan; she was thrilled to learn that Tilly is the adopted daughter of Amelia Appleberry, the healer in Hero's Quest 1: So You Want To Be A Hero.
Here's a small taste of the craziness of the voice recording process. Cyrus Nemati - you might know him as Ares or Dionysus from Hades - plays Kalbin, a student chef at Hero-U who is running the kitchen while Ifetaya and Riki are on their Summer Sabbatical culinary tour.
Voice acting auditions! Livestream this Saturday.
over 5 years ago
– Thu, Nov 19, 2020 at 11:42:20 AM
Dave Gilbert of Wadjet Eye Games is directing the voice recording for Summer Daze at Hero-U. Learn how to audition at http://wadjeteyegames.com/audition/. We're looking mostly for American (U.S. and Canada) voices, but with a touch of the exotic. For example, Tilly grew up in Spielburg, so she might have a trace of a German accent. Rodrigo is Spanish, but it's important that all of the voices are clear to American and British players.
Rodrigo deGuerre being snarky
Still Streaming After All These Years
Ok, ok, so that song title reference is a stretch. But Lori and I have mostly recovered from the marathon Halloween livestream, and we'll be back to our two-hour format this Saturday, Nov. 21, at 3pm PST. We'll talk about stuff and have some games and contests. Lori will read the secret prologue to How To Be A Hero: By the Book. Please join us on Twitch at https://www.twitch.tv/transolargames.
The Flippy Book
Lori has written the first draft of Tilly's half of the Flippy Book. It involves Tilly, Fritz, and a Meep they call Murple in a Spielburg adventure. And of course it will be lavishly illustrated by our own JP Selwood.
Flipping the book over will present a completely different story featuring Ifeyo's coming of age in Yoruba, and his encounter with a Meerbat.
The hut where Tilly grew up - Flippy book drawing
Pushing the Patreon
If you find yourself with leftover funds after the U.S. elections, consider joining our Patreon. Besides helping us out, it's a place where you'll get artwork, stories and articles from The Spell Book and the Quest Log Blog, as well as photography and other new content.
As all of the Transolar Games funds go into making new games rather than paying us, this is our main personal funding activity. I make most of the posts public, but if you like what you see, please consider becoming a patron.
The site is https://www.patreon.com/coreyloricole. Membership tiers are $2 or $10 per month, and there's a discounted annual subscription option. Some patrons choose to contribute more, which is much appreciated!
Halloween Marathon Live Stream reminder
over 5 years ago
– Fri, Oct 30, 2020 at 03:12:22 AM
The Transolar Games, Hero-U, and Lori and Corey 2020 Halloween party is almost here!
We'll be streaming live on Twitch starting at 1 pm PDT on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020, and running until around midnight! That's eleven hours of live craziness! I'll try to complete a playthrough of Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness, our official Halloween-themed game. We'll have a number of contests and prizes donated by us and other creators. The rest of the time, we'll talk ourselves hoarse.
Get ready for the stream by joining the Transolar Games Discord server at https://discord.gg/Z7dp47M. Please start by reading the rules and code of conduct on the #rules channel. If we can make it work, we're inviting all of our Discord members to join us on the #Speakeasy channel to participate in the live stream. Maybe having others chat will save Lori's and my voice a little.
