Fiction Factory Games

Ye Obligatory Update

Spent this week doing some light promotional work for Penny. I don't know if the money I spent on key mailer is going to really translate it into sales but it was worth a try.

I've also got the next episode of laugh track sketched out. And h...

Laugh Track Alpha-01 Released!

Hello, $5 backers! It's time. Literally one year after the first alpha release of The Shadow Over Cyberspace and we've got the first alpha release of Laugh Track.

This Google Doc includes the download link as well as instructions for reporti...

Voice Acting Ponderance

So for voice acting, there's two common approaches.

If you have the budget -- fully acted out lines. Maybe not the whole game because for a narrative game that'd be tens of thousands of dollars, but at least some. If not, visual novels use "...

Laugh Track UI Test

Testing out the main menu animation and the ratings popup indicator. Got some good stuff done today!

[LAUGHTER]

Behold. We have a logo.

I should have a playable build of the tutorial episode up within a month, too.

The Devil's Lettuce

With my retirement complete, I'm feeling pretty energized to do game stuff! I've made good progress this weekend, having finalized the soundtrack -- all stock music, but it fits the corporate sitcom vibe nicely and I have a few audio tricks up my ...

Still Alive

It's been some time since my last post and I really don't have a lot to share right now, but I can at least say why I don't have much to share.

In my day job, I am an IT specialist working on a federal website. I think you can just take a lo...

Refining Designs

Not much to report for the last week -- largely I've been refining my approach for the "season of episodes" that comprise each playthrough. I'm aiming for something a bit more like Penny Larceny, shorter and more replayable. Since there's two majo...

Teens With Teen Problems: in COLOR!

Juno, Remy, Daniel, and Cat. Whee!

The Laugh Track Cast

Juno, Remy, Daniel, and Cat. Your cast for Laugh Track, our upcoming comedy-horror game about purgatory as a teen sitcom. Concept art by Crowbar, character artist for Penny and Cyberspace.

More to come.

Game's released

I can't believe I just spent the last like 11 hours juggling all these different streams and social media and everything and I completely forgot to just literally tell you on Patreon that the game you helped fund is now available.

So, this i...

1.0, For Realsies

Just got the last piece of the puzzle in place, the web search for Niara Thompson. Now instead of just saying that she wrote a song, you get to listen to the song! Thanks to Keiko, who also did the lyrics for our previous games title tracks. This ...

Update

It's been some time since I posted an update, apologies for that. Life's been a little bit crazy lately but I mean, when is that not the case? It's kind of a permanent state of affairs for adults in the 21st-century.

The shadow of cyberspace...

Version 1.0 Released!

This is it! The final build of the game! Well, unless someone finds more bugs. But everything's in, and if anything changes I'm sticking with "1.0" for the version because whatevs.

This adds in the content warning and FFG logo to the start, ...

Beta-07 Released

We're almost done, folks!

• Reported bugs fixed.

• "Unboxing" sequence at the start of the game fixed.

• Web search "NomiComm Laptop" now works!

• Steam achievements work (and previously earned a...

  2024-12-07 20:38:45 +0000 UTC View Post

Beta-06 Update

Small update. Fixed a few bugs but I haven't fully gone through the list; a few weird ones like Steam achievements, mismanaged humanity stats, and a soft lock on Dec 26 are still in.

The main reason for this update was to test two features, ...

Odds and Ends

Haven't updated in a bit, so here y'ar.

Text to speech mode now has its own unique hacking minigame -- riddles. You know, spinx-style, one or two word answers, very clever and deceptive. I've got a bank of 76 riddles to pick from so while yo...

Beta-05 Released

Your Steam installation should update itself to Beta-05 next time you boot up Steam. This fixes all currently reported issues. We still have some known issues and missing assets, note. Testing doc's the same as before.

Hoping to have a final...

Quick-ish Update

Just a quick update to say that there isn't really much of an update. Needless to say my real life has been kind of a lot for the last week. I'm planning to do another patch to the game to fix reported bugs, put in a new hacking mini game for the ...

It Is Wednesday: Well, !@#%.

Welcome to my usually-weekly blog about the gaming industry, and...

And, well. fuck.

We have another four years -- minimum, mind you -- of oppression, bigotry, chaos, mayhem, and injustice ahead of us. And in the most extreme ...

Beta-04 Released

The Steam version has been updated to Beta-04. A handful of fixes, but major ones.

• November 31 is now November 30.

• Text to speech mode fixed when selecting pronoun.

• December 8 no longer pops up Buddy in ...

  2024-11-02 17:08:52 +0000 UTC View Post

It Is Wednesday: What Is Horror?

It's been a while since I did an It Is Wednesday column musing about the game industry and game design as a whole. Let's amend that.

I was talking about The Shadow Over Cyberspace with someone recently, and they suggested I bill it as "Cozy ...

Beta-03, Now On Steam!

I've got a fresh new beta for you! Testing notes are available here:

https://docs.google....

Getting Closer

On Halloween, we'll be launching our release date trailer!

But since y'all are stumping cash to help with development costs, I'll leak it to you early -- January 10th. It'll be before some indie releases later in the year, and hopefully afte...

Quick Update About Cheevos

Yes, I know "the kids" don't call them cheevos. But the word's burned into my brain, so.

I'm going to simplify the achievements considerably; I don't want people to have to play through the game like 15 times, or even the ending sequence of ...

Known Issues

Just a quick note, if you're working on testing the beta, please make sure you review the known issues. There are a bunch of crash bugs that have been reported already.

The testing document is here: 2024-10-19 03:25:15 +0000 UTC View Post

Beta-02 Available

Beta-02 is released! Here's the link to the testing doc and download link. (I just re-used the same doc as Beta-01 because, well, nobody had left feedback yet.)

2024-10-16 13:25:55 +0000 UTC View Post

Claim Your Credit

At the end of the month I'm going to jot down the names of everyone who's in the Patreon, to put them in the special thanks section of the game.

If you would like a specific name to be used rather than the name Patreon has on file, please le...

Roughest of Drafts

I've put together a trailer! The "release date" at the end is just a guess and I'll likely spiffy it up a bit more beyond that before release, but figured I'd have you folks paying me moneys get a first look at the rough draft.

2024-10-12 14:05:32 +0000 UTC View Post

Beta 01 Now Available

We're in beta! The game is now fully playable from start to finish and ready for extensive testing. Most art, voice, and effects are in place.

Some assets and features are still missing, so please make sure you review the known issues list b...