After Reset - classic post-apocalyptic role-playing game

Following the weekly reports sir! Not a supporter yet though. So far the game and your vision really makes me want to pledge money. But I have to wait for more :)
 
Sure :)

THE FIRST POST-KICKSTARTER UPDATE

Hi guys,

So this is our first update after completing the campaign. As you may remember from our previous update, I planned to take 5 days off - but our team was so energized by your support that we haven’t stopped working on the game. And while Amazon and Kickstarter are still processing your pledges (it should take one more week), we’d like to share our progress and ask for your thoughts about one issue. This update is quite large but, I believe, substantial and interesting :)

MODELLING HEADWAY

At last, we have completed the model of NBC Suit that you’ll be able to wear in the Prologue, and the figure we’ll print soon for The Fall of Gyes exclusive reward:

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NBC Suit (which stands for Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) is a type of scientific personal protective equipment designed to provide protection against direct contact with radioactive, biological and chemical substances, and provides protection from contamination with radioactive, biological and chemical materials.

This portable and self-contained full-body unit, called by scientists of the UG Science Corps as "Lab Rat", is filled with all manner of protection against hazardous materials, and includes a breathing apparatus (SCBA) for long-term use. This model of NBC Suit has been officially produced by IBR corporation for the Science Corps, hospitals of Underearth and for commercial sector since 94 A.R.


Then here is the model of the ML1 CQC Stun Grenade you’ll be able to find in Gyes bunker playing the Prologue:

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The ML1 Close Quarters Combat Stun Grenade, also known as a flash grenade or a flashbang, is a non-lethal offensive weapon. The first stunning devices were created long before the Past Age but lost popularity among civil and military structures by the end of it in favor of other more radical solutions.

The first and only civil mass unrest within the underground cities of the United Governments happened in 87 A.R., and revived the demand for this kind of cheap non-lethal incapacitants. The SW55 Flash Grenades that were in service at the time of that civil unrest (nick-named ‘Riot of Cans’ by mass media) revealed a range of constructive impairments. Based on that experience the Weisskopf Dynamics with the support from other minor corporations managed to get a long-term contract from the UG Social Corps to produce a new type of non-lethal stun grenade, one that was safer and more effective. Like many other explosives, this grenade is based on the same cocrystallization technology, actively lobbied by Weisskopf Dynamics.

And MA7 Offensive Concussion Grenade:

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The MA7 Offensive Concussion Grenade is designed to produce casualties during close combat with explosive wave power alone while minimizing danger to friendly forces. The grenade is also used for concussion effects in enclosed areas, and for blasting or demolition tasks. The shock waves (overpressure) produced by this grenade when used in enclosed areas are greater than those produced by its earlier counterparts. It’s very effective against enemies located in bunkers, buildings, and fortified areas.

Advances in explosive potency and reliability for this type of grenade are based on cocrystallization technology, which was already thoroughly studied by Weisskopf Dynamics and many other small corporations before the Reset, and there haven’t been any major improvements on it since.


We’ve also completed Power Hub Panel and Bio-Radioactive-Chemical Waste Utilization Unit - fresh elements for Gyes interiors but we’ll post them next update.

According to our tradition, our forum-members with Co-Founder status (which is included as a reward to our Kickstarter pledges $35 and higher) can find and enjoy these models in Full HD on Co-Founders' Area on After Reset official forum there: http://www.afterreset.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=13

WEBSITE CHANGES

Speaking about the forum and Co-Founder status reward, we’d like to ask those of you, our dear backers, who do not have an account on our official forum to create them: http://www.afterreset.com/forum/

That please is due to the fact that we will require your forum account name in a survey on Kickstarter in coming weeks. We’re just worried a little about our server capacity if you all try to register on the forum at once :)

As a final titbit for the website part of the news, I am pleased to let you know that we reworked our Store page: http://www.afterreset.com/store. That is the page where newcomers are able to back us directly via PayPal or existing supporters are able to upgrade their pledges. I hope you’ll like its new design and structure :)

PROGRAMMING PROGRESS

I’ve managed to organize full time programming development. Thus now we have two heavy experienced programmers already working on the game.

We managed to plan the whole coding schedule up to the release by the end of October. As well as we reviewed the architecture of the game that will optimize performance by third. That caused us to redo all main menu, effects, GUI and character creation but it is worth it already: during this week we got done what would have takenus 2 months before the Kickstarter.

We also reviewed game modes so that they fit both Steam and GOG platforms:

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For the Prologue and a couple of Chapters you’ll be able to play in Hardcore Mode only. And after full game completion we’ll unlock Global Mode that should bring a really fresh and unexpected experience even for those who participate in early access tests for each chapter. That should be something… But now, let me describe each of the modes more:

GLOBAL MODE (INTERNET CONNECTION REQUIRED): requires Internet connection to establish synchronization between your computer and AR Quanton servers. After the game session our computers will calculate a global ending of the session for After Reset's world. Everyone's choices will be taken into account, we'll polish it, and a final 'global' ending will be released in addition to the conclusion of your own personal story. Important Notes: Enemies can roll critical hits and only auto-saves are allowed for this mode, death is permanent and no 'rerolls' are possible. You are able to play through the game in Global Mode multiple times, but you can upload and synchronized the record of it only once. So, take your choices seriously! Recommendations: This mode is recommended for experienced RPG gamers.

HARDCORE MODE (STANDALONE MODE): doesn't require an Internet connection to establish synchronization between your computer and AR Quanton servers. You can save your progress at will, and we encourage you to explore alternative story branches with your saved games. Important Notes: Enemies can roll critical hits and manual saves are allowed for this mode. You are able to play through the game in Hardcore Mode multiple times. Recommendations: This mode is recommended for those who has no experience in old school RPGs or for experienced players who already played through the game in Global Mode.

CO-OP MODE (INTERNET CONNECTION REQUIRED): requires Internet connection to establish synchronization between your and other player’s computers. In this mode you are able to take control of one of the companions of the host player’s character. Important Notes: You require IP and password of the host to join. As well as the host player must be running the game in Global Mode so that you can join it online. Recommendations: This game mode is only available for those players who already completed the game in Global Mode.

LORE AND SETTING

Taking some days off in a library, I’ve occasionally found a splendid science fiction novella - Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny released in 1967. I bet, you really would be interested in reading it (please don’t watch the film adaptation – it’s face palm).

That novella could nicely describe the world on the surface during the first decades after the Reset. The time, when the last remnants and trails of the civilization of the Past Age were vanishing. I really recommend it.

And just imagine - Damnation Alley was written not only before Fallout video game but even long time before PC or MAC emerging themselves!

WE NEED YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE VIDEO CINEMATIC INTRO

With Max we've tested the technology for creation pseudo 3d video from 2d and 3d elements. Please, check this test made by Max: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIuLhS6VmWc

He likes it, but I don’t feel that it will be able to compete with full CGI videos from AAA games like other content we create. Therefore, we need YOUR opinion about the test video above and YOUR choice from the 3 variants below.

We have three options for the intro development:

1. We can proceed video development with the quality of the test video you’ve seen.

2. We can create some awesome photo-realistic paintings based on our current Backstory. But rework them as huge photo-realistic paintings like below: http://goo.gl/0s1Zs0, http://goo.gl/OspD3X, http://goo.gl/xDS31Q, http://goo.gl/kzYOi6. And finally process them in a video with realistic effects from Adobe After Effects and Cinema 4D, like we did in the intro for The Fall of Gyes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwEzbZAnth8

3. We can create intro with HUD charts and 3d graphics like there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxxswQl04nQ or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qprg5NDEiFA

I lean to variant 2 myself. But what are your thoughts, guys? We are looking forward to see your choices.

Thank you for your support and stay tuned!

 
Nice to hear that optimizations have been made to the release schedule, among the normal news of the game's steady progress. =D

My one qualm is with the naming choice for "Hardcore Mode". The term has an inherent "challenging" or "purebred" connotation to it, but the mode in question seems to suggest a more laid-back level of gameplay. By comparison, Global Mode has all the elements of what I'd consider to be "hardcore", apart from its uniquely globally assessed endings, of course. Not being able to reroll, and the fact that enemies can critical means you MUST play careful, or suffer the consequences of your recklessness, is what a term such as "hardcore" truly embodies. Not that I think Global Mode needs a renaming. Not at all. I just find Hardcore Mode's naming a bit odd, given its description.

If there's a regular game mode where the only difference between it and Hardcore is that there are no enemy critical rolls, then I can see SOME sense in the naming, but then I'm just be a bit disappointed that I'm forced to play on a "muted difficulty" from the start. I don't mind having to unlock a mode where death is permanent, but I like to be able to choose a difficulty setting at the start where the enemies don't share some kinds of "player friendly" handicaps. Just my preference. =)
 
SnapSlav , yeah, thank you :) We've fixed the names of modes and their descriptions.

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Hi guys,

It’s been a hard week but we have managed to get a lot done. This news is completely about our progress that I’d like to share with you.

KICKSTATARTER/AMAZON

The first good news is that Amazon and Kickstarter finally processed most of the payments last week. Only about $10k of them were broken but I hope the guys who received a warning about broken payments from Kickstarter will back us again via PayPal on our STORE page: http://www.afterreset.com/store.

In two days we’re going to send you the survey through Kickstarter to collect your data for rewards. After receiving the data, we’ll be approving Co-Founder status for your accounts on our official forum.

PROGRAMMING

We’ve reviewed the GUI for the main menu so that all of the interfaces will be able to scale as well as the text. And we reworked the architecture of character creation so that it includes 1/4 of SACPIC game mechanics. Nothing “wow” for players – but for programming that means a lot (the specification alone took about 25+ pages and 30+ GUI designs). Now Ivan (he is back from his vacation), Arthur and Evan are working hard on realization.

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THE FALL OF GYES

Another piece of good news is about our graphic novel: with Adam we’ve done more pages and now we’re ready to lift the curtain from the first 3 pages (without lettering yet). If you’re not afraid of spoilers you can check the first previews on our forum (available for Co-Founders only): http://www.afterreset.com/forum/showthread.php?t=239 or in closed update for our first TFOG backers here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blackcloudstudios/after-reset-the-fall-of-gyes/posts/996504.

Last weekend with Jeff, we visited a series of comic book stores to choose and buy the coolest sample for hardcover. The winner is:

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I put several 9mm shells near the books so that you can realize the scaling.

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I like the quality of printing of this hardcover comic book, how it feels, how it looks and how it smells.

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And we chose the sample of quality for printing a figure of the protagonist from the novel. Mr. White is the winner:

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So I’m sure you will like all of our physical rewards, and look forward to them as much as I do.

3D MODELLING

Here are some of the interior objects from Gyes bunker (technically inspired by Deus Ex and Syndicate series) that we did last week:

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According to our tradition, the full-HD in-game renders can be found in our Co-Founder’s area: http://www.afterreset.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107.

INTERVIEWS

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I’ve also found some time to do two interviews with guys from two of the largest true RPG portals:

- with Kevin from RPG WATCH

- with Vladimir from CORE RPG

Once again, I’d like to thank them for their sincere interest, patience and friendly attitude :)

IN-GAME INTERFACE

I bet you’ve already known that I always tend to perfection in details when it comes to After Reset™. So I’d like to present to you a model of our in game cursor (made in the style of UG’s corporations’ Adv):

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Theseus 3.0 is a virtual firmware interface developed by Miaptec Corporation (one of the largest software corporations of the United Governments) for CORE implants.

Old school fans of Fallout could regard it as hard sci-fi version of Pip-Boy. In contrast to Pip-Boy, Theseus doesn’t have a physical carrier – it is not an object or item. Theseus is your mental interpretation of the UI for CORE implant’s BIOS. That mental feature means that your deeds and your alignment will affect your GUI as well. With Edon Guraziu we’re going to work out the whole set of in-game interfaces (inventory, dialog, barter, character, general) in the same style as this arm-cursor.

By tradition, our Co-Founders can find those concepts above in full HD in the Co-Founder’s section on our forum: http://www.afterreset.com/forum/showthread.php?t=96

LEVEL DESIGN

At the end of today’s news I’d like to share some photos made a week ago in California. I made them for reference pack for our landscape designers. Due to geological and climatic changes in the After Reset setting, those refs should be merged with classical Morocco’s desert environment like you could see in The Hurt Locker movie.

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* * *

Well, guys, that is all for today. I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s update. Once again, thank you for your support and patience. And stay tuned for more!

 
Hi guys,

It's been two weeks since our last update. During that time we’ve been working tirelessly on new game content. And in this update, as is tradition, I’d like to share the next portion of our results.

CO-FOUNDERS

First of all, we’ve done a survey and in 3 days we’ve already received answers from 99% of you. A big thanks, guys, for getting back to us so quickly. It’s allowed us to be quick in getting to giving out Co-Founder statuses to your accounts on our forum. At the time of publication, almost all statuses have been attached to backers from $129 DIGITAL LIEUTENANT and higher.

We’re still giving out statuses and combining all three backer databases ("Direct Pledges" from the Store, "The Fall of Gyes" Kickstarter, and "After Reset RPG" Kickstarter) together. I expect that we’ll have given out Co-Founder statuses to everyone by the next update.

As I promised, we’ll stop giving out that status as part of game pledges roughly before the release of Steam Early Access, having continued to deliver additional content on the forum for Co-Founders. Actually, I’d like to increase the abilities and usefulness of this status during development of the After Reset universe as a special thanks to you, dear Followers.

THELOBBI.COM INTERVIEW

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A few days ago, I was briefly interviewed by Jeremy Wilfinger for the site www.thelobbi.com, which you can read here: http://thelobbi.com/articles/2014-09-26-indie-speak-1-with-after-reset-s-richard-nixon.

A big thanks to him and the site editor for putting our interview on the main page!

WASTELAND 2

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Many of you know that After Reset was born in the moment when we simply got tired of waiting for a truly old-school Fallout 3 (Van Buren), in the moment when we understood that no one other than us, the gamers would do that. For a long time we were left with a very skeptical mood toward Wasteland 2… And it lasted until last week, when we got its release version on Steam.

Guys, it turned out to be very interesting! I.e., this game, of course doesn’t have anything in common with either Fallout 1&2&T, or with After Reset RPG… But it doesn’t even have to be like them, or even be a classic RPG. It has its own interesting style/setting/mechanics/gameplay… In general, I personally don’t understand what exactly its secret is, but it’s really cool and fun to play. I played all weekend without stopping (and there’s no end or border in this game), and I’ll be very happy to back Wasteland 3!

One nuance: two times in the beginning I thought of deleting the game after creating a character (a sentiment I’ve heard from plenty of gamer friends). I really didn’t like the character portraits, and I don’t like to play as a big faceless group. But Brian Fargo has slyly provided for the ability to load your own portraits and delete the others besides your own character from the group. We’ve prepared a character portrait pack from After Reset especially for you: http://www.indiedb.com/games/after-reset/downloads/after-reset-rpgs-custom-avatars-for-wasteland-2.

I’m sure that even if you’ve had doubts, with our pack, Wasteland 2 will sparkle with fresh colors for you! You have to play it; the game is really worth it!

MODELLING PROGRESS

Over the last week we’ve prepared a few great furniture collections from which, as a rule, the underground outposts of the Military Corps of the United Governments will be furnished. This modular furniture is made by KIMEA Industries from plastic and composite materials in a style traditional for Pastagers in 132 A.R. (132 years After the Reset).

Here are a few screenshots of our new in-game low-poly Workbench and Drawers models:

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According to tradition, our Co-Founders can download and discuss screenshots in high-resolution in the Co-Founders’ Area on our forum: http://www.afterreset.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=13.

Beyond in-game objects, we've also finished creating models for the M-88 Nail Gun and ammunition for it, the Small Power Block. In accordance with the game mechanics this is a one-handed weapon that you can find already in the Prologue, belonging to the Energy Weapons class and the Coil Weapons subclass. At the same time, in that the M-88 Nail Gun is just and engineering tool, this weapon will have the attribute Weapon Feat “NOT A WEAPON,” which will negatively affect its combat characteristics.

And so, allow me to present the in-game screenshots of the M-88 Nail Gun:

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And Small Power Blocks produced by Ishima Engineering, compatible with all nail guns:

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GAME MECHANICS

We're still working on the details of the game mechanics, a third of which we’re inserting into the programming process of character creation, but already in the next update we will be able to share the full gaming characteristics of the first ready combat items with their inventory icons.

HOSTING TRANSFER

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In the last few weeks we’ve had more and more visitors coming to our site with growing regularity, and the load on our server has grown hugely. For your convenience, friends, we’ve transferred our site and forum to new powerful servers in Arizona.

LORE

Right now, I’m also starting to work on descriptions and texts, which can be obtained from the computers and mobile devices at the Gyes base while going through the prologue. All of them, somehow or another, will give hints as to the events that took place, reveal some characters, and/or cast some more light on the setting of the whole After Reset world that you’ll soon be able to travel around in.

In today’s update, I’d like to direct your attention to an extract from the data you’ll be able to get from the computers on the base:

"... Every marine should be a good shot, and the unquestionably severe battles in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas have facilitated the resurrection and perfection of this art after decades of the Military Corps being on temporary shutdown in Underearth. But now it is time to turn our attention to the cooperation of various types of armed forces on the battlefield. Now more than ever, military appropriations need rigid control on the part of the Economic Corps and the Supervisory Council.

The fact of how wasteful the marines’ tactics have become in recent years can be demonstrated with the example of armored vehicle use. In Oklahoma and Kansas, Survivor guerillas have set roadside mines that are regularly blowing up our light "Pitbulls." The Military Corps has spent 15 billion credits developing and delivering the MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) "Bear" armored vehicles. And now, when military operations in these states are at the very least hobbling to completion, the need for MRAP vehicles is gradually approaching zero. Its features, which were so necessary before, are becoming a burden: these vehicles cannot fit into standard descent carriers nor helicopters. And now soldiers are refusing these vehicles. There are already only 29 "Bears" left at the Odessa firing range this year judging by a report from lieutenant colonel Tim Fenning, …"


from a speech of Michael O’Shea,
Director of the Research Department in the Surface Recolonization Institute of Eos, 131 A.R.​


If you like it, but you missed similar, earlier lore extracts, you can find them on our forum. For example, here and here.

INSPIRATION READING

In a recent update, I shared works of classic science fiction that inspired me when making the setting and plot of the game. Having appreciated your positive reviews, friends, I’d like to continue this tradition, of publishing inspiring small sci-fi stories that I personally like in our updates.

Today’s three recommendations are directly or tangentially related to the three major in-game races and species of the After Reset setting.

The first story, "Placement Test" by John Keith, exposes the concept of corporate meritocracy, closely linked with the United Governments before the Reset.

The second story, "Bluff" by Harry Turtledove allows you to take a look at what is truly great in human consciousness in an unexpected way, paving the way to the mystery of the Incorporeals’ existence.

The third, "White Death" by Stanislaw Lem will serve as a hint at the events of the graphic novel "The Fall of Gyes."

And, finally, the fourth, "The Battle" by Robert Shekley, I’m sure will make you smile, thinking about the Synthetics.

ROLEPLAY

And, topping off today’s news, I’d like to talk to you like an old roleplaying DM talks to future players. Because I’m beginning work on detailing dialogues and other roleplaying content for the Prologue, feedback from players is important for me to create realistic and captivating content. Well, you know, so you won’t just blaze through dialogues, messages and descriptions, but will really read them enthusiastically. And so the dialogue options for every alignment your character could have will be alive and realistic.

And so, imagine…

Silence… A quiet, endless silence, enveloped in a disarming darkness. All around you, in your head, instead of your body is absolute peace and emptiness. An emptiness you don’t melt into, but fill. You are that emptiness. For you, neither time nor space exist, only you. You are the alpha and the omega.

"Ting!" – not so much heard as felt by your entire nature, a sound suddenly rips through the cover of silence.

"Tiiiiiiing!" – and you feel like the very same sound, hidden deep inside, like ice being chewed slowly; it forces your bones to vibrate.

"Babaaaaaaang!" – a third sharp sound rips into your consciousness through your eardrums, suddenly breaking the silence and darkness that was covering you into a thousand pieces. A moment… and all that’s left in your ears is a whistling chirp gradually subsiding in the world revealing itself to you…

"Wake up, commander" – a young woman’s voice finally brings you to. “Wake up, commander,” repeats the pleasant voice persistently.

And finally you become aware of yourself, wet and naked, lying among shards of glass, metal and wires in the middle of some kind of fairly spacious room. Judging by the inscriptions on the walls, it’s some kind of laboratory.

"Wake up, Commander, you need to go," continues the same voice, insisting. You look around, but don’t see anyone around. “You need to go, Commander.” This time you understand that this voice isn’t coming from anywhere, as if it’s coming from inside your head. Partly on your own, and partly obeying this inner voice, you somewhat awkwardly pick yourself up from the floor and carefully shake the wet shards off.

The slightly flickering monitors around the table you woke up at the foot of are flashing red and are apparently showing error messages. To your left there’s an identical table, above which an empty glass capsule is mounted. It’s entirely possible that just such a capsule was next to you before…

You try to remember what happened "before" and with horror you realize that you don’t remember what happened before you opened your eyes, nor where you are, nor even who you are or your name. Your pupils widen, and in your head one question flashes: "WHAT THE!?"

"Commander, you need to go," says the same feminine voice leading you out of the numbness…


* * *

Just like that, friends, your adventure in the world of After Reset RPG begins.

After getting used to this role, just having come to (and obviously, not all the way), tell me by writing comments on these questions:
1. Which questions are eating you up?
2. What will you do with the voice in your head?
3. What hypotheses come to mind of what happened before your waking up?

Thanks in advance, I’ll be waiting impatiently for your answers, guys!

 
STEAM is coming
Yesterday 09:31 PM, MrNixon



Hi guys,

Today we have a bunch of brief but good news I’d like to share with you.


STEAM EARLY ACCESS
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Finally, we’ve done a character creation build with game mechanics embedded and of such quality that I’m satisfied with (for Beta). So the only thing that lies between you and that build is Steamworks’ Documentation. Please, give us several days to figure out how to put our build there (we are still waiting for tax information approval). After that, we’ll be able to spread the keys for the Beta.

IN-GAME DISPLAYS

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Feel free to check our short video diary showing our in-game displays you’ll be able to see in the Gyes bunker during the Prologue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF8iYmJZYlg

INTERIOR OBJECTS MODELLING

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We have proceeded with the creation of more realistic objects for the Prologue. Below you can see one of our new objects: a floor tile with a hatch that can be opened to get to the engineering infrastructure sub levels of the bunker. As you might remember, we use 4k textures and physically based shaders for the visual part of our indie. But don’t worry, even now I have 60fps on my machine (1920x1080) despite real-time lightning being on. In the final build, most of the lightning will be backed (for interiors). Beyond that, we reckon, by the time of the full game release the gaming hardware will be much more ahead.

CLOTHES MODELLING

We have also finished the development and creation of The Military Combat Uniform (MCU), the current battle uniforms worn by the United Governments Army by the 132 A.R. I’ll spare you from a lot of lore background for this news but I can say that we spent about a month for development of details (materials, manufacturing, camouflage, filler, cost, ranks, markings, tailoring, electronics, etc.) with accordance to After Reset’s hard sci-fi part. Here, like always, you can enjoy the view:

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Our Co-Founders can check the full HD screens of MCU characters on: http://www.afterreset.com/forum/showthread.php?p=247

THE FALL OF GYES

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Adam reported that he is on page 30 now. So 7 pages more left. Meanwhile, we have launched the work on the two big (A2 high quality format) printable characters arts of both of our TFoG VIP backers so that we’ll be able to send the final works of their characters in the setting by the time of digital release of the TFoG.

SCI-FI TO READ

As I did in our previous news, here I want to share with you the sci-fi short stories I dig, the stories that affected my views by the time I got to toil on the After Reset setting.

The first one is devoted to Synthetics. It is called “Dinochrome” by Keith Laumer.

The second could bring you some fresh view on the United Governments. Its name is "Contact Man" by Harry Harrison.

And the final one gives you a food for thought about religion. That is "The Way of Cross and Dragon" by George R. R. Martin.

* * *

So, that is all for today dear followers. I just want to thank your for your support and all the patience that you show. I’m having butterflies in my stomach because we can’t release the prologue as soon as we planned.

Sometimes, when I receive a bunch of excuses or a series of the stuff poorly made at the same day, I feel like a shattered Humpty Dumpty that can’t be assembled together. But then I open Kickstarter and Steam and remind myself of how many people (you guys) believe in us. That inspires and pushes us forward every time we feel tired. So once again, much obliged to you rooting for us.

And stay tuned!

 
Some of these designs are just staggeringly awesome
It feels unfair to point out details, cus I'd be leaving tons of stuff out that don't deserve to be left out.
I love the boxy, practical design of the rifle in one of the scenario images. Everything looks very cool.
 
Hope you got the absolute most out of your vacation before you joined the crunch. Best of luck on the game production! =D
 
New Build Has Been Released
Hi guys,

Today I’ve brought a set of progress reports and good news about the new build that we’ve all been waiting for over the last month.

MODELLING PROGRESS

We’ve done some more props for the interior of the Gyes bunker. I’d like to share one of them with you - a keypad locker. It has three stages: unlocked (when the door/locker/field is open, so that clicking on it will result to open/close action), enter code (when the door/locker/field is locked, so that you’ll need a key/code or a successful use of the Science skill to switch keypad into unlocked stage), and system error (when the door/locker/field is sealed by circumstances or by an unsuccessful use of the Science skill, so that you will not be able to open sealed door/container by your skill roll).

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You will not believe but most of the stuff we create with models are born from my rough concepts like this:

keypad03.png


After modelling I usually create decals myself as well, because every item requires a lot of lore and background information to fit the world even if it is not displayed clearly to players (e.g. where this item produced, by whom, which technologies does it use, how much value does it have, what are its prototypes nowadays, what are the typical markings nowadays for this object, what are the tendencies, etc.)

Here you can check our new weapon item too - UKFU Mk2 combat knife:

ukfu_mk201.png


ukfu_mk202.png


ukfu_mk203.png


By tradition, our Co-Founders can find full HD screens of this stuff on our official forum:
http://www.afterreset.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107

ID from the game:

ukfu_mk2.png


UKFU Mk2

Base Damage: 1d5 + 1d7 (physical).
Base Critical Threat: 19-20/x2 (miss: 1).
Base Damage Type: physical (PL1).
Mobility Penalty: none.
Base Item: knife.

Feats Required: Weapon Proficiency (melee weapons) or Weapon Proficiency (pastager).
Weapon Size: light.
Weight: 0.9 lb.

* * *

The Universal Knife Fighting Utility (UKFU) is the contemporary, popular name for the combat knife first adopted by the United Governments Marine Corps on November 57 A.R. The 1157C2 combat knife (later designated as the UKFU Mark II) was subsequently adopted by the whole United Governments Army as a part of the standard issue weapons list of the U.G. Armed Forces.

Ever since the development of Mark I model these knives were produced and supplied for the United Governments Military Corps by VTECH Alloys, a subsidiary of the Fudo Corporation.

By the 132 A.R. the more modern Mark II version of this knife featured single-edge blades made from v-composite titanium alloy and polysynthetic handles made of Vaaton (a non-slip rubber substitute). The deceptive simplicity of this weapon leads to its combat effectiveness in experienced hands.



EXTRA:
Item Basic Value (PA, NT, SV, ST, RZ, YZ, GZ): 72, 140, 580, 107, 120, 500, 500
Identification Difficulty Challenge: 7
Unidentified Description: This combat knife is a bladed weapon, obviously, made for survival and combat purposes. Unlike common blades, this weapon is made for real fighting.

NEW BUILD RELEASED

Congratulations, we're now a Steamworks developer! We’ve passed all formal stages and now have access to the developer interface. Much obliged to the guys from Valve for their swift reply and assistance in settings this up.

However, it took a week to distribute all Co-Founder statuses, so I suppose it will take time to spread all STEAM keys at this time. This is not to make you wait, my fellow backers, and I’m going to put it on the web as a password protected download that I’m going to provide you in this locked update.

But I must ask you: if you have enough patience, please wait till you receive your STEAM key. After you install the beta in Steam, the build will be automatically updated according to our development progress. Keep in mind that the Steams distribution we use is not DRM protected nor is not bonded to your machine. It just helps us speed up the distribution of the software and spend more time on development.

For those who just can’t wait, you can find the aforementioned downloads here:
* Windows build: http://www.indiedb.com/games/after-reset/downloads/after-reset-rpg-windows-beta-v120314

* Linux build: http://www.indiedb.com/games/after-reset/downloads/after-reset-rpg-linux-beta-v120314

* Mac build: http://www.indiedb.com/games/after-reset/downloads/after-reset-rpg-mac-beta-v120314

Please feel free to give us feedback under this forum topic: http://www.afterreset.com/forum/showthread.php?p=802

Any technical issues should be discussed in this forum: http://www.afterreset.com/forum/showthread.php?p=798

ABOUT THE STEAM EARLY ACCESS (SEA)

In this news I’d like to share with you several important decisions about the upcoming SEA.

First, we’re releasing this closed beta (only for backers), and we’re doing this in stages (each of them have decent amount of content):
- Character creation
- Special Facility level
- Science Facility level
- Main Level
- Cave level
- Cave Entrance level

Second, we’re going to open SEA for public sales after the Special Facility level is completely done, but no earlier than January 2015.

Third, as planned we’re going to revise the values of the pledges according to the Steam channel distribution. This will stress the benefits of the early supporters from Kickstarter and Direct Pledges.

Forth, right before SEA opens up to the public we’re removing the digital version of the game from our website’s store page and linking directly to the Steam store. We will still be offering physical preorder versions of the game, including several features and the graphic novels.

Fives, right before SEA opens up to the public we’re removing Co-Founder status reward from any pledge, but we’re still going to supply our current Co-Founders with the extra stuff as we’ve always done. As I promised, I’d like to grow the value of this proud title but not “selling it.” After open SEA launch, I reckon the only opportunity to get this status will be special events or exclusive rewards.

* * *

Okay, that’s all for today.
Once again, thank you for your support and attitude, and stay tuned!
Christmas is coming :)

 
Hi guys,

I know there has been a lack of updates for The Fall of Gyes graphic novel, so let me devote this New Year update primarily to the comic.

GENERAL PROGRESS

First, I realize that the delay for our “estimated delivery date” is unacceptable. There is no excuse that either party would find believable when we’re five months behind, but here are the facts. As an indie developer I depend on the freelancers I work with, and when they miss deadlines it inevitably affects the whole release. I understand that you've trusted me personally with your money, so as the game director I take the whole responsibility for any delay.

ahmadnews.png


But right now you don’t want to hear excuses, you need deeds. Thus, how do I compensate for the delay?

1. Quality. You can see through updates and new builds (with your approval I rejected the strategy to release them too early just to meet the EDD) in favor of releasing small but cool and completed steps. We do something until I, from my picky point of view, can say something about it is really cool. Sometimes this means starting over from scrap if it’s just not working, and when you see our page previews (shown below) I think you’ll agree that it’s paid off.

2. Money. It’s inevitable that delays, even if accounted for in a product’s budget, put a lot of stress on the team’s finances. I’ve therefore put more of my own money into the development to be sure that we’ll not compromise on our quality standards and deliver trash content just to stay under budget. The novel, for example, will end up containing 37 pages instead of the initially planned 32, and at no extra cost to you even though is increased our budget requirements.

3. Time. I toil away on After Reset 8-12 hours a day and rarely take a weekend or holiday off (except for Christmas). I sold my other business some time ago and have been completely focused on this task ever since. Frankly, I’m quite happy with our progress and the support from our backers.

Therefore, after TFoG is done it’ll be judgment day from our fans. However, I think you’ll be satisfied in the end and support our next novel. Until then I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you’ll be happy with the result.

PAGE PREVIEW

As of my last meeting with Adam we have 14 pages completely finished, 16 pages under review (adjustments/repainting), and that leaves 7 pages incomplete. Below we’ve got 12 of the finished pages for you to preview, and even as thumbnails we decided to leave out the lettering to avoid any possible spoilers. This way you can make up your own mind as to whether the delay is worth it (frankly, I myself have rarely seen such quality in other graphic novels).

tfor-cover.png


tfor-123.png


tfor-456.png


tfor-789.png


tfor-101112.png


EXCLUSIVE REWARDS

ahmad2.png


As some of you remember, during the TFoG campaign on Kickstarter we promised a legendary reward for up to two very special backers. It was an ‘exclusively made character poster of YOU as a citizen of the United Governments in the After Reset setting, made in very high dimension to be printed in any photo studio.’ I’m very pleased to present backer Ahmad Khan as an NPC in After Reset setting.

ahmad.png


Name: Ahmad Khan
Nickname: Khan
Race: Pastager
Date of birth: March 4, 92 A.R.
Place of birth: Selene, Underearth.

Ahmad was born March 4, 92 A.R. in Selene (one of the three underground cities of the United Governments, located in the former USA) in a fairly normal family of government employees. When he was born his father, Sebastian Khan, was a colonel in the UG Military Corps, and his mother worked as a lieutenant in the Selene Police Department (SPD) in the ranks of the Social Corps.

Despite the Social Corps’ decline in popularity after “the Riot of Cans” in 87 A.R., Ahmad had wanted to follow in his mother’s footsteps since childhood, and even prepared to enter the Selene Police Academy. This made it all the more unexpected for everyone, including his parents, when he chose instead to join the ranks of the Military Corps after completing his tour of duty in all four Corps of the UG, which is traditional for all citizens.

It is completely possible that the reason behind this choice was his move to Helios in 125 A.R. (the capital of the UG), and the intensified advertising campaign there for the President’s upcoming administration program to “Take Back the Surface!” The request Ahmad sent (to be transferred) into the subdivision of the Military Corps on the Surface was nevertheless met with resistance from his father, who did everything in his power to stop him. The conflict between father and son lasted almost a year, but after the Dallas Incident in 129 A.R., Ahmad finally understood that his father was just trying to protect him.

These events markedly decreased Ahmad’s enthusiasm for deployment, but nonetheless after two years, with his father’s approval, he was transferred to serve in New Dallas on the surface. Later, in 123 A.R., he was sent on an assignment to Bunker N3-H1 under the code name “Gyes…”


Ahmad, thank you for your support and dedication, and we’ve updated our official forum to include your unique avatar.

CO-FOUNDER STATUS

As I promised, we are no longer giving out “Co-Founder” status as a packaged reward for any future purchases in order to preserve its value. There is now no way to obtain it other than special events (such as giveaways) or by outstanding achievements.

Now, it’s time to pull back the curtain and reveal some of my plans for our Co-Founders. As you know, everything in After Reset is about role-play.

As I stressed many times before, After Reset’s setting is realistic hardcore sci-fi and it is not linear, it depends of YOUR choices. The choices you will make not only affect your game but also beyond it.

Another example, exclusively for Co-Founders, is the ability to select the new President of the United Governments.

I imply that (according to our timeline) that by the time you’ve completed After Reset RPG, there will be elections for the new President of the United Governments, the new Primus Inter Pares. Therefore, I want to give our Co-Founders the opportunity to take on the role of a UG citizen, and vote. I’m currently working on a virtual election (on our forums), for two DMs to take on the roles of the candidates, election videos, etc, and I think it’ll be a lot of fun.

STEAM

In this news I’d also like to include some info about the transition to Steam, keys, tiers etc.

First, we’ve prepared the STORE page on our forum according to the documents of the new platform. For now the STEAM buttons don’t lead to anywhere, but by the time we release a build to Steam Early Access (SEA) that will change. With time, I also hope that there will be GOG buttons as well. Especially for several of our backers who asked us to provide them with direct download link of the game outside of STEAM: don’t worry, “cum promisseris, facias”.

Second, you can already find “XX” instead of pledges’ prices in the STORE. That means that we don’t accept those pledges via PayPal any more - we are waiting for the SEA release. Due to some legal limitations I can’t reveal those prices for you yet, but I can say that our Kickstarter and Direct backers will find just how good of a deal they got by supporting us earlier.

Third, we are already sending SEA keys for the game and its add-ons based on a priority system of who funded us first, according to the following:
1. Direct Pledges.
2. The Fall of Gyes Kickstarter.
3. After Reset RPG Kickstarter.

By the time you read this we’ll have sent out all of the Direct Pledge and The Fall of Gyes Kickstarter keys.

Forth, we’ve already prepared the new patch for the game, but we’ll wait to apply it until after the torture of sending out all 7000+ keys. Meanwhile, don’t be shy to report any issues you do find in the current build here: www.afterreset.com/forum/showthread.php?p=871

* * *

Well, I think that’s all the news for today. Stay tuned for the next juicy update! I hope, you’re all still with us.

Merry Christmas, dear fellows! And Happy New Year!

Sincerely,
Richard, Ivan, Mariusz, Jeremy, Max, Andrew, Angelina, Osman, Yannick.
 
Mmmm, that looks pretty.

I was wondering where you guys went, so while it's too bad to hear that there have been serious delays, it's great hearing what progress HAS been made.
 
LASER WEAPONS OF HARD SCI-FI

Hi guys, hi SnapSlav :)

It’s been almost two weeks since our last update. The time has come to share the next portion of completed work.

SENDING STEAM KEYS

A few new gray hairs notwithstanding, at the time of writing this article, 1400 of 7200 keys still need to be sent. By the end of this month we should have sent them.

LIST OF ITEMS

For those who are constantly following the development of our game on our forum, this topic will also be interesting [url]http://www.afterreset.com/forum/showthread.php?t=286[/URL]. In it we go through the items that have already been added to the game build. It doesn’t mean that they will be available right away to players, but it means that they are already in the game itself and can be obtained in game (loot, found items, quests etc.).

In addition we are also publishing links to detailed item descriptions, which makes this topic something of a wiki for items in the After Reset world.

PHELAR-17

Having already sent out over 5000 keys by hand, we couldn’t help noticing of our backers’ email domain names. It’s great to see people from leading tech companies among them. As a result, I can say that the deciding factor in bringing them to us was our hard sci-fi feature :)

They have asked me not to name names, but I’d like to express my extreme gratitude for their consultation and information that have helped us bring even more realism to the setting of After Reset.

In essence, in this update, I’d like to direct your attention to the laser rifle, which is part the arsenal of the Military Police of the Military Corps of the United Governments. Yes, you’ll be able to get your hands on it and shoot it in even the Prologue :)

How it looks in standard factory colors:

phelar-17.png


phelar-17_2.png


From perspective:

phelar-17_S.png


How it looks in UG Army camouflage in the game’s region:

phelar-17_desert_S.png


And some more shots with the Vizo Sight 'LEOTech' visor sight:

phelar-17_desert_viso.png


phelar-17_desert_viso_black.png


phelar-17_desert_viso_desert.png


Yes, most likely (!), some weapons in the game will be modifiable. In any case we are putting an appropriate structure for that into the core of the game. As always, our Co-Founders can download screens of this laser rifle in Full-HD: http://www.afterreset.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107

What features does this rifle have from a hard sci-fi point of view? Well guys, the cool thing about it is that it was developed completely by our little “science council,” who constructed it down to the smallest detail and made it workable from a modern physics standpoint! Its basis comes from modern developments of high-energy weapons from DARPA, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and BAE Systems. I’d like to give our backer-consultants from these companies another huge thanks. I can say that the only “fantasy allowance” made with this gun is its power source, the Fusion Cell. But it seems to me that for After Reset this is an acceptable recipe: 87% hard science / 13% fiction.

Technical characteristics, the characteristics of the materials used, dimensions and detail schemes are all in accordance with a slightly extrapolated version of the modern understanding of physicists, engineers, builders and social designers about the personal high-energy weapons of the near future (I’d like to remind our readers that this rifle is one of the oldest weapons the UG uses, I’d even say it’s “out of date.” Something like the M16 for us now).

At present Mariuseus and I are working on realistic shooting sound effects for this weapon, recharging, battery indicators, etc. There won’t be any “pew pew” like in the Star Wars Cartoon – only realistic characteristics. :) For example, look how a modern industrial laser “shoots”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm1yH7QGJ5o

Below I’d also like to share the in-game characteristics of this weapon:

phelar-17_Desert_%5BVizo_Sight_LEOTech_Desert%5D.png


PHELAR-17 Desert [Vizo Sight 'LEOTech' Desert]

Base Damage: 2d10.
Base Critical Threat: 20/x2 (miss: 1).
Base Magazine Capacity: 30.
Base Range: 0-260 ft.
Base Damage Type: laser.
Mobility Penalty: none.
Base Item: laser rifle.

Ammunition Type: fusion cells.
Feats Required: Weapon Proficiency (energy weapons) or Weapon Proficiency (pastager).
Weapon Size: 2-handed.
Weight: 14.1 lb.

Special Properties:
- No-Recoil (+3 to Attack Bonus).
- Vizo Sight (+1 to Attack Bonus).

* * *

The PHELAR-17 (Personal High Energy Laser Assault Rifle) is a high-tech weapon that emits a concentrated photon impulse of coherent light, with a sufficient wattage to do considerable damage. PHELAR effectiveness is proven at mid-range distances, and served the Police and Security departments of the United Governments well. Mass production began in 53 A.R.

The core of this weapon, pulsed fiber laser, operates at a number of lasing transitions between 153 and 156 nm. That is out of visible spectrum, though, in combination with compact Fusion Cells it uses this rifle could emit an effective energy impulses of 100kW. Beam-steering technologies make these arrays conformal with the airframe, to provide instant retargeting across a large field of regard, and to compensate for the effects of atmospheric turbulence.

With the compact high-energy sources availability and scattering issues solved laser weapons became very popular during the underground expansion of the UG. Having no recoil or ejected shells, and no gravitational effect on beam trajectory, laser weapons have almost completely displaced firearms on the arms market and on the streets of underground cities of Underearth by the 67 A.R.

This version of PHELAR-17 is painted with a desert-camo pattern of the U.G. Army to provide better concealment effectiveness within relevant the desert-like environments of the Yellow zones on Earth’s surface.

Beyond that, this PHELAR-17 is equipped with visualizing weapon sight "Vizo Sight" produced by LEOTech Corporation for various models of energy weapons. This non-magnifying gun sight allows the user to visualize shooting line within sophisticated glass optical window and see a beam parallel to the barrel based on beam-steering analysis.


EXTRA:

Stack: none
Item Basic Value (PA, NT, SV, ST, RZ, YZ, GZ): 7200, 1250, 1450, 6100, 1500, 1400, 1500
Identification Difficulty Challenge: 37
Unidentified Description: This is definitely some kind of hi-tech weapon with a strange angular coloring and a gadget. Unfortunately, you are unable to grasp how to make it work.

And Vizo Site mod for laser weapons with top Picatinny rail:

Vizo_Sight_LEOTech.png


Vizo Sight 'LEOTech'

Base Item: mod.
Weight: 2.1 lb.

* * *

The "Vizo Sight" is an augmented reality weapon sight produced by the LEOTech Corporation for various energy weapons that support beam-steering technology. Although the sight doesn’t offer magnification, it does allow the user to visualize the beam’s trajectory through a sophisticated glass window where the projected beam can be seen parallel to the barrel.

LEOTech Corporation was founded around 100 A.R. by Jason Kwan and Pierre Lempereur while they were still students at the Eos Institute of Advanced Industrial Science. By 132 A.R. the company designed, manufactured, and marketed electro-optic products and systems, and established their headquarters in Helios, Underearth. Their augmented reality weapon sights are used in a wide variety of small arms for close combat, and have been adopted by various security corporations, law enforcement agencies, and even the U.G. Army.


EXTRA:

Stack: none
Item Basic Value (PA, NT, SV, ST, RZ, YZ, GZ): 1000, 100, 150, 1000, 100, 500, 400
Identification Difficulty Challenge: 32
Unidentified Description: Decently made but weird thing. You can't figure out how it works, however. It should works... somehow... right?

* * *

I hope you liked today’s update. In the next few days you’ll also: be acquainted with the game’s interfaces (inventory, character, dialogue etc.), new pages and characters from The Fall of Gyes, with new lore. I’ll really try to raise your expectations for the remaining 1400 keys. Stay with us, friends!

 
PEACHY UPDATE


Hi, guys!

This is a short but colorful update devoted to our upcoming Steam Early Access (SEA) release, our progress on The Fall of Gyes graphic novel, and related lore.

mini_ARRPG-Prologue-cover_art_02.png


FIRST AND FOREMOST: SENDING STEAM KEYS

I know a lot of backers are still waiting on keys, so I’m going to include a status update in every news post until it’s done. By the time of writing this article, 900 of 7200 keys still need to be sent. By the end of this month we should have sent all of them.

We will use the keys for media portals, gamer’s sites, journalists, and You-tube reviewers that should be available 5-7 days before we go to the SEA release.

OPEN SEA RELEASE

We still need to program the inner interface so we can take fair screenshots before the final approval by Steam. If everything goes fine, you’ll be able to proudly link After Reset RPG on Steam to your friends and colleagues in early March of 2015.

AFTER RESET RPG: OFFICIAL COVER ART

Some of you may have noticed that the cover art on various official portals (like IndieDB, Facebook, etc.). The reason is that is we’re close to the final stage of marketing preparation for the open SEA release, and we needed to have a unified banner that also transferred to the game. We think it looks very cool, and has enough flexibility to be easily identified and still represent the whole series.

I got a pleasure and honor to work with One Pixel Brush (you might know them by working on visual styles of such games like The Last of Us, The Division, Bioshock Infinite, etc.). They made our main characters (the Commanders) truly come alive. It’s the main reason I decided to put them on the cover.

Here you can download full-HD versions of the cover in 1920x1080 resolution for your desktop:

VERSION A: link.

mini_ARRPG-Prologue-cover_art_01.png


VERSION B: link.

mini_ARRPG-Prologue-cover_art_02.png


VERSION C: link.

mini_ARRPG-Prologue-cover_art_03.png


With time (from chapter to chapter) the appearance of the protagonists on the cover will change, and you’ll be able to follow their evolution. Should be fun!

It might look easy, but it’s taken more than six months to come up with a final version of our cover art. Now that I’m satisfied with it, I hope you will be too. :)

ROCK, PAPER, SHOTGUN

Thanks to one of our backers (Gnostic) we found out that famous Rock, Paper, Shotgun included After Reset RPG in ‘PC Games Of 2015: Those Wot Could Conceivably Be Good.’ It’s such big honor to see our child listed with Mass Effect 4, Cyberpunk 2077, Torment: Tides of Numenera and Pillars of Eternity.

An honor well as a big responsibility.

THE STORY OVERVIEW

To prepare the game for SEA I needed to finalize the whole game story concept, and taking into account whether or not we reach our funding goals, or exceed them. Here is brief (but spoiler free) overview of the full game story:

story.png


Every chapter of the game represents each stage of the big story and it is connected to the sets of regions that are relevant to that chapter. That doesn’t mean every chapter will have and equal amount of game playtime.

In example: the final version of the Prologue should have about two hours of gameplay. It is quite close to the idea that was initially put into Fallout 1, but financial restrictions ending up cutting most of it out, and limited it to just walking through a cave and killing several rats. At the beginning of Fallout 1’s birthday, the creators wanted to give the player the ability to play around in the Vault 13 itself. Therefore the After Reset RPG's Prologue represents only small piece of main story game play time.

If things don’t work out for our funding goals, I’ll rely on my savings and concentrate on the main story. However, there will be many opportunities for random encounters and side quests that can easily be added once we have the game mechanics and gameplay finished. How much or how little gets added will depend on our funding.

In final version the life and event sequences of the chapters should go even without player interaction. That implies you can be caught by story in the Great Desert with a new sequence in it even if you dropped the main storyline earlier.

“THE FALL OF GYES” GENERAL PROGRESS

After meeting with Adam yesterday, I’m happy to report that 33 out of 37 pages are completely finished. For those of you keeping track, that’s 19 pages since our last update. We’re pushing forward, but always with an eye on quality. I’d like to remind all of you that our Co-Founders can see previews of all the new pages on our forum: http://www.afterreset.com/forum/showthread.php?t=239

But I’d recommend avoiding spoilers… these previews are just to show our progress.

tforoex-222324.png


EXCLUSIVE REWARDS

During the TFoG campaign (on Kickstarter) we promised a legendary reward for up to two very special backers, and this is our second ‘exclusively made character poster of YOU as a citizen of the United Governments in the After Reset setting, made in very high dimension to be printed in any photo studio.’

brianluke_big.png


I’m very pleased to present backer Brian Luke as an NPC in After Reset setting.

Name: Brian Luke.
Nickname: Dr. Luke.
Race: Pastager.
Date of birth: December 5, 51 A.R.
Place of birth: Eos, Undereath.

In scientific circles, Brian Luke had made a reputation for himself as a distinguished micro- and synthetic biologist. Born in 51 A.R. in the technology city Eos (one of the three underground cities of the United Governments in the former USA) into a family with a long history of being researchers in the Scientific Corps of the UG. He was raised in an atmosphere of open curiosity, fascination and a penchant for the undiscovered.

He had quite a strict upbringing, due to the fact that both of his parents belonged to the administration of Kaisha Technology (one of the largest corporations in the UG), and with age Brian discovered he had the same organizational talent of a strong senior manager and a great managing consultant. Thanks to that, in 102 A.R., he was already head of the Biology department at the Eos Institute of Advanced Industrial Science.

He refused a career in private corporations (“for the purity of science,” as he once argued to his parents) during his years of service in the Scientific Corps he also earned a reputation as a political conservative and government loyalist.

It is entirely possible that it was precisely that, which played the deciding role in sending Brian to the Surface in 130 A.R. where he actively took part in designing and developing the New Dallas ecosphere. In the same year he met his future wife, Maria Edgargh, and just half a year later they were married.

At the end of 131 the couple got permission to have two children immediately and submitted the documents to the Artificial Fertilization Center of New Dallas. Waiting for his children, at the beginning of 132 A.R. Brian nonetheless agreed to the request of his friend and colleague to go on an assignment to one of the new command bunkers of the UG on the Surface under the code name “Gyes” as a temporary Head of the Science Department…"


brianluke_concept.png


SCI-FI TO READ

Just as with our previous news posting, I want to share some fiction I’ve recently read, the awesome hard sci-fi short story by Peter Watts: The Things.

Watts is a rare breed of fiction writer that also has real scientific credentials, and I’ve really enjoyed his sci-fi work. His short story The Things is devoted to a perspective of reality and events from The Thing Movies through the eyes of ‘the Thing.’ It could really change your perception of the movie (and provide some cool, potentially more original ideas for the next Dead Space writers).

I would note that Watts’ view of The Thing is not applicable for the After Reset setting (the true nature of Biomass is different from Watts’ version) so there will be no spoilers in that regard. But that story is full of food for thought, and is a very interesting and unexpected hard sci-fi view. It’s not just ‘black or white,’ and doesn’t conform to traditional sci-fi tropes like ‘that weird, wicked and bad stuff… omg, it killed Kenny… lets wipe that sh*t… hura! We won… the end. Or is it?’

* * *

That is all for today, dear followers.
Once again, thank your for your support and all the patience that you show.
Stay tuned for more news!

 
USER INTERFACE

Hi guys,

We’re still hard at work on the preparations for the upcoming Steam release this March. Today’s news is devoted to interface schemes I’ve been working on for the last few weeks.

FIRST AND FOREMOST: SENDING STEAM KEYS

We’ve sent another big chunk of keys out, and there are 500 of the 7200 keys still left to be delivered.

THE INTERFACE

While my guys are sending out the keys I’ve prepared the major interface schemes for the game. Please, keep in mind that ‘Interface Scheme’ is the basic structure of what should be displayed (and where) on in-game screen for the player. It’s similar to the graphical interface elements (like Fallout’s Pip-Boy, or AR’s Theseus), and will be painted/rendered over that scheme.

Also, I want to ask everyone to keep in mind that our interfaces (like the whole SEA build, frankly) looks best in HD resolution (1920x1080). We got our first round of feedback regarding the size of the text and interface, and we rewrote the current build so that we’ll be able to add simple scaling elements in time. For now we try to focus on the larger resolutions because we need to complete the interface (rather than redo it later) before scaling will function. (I bet, you remember Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth had many issues and gamers were not able to play on 1920x1080 resolution, only on low quality resolutions)

My main inspirations for the interface scheme were classics like Fallout 1&2, Fallout Tactics, Deus Ex Human Revolution, and EVE Online. Below you can download and check the interface scheme of After Reset RPG in full HD over various screenshots: http://www.afterreset.com/ARMEDIA/NEWS/310114/interf.zip

General Interface:

01general_interface.png


Skills Panel:

02general_skills.png


General Interface - Companions:

12companions.png


Dialogue/Conversation Interface:

03dialogue.png


Barter/Trade Interface:

04barter.png


Character Menu – Inventory:

05inventory.png


Character Menu – Character Shit:

06charlist.png


Character Menu – Quests Log:

07quests.png


Character Menu – Records:

08records.png


Character Menu – Augmentation:

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Character Menu – Skills:

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Character Menu – Feats:

11feats.png


Loading Screen, Tips-Lore-Story:


13loadingscreens.png


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That’s all for today, dear followers. I’m looking forward to hearing your feedback and ideas. Feel free to share on our Kickstarter page and official forum. Thanks for staying tuned!

 
I don't sweat the small stuff. It's ironic that I was going to comment on something I got from looking over the latest images before I started reading the latest news, and it turns out it was a topic OF the news itself: the interface. Personally, while I'm not a minimalist, I don't "need" a HUD or UI to be over-elaborate and fancy, with tons of details poured into it. Ergonomics and design are what I care most about. That said, I can tell that what's presented in the images thus far are barebones placeholders. Even still, I'm liking what I see. AAA devs waste way too much time worrying about the small stuff, so hopefully you dedicate just the right amount. You develop the art and the images of the UI to the level of satisfaction you desire, without sacrificing valuable time to work on what really matters.

My one constructive input I'd like to offer, assuming you're not already tackling it, is that with a trade window (depending on how large or small a character's inventory can become), it's CRUCIAL for the design to make it easy and visibly noticeable how to maneuver through, peruse, and scroll through the inventory. As long as its design recognizes my input to "scroll down" and it easily lets me move from one group of items to another, that's what matters for a trade screen, I feel. Just my two cents!

Looking good thus far. =D
 
Hi, guys!

Today we’ve got a bunch of pleasant news about several completed tasks.

STEAM KEYS ARE SENT

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First and foremost I’m glad to report all beta keys for Steam Early Access have been sent. It was quite a challenge, but now it’s behind us.

Please check your Inbox and Spam folders (just in case) and feel free to e-mail Max (support@afterreset.com) or to me (MrNixon@afterreset.com) if you have any issues receiving your key(s). You can also send me a PM via Kickstarter.

THE FALL OF GYES: PAINTING COMPLETE

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I’m also glad to report the completion of all 39 pages for our cinematic graphic novel. Next week we’re liaising with Peter Cooper on lettering, and another week will be spent on the final design. We’ll then publish its digital version in a closed update (to backers only) on our TFOG Kickstarter page first, and shortly after that to all other backers who purchased a copy elsewhere. In time we’ll also upload it into Steam so that many of you who have it as a digital add-on can access it and keep it in your library. As always it will be DRM free.

Our Co-Founders can already check out the novel on our official forum (beware of spoilers): http://www.afterreset.com/forum/showthread.php?t=239

I’d also like to immortalize our backers from the TFOG Kickstarter by putting their names in the credits for both digital and physical versions of the novel. If you’re our TFOG Kickstarter backer, please check your name on this topic: http://www.afterreset.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1002

If I made a mistake of forgot you to add or exclude you (due to your previous approach for anonymity), please send me an e-mail (MrNixon@afterreset.com) to edit the list. A few rules: no nicknames, no letters, no middle names - only first and last names. Let’s do it like the professionals.

* * *

Well, that’s all for today. Thanks for the patience you’ve shown us!
Have a good weekend and stay tuned for more good news.

 
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